When Faith Becomes Sight: The Glory That Awaits
Have you ever wondered what it will be like when your faith becomes sight? What will you experience when you finally see what you have long hoped for? Dan Cruver concludes our four-part series, Giving Faith Something to See, by exploring the glory that awaits us in Romans 8:18–25.
No Fluctuating Father
The great Puritan theologian Richard Sibbes wrote: “This is the wisdom of a Christian, to have sights of faith, that is, to present several things that faith may work upon to strengthen itself, as for faith to have a sight of God in Christ, a gracious Father.” Listen as Dan Cruver explores Galatians 4:4–9 to help us see by faith our loving Father in Christ.
Faith for the Gap
How you relate to God daily largely determines whether you will enjoy and commune with Him throughout the day. Someone might say, “Well, I relate to God by faith.” That’s good as far as it goes, but what does that actually mean? Listen as Dan Cruver continues our four-part series, Giving Faith Something to See, by looking at “Faith for the Gap” from Galatians 3:23–26.
Faith in the Gap
For every Christian, there is a gap between who we are in practice right now and who we will be when we are glorified. Navigating that gap is not easy because the terrain of life in this fallen world is full of dangers. This Sunday Dan Cruver will begin a four-part series titled, Giving Faith Something to See, based on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We will begin in Galatians 5:1–5 to strengthen our faith “in the gap.”
A Wardrobe Prayer
Have you ever felt like the good news of the gospel is just too good to be true? What are we to do when it sounds better than our finite minds can possibly imagine? The Apostle Paul addresses this very question in Ephesians 3:14–21.
Our Assurance at the Coming Judgment
God has established a day when He will judge the world with righteousness (Acts 17:31). That future day is coming. For those who do not trust in Christ, that day is to be feared. But for those of us who trust in Christ, it is a day that we are to face with unwavering confidence. Unfortunately, many believers often grapple with fear when contemplating the arrival of that day, whether it be through death or Christ’s return. In our text, 1 John 4:7-21, we explore how the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit transforms our fear into confidence.
Our Assurance at Christ’s Coming
This Sunday, we are wading into what many consider the most challenging text to interpret in John’s first letter (1 John 2:28–3:10), particularly in relation to the Christian’s assurance. As we have seen the last two Sundays, the apostle John wants us, as Christ’s people, to be sure that we truly know the Father (1 John 5:13). He accomplishes this by grounding our assurance in the apostolic gospel of the resurrected and ascended Christ (1:1–4; 2:1–2). This coming Sunday, we will consider how our assurance holds up at the prospect of the resurrected Christ’s return. Please read 1 John 2:28–3:10 and join us on Sunday as we bring the gospel to bear upon our future as the people of God.
Our Assurance Against Sin
In these uncertain times, the apostle John wants us, as Christ’s people, to be sure that we truly know the Father (1Jn. 5:13). And he does so by immediately directing our focus to the apostolic gospel (1:1–4). In our text, 1 John 1:5–2:2, we examine one persistent threat to our assurance as Christians: the presence of sin and our daily battle against it.
Our Assurance as Christians
In this series, Gospel Assurance in a De-Conversion Age, we examine John’s first letter to strengthen our faith amidst an uncertain world. In this sermon we focus on 1 John 5:13 and 1:1-4. John wrote his letter to a Christian community struggling with inner turmoil caused by false teachers who had been a part of the church. In response, John emphasizes the importance of embracing the apostolic gospel to attain assurance. Ultimately, our assurance rests upon Jesus Christ himself, the unwavering foundation of our faith.
Why So Assured?
This sermon is our second in a two-part series, Battling the Prodigal’s Suspicion: Resting in the Assurance of the Father’s Love. As we learned in the previous sermon, Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church was tailor-made to address our tendency to doubt the Father’s love for us. That’s why he ends his letter with these words, a summary of his letter: “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible” (Eph. 6:23, 24).
Why So Suspicious?
When the prodigal son decided to return to his father in Luke 15, Jesus highlights the fact that the son was suspicious that his father still loved him as a father (v. 19). In his book Children of the Living God, Sinclair Ferguson argues that Luke 15 teaches us that “the reality of the love of God for us is often the last thing in the world to dawn upon us” (27). This is the first of two sermons where Dan Cruver helps us consider how Paul’s letter to the Ephesians addresses this very problem in a series from Ephesians 6:23, Battling the Prodigal’s Suspicion: Resting in the Assurance of the Father’s Love.
The Generosity of the Father and Christian Obedience
In this sermon we hear from Ephesians 1:3-14. Even with just a cursory reading of Paul’s words to the Ephesians here, it’s nearly impossible to miss how incredibly generous the Father is to us. But what can easily be missed if we are not careful is how the Father’s generosity actually relates to and interacts with all the commands found in the second half of Paul’s epistle. Listen to explore how the Father’s generosity relates to our Christian obedience.
Loving Authority
In this sermon, Dan Cruver preaches from Mark 11:27-12:12. Jesus finds his authority aggressively questioned by the religious leaders. We learn that they despise his authority precisely because it threatens theirs. What they fail to see (or believe) is that Jesus’ authority is filled with good news!
Jesus, You, and God-forsakenness
The worst possible experience that anyone can ever face is God-forsakenness. Ever since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, humanity has been profoundly haunted by the sense of being forsaken by God. Even as Christians, from time-to-time (sometimes often), we struggle with the feeling that we have been abandoned by God, that God has left us to fend for ourselves. What are we to do when that is our experience?
Jesus, You, and the Father’s Goodness
Being confident in God’s goodness to us is not as easy as it may seem. Entertaining doubt about the goodness of God ultimately led to Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, and this doubt continues to plague us. If we are not confident in God’s goodness, our circumstances will toss us to-and-fro and faithful Christian living becomes impossible. Listen in as we look at Psalm 16, a psalm of supreme confidence in the goodness of God in life and in death.
Two Ways of Seeing
In a world where darkness seems to prevail, Psalm 36 presents the light of God in striking, hope-giving, life-satisfying images. Listen in to hear more about the God who is our light in the darkness.
The Incarnation and Two Ways of Living
There is a temptation that Christians often face: to believe that our acceptance by God is based on our performance before God. The incarnation turns this on its head. In this text from Galatians 4:1–9, Paul tells the Galatian church that this kind of living is slavish. The saving gospel says that “God sent forth His Son…in order to redeem us…in order that we might receive adoption as sons.”
God in Our Story
The Gospel of Matthew provides the account of Jesus’ baptism and temptation (Matt. 3:13–4:2) in order that our trust in Him might be strengthened and grown. God has given this account to all those “who are weary and heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28) in order that we might find rest and empowerment for daily living.
