Author: Pastor Rich Lusk
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Baptismal Exhortation: The Watery Doorway
In baptism, water is poured or sprinkled over a person in the Triune name. Why does baptism use water? To grasp the full meaning of baptism, we need to grasp the meaning of water in the Scripture. Water was chosen for a reason, having to do with both its symbolism and its practical uses. Water…
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Recognizing the Sexual Revolution Has Failed
One of the church fathers said it best: “Christians alone know how to live.” This is especially true when it comes to sex. Check out this video from Ben Shapiro reviewing a recent article in the Atlantic by Bridget Phetasy. I’m glad that some who have lived out the implications of the sexual revolution are realizing how wrong…
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Thoughts for Young Men: One Small Act of Courage Can Change Your Life
One small act of courage can change your life. Small acts of courage lead to bigger acts of courage, and big acts of courage can change the world. As someone who grew up in the 1980s, I can say this was built into our psyches. Politics and pop culture alike taught us the virtue of…
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The Body Is a Battlefield
This is a follow up to my sermon from last Sunday. Christians are not Gnostics. Some Christians have had gnostic tendencies over the course of church history, but Gosticism is an enemy of the faith. Gnostics tend to confuse the physical and the ethical, and thus they find the source of sin in the creation itself.…
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Baptism as Sign and Seal
We are gathered here today to celebrate the sacrament of baptism. In Reformational theology, baptism is considered a sign and seal. Signs in the Bible are mighty works of God. The plagues God put on Egypt are called signs. Jesus’ miracles are called signs. Baptism is called a sign because circumcision was called a sign;…
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The Creation of Man and Woman
Why was man made from the dirt and woman from the man? There are several ways to tackle this question. I like Peter Lombard’s explanation: “The woman was created not from just any part of the man’s body, but from his side. This was to demonstrate that she was made for loving communion with him. She…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Types and Shadows of God’s Salvation
To understand baptism, we cannot just look at a few NT passages that mention baptism explicitly. The apostles clearly believed there were events in the OT that prefigured Christian baptism. For example, Peter says the flood, in which Noah and his family were saved by water in the ark, was a type, or foreshadowing of…
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The End of An Era
Last Sunday was the end of an era for the Lusk family. For years, I have watched my wife and kids in worship; I’d be upfront leading the service or preaching and I’d see them all lined up, usually across the front row. When we first moved here at the end of 2004, our kids were…
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Finding Peace in the So-Called Gender Wars
A few thoughts on the so-called gender wars: If we want mutuality between the sexes, it is crucial to resist movements that minimize the differences between the sexes (e.g., feminism). According to Rene Girard, it is similarity that breeds rivalry (e.g., sibling rivalries are based on the fact that the siblings share so much in…
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Liturgical Sacrifice as a Way of Life
Romans 12 sermon (2005)Romans 12:11-2 This sermon was originally preached as the first of a two part series on February 27, 2005. The audio of Part 2, from Haggai 1:1-11, can be found here. Daniel Boone was the great American explorer who first scouted out men of the Western Frontier. He was a pioneer and a trailblazer, cutting…
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