Cutlerville East Christian Reformed Church
Episodes
584 episodes
Living Worship
Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, as Moses commanded (Deut. 11-12) and where had had altars built. Jews knew that God had later commanded worship in Jerusalem, where he had Solomon build the Temple. This was the true place of worship. In a...
God’s Holy Name
What’s in a name? Chosen by our parents, a name becomes our character, our identity. It is important, so that we take offense if it is forgotten, misused, abused. Biblical names also tell us about the role of a person. By revealing his identity...
Fellowship Restored
Power had corrupted David. At a time when he should have been with his army, he was instead wandering on the palace rooftop. This led to one sin piling atop another, until the prophet Nathan called him to account. Psalm 51 records David’s praye...
Thank God It’s Sunday!
TGIF, ‘Thank God It’s Friday!” is a popular saying people use to celebrate the end of work’s drudgery and look forward to the coming of the weekend, with all of its fun activities. For most, Sunday simply becomes the second day of that weekend,...
The Joy of Forgiveness
David is a happy man; he feels “blessed,” living a “blessed” life. But that was not always the case. Psalm 51 is the immediate expression of confession over his sin with Bathsheba and God’s restoration of him, filled with the emotion of t...
Honoring Our Parents
Paul has been talking about relationships in people’s lives, starting with a marriage relationship and ending with one’s work (slave-master!) relationship. He notes that both are two-sided. In between, he turns to the relationship between paren...
The God Who Speaks
Have you ever felt totally removed from God? Does it seem like there is a divine silence? Maybe it occurs during a lingering illness, at the loss of a loved one, when in a broken relationship. You cried out to God, only to see and hear nothing....
Pro-life and Pro-love
What does it mean in the 21st century: you shall not kill? How can we, many of whom have never handled a weapon nor intend to kill, take this command to heart? Or have we, who’ve experienced thousands of murders on TV and movies, become callous...
Remember Not …Remember Me
Memory is an interesting thing. Without it, we’d never learn anything; every event would be new. Yet, even with memory, people remember things differently. One incident is remembered differently by different people. We remember some people, for...
Anatomy Class with Professor Jesus
"Look," said the college bound student, "just because some old man spent a night on a mountain and came down and said, 'You shall not commit adultery,' why should I let that spoil my fun?". In actuality, most people don't even think that ...
Letting Go and Letting God
We've seen the success of Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs over the years, and one of the key principles behind them is to "let go and let God," to give up some control over yourself and let God be in control. That's not a ne...
Greed or Good?
Micah prophesied during a time of intense social injustice in the divided kingdom. False prophets preached for riches, not for righteousness. Princes thrived on cruelty, violence, and corruption. Priests ministered more for gr...
Uplifted Eyes
Psalm 121 is a great comfort. especially before surgery with its promises that while one is "asleep" under anesthesia, God neither slumbers nor sleeps. Some use it before they begin a trip somewhere with its promise of God watching over our "co...
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.". Jesus put up with a lot of "fals...
Singing in a Strange Kingdom
The Israelites were captive in Babylon: men forced to work, women abused. Verse 9 notes one of the more grotesque scenes, the needless slaughter of children. Perhaps the Israelites turned to song, which then gave the captors s...
Coveting Righteousness
Are we really satisfied or do we always want more? And how do we get what we want? The 10th commandment is really a summary of the attitude that underlies the first nine commandments. The 10th commandment describes our inner w...
Laughter from the Throne
Psalm 2 talks about some fools making a king laugh. They are not paid to make him laugh, like a court jests; in fact, they will pay, says the king! If the court jester was in a dangerous position, the fools of this Psalm are walking...
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
One day Jesus' disciples asked: "Lord, teach us to pray." What are they asking? How does Jesus answer? We will explore this over the next several weeks in a series on the Lord's Prayer, focusing in particular on what we can le...
God's Greatest Dream
Over the course of the new church year, we will spend our evenings in the Old Testament, the Bible Jesus read and quoted, and which points to him. We begin with the first words spoken and written in the Bible: "In the beginning God" - a t...