When reading Jeremiah, it is evident that the word alone helps God’s people to first name their disaster, second to understand it, and finally to ultimately find hope through the promises of God.
Comfort, ease, pleasure, happiness, these are worth pursuing, say the preachers of this world. Suffering is not. Do whatever you must to avoid it. In Christ, however, we see suffering differently.
When the preacher placards this model and example, Jesus Christ crucified, before his auditors, all these fourteen admonishments will make sense. Conversely, it makes no sense to a world that does not know Jesus Christ.
On this episode of Preaching the Text, John Hoyum and Steve Paulson discuss two important items from Matthew's gospel: Christ's rebuke of Peter and the importance of self-denial.
The Apostle, through these well-known passages, depicts a Lord sovereign in all His dealings, that the Lord God is no respecter of persons, and no one can claim an obligation on the part of the Creator. Indeed, the Lord God acts by grace and mercy, and for this, He is most worthy of praise.
Discipleship involves listening to the Word of God. But discipleship is not only about listening to the Word of God. It also involves listening to the world.
Jesus is the rock from which we were taken and the rock on which we now stand. This is the truth the Church confesses every time we gather for worship.