COV LIFE BLOG
Luke 1:67-79 – Songs of Advent – Zechariah’s Song
If we remember that four hundred dreary years, for the most part of which Israel had been groaning under a foreign yoke, had passed since the last of the prophets, and that during all that time devout eyes had looked wearily for the promised Messiah, we shall be able to form some faint conception of […]
Luke 1:39-56 – Songs of Advent -Mary’s Song
Mary’s hymn is one of three major hymnic pieces in the infancy material (the others are known as the Benedictus, Lk 1:67-79, and Nunc Dimittis, Lk 2:28-32). The Latin names come from the phrases that begin the hymns. Mary’s hymn expresses praise to God for his treatment of her, but then extends her praise to […]
Zephaniah 3:9-20 – The Overwhelming and Awe-Inducing Salvation of God
Can you imagine what it would be like if you could hear God singing? Remember that it was merely a spoken word that brought the universe into existence. What would happen if God lifted up his voice and not only spoke but sang! Perhaps a new heaven and a new earth would be created. God […]
Zephaniah 3:1-8 – Judgment for the People of God
There is a church against whom this indictment might be laid today—“She obeyed not the voice”— she did not hear the Gospel. “She received not correction”—when reformers came she sought their blood. “She trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God,” but she went after others and set up other intercessors […]
God’s love is set forth in this gracious call to Judah to come together and face the fact of God’s judgement, take heed, and repent. The sad thing was that Judah as a nation did not respond to this gracious call. What do we learn from this gracious call of God and the attitude to […]
Zephaniah 1 – The Coming Day of the Lord
SUCH was the state of the Jews for a long time previous to the Babylonish captivity, that the prophets had little to do, but to denounce the judgments of God against them. The promises which they were inspired to utter had respect to a different and distant period, a period for the most part yet […]
Romans 12:16 – Unity in the Church
For church leaders and elder boards everywhere, the last few months have presented a near-constant array of complex challenges related to shepherding a church. In such a precarious and polarizing environment, how can churches move forward in beautiful unity (Ps. 133) rather than ugly division? It won’t be easy. But by God’s grace and the […]
John 17 – Kept by the Love of Jesus
These men were the gift of the Father to the Son. All of us have something we have been given by someone whom we love. We treasure that gift — not only because of its intrinsic value but because it comes from someone who means much to us. Jesus, looking at these men, guarded them […]
Psalm 73 – Nearness to God is Our Good
How can it be otherwise than good to have access to Him who is the highest good? The courtier counts it a high honor, and satisfaction to sun himself in the presence of his monarch. He basks in the royal smile; shall not the courtiers of heaven count it an equal good to stand in […]
Philemon 17-25 – A Grace Given For the Work of Reconciliation
God is a being that forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. This truth is deeply embedded in the revelation of God’s character to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:7). As Christians, we so much know this truth that we are tempted to take it for granted. Many a sermon speaks about forgiveness. And when someone wrongs […]