Bart Byl on Psalm 58.

In Psalm 58 David gives us words to express our outrage at unjust, violent strongmen to our God who is righteous and true. As we pray we renounce violence and leave it to the Lord to take vengeance, remembering that the cross is the supreme demonstration of divine justice—the only justice that brings healing, forgiveness, and restoration.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on James 5:7-11.

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do—but what if it's where God does most of his work in his life? That's why we need to develop patience, the capacity to endure a long period of difficulty without losing heart. We must learn to trust that God is good and wise, and that he himself is marvellously patient with us.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on James 3:13-18.

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit

Peace: wholeness, flourishing, life in harmony with God, ourselves, and the world around us. What does it mean to live in peace in the midst of a violent world? James points to bitter envy and selfish ambition as the root problem, all because "you do not ask God". When we are secure in God's care, we no longer need to fight with others for scarce resources. We're freed to say, "I was wrong," and "I forgive you."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Psalm 98.

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit

We shout for joy before the Lord because of his great goodness — not because of our emotional state, personality type, or immediate circumstances. As we call to mind God's mighty acts of salvation, his unchanging faithfulness, and coming kingdom, we summon all humanity and even the non-human creation to a jubilant song of praise to our Redeemer. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on 1 John 4:7-21.

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is love. The primary and most basic evidence that we are abiding in Christ is that we love each fervently, from the heart. But we lack the inner resources to do this. John reminds us that we love because love comes from God — God is love. He demonstrated his love for us supremely at the cross. When we replenish our own hearts with God's love, we find ourselves able to love each other with God's own trinitarian love.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Galatians 3:13-26.

Series: The Fruit of the Spirit

We begin a new series on the Fruit of the Spirit with the encouragement that God is committed to changing us — so much so that he has given the double gift of Son and Spirit. Your transformation isn’t your response to the gospel: it is part of the good news of what God has committed to do for you. Of course, we aren’t passive: we’re called to walk in sympathy with the Spirit’s footsteps.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Matthew 2:1-12.

One day a caravan of mysterious strangers emerge from the desert and begin asking around in Jerusalem for the one who was born king of the Jews, “for we have seen his star when it rose.” These Persian or Babylonian astrologers are the first Gentiles who come to worship Jesus, and their courage and determination to seek Jesus should provoke our own quest to bow down before the Light of the world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Isaiah 25:6-9, 26:1-4, 17-19.

Series: The Nicene Creed

Almost eight centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah prophecies a victory banquet for all nations, celebrating God’s victory over death. There the guests exclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us.” With the clearer light of Christ, we now confess with the Nicene Creed, "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” And we yearn for the best and highest gift of that everlasting life: seeing the face of God.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Acts 2:32-41.

Series: The Nicene Creed

“We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” the Nicene Creed reads. Forgiveness meets us, as God’s free gift, at the very beginning of the Christian life. As we struggle against sin and wrestle with the powers of darkness, we can look back at our baptism as God’s sign and seal of his unwavering promise towards us in Christ.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Ephesians 2:11-22.

Series: The Nicene Creed

There’s nothing harder in the creed to confess than, “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” Humanly speaking, nothing seems more feeble, compromised, distracted, divided, sinful, corrupt, or even abusive than the church. But our faith is in the Triune God, who creates, redeems, sustains, and perfects his church. It is he who makes the Church one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.