Confession on SermonAudio

In this sermon from Job 42:1-6, Pastor Green brings the book of Job to its climax, where Job finally answers the Lord and repents in dust and ashes. His central burden is that this book is not chiefly about theodicy or the justification of suffering, but about God Himself—a sovereign Lord who is also immanent, present with His servant in the very depths of the storm. Pastor Green reminds the congregation that God initiated Job's trials from the heavenly courtroom, and that even Satan is restrained, a creature on a string serving God's purposes. Working through Job's confession, Pastor Green unfolds three movements: revelation, reflection, and repentance. Job had heard of God by the hearing of the ear, but now his eye sees Him. True repentance, the sermon insists, is always grounded in God's self-revelation and flows into faith. Job cannot atone for himself or be his own redeemer; he points forward to Christ, the spotless Lamb and suffering Servant who alone could be crushed for His people. Pastor Green presses the application toward pastoral care and personal holiness. Believers are called to counsel sufferers by beginning with revelation rather than scolding, and to grab hold of repentance boldly and joyfully, leaping at it as a sign of resurrection life. Repentance divorced from joy is not biblical repentance. The sermon closes by urging hearers to let Christ be the bait that draws them, to live for an audience of One, and to trust the living Redeemer in the dark, sharing this hope with gentleness toward a watching world.

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THE DESPISED SERVANT (Isa 53:1-3) 1. Future Israel Confesses Her Unbelief V1 2. Future Israel Confesses the Resons for her Unbelief V2-3

Pastor Mark Hogan teaches on congregational singing as a commanded gospel ordinance of Christ's churches, defending it from the Confession of Faith ch. 22, para. 5 and 17th-century Particular Baptists such as Robert Purnell. He grounds it in Old Testament calls to sing (Psalm 96:1-2; 98:4; 67:4; 117:1; Isaiah 35:10; 51:11) and Christ's hymn after the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:27-30), with the core theology in Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16: singing is Word ministry, mutual teaching and admonition, and both vertical praise and horizontal edification. He affirms inclusive psalmody, keeping the 150 Psalms central as Christ-centered, inspired, and Calvin's anatomy of the soul, while allowing other songs only if faithful to Scripture and suited to corporate worship, as with Holy, Holy, Holy. Drawing on Hercules Collins, he applies this by calling every member to sing with understanding and zeal (1 Corinthians 14:15), stir up grace (Psalm 103:1-2; 57:7-8), avoid overpowering others or treating singing as entertainment, follow the song leader, and sing with faith and heavenly anticipation.

The Regulative Principle teaches that God alone determines how He is to be worshiped, permitting only what Scripture commands and forbidding human inventions or traditions. It regulates public worship to the divinely appointed elements: Scripture reading and preaching, prayer, singing, and the sacraments; while leaving circumstances to our sanctified wisdom. The Regulative Principle preserves the purity, focus, and Christian liberty of Christ's church in doctrine, government, mission, and worship.

This sermon explores the spiritual journey of Thomas as depicted in John 20, tracing his progression from absence to doubt and finally to confession. It emphasizes that while Thomas is often remembered for his skepticism, his story begins with isolation from the gathered church and ends with a profound declaration of Jesus' divinity. The message encourages believers to overcome despondency and unbelief by actively participating in corporate worship, where the presence of Christ is most powerfully manifested. It highlights that the evidence for faith is sufficient in Scripture and the testimony of the church, challenging listeners to trust in the unseen Christ rather than demanding personal miracles. Ultimately, the sermon affirms that those who believe without seeing are blessed, possessing a life in Christ that surpasses all worldly wealth and power.

Have you ever felt that there is a disconnect between what the church is, and what Scripture says it should be? The church is meant to be a hospital for the hurting, but some of our wounds are self-inflicted. Instead of helping to bear one another's burdens, we are sometimes afraid to get involved. Jesus calls us a city on a hill but sometimes the church is an almost invisible secret society. Rather than despair over our shortcomings as a church, we should once again consult God's blueprint for the church, confess our sins, and make a fresh start, pressing on in our high calling. Ephesians can help. Eugene Peterson put it this way: "We immerse ourselves in Ephesians to acquire a clean, uncluttered imagination of the ways and means by which the Holy Spirit forms church out of just such lives as ours." The first two verses are a powerful first-impression of God's plan for the church.