Reformed & Expository Preaching

Walls Crumble, and Bridges are Made (Acts 11:1-18)

We welcome Rev. Austin Britton to our pulpit this morning. We hear his message exhorting us not to be Pharisees who cling uncritically to tradition, but to draw the boundaries where our Lord draws the boundaries. We are encouraged to discern what is pleasing to the Lord as we conduct ourselves. Rev. Britton recalls that the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of a significant boundary, much like the vision Peter received in Acts 11. This vision, where God commanded Peter to eat unclean animals, challenged the longstanding Jewish distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Despite God’s command, Peter hesitated, clinging to familiar boundary lines, which illustrates the difficulty of overcoming ingrained traditions and embracing a new understanding of God’s people. The vision of the blanket in Acts 11 challenges Peter and the early church to embrace a diverse and inclusive community, welcoming sinners of all backgrounds. This vision has implications for the church today, urging us to recognize God’s work in unexpected places and to avoid turning preferences into principles. We are called to discern God’s leading, even when it challenges our comfort zones and established ways of doing church. The text emphasizes the need for unity within the church, challenging needless divisions between denominations. It highlights the unifying power of the gospel, which erases barriers and brings people together in Christ. Rev. Britton encourages believers to examine their own biases and seek God’s guidance in embracing unity, as exemplified by the early church’s response to Peter’s vision. He will provide insight and, through the Spirit, bring renewal.

Introduction to The Canons of Dordt: Five Points of Calvinism

INTRODUCTION This week, we began a new series on the Canons of Dort, exploring the five points of Calvinism. The goal of this message wasn’t to debate theology, but to give an overview of what Reformed Christians actually believe about God’s grace and salvation. I used various AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and even Grok to summarize what people think about Calvinists. I kept inquiring until I found five of the most common stereotypes against Reformed Christians. I found out that people believe Calvinists are arrogant intellectuals, harsh and judgmental, spiritually elitist, lacking evangelistic zeal, and fatalistic. Interestingly, the Canons of Dort end with a section meant to correct exactly those misunderstandings. The canons want us to produce humility, joy, and worship. TOTAL DEPRAVITY The five points of Calvinism, often summarized by the acronym TULIP, are not five separate ideas, but five petals of the same flower. The first is Total Depravity, which teaches that sin has corrupted every part of human nature. This doesn’t mean that we are absolutely evil, but that every thought, desire, and action is tainted by sin’s influence. We still make choices, but our will is bound by sinful desires until God renews our hearts. As Ephesians 1 reminds us, every blessing of salvation flows from God alone, not from human effort. UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION The second point, Unconditional Election, teaches that God’s choice to save some people is not based on any foreseen faith, goodness, or merit. It is purely an act of grace. Scripture says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and works all things according to the counsel of His will. Election doesn’t make anyone superior; it magnifies God’s mercy. Salvation moves us, as one theologian put it, “from the courtroom to the family room.” LIMITED ATONEMENT The third point, Limited Atonement, often confuses, but it simply means that Christ’s death was fully sufficient to save all, yet effectively applied only to those God has chosen. If God had desired to save every person, the power of Christ’s cross could have accomplished it. But in His divine plan, Christ’s atonement is applied particularly and personally to His people. It is not limited in power but in purpose. Ephesians 1:7 celebrates that in Christ “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” IRRESISTIBLE GRACE Fourth is Irresistible Grace, the beautiful truth that God’s call is effective when God calls a sinner to Himself; that call is effective. His grace doesn’t force or coerce, but it transforms. The Holy Spirit renews the will so that the person freely and joyfully turns to Christ. This means salvation doesn’t rest on a preacher’s skill or on our emotional response, but on God’s sovereign work as he normally uses the preaching as a means to call his people to faith. Ephesians 1 says that God’s grace is not miserly but “lavished” upon us—abundant, overflowing, and irresistible. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS Finally, Perseverance of the Saints teaches that those who have been truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit will never finally fall away. Believers may stumble, doubt, or drift, but God’s preserving grace will always bring them back. The Canons of Dort beautifully describe this truth: even when a believer appears to fall, God’s Spirit continues to work within them, ensuring their restoration. The Holy Spirit is the “guarantee of our inheritance,” as Ephesians 1:14 says, sealing us until the day of redemption. CONCLUSION Reformed theology, then, is not cold, fatalistic, or prideful. The canons are just calling us to worship our gracious God. The Canons of Dort remind us that God is sovereign but never distant, and that human beings are responsible but never autonomous. Grace is not stingy—it is abundant and transforming. True Calvinism doesn’t make us arrogant; it humbles us. It doesn’t stifle evangelism; it gives us confidence that God’s Word will bear fruit. The Canons call us not to pride, but to praise God. We are called to lift our eyes from ourselves and fix them on the glory of God’s grace.

Consecrated in Christ (Col. 2:11,12)

