Cutlerville East Christian Reformed Church
Episodes
584 episodes
Greed or Good
God brings a lawsuit against his people. At the heart of it is idolatry, but the idolatry expresses itself in greed and theft, a breaking of the 8th commandment. God’s call to repent in Micah 6 involves two things. Paul summarizes them well in ...
Dreams Fulfilled
The last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at Joseph the dreamer. Despite being able to interpret the dreams Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, his own dreams had been seemingly dashed. Then, upon interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and giving a solution...
Watch Your Mouth!
“Watch your mouth!” Did your parents ever have to say that to you? Maybe you said something hurtful or sinful. In the 9th commandment, God says: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16). “False testimony” is no...
Providence, Blessings and Burials
It’s easy to recognize the presence of God when things are going well: the sun is shining, you have plenty of money in the bank, you’re healthy. But what about cloudy days, when the doctor brings bad news, or relationships seem to be coming apa...
An Enriching Attitude
Wealth presents substantial dangers for us all. And, lest we think we don’t have to worry about that, compared with the rest of the world, the poorest among us would be considered wealthy. And often, it is the kind of lifestyle that comes along...
A Revelation to the Church
On one hand, the headlines of our day, on the other, the book of Revelation. Two worlds, as different as a hare-brained dictator and a seven-headed monster, as a terrorist's bomb and a bowl of wrath. How can one world speak to the other?&...
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
God hears simple prayers, for his Spirit searched our hearts and brings them to God (Romans 8:26). But, as we grow as disciples, we should mature in prayer. Our prayers should still have a child-like devotion, but the content of our praye...
Ephesus: Return to Your First Love
Revelation 2:1-7 Jesus Christ is pictured walking among the lampstands, that is, the churches in Asia, as John witnessed in 1:20. It is a reminder of the unseen presence of Christ among the churches, and almost as if he is doing an inspection t...
Praying to Our Father
To better understand how and what Jesus is teaching us to pray, it helps to explore Jewish aspects of prayer. It starts with the opening, which in Hebrew would be: Avinu shebashamayim (our Father in the heavens). This is a very Jewish concept, ...
Smyrna: Suffer Faithfully
If love is the first mark of the Christian church — as we saw in last week’s letter to Ephesus —suffering is the next mark. It proves the genuineness of one’s love for Christ. Now he comes to them, described with words from the previous vision:...
May Your Name Be Sanctified
Jesus, as we heard last week, teaches us is to pray to “Our Father,” a reminder of our intimate relationship with God, as well as his promise to care for us as children. Now we turn to a promise of our own: “hallowed be your name” Do we need to...
Pergamum: Compromising the Truth
Compromise. Jesus — specifically the Jesus who in John’s vision wielded a sharp, double-edged sword — saw compromise as a growing threat for the church in Pergamum. Not that the city of Pergamum was subtle. Jesus calls it “Satan’s throne” for a...
Thyatira: Remain Faithful
Imagine your job included union membership, which not only entailed paying dues, but also mandatory attendance at union meetings. Not only did you discuss and vote on issues, but you were called to worship the "god" of the union. An...
May Your Kingdom Come
What does it mean to pray "your kingdom come"? Brad Young, in his book on the Lord's Prayer, states: Probably no other aspect of Jesus teaching has been so greatly misunderstood as the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, no other theme...
Sardis: Wake Up!
The history of Sardis is literally a “riches to rags” story. Sardis was a wealthy Lydian capital city, known for being impregnable — almost. Twice in their history there had been surprise assaults that caught them sleeping. They had not been ke...
May Your Will Be Done
Last time we looked at the petition in the Lord’s Prayer: “may your kingdom come.” We noted that the kingdom is God’s active rule that happens progressively in the world and in individual lives. To pray that petition is to pray both Jesus...