St Andrew's Messages

Matthew 23 is mostly a scathing rebuke of the religious leaders. Many of us are not equivalent in position to either these spiritual overseers or the twelve apostles who were present, but Jesus' strong language can teach us all something about our obedience to the law and the example we set.

The Command, the Christ, and the Confession: The Reformation has many themes and rallying cries, including ad fontes, "to the sources." It's a day we often remind ourselves what Martin Luther and others did, but it's a day to let the Word of God speak for itself. We return to Matthew (22:34-46) this weekend as we celebrate God's grace.

How often have you commented or even noticed that something was not fair? Experience may reduce the number of outbursts, but not the mental outrage. As we consider King Josiah (2 Kings 23), we may be tempted toward an incomplete fairness check that does not consider how our God treats us.

There is no other gospel. Period. Exclamation point. Any attempt to change or minimize the part that Jesus Christ plays in saving us from our sins is an attempt by the devil to take the spotlight off our Savior—placing it on our sinful selves. As we study the apostle Paul's greeting to the Galatian congregations this weekend in worship, we learn a valuable lesson for ourselves—that it truly is always and only about the One who came to win for us a salvation we could never win on our own.

God is in charge, so let go and let God, right? A simple reality check shows that is rarely our approach. Why not? Today we learn from King Hezekiah's worry check in 2 Kings 19 to cast all our anxieties on God, because he cares for us.

Apathy is not always just who you are; it often develops slowly due to neglect or inaction. It can easily look like a neutral position or even virtue, but it is the opposite of what we are called to in our walk with Jesus. Today we observe Israel's apathy under King Hoshea, let God's Word convict us too, and then look to the cross, the culmination of Jesus' zeal for saving sinners.

As we gather to dedicate our new space, we look back to the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem and how well King Solomon maintained the mission. Our comfort is not in our own success, but in that of Solomon's descendant whose mission was to sacrifice himself for us. We give all glory to God for all his blessings. All rights reserved. Music used by permission under CCLI #1600166, OneLicense #A-709447, and Worshipflow.com. Pre-service music all rights reserved by Koine (koinemusic.com) & Michael Schroeder.

"You shall have no other gods." That's the First Commandment. The Bible emphatically denies the existence of any god but the Lord, so the commandment is about our hearts and what we treat as God. Like King Jehu (2 Kings 10), we show some signs of commitment, but they coexist with moments of idolatry. Only the true God can save us from our ambivalence.

The account of Old Testament King Ahab, his wife Jezebel, and a vineyard owner named Naboth is an account of greed, ego, and selfishness. It shows the utter sinfulness of mankind and how "me-centric" all of us can be. That's why it's not all about us. That's also why it always has been and always will be all about Jesus—our Savior and our Lord. To his name be worship and praise.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Few would sharply disagree with this well-known proverb, but what do we do about it? We learn from King Jeroboam (1 Kings 12), from ourselves, and from our Savior.