A version of this essay was originally delivered as part of The Arts and Humanities Colloquium at Hope College (Holland, MI). As the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century began and gained momentum, many of the reformers sensed a need within the new movement: Education. While the theologians understood the new doctrines, the masses did…
It has been almost a month since I have been able to share the Word of the LORD with you. However, this was not exactly the passage with which I anticipated stepping back into the pulpit. As we will soon hear, Genesis 19 feels more like Game of Thrones than like Frozen. There is violence,…
This morning we begin the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In doing so, we are entering a story that sits quite uncomfortably with many in the late-modern West. The destruction of the cities has been weaponized in the wars of sexuality in the church. Fire and brimstone raining down from heaven and…
In our time together, I want us to internalize a bible verse as we walk through a bible story. My hope is that when the match of our verse strikes the surface of the story, it ignites, giving light so we can see and heat to warm our hearts. The verse is Hebrews 13:2 and…
Please pray with me: Father, may your Word be our rule, Your Holy Spirit our teacher, and the glory of Jesus Christ our single concern. Amen. If you are able, I invite you to stand to hear God’s Word. Listen closely and listen well, for these are the very words of God: When Abram was ninety-nine years…
As we have journeyed through the story of Abram, we have seen some amazing promises from God. But the story of Abram and Sarai is largely the story of the long wait for these promises to be fulfilled. In this way it foreshadows the long wait of Israel for the messiah and the long wait…
Please pray with me: Sovereign LORD, I pray that out of your glorious riches you will strengthen us with power through the Spirit in our inner being so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. I also pray that all of us gathered here, being rooted and established in love, may have power…
Outside of the names of Abram and Lot, few of us will recognize the names we will hear in our passage this morning. As we continue the story of God in the story of Abram, we are entering a dark and murky chapter. It is dark because Genesis 14 is the first story of war…
What do you have eyes to see? When I first got glasses, one of the tests they give is the Ishihara test. They put up a bunch of color-dotted plates and you try to see numbers within them. I have a couple here on the screen. What do you see? I can’t see anything there.…
At the Reformed Church of Stout, we believe every word in the Bible is a gift from God to us in order to reveal himself, his will, and his mighty acts of salvation. For this reason, one of our common practices is to preach straight through large sections of scripture without skipping a verse. If…
