Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

In these passages from Leviticus and Hebrews, we look at an Old Testament figure-- the priest; and an place— the temple. And we learn how what God promises through the priests and the temple places is fulfilled in the work of Jesus. We see that, throughout the Bible, God provides mediators: priests, temples, and sacrifices, that enable his people to enjoy his holy presence.

“With Christ’s death and resurrection, we do not need priests who offer sacrifices and mediate between God and us. Jesus’s sacrifice has paid for all our sins and given us direct access to God. We are a priesthood of believers, set apart to serve God (1 Pet. 2:9). We are called “to present [our] bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1). We live our lives coram Deo, in the presence of God.”- Rachel Green Miller 

Q. How does Christ execute the office of priest?

A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.

“What should we have said to the Israelite, who, on bringing his lamb to the tabernacle, should puzzle himself with questions, as to the right mode of laying his hands on the head of the [lamb], and who should refuse to take any comfort from the sacrifice, because he was not sure whether he had laid them aright—on the proper place, in the right direction, with adequate pressure, or in the best attitude?  ... Should we not have told him to be of good cheer; not because he had laid his hands on the victim in the most approved fashion, but because they had touched that victim, however lightly and imperfectly, and thereby said, Let this lamb stand for me, answer for me, die for me? The touching had no virtue in itself, and therefore the excellency of the act was no question to come up at all: it simply intimated the man's desire that this sacrifice should be taken instead of himself, as God's appointed way of pardon; it was simply the indication of his consent to God's way of saving him, by the substitution of another. The point for him to settle was not, Was my touch right or wrong, light or heavy? but, Was it the touch of the right lamb—the lamb appointed by God for the taking away of sin? 

The quality or quantity of faith is not the main question for the sinner. That which he needs to know is that Jesus died and was buried, and rose again, according to the Scriptures. This knowledge is life everlasting.”— Horatius Bonar, 19th C. Scottish Preacher

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

In this passage from 2 Samuel, God makes very specific promises to King David about his future plans for the people of God. And we see that God never intended for us to have for fight our enemies in our own strength. God promises to both rescue, protect and rule over his people, through his appointed leader, the Messianic King.

“The real Jesus is not a vending machine, a cheerleader, or a fire-fighter. The Jesus of the Bible is a king, a loving and gracious king ...

Jesus is not the kind of king who sits back on his throne, arms folded, waiting for us to get our act together. He rules actively. He initiates. He pursues. He loves. That's why Jesus came proclaiming "the gospel of the kingdom" (Matt. 24:14). The word gospel literally means "good news." The kingdom of God is good news because the king reigns with grace. Most kings would destroy those who rebel against them. Jesus invites us into his family and gives us a place at his table. The essential message of the kingdom of God is not good advice about what you need to do to clean up your act and win God's approval. It's good news about what God has done for us in Christ ...

Connecting the kingdom of God to Christ's person and work is important because many people think of Christianity merely as a set of timeless principles. But that's not the message of Scripture. Like a stick of dynamite dropped into the ground, the gospel explodes any understanding built on our morality and works.

Christianity is not ultimately about a system of beliefs or principles of morality but about a person Jesus and how he accomplished something in history that will shape all of eternity. Jesus doesn't give us instructions to build a kingdom; he announces that he is the king, and that in knowing and belonging to him, God's reign comes through God's people over all God's creation.

The good news is not only that the kingdom has come, but also who it is coming through.” -Jeremy Treat

“Christ carries out the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” - Shorter Catechism Q&A #26

“In the second petition, which is, “May your kingdom come,” we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed, that the kingdom of grace may be advanced and ourselves and others may be brought into it and kept in it, and that the coming of the kingdom of glory may be hastened.”- Shorter Catechism Q&A #102

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

In this week's message from Deuteronomy, we continue with the story of Moses and the children of Israel. God has brought them out of Egypt, to Himself. But because his plans are that they would flourish, and show his beauty and glory and power to the entire world, God isn’t content with just rescuing them from the slavery on their outsides. He wants to rescue them from the slavery on their insides. In the beginning of the Exodus, God gets his people out of Egypt, now he has to get Egypt out of his people— and for the rest of the books of the Torah— Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, God painstakingly and lovingly does just that. And he does it, by giving his people his rules— the law. 

God gives us the rules of his law to train us to live well as his covenant people. We we see the law correctly through the lens of God’s grace, we will see that the law of God has never been a system of earning where unsaved people work to earn favor, but a pattern of life given by the Redeemer to the already redeemed so that they might know how to live for his good pleasure.

"The law was never intended to be a means of earning salvation. Rather, God gave it to guide Israel in living in a way that would please their Redeemer. Far from setting aside the promise of grace, the law was given to those who had been saved by grace in order to show them how to live in that grace ... the call of the law is to translate God's grace into action.

The law is the divinely intended means by which the covenant is nourished and maintained. The law shows the people of God the conduct fitting for God's covenant community. In obeying the law, Israel actualizes in human life its covenant relationship with Yahweh.

Israel was to look upon the law as a gift, not a burden. The law was a delight because it aided the covenant relationship. The relationship was not a matter of external or mechanical rules but a personal relationship with a God who is not only the sovereign King of the universe but also a father who has promised himself to his covenant people. Thus when an Israelite son asked his father what the law meant, the answer was the story of the exodus and the fulfillment of covenant promise, "the old, old story of God's saving love and deliverance. The very meaning of the law was to be found in the Gospel." -Michael Williams 

“Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good—above all, that we are better than someone else—I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil."— C.S. Lewis

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

In this week's message from Exodus 2 & 3, we learn how our covenant relationship with God relates to the forces outside us that enslave and overwhelm us. In the story of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob in Genesis, the question is "can God’s promises be fulfilled despite his people’s weakness, doubt, sin and disobedience?" In the Exodus story, the question is "can God’s promises come true even if all the powers of the world are stacked against them?" In this passage, we see that our LORD is sovereign over the darkness outside, as well as the darkness inside his covenant people.

