Cutlerville East Christian Reformed Church
Episodes
584 episodes
Jesus’ Discipleship Prayer
Jesus’ discipleship training sessions with his Apostles were coming to an end. Oh, there will be more; after the resurrection, Jesus will appear several times to them. He’ll restore Peter, convince Thomas, and encourage his Apostles. He’ll spen...
Revelation: Things to Come
We’ve looked at John’s letters to the seven churches (yet challenging & hope-givingto us), reminding them that the Lamb is on the throne (not Rome/our culture). And also calling them/us to stand strong in persecution, and give up compla...
The Architect of the New Community
We begin a series on what it means to be the church as Paul reflects on it in his letter to the church in Ephesus. The city was one of the gems of the Roman empire, dominated by a temple to and worship of the goddess Artemis (or Diana). But wit...
Revelation: A Tale of Two Cities
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” begins A Tale of Two Cities. The same could be said for the end of Revelation. John is talking about the city of man (Babylon/Rome) and the city of God (Jerusalem). For one city, the end wil...
Paul’s Prayer for the New Community
Paul began his letter to the Ephesians giving them and us an eternal perspective on God’ new community: he chose us before creation, redeemed us in Jesus Christ, and marks us for Himself by the Holy Spirit. This makes Paul drop to his knees on ...
The Comfort of Belonging
Beginning this fall, our evening services will focus on working through one of the standards of Reformed faith, the Heidelberg Catechism. Our first sermon looks at the most well-known and beloved of all the Lord’s Days: question and answer #1. ...
The Church’s Prayer
Peter and John have just healed a crippled beggar, preached the good news/bad news (for some) Gospel, been imprisoned, and confronted the Jewish Supreme Court (Sanhedrin). It was time to be recharged! They went back to the church (not a buildin...
Who Says I’m a Sinner?
At the outset, the Heidelberg Catechism suggests that we need to first grovel in our sin in order to find “our only comfort.” Lord’s Day 2 asks: “How do you come to know your misery?” What a question! The answer is that the “law” or Bible tells...
The Cross & Community: From Grave to Glory
Earlier in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he reminds us that God chose us as building blocks of His new community in Jesus (1:1-14), and he prays that we might have open eyes to who we are in Jesus (1:15-23). So who are we, we who have been bu...
What About My Image?
“Image is everything!” say the advertising executives on Madison Avenue. Indeed, we live in a world of the image-conscious. Image is really about reputation. So even common folks are tempted to hide who we really are and try to project who we w...
Cross & Community: Breaking Down to Build Up
At the center of history stands the cross of Jesus Christ. The vertical dimension is restated in Ephesians 2:13: Jesus came down to meet us where we were (the grave) and brought us up to glory, into relationship with God. But there is also a ho...
But Isn’t God Good?
Lord’s Day 4 of the Heidelberg Catechism is engaged in what theologians call “theodicy” – the justification of God. The three questions were undoubtedly ones the catechism writers had heard (or anticipated hearing) in connection with the biblic...
Mystery of God’s Grace to New Community
The Apostle Paul, excited about God’s grace expressed in the cross of Jesus Christ, is about to continue his prayer for the Church. But he interrupts himself to explain the mystery of God’s grace: by His grace, God has chosen to reveal that mys...
What Can I Do about My Debt?
The Heidelberg Catechism refers to our sinfulness as causing a debt to God. As our Creator, Redeemer, and King, we owe God love and obedience. But our continual sinning makes us pile up more debt, hindering our ability to pay it off. Given this...
Christian Essentials: Our Mediator
We’ve looked at the tremendous, unpayable debt we have to God. The only way this debt can be paid is through a mediator who is truly human and truly righteous, and is also true God. Now we explore where we can find such a mediator. LD 6-7...
Communal Life: Unity in Diversity
We’ve been looking at the theological foundation of the New Community, the Church: chosen by God, redeemed by the cross of Christ to be in community, and called to reveal the mystery of God’s grace to others. Now, in the second half of hi...
Personal Life: Children of Light
We’ve been asking the question, along with the church in Ephesus: what does it mean to be a little church in a big city? Paul has given us the theological background; now he’s turned to the practical outworking of this in our lives: what does i...
Christian Essentials: Our Scripture
Paul is in prison and appears to know that his end is coming (4:6-8). His main concern, in what some have called his “last will & testament,” is about the future of his Gospel message in the face of the heresies and false teachers of the da...
Relational Life: Reciprocal Relationships
Paul has moved from a theological explanation of what it means to be the church to a more practical focus on living as the New Community: communally (unity in diversity), personally (children of light), and now relationally. Ephesians 5:21 give...