Resources by David Strain
Verses 3 through 9 rehearse for us our great Gospel privileges. In 3 through 5, the apostle Peter lists those privileges; he outlines them for us in a marvelous summary of the riches of God’s grace and blessing in our lives. And then in 6 through 9, he applies those blessings to the particular context of Christian suffering. You might say in 3 through 5 Peter says our...
We are only going to look at verses 1 and 2 today by way of introduction to the letter, but I want you to notice in these two introductory verses that Peter already is setting forth two themes that will be architectonic; they’ll be shaping and foundational for everything else he will say in his letter. First in verse 1, he talks about the Christian in relation to...
First, in verse 1, we’ll spend some time thinking together about the crisis of mercy ministry; the circumstances that gave rise to the institution of the diaconate. The crisis of mercy ministry. Then in verses 2 and 3, the call of mercy ministry. Mercy ministry is the burden and calling actually of the whole church and every Christian, so we need to think about that and the role...
But today we conclude, as I say, the prophecy of Micah. And one of the things we have noticed, a feature of Micah’s prophecy, is the way that he holds two things together. He sort of alternates back and forth between them. On the one hand there is a remarkable honest and realistic view in Micah of the problems of his own immediate context. The elites in Micah’s...
We have been working our way steadily through the book of Micah and we’ve come to the penultimate chapter this evening. Micah really has been alternating back and forth between an oracle of judgment and rebuke on the people of Israel, the northern kingdom, the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, alternating back and forth between that an a promise of coming blessing in the age of Messiah...
The first half of Micah chapter 5, really, you could say is also about a leadership transition. In verse 1, the Assyrians deliver a devastating insult, really a devastating insult for an ancient near eastern king. Look at verse 1. “With a rod, they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.” So, it’s a way of graphically demonstrating the utter contempt with which the Assyrians hold this...
We come tonight to the famous story of Jesus walking on the water, coming to the disciples who had begun, you will remember, to cross the Sea of Galilee in a boat ahead of Him, leaving Jesus behind them on the shore. And we’re going to notice three things in the text. First, this is a story about revelation - God revealing Himself in Jesus Christ to His...
When I was a kid in the UK, I used to watch “Doctor Who” every week. “Doctor Who” - is that something you know about? Some of you are looking at me blankly. I suppose not! I think there’s a reboot of “Dr. Who” that’s still available. When I was a kid, it was a very popular British sci-fi show in which the doctor, he traveled through time...
If you look at chapter 4 for a minute, you’ll see it falls into two sections, each section distinguished by the time in which it takes place. In verse 1 and again in verse 6 you’ll notice that this first section takes place “in the latter days.” That’s how verse 1 is introduced. Verse 6 continues, “in that day.” So, 1 through 8 is the first section of...
We began to consider the message of Micah a few weeks ago. We turn now to these two chapters were Micah continues his oracle, his message of rebuke and discipline on wayward Israel. Israel is divided into two kingdoms - the northern kingdom takes the name “Israel,” the southern kingdom the name, “Judah,” but they are God’s people. Micah has an oracle of warning and judgment for them...
Over the last year or so when I’ve had opportunity to preach for a few weeks on Sunday evenings we’ve been engaged in a series looking together at the gospel according to Mark. And so let me invite you to take a Bible in hand and turn back there with me again this evening. Mark chapter 6. We are considering the words of verses 14 to 29 which...
R. A. Finlayson, in his magnificent little book, The Cross in the Experience of Our Lord, which you should try to get ahold of if you’re looking for something edifying and helpful to read, The Cross in the Experience of Our Lord, by R. A. Finlayson, he recounts a saying that he had heard of among the Scottish people. He said this, “There’s a strange idea among the Scottish people...
So what do we learn about Micah and Micah's prophecy? Well, first we should take notice of his name. His name means, "Who is like the Lord?" from which I think we can infer at least that it was a godly family from which Micah has come and they're concerned for their child, much like the covenant parents who were having their own children baptized today, is that...
You’ll notice there’s not a single word of prayer in Psalm 103. Psalm 103 is not addressed to God. To whom is this psalm addressed? Verse 1, you’ll see actually it begins and ends the same way, verse 1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Verse 20, “Bless the Lord, O you...
So these remaining verses of Colossians 4, at first glance, may appear slim pickings for rich teaching. But actually, if we take some time and look a little closer, I hope we'll see that what Paul is doing is providing some lived examples that put flesh on the bones of the skeleton of truth that he's been teaching in the body of the letter. We all benefit from...
Now in verses 5 and 6, our focus this morning, his concern is still with the promotion of the Gospel and its advance in the world. Only now he seeks to enlist the Colossians themselves as evangelists. So last time in verses 2 through 4 we thought about the place, pattern, and priorities of faithful prayer. Today we’re going to think, in verses 5 and 6, about the...
I want you to have some sense of what kind of story this is. The Christian message centers on the fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It’s not a metaphor or a symbol for some abstract spiritual experience. It’s not a myth concocted by the religiously deranged or a deception deployed by the strong to manipulate the weak. It is a fact of...
In the passage we are considering tonight, really verses 7 through 13, Jesus will call the twelve disciples together and He’s going to send them out in pairs on a mission of their own. And if you put these two sections of this chapter together, verses 1 through 6 and 7 through 13, you can see part of the point. Jesus’ reception at Nazareth and His mission in...
For most of Mark's account of Jesus' ministry thus far, Jesus has been preaching and teaching in and around the Galilean town of Capernaum. That's been His adopted home base. At the end of chapter 3, we learn that Jesus' mother and brothers came down to Capernaum from their family home in Nazareth where Jesus was raised to persuade Jesus to stop all this preaching nonsense and to...