In the Beginning

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to observe God’s act of creation in the opening chapters of Genesis. Surely, it must have been an awe-inspiring sight. Imagine watching the stars burst forth in brilliant radiance, the mighty waters stilled and parted, and abundant life spilling across every corner of creation—who wouldn’t want front…

Resurrected Lord and His Church

“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was…

The Doctrine of First Importance

Paul writes, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” I recently read an interesting article entitled, “Can You Question the Resurrection and Still…

No Other God

Genesis addresses the most fundamental issue of life. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” By this, we know that God is the Creator of everything that exists. This also necessarily means that there is no other God, as affirmed in Isaiah 40:25-26a: “‘To whom will you compare me?…

Audacious Trust

This is the last Sunday of our current preaching and Bible study series in the epistle of James. Throughout, we have been reminded and challenged by James that true faith works itself out naturally in our words and actions. If we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, and are fully convinced that his teachings…

Be Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak

Would you consider yourself a good listener? James 1:19 calls not just pastors, counsellors, and church leaders, but every believer to be a good listener. Good listening is an antidote to angry responses or unbridled speeches. But what is good listening? It is not just keeping quiet. That is often helpful though. It is also…

Planning Because of Our Certain Future

Last week, James reminded us that because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, it is arrogant to make plans of our own as though our future is certain (Jas. 4:14-16). But that isn’t to say that we don’t know anything about the future. There is one future event that we can be absolutely certain…

Give Thanks

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his mercy endures forever (Ps. 136:1). As the choir leads the congregation in worship this morning, my heart is filled with thankfulness as I reflected on the music ministry these past two years. Early in the pandemic, when singing was identified as a high-risk activity in…

Beauty in Brokenness

One of the glorious things about God’s people is that we are made up of people of many different backgrounds, people who think in many different ways, people who have radically dissimilar personalities, people who are interested and passionate about a plethora of different things. At her best, the church looks like a beautiful mosaic…