Psalm 110 | JD Summers

Our Lord is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. Jesus is our exalted king, deserving of glory and honor because of his own humiliation in coming to earth and dying on the cross. Jesus is our priestly king, bringing redemption through his perfect sacrifice. And Jesus is our triumphant king, conquering over all his foes and righting every wrong. As Christmas draws near and our attention is drawn to the memory of Jesus as a baby in the manger, let us also remember Jesus as king, giving him the praise he deserves and receiving the mercy he provides.

Psalm 98 | JD Summers

Why is it that we worship God? What directs our praise to him? True worship is a response to what God has done, a reflection of God’s goodness and faithfulness directed back to him in the form of thanksgiving and awe. Believers should take time to look at God’s saving work, meditating on what he has done in giving Jesus Christ to provide salvation through the cross. And believers should also spend time worshipping in a biblical manner. Scripture encourages us to praise God exclusively, joyfully, publically, artistically, corporately, and submissively. And all our worship should lead us to an eternal expectation of God’s ultimate salvation. Praise be to God!

Psalm 8 | JD Summers

Advent is a time of anticipation, and the Psalms can help us replace sentimentality with awe. In the Psalms, we see God’s people eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah, marveling at his intimate care and his majestic plan. God is transcendent, yet he made the pinnacle of his creation, human beings, just a little lower than the heavenly host. And God is imminent, taking on human flesh and joining his creation as a man himself. At Christmas, we rejoice as the magnificent glory of Christ comes among us as one of us. Praise Jesus!

Luke 19:11-27 | JD Summers

While we live in the period between the first and second comings of Christ, we eagerly await his return. But we must not wait passively, as Jesus gave us a commission, commanding us to make disciples and spread the good news of his death and resurrection. Believers have a choice to respond to this responsibility in faith or to shirk our task in disobedience. Others will respond to Christ’s message of the gospel in rejection, rebelling against their true Lord. What is your response to the Son of Man, the rightful ruler of the world?

Luke 19:1-10 | JD Summers

Jesus comes to provide salvation. He seeks out the lost and brings them to salvation. He provides faith to those he saves and grants them the grace of repentance. All people are sinners, but believers are repentant sinners, those who have turned from their sin and embraced Jesus Christ. Real repentance runs deep and it produces significant change and significant joy. Like Zaccheus, let us eagerly respond to the call of Jesus and enjoy the blessing he provides in salvation!

Luke 18:31-43 | JD Summers

We see the world around us with our physical eyes, but the ability to see physically does not mean we can see spiritually. Spiritual sight, true sight, comes as a gift of God’s grace. When God opens someone’s eyes to understand the mystery of the gospel, he bestows upon them faith, the ability to see and grasp God’s goodness in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus miraculously gave sight to the blind, and he miraculously gives sight to the spiritually blind even today.

Romans 15:1-7 | Carey Wilson

The church is made up of a wide variety of people who differ in ethnicity, social class, gender, age, and a multitude of other categories. In light of these significant differences, how can believers live together in unity? Christians must humble themselves and selflessly serve one another, even as Christ did for us. Our pursuit of practical unity flows from the gospel reality that we are already united in Christ, and we live out that truth in a desire for the glory of God.

Habakkuk 3:1-19 | Steven Parkin

Trials and tribulations often drive us to fear. We fear our circumstances or our oppressors. We are afraid that we will not endure or that we will be abandoned by God. But in the midst of fears that discourage us, there is a holy fear that sustains us. True faith in God leads to a fear of the Lord that does not drive us away from him but instead draws us in, draws us close to the God who is worthy of reverence, awe, and trembling delight. As we walk through our own valley of the shadow of death, let us fear not evil, but the Lord who sustains.

Luke 18:18-30 | JD Summers

Sometimes people try to earn eternal life by following a set of rules, reasoning that if they can be good enough, God will accept them. Others desire eternal life on their own terms, willing to follow Christ in some areas but not willing to give up whatever is most precious to them. Jesus accepts all who trust in him, but saving faith in Christ is wholehearted and repentant, relinquishing sin and leaning wholly on Jesus for salvation. Salvation is impossible on our own, but with God, all things are possible, and Jesus provides miraculous salvation to those who turn to him!

Luke 18:15-17 | JD Summers

It is normal for humans to despise weakness. We hate it in others and hate it in ourselves. But true faith in Christ includes a profound sense of need. The Kingdom of God belongs only to those who are completely dependent on Christ because he embraces the lowly and endorses lowliness as a defining characteristic of our lives. We will often be confronted with our inability, and how will we respond? Christ urges us to lean into our lowliness and boast not in ourselves, but in Christ, who raises us up.