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  • Sermon Follow-Up: 1 John 1:1-4

    In 1 John 1:1-4, John says “we” apostles testify and proclaim to “you,” the church, the Word of Life which we have heard, seen, and handled. John gives a complete Christology in a few short verses. “Word of Life” is obviously a divine title; “heard, seen, and handled” describes one who is truly human. Jesus… Read more

  • A Celebration of the Incarnation Must Be Incarnational — 12/11/2005 Sermon (Edited Version) — Advent in Isaiah (Part 2): The Church’s Culture of Feasting

    I got AI to convert a couple excerpts from my 12/11/2005 sermon into short essays. I’m experimenting with this, and have posted a few different versions with varying degrees of editing, but I like the way these came out so I’m sharing them here: — The world today is a joyless place. It is up… Read more

  • From the Manger to the Cross (and other Christmas Notes)

    In Luke 2, heaven opened when the angels met the shepherds. It’s interesting how much this theme of heaven opening shows up in Advent and Christmas hymnody, e.g.• “O Come O Come Emmanuel” – “Key of David come and open wide our heavenly home”• “Good Christian Men Rejoice” – “he hath opened heaven’s door”• “While… Read more

  • “Let’s Keep Christmas Commercialized” by David Chilton

    David Chilton article “Let’s Keep Christmas Commercialized” no longer seems to be available but it’s a classic, so I reprint it here (hoping I am not violating any copyrights): Every year about this time, there rises a hue and cry about the “commercialization” of Christmas, accompanied by impassioned pleas to get back to the “real… Read more

  • Exile Extended: Daniel 9, Matthew 1, Luke 1

    These notes are a follow up to my sermon from December 3, 2017. In Daniel 9, Daniel is given a vision that covers the next 490 years. The 490 years are an extension of the exile’s 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah (after all, it’s in contemplating the end of Jeremiah’s 70 years at the beginning… Read more

  • Christmas Approaches

    “The wonder of Christmas morning is that today we are summoned to look at the baby in the manger and recognise whose stamp, whose imprint, he bears. On Christmas morning we find ourselves gazing at God inside out. This baby is what you get when the stamp of divine nature leaves its exact imprint in… Read more