Should you ever correct your spouse? The Bible says you should, and it tells you how (Gal. 6:1-3). First, you must not be just frustrated and fed up, but “spiritual.” Second, your goal must not be to humiliate, expose, or “win,” but to “restore.” Third, you must bring correction in a “spirit of gentleness,” not anger. Fourth, you must examine your own heart, “lest you also be tempted.” And, finally, you must “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2) — so whenever the problem persists, you’re called to be patient and longsuffering. Correcting your spouse is sometimes called for, but it must be done carefully, this way (Gal. 6:1-3). 

People in our church had a big disappointment in this last election. We prayed. We showed up at City Council meetings. We spoke. Yet, when the votes were counted, all the godly candidates we supported for office were wiped out. Despite these losses, our response must not be despair, but prayer—not withdrawal, but intercession: “first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. . .” (1 Tim. 2:1). This must be our default position. Even as we witness our foundations crumble before our eyes, God is not surprised or absent. He’s taught us to pray for our civil magistrates and for laws that honor Him—so let’s keep praying! 

The local church is not some abstract idea with nameless members—it’s a family of real people who are personally connected with one other. That’s what we learn in Romans 16. After all the great doctrine in Paul’s letter, he greets real people with real names and commends the real labor they performed in the Roman church. His words read like a family photo album as he illustrates what grace looks like in a local church body. This is what God intended for church life—that it be alive and fruitful, like a family. 

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/696dc90a6dae751850c3cffa

Message to daughters — when it comes to your gender, the most terrifying thing the Devil sees is a faithful mom raising her children at home. This beautiful picture is in direct odds with a culture at war with God. While feminism’s lies say that the Bible’s limitations on women are restrictive, they’re actually liberating. The submissive woman is wise and undaunted. She smiles at the future, not frightened by any fear (Prov. 31:25). She radiates the fragrance of Christ in every place. She’s formidable, because she’s following God’s perfect design for her role. So, parents — encourage your girls to exalt Christ by living out this lovely image. 

The church is not simply an idea, a platform, or a live stream. It is physicality expressed in her people, buildings, writings, meetings, and evangelism. While many tend to despise the physical over the spiritual, the Bible objects to such a view with these doctrinal truths that manifest the physicality of the church: First, the incarnation. God saves through flesh and blood, not through a ghost. Second, we are image bearers. The invisible God is made visible through human lives. Third, every spiritual reality has a physical expression. What we believe shows up in where we go with our bodies, and what we build with our hands. So don’t minimize the physical aspects of church life — but serve the physical body of Christ with devoted purpose.  

Every journey has its obstacles. But what, specifically, is holding you back? Sometimes it’s unconfessed sin, hidden bitterness, divided loyalties, delayed obedience, or broken relationships. Maybe you’re violating your soul and sacred relationships through pornography, and you wonder why you’re not moving forward. Yet not every roadblock is caused by unresolved sin. Even when you’re faithful, sometimes God places “hindrances” in your path which are not detours, but serve to accomplish His divine will. The latter was so with the Apostle Paul (Rom. 15:22-29). Knowing this, let us be wise to discern what’s holding us in check — our sin or God’s greater purpose. 

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/695b542611cff32e9efacef4

Even in Christian circles, it’s commonly held that only professionals are competent to counsel. Yet the Apostle Paul obliterates this view in this statement to the local church in Rome: “Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14). The good news is this: The Lord Jesus doesn't just save your soul; He changes your life. And He doesn’t need “experts” to do it. He’s more than able to work, with the Holy Spirit’s aid, through everyday Christians who talk to one another, face-to-face, in a local church. 

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/6952196ce386b6135c21f915

The Lord’s Supper is not a mere ritual. Nor is it empty symbolism. It’s the “Gospel made visible,” as Gerhardus Vos once said. Consider these six elements: (1) The Lord's Supper proclaims the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 11:24-25); (2) it is given for our spiritual nourishment and growth and grace (John 6:35, 57); (3) it confirms our union and communion with Christ (John 15:4); (4) it renews our thankfulness and our commitment to God (Ps. 50:14); (5) it declares our love and fellowship with one another (1 Cor. 10:17); and; (6) it points us to the Second Coming of Christ (1 Cor. 11:26). 

This Christmas, we celebrate Christ’s incarnation, born of the Virgin Mary. The Prophet Isaiah foretold this hope, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” (Isa. 9:6). In Bethlehem, Jesus was to be born of a woman, not a man (Gal. 4:4). This is vital, because substitutionary atonement requires a sinless substitute — the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But Isaiah declared more: Jesus was to be called, “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). This was no fluke, but God’s resolved purpose, for, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:7). In this we have an unstoppable hope: the Messiah has come — Merry Christmas! 

 Sermon:https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/6948df0a1f15531a561fbb64

When we hope in God, we can hope have hope for one another. That’s because — whether we’re weak or strong — the same Savior is helping us in our journey, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13). Knowing this, we’re called to receive one another as Christ has received us . . . in all our imperfections. This is what Christian community looks like — believers in their various stages of life, weaknesses, and misunderstandings of doctrine singing together in one accord as they hope, together, in Christ. 

 Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/69366a3816a3768dc4b231f1