Well, this week we're going to celebrate Advent in April. Advent is traditionally centered on the Old Testament prophecies concerning a coming Messiah and His establishment of an earthly kingdom. And this Sunday, we have the first of four chapters in the book of Jeremiah (chapter 30) where the Lord gives His people a bunch of promises to look forward to, except He gives th...

Well, this week we have one of the key chapters in the book of Jeremiah (chapter 29) where the Lord tells His people how they are going to live, work, have families, and keep the faith while they're in exiled in Babylon. Of course, this chapter includes one of the most popular verses in the world Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, pl...

This week's passage is Jeremiah 27-28. We're getting into the second half of Jeremiah, and the Lord seems to be hammering home the themes of His sovereignty and our submission. As we've seen in past weeks, our submission isn't really a choice. We will submit to the Lord, regardless of if we want to or not. We will either submit to His refining and sanctifying, or we will s...

It's been a crazy week. That usually happens when I try to do too much stuff in too little time. It's also why this is coming to you so late. Apologies all around. This week we're in Jeremiah 26 and it's a different chapter than any of them we've seen so far. Jeremiah continues to preach, he gets arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced to death, overturned on appeal, and in...

Well, this week we have another passage in Jeremiah (chapters 24-25) where the Lord tells His people who they are, what will happen to them (both good and bad), and why those things are going to happen. Of course, He's told them these kinds of things already. So why say them again? Because now He will present them in a paradoxical (or opposite) sort of way. For those who ...

It's March and my son is already home for Spring Break! This semester is going fast. Baseball teams are at spring training, and soon we'll be filling out brackets for March Madness. And Lent isjust starting, which means Easter is only 40 days away! The other thing about March that we've been promoting is Mission:Possible, a challenge to invite an unchurched family in y...

Well, this week we have another long stretch of Jeremiah (there will be a lot of those over the coming months) where the Lord compares and contrasts the Kings of Judah. Using the prophet Jeremiah, He calls out specific kings and states how they have fallen short of what he expects of a king. And yet the criticisms the Lord levels, although harsh, are surprisingly common. T...

Wow! It's been six weeks since the last sermon I preached. It will be good to be back in the pulpit. You all have been very patient with my preaching absence (some of you have even enjoyed it)! So, first of all, I'm very grateful to Dave Dorst and Frank Wang for filling in and doing such a great job (including our first video sermon!). It was wonderful to hear from Paul Ha...

Between paternity leave and snow days, I feel like I've been away forever. It's great to be back, even though I'm slowly working myself back up to a full schedule. It also feels like so much has happened since I've been gone. I guess that's to be expected when adding a baby to the family dynamic. On that topic, I want to thank all of you for your care and support of my...

You might be wondering why it says "guest preacher" when it's Pastor Dave Dorst from Leesburg preaching to us this Sunday. But it's not me - it's the older, wiser (and even more competitive) Dr. Dave Dorst who pastors Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Leesburg, Florida. I'm really excited that he'll be speaking on the Men's Retreat and then preaching to the whole co...