INTRODUCTION: Some Christians assume that the Old Covenant was merely physical while the New Covenant is purely spiritual. This distinction creates a problem: does God promise one thing to his people but deliver another? If so, does that imply two different ways of salvation? Scripture teaches otherwise. Circumcision and baptism are covenant signs pointing to the same gospel and the same Messiah. Through both, God consecrates his people to Christ—those under the Old Covenant and those under the New alike. Circumcision looked forward in anticipation of Christ’s redeeming work, while baptism looks back in faith to that same finished work. WHAT IS CIRCUMCISION? In Colossians 2:11–12, Paul connects circumcision and baptism with the redemptive work of Christ. At first glance, circumcision appears to be a merely physical mark in the flesh. Yet when we examine its origin and meaning, we see that it symbolized far more. It was a seal of the righteousness he had by faith (Romans 4:11). Abraham received the sign after struggling to trust that God would fulfill His promise of redemption through the Messiah’s lineage. The act itself—performed in the organ of generation is a visible sign that Christ would come from a line of people who were spiritually dead, yet made alive by God’s covenant grace. Those who bore this sign, whether individuals or households, were set apart to God and identified with the coming Messiah. The sign communicates the Gospel warning that the uncircumcised would be “cut off,” a foreshadowing of Christ’s crucifixion and a parallel to Isaac’s near-sacrifice in Genesis 22. Scripture consistently presents circumcision as spiritually significant (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4). In fact, to be uncircumcised was to be unclean (Isaiah 52:1; Leviticus 19:23). From the beginning, God’s purpose in circumcision was to signify heart renewal and consecration to Him through the promised Messiah. It served as a visible sign of belonging to God’s holy people, anticipating the One who would have to be cut off to redeem his people. WHAT IS BAPTISM? In Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6, Paul links baptism with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism signifies the covenant community being consecrated to Christ's death and resurrection. He is the trailblazer who has gone before us. Like circumcision, baptism marks those who belong to God’s covenant community, including believing households and their children (Ephesians 5–6; Colossians 3). Paul uses this sacramental language, as the prophets did with Israel, to remind us that we are God’s covenant people. Through baptism, we confess that Christ was cut off as the covenant breaker in our place, passed through the sea of death, and rose victorious to secure new life for all who are united to Him. THE CORRELATION OF THE SIGNS Circumcision and baptism are complementary signs of one covenant promise. In Romans 4 and Genesis 15–17, we see that the sign always follows the Word, confirming the promise God has spoken. Circumcision looked forward to the coming Messiah; baptism looks back to His finished work. Both declare the same covenant reality—death to sin, consecration to God, and new life in Christ. CONCLUSION: Both signs reveal one gospel, one covenant, and one Savior. Circumcision anticipated Christ’s being “cut off”; baptism celebrates His resurrection life. Together, they declare the double edge of the gospel. On the one hand, there is life for those who believe because Christ has been cut off and passed through the sea of death. However, there is a picture of judgment for those who reject the messiah. God’s people, whether Jew or Gentile, are now one new community in Christ, united through His death and resurrection, the true fulfillment of the Lord’s gracious covenant.. Let us seek to live as God’s gospel people.

Kangaroo Court (2) (Luke 23:1-25)

When Jesus returns to Pilate, both rulers affirm His innocence, yet the crowd—stirred by corrupt leaders—demands Barabbas, the rebel, be freed instead. In choosing a violent insurrectionist over the Prince of Peace, the people reveal humanity’s tragic preference for earthly power over spiritual deliverance. Key theme: Humanity exchanges the true Son of God for a counterfeit “son of the father” (Barabbas).

Satan’s Sustenance (I Peter 5:8; LD 52)

Trusting God in Temptation In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask, “Lead us not into temptation.” Yet Scripture promises that God never tempts anyone (James 1:13). Why, then, do we pray this way? Peter helps us see the answer. He once boldly declared he would never deny Jesus. Jesus warned him that Satan asked to sift Peter. Christ predicts that Peter will deny Christ 3 times before dawn, and Peter denies Christ 3 times before dawn. Peter knows that Satan, like a roaring lion, prowls unseen, seeking to devour us. Even Adam and Eve, created good, fell to his crafty lies despite setting an additional boundary around the tree. God only told them not to eat it, but they added, “We are not to touch it” (Genesis 3:3). Our own hearts are weak; we cannot stand in our own strength. But this prayer is our humble cry: Lord, hold us fast. Our Weakness and the Call to Sobriety The Catechism honestly admits human frailty: we cannot withstand our enemies in our own strength. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, or Jacob wrestling with God, we learn that true strength arises only when we cling to the Lord in our weakness. To be “sober-minded” is to maintain spiritual clarity. It is to have the humility that we are not strong enough. It is to have the humility and wisdom to see through the devil’s lies. It is to have the humility and confidence to depend upon the grace of Christ. This sober watchfulness keeps us humble, prayerful, and aware that our enemy’s attacks often come in subtle, enticing forms. Staying Awake in Prayer Peter urges us to be sober-minded and watchful. A clear mind fixes on Christ’s grace, not our plans or power. Jacob spent a lifetime scheming to seaize God’s promises by his wit. Then God touched his hip and left him limping. Only then did he cling to God in weakness. So we watch and pray, not trusting our resolve, but leaning on the One who prays for us. Jesus warned His sleepy disciples in Gethsemane: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Daily, we bring the same plea: Keep us awake, Lord. Keep us close. God calls us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, trusting that He is our shield and defender. To cast our anxieties upon Him is not weakness but faith—resting in the One who cares for us. Firm in Faith, Secure in Christ Though Satan seeks to destroy, he cannot snatch God’s people from His hand. Christ has already overcome. Each day we pray for grace not to fall, and we look to the One who restores and renews His children. Our trials refine our faith like gold in the fire, teaching us dependence on God’s strength. As we resist the devil by standing firm in faith, we remember that Christ Himself prays for His people, upholding them with unfailing love. In Him, we are safe. He shielded Elijah, restored Peter, and refines us through every trial. One day, Christ will visibly crush the lion under our feet. Until then, we pray, we trust, we move forward believing that we are held safe in the Shepherd’s grip. We remember that Christ Himself prays for His people, upholding them with unfailing love. In Him, we are safe. So, we are not crippled, but empowered as we ask God to defend us, protect us, and keep us from temptation. We are free to rest in him and do his will. Let us live as living sacrifices as we walk in our shield and defender.