Deuteronomy 6:1-9: Summary:The Israelites are poised, after a long delay due to their sinful disobedience and hard-hearts, to enter the promised land. God calls for covenant faithfulness, a life built around communicating God's faithfulness and how to worship and serve him as his chosen people. As Christians we find ourselves party to a new and better covenant, and called to faithfully know and communicate the message of salvation procured by the Word of God. The Scripture gives us everything we need in order to know God and please him. And with it he invites us to invite others to know Him.

Sermon Outline:

This is the commandment, vv1-3

Hear, O Israel, vv4-5

You shall teach them, vv6-9

1 Timothy 6:11-16: Summary:Against a prideful brand of teaching and teachers marked and giving license to various sins contrary to the doctrine of Christ and His Gospel, Paul exhorts Timothy, the man of God, (a) to pursue holiness, (b) to endure in believing, and (c) to be above reproach until, at the proper time, Christ appears. This appearance is in the hands of God and, as such, is a gift He's most happy to give (the Blessed), and is most sure to give (the only Sovereign), and is most able to give (alone immortal). The immortality implicit in Christ's appearing is God's to give us. By it---that is, through Jesus, we're enabled to approach and see Him Who is unapproachably holy and invisible. That is the gift. May He have all the glory for it. And in the meantime, may it be our aim to honor Him by a life that's worthy of the Gospel.

Sermon Outline:

The man of God defined, 6:11a.

The man of God's charge, 6:11b-14.

Flee and pursue, 6:11b-c.

Fight and take hold, 6:12.

Keep and preserve, 6:13-14a.

The man of God's hope: the God-Man's appearing, 6:14b-16.

Hebrews 13:1-16: Summary:

In Christ, we've come, as it were, to Mt. Zion---and yet, we are not yet Home. The author of Hebrews speaks to the Christian life in the in-between. We might call it City-life. He speaks quickly but broadly to specific manifestations of Christian conduct: love, hospitality, compassion, marital-honor, contentment, and considerate discipleship. And as in this world, that may lead to persecution, so that some teach Christ in order to avoid the offense of His cross, the church needs to be rooted in the immutability of Christ's Person and Work. Our teachers, good or poor, will come and go, and things may change all around us, but Christ is ever the same. So we're to avoid teaching that's strange to Scripture, while sticking with the word of His grace. That will strengthen our hearts to remain faithful to Jesus when it is hard to be so---and it will be hard. Christ suffered outside the gate, and so too must we. Solidarity with Him may very well separate us from life in this world. What will hold us fast, if not that we're seeking a lasting City to come? Where we establish permanence will determine our path in this world. As the King increases in us, so too will His forever City and, consequently, we'll find all the stability we need to live on Calvary.

Sermon Outline:

City-life for City-folk, 13:1-7.

City-prep for City-life, 13:8-16.

The immutable Christ, 13:8-9.

The altar of Christ, 13:10-13.

The City of Christ, 13:14.

Titus 2:10b-15: Summary:

The Cretan churches are being infiltrated and disturbed by Judaizers and their own Cretan culture. Paul writes to Titus to put things that have fallen out of order back into good order. He says that the very truth of the Gospel is on the line in the conduct of the churches, for it evinces the reality of God's grace in Christ. Some want to make grace a license for sin. Paul says such do not understand the purpose of God's grace. It's epiphany or manifestation in Christ's incarnation, return, and death (Paul's arrangement in the text) regenerates, trains, and motivates all Christ's own to be godly and zealous for good works as a testimony to the doctrine of salvation. Godliness is the product of keeping eyes on Jesus, back upon His cross, ahead to His appearing, always in His school of grace. Titus is to declare these things with the authority of Christ; and so, the churches are to give the word of godliness, whether exhortation or rebuke, their most attentive and appreciative ear. Where the King increases in us, so too will space for godliness and good deeds.

Sermon Outline:

Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior: the churches' situation, 2:10b.

Adorn godliness because Christ has appeared, 2:11-12.

Adorn godliness because Christ will appear, 2:13.

Adorn godliness because Christ has atoned, 2:14.

Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior: the delegate's commission, 2:15.

Acts 2:42-47: Jesus has come, lived, died, been raised, ascended and, by the Spirit, descended into our very hearts. By Him, He's taken up residence within His people---and it is evident. Peter preaches the first official Christian sermon, and Christ saves many. He is building His Church. Our text explores the earliest version of us, what marked us at our most infant and purest and, thus, what should be prescriptive for us today. That mark is devotion to the Word, table fellowship, prayer, care, praise, and outreach as a unified Gospel community. Such a new creation community is supernaturally compelling. It begets awe, generosity, favor, affirmation and, Lord willing, the saving of many souls. As God does His extraordinary work through the ordinary means of grace, it is incumbent upon us to take up and/or keep up that to which the Holy Spirit says this first church devoted themselves. We will make space for it where Christ increases in us.

Sermon Outline:

Be devoted to the formal means of grace, 2:42-43.

Be devoted to familial displays of grace, 2:44-47a.

Be driven to devotion by its general effect: the Lord's application of grace, 2:47b.

