Deut. 28:15–19 Jer. 11:1–5 John 11:45–53 2 Cor. 5:16–21 Around the year A.D. 130, an early Christian wrote a letter to a skeptic named Diognetus, and he explained that the work of Jesus Christ for sinners like this: "O sweet exchange!" In this message, we see how God poured out His justice against His Son in order to show mercy and goodness to us.

In a world of pain and sorrow, Scripture teaches us to take refuge at God's right hand (Psalm 17:7), where Jesus is preparing a Kingdom for His people. In the blessings given to Joseph and Benjamin, we get a glimpse of that Kingdom and of the Son of God's Right Hand. In Him, we have the strength to overcome adversity while we wait.

In this reflection from Reformation Sunday 2025, we consider the joy of being Reformed Christians.

The 12 sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of Israel, the assembly of God's people at that time. We are one with them, and we learn about ourselves by studying them. It’s like a Bible-based personality assessment, helping us know who we are and what our place is in the Church. We are unique in what we bring to the table. But, like them, we are united in our need for the grace of God. In this message, we learn that because we are waiting for the same salvation as the patriarchs, we can grow in ...

Gen. 14:17–20 Ezek. 34:11–24 Luke 23:44–49 Heb. 5:5–10 Part of being any calling is learning its vocabulary. If you work in finances, you have to know the difference between assets and liabilities; equity, debit, and credits, and so on. There’s a Christian vocabulary too. It’s part of our calling. In this message, we learn the term “hypostatic union," which teaches that the Lord Jesus is one PERSON with two NATURES.

Lions take advantage of the early morning hours to roar loudly as a warning to all who would try to take their territory. Lions are fierce and mighty. And in this passage, the patriarch Jacob blesses his fourth-born son Judah by calling him a lion. One will come from Judah's line who is like a lion. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, descended from Judah’s tribe, a leader worth following.

Gen. 15:1–6 Jer. 23:1–8 Matt. 1:18–25 Heb. 2:14–18 Ever get tired of waiting? If you open the Bible, that’s a pretty constant complaint. “How long, O Lord?” is a question that’s on repeat. The incarnation of the Son of the God is God's answer to that question. In this message, we look at Matthew 1:18–25 to see how this great miracle came about and why God did it.

Have you ever thought about what you’d like to use your last words for? In Jacob's deathbed scene, he speaks prophetic blessings to his 12 sons. These words set the trajectory for the tribes that come from these men, and also give us a glimpse of life in the Church. In his first three sons—Reuben, Simeon, and Levi—we learn what God is able to do even through sinners whose sins echo down to the next generation.

Gen. 3:8–15 Lam. 3:49–60 Mark 5:24b–34 Heb. 2:14–18 When humankind fell into sin, God could've acted in swift and overwhelming justice. But instead, He made a promise. He promised that a chosen offspring would come to battle the devil, and undo all his harm. This is the promise of the covenant of grace, forged by divine love, and useful for us in all our trials and temptations.

God’s will was that the covenant promises would pass on to the next generation in the unexpected way. That’s the divine pattern. He uses the weak to shame the strong. In Jacob’s adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh, we see Jacob embrace this divine pattern. After years of learning to discern the grace of God, he gets it right. This gracious God still works like this in the world today. And because that’s the case, we’re called, like Joseph, to put away our assumptions, and embrace God’s way of gr...

What has the Church to do with the state? Genesis 47 gives us plenty of biblical insights into how God's people—who abound in blessings—are to bless the nations they inhabit. Energized by the redemption we have in Christ, we are called to godly engagement with our earthly governments, even while we rest and hope for the eternal Kingdom of God.

Deut. 7:6–11 Isa. 41:5–10 John 15:15–17 Eph. 1:3–14 The doctrine of election is not meant to be a topic for debate, but good news for sinners. God has chosen to save those who could not and would not save themselves. And in this message, we learn where this choice comes from, what it leads to, and why we teach it.

What has the Church to do with the Family? In Genesis, the covenant family of Abraham is the Church, and so we are given wonderful answers to this question when we study how this family makes it through trials from without and from within. In this message, we learn that the blessings God has given His Church are so abundant that they overflow to families who join themselves to it: the blessings of peace, covenant worship, and family honor.

Gen. 5:1–11 Job 14:1–6 Matt. 15:10–20 Rom. 5:12–21 Have you ever wondered why it is harder to maintain good habits than it is to slip into bad ones? Why do we need to teach children, over and over again, how to obey while disobedience comes naturally? In short—why is it so much easier to do wrong? The answer is that we have a deep, ingrained problem called a sin nature, or "original sin." Original sin is the corruption that all people have inherited from Adam and that ...

In this next section of the Joseph story, his brothers experience the biggest twist imaginable: not only that Joseph is still alive, but that he still loves them as family. This is the great unveiling that happens to all people who come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:11 says that Jesus is not ashamed to call us "brothers.” What else does Jesus reveal to us about Himself? We answer that question in this sermon.

Gen. 1:26–28 Ps. 14:1–7 John 6:41–51 Rom. 8:5–11 The future is here. World leaders speak about immortality through continuous organ transplants. Tech companies discuss how to upload our consciousness to the “digital afterlife." What does all this mean for humankind? In this message, we return to the doctrine of the image of God, which teaches us that we were made with spiritual excellence, but that has been lost in the Fall.

At some point or another, most people get into a situation where they have to muster the courage and go and do it, and the higher the stakes, the easier it is to be afraid. When it comes to God, the stakes couldn’t be higher. How to we come to Him? In Genesis 43, this dilemma that is laid out for us, and the process of Joseph's brothers coming to ask him for what they need shows teaches us today how to approach God. It is only through a willing substitute.

Exod. 9:13–18 2 Sam. 24:1–15 John 9:1–7 Jas. 1:12–18 Have you ever been told that you have control issues? Actually everyone struggles with the thought that they may not be steering the ship. In the doctrine of providence, we learn how God controls all things. Providence is God's "orderly arrangement" of all things, in line with His own nature, without causing sin, for His glory and the good of His people. It is an unspeakable comfort.

Repentance is when a person turns away from his sin toward God and others. In this chapter in the story of Joseph, when the first signs of repentance show in his treacherous brothers, we are given a glimpse of how the Lord produces true repentance in us.

In Genesis 41, a great famine strikes the land of Egypt and surrounding countries, and God raises up Joseph to save the people during it. Famine is a time of deep hunger, and in this passage, we learn that through the Greater Joseph—our Lord Jesus Christ—we are delivered from our deepest hungers.