Sermons About Propitiation
To Christ through Abraham
We are children of Abraham through faith in Christ, not through following the Law or by being Jewish externally. This is how Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise in Genesis 15 when God spoke to Abraham and to "his seed."
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The Great Rescue
Week 45 in the Vintage Jesus series. Preached by Lead Pastor Paul Vroom on June 28, 2009 at Missio Dei Church in Mokena, Illinois (www.mdchurch.us). Scripture from Mark 11:27-12:12.
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Declaration of (in) Dependence Part 6
How deeply are you willing to pursue righteousness in order that God will be glorified?
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What Does It Mean For Your Life to Preach Christ?
When I was in seminary, my professors always encouraged us with a very simple plea. They would say, "In your sermons, always preach Christ." Towards that end, they would encourage us to ask these questions: - Where is Christ in the text? - Is He explicitly proclaimed? - Do we see Him in type or shadow? - Does the author speak of the benefits of His completed work? - Do we see His attributes extolled? - What Is Jesus teaching about Himself? For every student of scripture, once you learn to find Him in the text, your goal at every reading of scripture changes. No longer are you just seeking to build up knowledge. No, your reading of the scriptures causes you to savor Christ all the more and ultimately, I hope that you might then show an even greater expression of your savoring Him in the day to day moments of your lives. The great writer and preacher, John Piper, expressed that thought in this way. About the idea of Savoring Jesus, he said, "When you see something as true and beautiful and valuable, you savor it. That is, you treasure it. You cherish and admire and prize it. Spiritual seeing and spiritual savoring are so closely connected that it would be fair to say: If you don't savor Christ, you haven't seen Christ for who he is. If you don't prize him above all things, you haven't apprehended his true worth." John's point is that if we have truly experienced Jesus through His revelation in scripture, if we have experienced His transforming forgiveness, and if we have touched Him within the expression of His body the church, we have no choice but then to savor Him. He will be not only the value of our life, He will be the sum total of it. When I stand up and preach, no matter what passage is before me, I am to preach in the way Paul says I should in I Corinthians 1: though my preaching be foolishness, I am to preach Christ and Christ crucified. Now, this idea of preaching Christ may seem like an idea that none of you have to worry about since I'm the one getting up in front people every week. But the call on your life is no different. You share in the responsibility of preaching Christ crucified. Again, to quote John Piper in his book "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ," he says, "Christ does not exist in order to make much of us. We exist in order to enjoy making much of him. Knowing the glories of Christ is an end, not a means. Christ is not glorious so that we get wealthy or healthy. Christ is glorious so that rich or poor, sick or sound, we might be satisfied in him. We exist and our chief end is to give glory to God and His son, Jesus. So, much like the last few weeks at Sovereign King, the book of 1 John is asking us to examine our lives in light of His teaching. And this week, he is asking if your life preaches Christ. I want you to ask yourself that question silently for a moment. Ask yourself, "Does my life preach Christ?" I had a moment to consider that thought this week as I bumped into an old high school friend on facebook. This friend said, "I always knew you would be a preacher." I found this statement amazing because as a young man, I always boldly declared that I didn't want to be one. But even more surprising was that this friend saw it in me. I had a time in my teenage years where I did have a passion for Christ, but my life was wildly inconsistent. I saw very little evidences of understanding grace at that point. I thought that the best way for me to proclaim Christ was trying to be so holy in everyone's presence. I didn't' realize that what I was actually doing was trying to live like I didn't need Jesus instead of living like I did. As a pastor now, I still ask that question, "What does it mean for me to live in such a way to proclaim Christ and Christ alone?" I think that is a pretty good question to consider in the sermon this week
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The Justification of Sinners (Romans 8:1)
Paul turns in Romans 8 to consider the amazing privileges of the justification that he has spelled out in the preceding chapters. The sinner's cry for deliverance at the end of Romans 7 is answered in this: in Christ there is no condemnation. We review the nature of our sin and guilt, the wonderful goodness of God in providing propitiation and reconciliation for us, and finally how this comes about -- through our union with Christ.
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Through the Curtain - True Greatness
People pursue greatness. What is true greatness? Jesus defines it by his death. Greatness is access to the presence of God - as he turns aside wrath and is abandoned so that we can go through the curtain.
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