Matthew 11:25-30: Summary: Jesus has just declared the condemnation of those cities that have not repented in light of His revelation. Far from discouragement, He looks to His Father, the Lord of Heaven and earth, and thanks Him for the inscrutable wisdom of His eternal decree as it relates to the saving efficacy of the truth about Jesus. He hides from those who think they see and reveals to those who, by common grace, know they're rather blind. Still, that is not a merit. The revelation of Christ in the soul is according to sheer grace. It is completely cut off from Man's ability to know. Only God knows God---but Christ chooses to reveal Him to His people. It is His to give. To that end, He gives a rather general call to all who, having a sense of their spiritual death, destitution, and despair, would come to Him for grace and rest. A yoke, a classroom, even a burden abides for any who do, but the Master has changed, and that is all the difference. He is gentle and lowly in heart. He relieves the burden of the yoke, finally, by exchanging our sin and shame for His saving grace. Where Christ, then, takes up more room in our hearts, our hearts will find more space for Rest.

Sermon Outline:

Jesus thanking: the Father's pleasure, 11:25-26

Jesus revealing: the Son's grace, 11:27

Jesus calling: the soul's rest, 11:28-30

John 4:1-30: Sermon Outline:

The setting: Jesus wearied, 4:1-6.

The Savior of sinners, 4:7-26.

Engaging, 4:7-9.

Relating, 4:10-15.

Convicting, 4:16-18.

Clarifying, 4:19-24.

Revealing, 4:25-26.

The sinner saved, 4:27-30.

John 3:22-36: Summary:

Jesus and His disciples are baptizing. So are John the Baptist's. Spurned on by a discussion about purification, John's disciples alert John that all the people are going to Jesus to be baptized. They are, we might say, losing their share in the baptism business. John ensures them that this is what is supposed to happen. He teaches them that their ministry is a gift of God. It's all from Him. And it's about Christ. But John's not Christ. Jesus is. This is what John taught. Heaven forbid he steal the Bride away from the Groom! The friend of the Groom rejoices in His Voice. Hearing Jesus, John's joy is now complete. His ministry is fulfilled and vanishing---and he's glad about it. 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' It's his task to make way for more of Jesus. John the evangelist then gives an extended meditation on the glory of Jesus Christ, further clarifying the key to a joyful and fruitful ministry from above: a steadfast focus on the preeminence of Jesus. He unpacks this preeminence as Jesus being the Heaven-down Expositor of God, supremely manifest in His role as the Beloved and Sovereign Savior of sinners.

Sermon Outline:

Taking from John the Baptist?: Jesus increasing, 3:22-26.

Learning from John the Baptist: Jesus must increase, 3:27-30.

Building on John the Baptist: Jesus cannot increase enough, 3:31-36.

John 3:9-21: Summary

The all-critical conversation continues between Nicodemus and Jesus. Jesus has told him about the necessity of the new birth for entering the Kingdom of God, as well as the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in bringing it, mysteriously but visibly, about. The teaching, however biblical, befuddles this great teacher of Israel. How can this happen?, he asks. Jesus finds his response incredible---and *unbelieving. If he can't get the new birth, how can he believe in the *crucifixion of the divine Christ for the salvation of the world? As only Jesus can, as One from Heaven, He reveals the redemptive plan of Heaven, historically prefigured in the account of the brazen serpent. Christ escalates the story, and John goes still further in his meditation upon it for us. The *atonement is the *gracious manifestation of the *love of God for a dreadfully *evil world. It has no greater expression than the saving death of His Son for sinners. The *responsibility is laid upon us to believe in Him. His *salvation implies *judgment for all who do not believe in Him. The root of unbelief is a love of sin and, ironically, a fear of judgment. The text exists to counteract that fear. The Judge is first the Savior. In contrast to the habit of the unbeliever, the born again, the believer in Christ, will make a habit of *living in the light. They fear no judgment. Love has won in their hearts, and they long only for God to be displayed and *glorified in their lives.

Sermon Outline

The dark fruit: an object lesson in unbelief, 3:9-12.

Heaven opened upon it: divine love chiefly manifest in saving grace, 3:13-18.

Man's self-judgment: hating this Light for the blinded-love of sin, 3:19-20.

The fruit of new Life: openly glued to Jesus for God's glory, 3:21.

John 2:23-3:8: Summary:

Still Passover. Jesus has done a lot of signs, and a lot of people have believed in Him. We expect this to be a joyful note. It's *not. This 'belief' is met with skepticism by Jesus Himself. Jesus knows all people. Jesus *knew what was 'in Man,' and it's not at all flattering. It's the deceptive effects of the Fall. John gives us a 'case in point.' Nicodemus was 'a man' with a lot of good things going for him in the eyes of Man. But Jesus tells this 'man' that he needs to be *born again. Proving his spiritual blindness, he doesn't get it. Jesus clarifies. He needs to be born of water and the Spirit. *Flesh can only produce flesh. Only the *Spirit can produce spirit, i.e., divine life in the soul of 'a man.' The new birth is not something we can bring about for ourselves. Only God can do this. Still, we 'must be born again.' This is a *sovereign, gracious, and evident work of the Holy Spirit. Like the wind, He comes and goes and blows wherever He wishes---and where He does, the newly born person becomes *proof positive of it. It shows---first and foremost in urgent repentance and *true faith in Jesus Christ (which we'll emphasize next week).

Sermon Outline:

John's alarm: the reality of an unbelieving 'faith,' 2:23-3:2.

This reality narrated, 2:23-25.

This reality exhibited, 3:1-2.

Jesus' answer to it: 'You must be born again,' 3:3-8.

The eternal necessity of the new birth, 3:3-7.

Seeing and entering, 3:3-5.

Flesh and Spirit, 3:6-7.

The Spirit's sovereignty in the new birth, 3:8.

The personal visibility of the born again, 3:8.