King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The final episodes in the book of Judges (17-21) are something like an appendix, describing earlier episodes in the era of the judges to help explain why the whole era was so rough. It’s likely that Samuel was the author of Judges, Ruth, and much of 1 Samuel, and he may have included these final stories here as background for what would follow in Ruth and Samuel as well. 

The overarching themes are the failure of Israelite education and the syncretistic worship that followed together with the absence of a unifying king who would fear God and protect His people. As Henry Van Til argued, “culture is religion externalized.” Every nation reflects culturally and politically the God/gods they worship. And education is always training for worship. 

The Text: “And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah…” (Judges 17:1-13

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The end of Samson’s life is largely a tale of tragic decline, but even in his sin, the Spirit warns us to avoid his failures. And perhaps most important of all, the Spirit teaches us that it is never too late and God loves to hear and answer the prayers of repentant men – and even in Samson’s death, points to the Greater Samson.

The Text: “Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither…” (Judges 16:1-31).

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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It is always encouraging to remember that there have been dark days before. There have been corruptions and conspiracies many times, and God has never been worried. God’s plan has never needed any adjustments. From the beginning, God has been deftly carrying out His purpose to save and redeem this sin infested world. He has raised up his servants in the past, and He will do so again in the future. But all of them will only be faint glimmers pointing to the hero of the whole story, Jesus Christ, our wisdom and power. This is the point of the whole story.

The Text: “But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in…” (Judges 15:1-20)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The story of Samson is a challenging test, a riddle, a parable. Even as we examine the text, the text is examining us – it is testing and cross-examining our loyalties. Samson is not a tidy Sunday school story. He is a wild man, often driven by the Holy Spirit, sometimes driven by his lusts. And the questions require us to think carefully and apply them to ourselves. 

The Text: “Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife…” (Judges 14:1-20)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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The message of the whole Bible is that God’s grace is greater than you can possibly imagine. It is an ocean that has no coasts, no bottom. His mercy endures forever.

This story of the birth of Samson is one of the places we are reminded of this, and it reminds us of the grace of God because it points so clearly to the birth of His only Son, Jesus Christ.

The Text: “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah…” (Judges 13:1-25)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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Building Christian community is one of the hardest things we are engaged in. The relative progress we have made in this venture is one of the greatest signs of God’s blessing. Only the Holy Spirit can knit people like us together.

But it also requires great wisdom, constant vigilance, and addressing sin. Bitterness and envy are not little sins that can be ignored. They are cancers that destroy families and churches and nations.

The Text: “And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire…” (Judges 12:1-15)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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As we enter the summer season, with all its God-given goodness, we would be wise to consider the unique temptations that accompany it. A wise man plans ahead and prepares. Planning is not just needed for Airbnb bookings and National Park passes. You also need to prepare your hearts and your families for the summer. You need to be “watchful” against the various temptations that you will encounter. This attitude does not dampen summer fun, but actually protects and increases the blessings that God has in store for you.

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

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In the evangelical classic The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson tells the story of his ministry to a street gang and the dramatic conversion of Nicky Cruz, a knife-wielding teenage gang leader. About 20 years later Cruz himself wrote a book called The Magnificent Three in which he wrote, “Something has emerged in my walk with God that has become the most important element of my discipleship. It has become the thing that sustains me, that feeds me, that keeps me steady when I am shaky. I have come to see God, to know Him, to relate to Him as Three-in-One, God as Trinity.”

He continues, “God is a magnificent Father. God is a magnificent Savior, Jesus Christ. But if it were not for the magnificent Holy Spirit, I would still be a wretched, hateful sinner! It is not enough to have a Father-God who loves and provides for me. It is not enough even to have a Savior who died for my sins. For any of those blessings to make a difference in our lives, there must also be present in this world that Third Person of God, the Holy Spirit.”

We refer to the Trinity regularly. We confess our faith and are baptized and blessed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but do you see this truth as magnificent?

The Text: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love…” (1 Jn. 4:7-17)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Because we live in a time where the dictionary has been ripped up and reassembled every few years and then weaponized against Christians, we live in a time that faces peculiar challenges. And this is overlaid on top of the usual temptations that have faced all people of all ages: animosity, envy, pride, and fear – frequently related to different nationalities, ethnicities, etc.

But the Holy Spirit has been poured out to remake this shattered world. The Holy Spirit is the wisdom and power and clarity of God’s Word restoring meaning, justice, and love, and with these gifts, over time, true community.

The Text: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him…” (Lev. 19:17-18, 32-36)

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.

Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.