“The word rendered LORD (all capitals) in most modern-day English translations consists of four Hebrew consonants, YHWH (יְהוָה). It is God's covenant name, reserved for the people who are in close relationship with him. … God is self-sufficient and find identity in nothing greater than himself and in nothing outside himself. He reveals himself when he wishes and as he wishes. He does not say. 'I am whoever you want me to be’ or ‘Who I am does not matter.’ This God is not our wingman.”- Chris Watkin 

“Let us go. It will become the refrain of the next sixteen chapters of Exodus. Seven times, Moses will bring the words of God to Pharaoh: "Let my people go that they may serve me, that they may make a feast to me in the wilderness.”… A feast in the wilderness. An act of worship. Something heretofore out of the question. Bitter servitude to Pharaoh had made blessed service to God an impossibility for Israel. How could they serve both God and Pharaoh? Obedient worship to the King of heaven cannot be offered by those enslaved in the kingdom of Pharaoh. Let us go.” — Jen Wilkin

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In this week's message from Genesis 17, we see how throughout the Bible God names and claims his covenant people as his own, giving them covenant signs and seals to help build up their weak, flagging faith.

“This is what God does through the Sacraments: he signifies his covenant promises, he seals those promises, and he actually applies to us the promises of the gospel.”— Scott Swain

“Nothing that we do, whether it be ceremonial or whether it be moral, contributes to [our] justification, because the ground of that justification is not something in us, and it’s not something that we do, it’s grounded in what Christ does. And therefore, circumcision, and outward rituals contribute nothing to that justification. . . .

We still live in a day and time where people teach that there are certain religious rights that need to be done in order to be right with God. And it’s very important for us to know the difference between something which is necessary for salvation and something which is necessary for obedience. And it’s very important for us to know the distinction between something that is required in order to be accepted by God, and something that flows from and confirms that we have been accepted with God. Knowing that difference is very, very important, and Paul is pointing to it here. For instance, it is clear from what Paul is saying [in Romans 4] that to say that baptism, that water baptism is somehow necessary for salvation is wrong.

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast!

Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at the big storyline of redemption that is laid out for us in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In this week's message from Genesis 12 & 15, we see how God further defines His relationship to us as one based on a covenant of grace, rooted in his faithfulness.

“We know little about Abram's life when he takes center stage in the biblical drama. The clearest indication is given at the end of the book of Joshua, when Joshua tells the people of Israel that Abraham's family "served other gods" (Josh 24: 2). Like Noah, then, it does not seem that Abram had any extraordinary gifts or virtues to distinguish him from anyone else living beyond the Euphrates at that time. God chose him because he is the one God chose. This makes what happens at the beginning of chapter 12 all the more remarkable. . . . Abram does not seek it, and God does not ask Abram's permission before making grand promises. Out of nowhere . . . God decisively intervenes in the story of Abram and in the story of the human race, and he does so by sheer grace.— Chris Watkin

“In Deuteronomy 7, God says to the children of Israel, " I didn't love you because you were the greatest of the nations (you were actually a small nation).I didn't love you because you were the richest of nations (you were actually a pretty poor nation). I didn't love you because you were a powerful nation (you were actually pretty weak). I loved you because I set my love on you. And that's the reason I love you. . . . Do you realize what God is saying? He's saying, "let me tell you the reason I love you. I love you just because I love you. I don't love you because you're better, or because you've done this or you've done that, I just love you because I love you. See, that's grace." — Tim Keller

In this message from our 2023 Fall Conference at Camp Greystone, Rev. Sid Druen teaches us how the doctrine of faith and repentance takes us beyond our efficiency. In this final sermon, we see Jesus tell two stories that celebrate human honesty and how diligently God seeks us and how much He rejoices over us.

Outline:

Repentance looks like:

(1) Looking Up and Feeling Lost,

(2) Being Diligently Sought Out,

(3) Being Wildly Rejoiced Over

Discussion Questions:

In this message from our 2023 Fall Conference at Camp Greystone, Rev. Sid Druen explores Jesus' teaching on the reality of prayer. In Matthew 7, Jesus shows us that we can pray how we want because of who we pray to (our Father in Heaven); and that this Father’s character changes why we pray (and how we live).

Outline:

(1) Jesus says how to pray

(2) Jesus says who we pray to

Discussion Questions:

In this message from our 2023 Fall Conference at Camp Greystone, Rev. Sid Druen shares how the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount takes us beyond our self-image. In the Matthew 6, Jesus diagnoses our false tendency to perform; and Jesus prescribes a physical therapy (a different, more real practice) as well as an internal medicine (seeing ourselves as God the Father sees us).

Outline:

(1) Jesus’ diagnosis of our performance problem,

(2) The physical therapy of Jesus’ remedy (what & how),

(3) The internal medicine of Jesus’ remedy (why & who for

Discussion Questions:

In this message from our 2023 Fall Conference at Camp Greystone, Rev. Sid Druen teaches us how the Kingdom of God actually operates in this world, and this changes both how we live and how we measure progress in our lives. We hope you are helped by it!

Outline:

Discussion Questions: