Faith Presbyterian Church

In this last of the "I AM" statements, Jesus reminds us that apart from Him we can do nothing and that we must remain in the vine (Jesus), in His love, and as His friends. He desires us to bear much fruit as we model Him and are shaped by His Spirit.

Just as the LORD would cause blessings to overtake His people on condition of their obedience, so He would cause curses to overtake His people on the failure to meet that condition. These awful curses are given longer explanation than the blessings in part due to the impending failure of the people to obey the law which the Holy Spirit surely foresaw in inspiring Moses to speak to the people and write the book. How important indeed it is that Christ became a curse for us!

For His obedient people, the LORD Himself will bring blessings which will overtake the people. What a wonderful description of God's covenant relationship with His people.

It is simply hard to believe that the church would do works even greater than Jesus and yet that is what Jesus said to His disciples. Of course that would not be possible without another Exhorter which He also promises to His disciples along with the hope that is present in the love and unity of the believer to Christ and the Father.

The curse of the law and the binding of the people to the covenant curses is no mere ceremony but directly points to the truth of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:10-14. The law puts us all under a curse but the good news of the Gospel includes how Jesus Christ became a curse for us!

In a time when the disciples were troubled and perplexed, Jesus gave them the assurance that He was preparing a place for them in His Father's house. He also reminded them that this Place was only made possible through Himself - Jesus.

The covenant of the LORD should be remembered both for His actions towards His people and His Word. This process of writing on stones and building an altar, accompanied by renewal of the covenant at Shechem was to know the permanence of God's law and His commitment to His people and to remember.

Jesus was glorified in submitting to the plan of salvation by letting Satan use Judas Iscariot to betray Him. To speak of Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial must truly have been a "dark night of the soul." How aptly does John write, "And it was night" in this text and yet how appropriate to know that the light of Christ often shines the most brightly on such a night!

In this conclusion of the detailed case and prohibition laws in Deuteronomy, the LORD reminds us of the joy of obedience in response to His gracious provision. He kept His promise to Israel to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey and He desired for His people to show their gratitude in obedience and giving.

In this portion of the law, God demonstrates His desire for His people to be pro-family, pro-fairness in dealing with others and with respect towards others. Taking advantage of the orphan, the widow and the sojourner is particularly egregious. All of this law is motivated by God's love for His people in rescuing them and prompts His people to treat others as God treated them.

In Jesus' example of footwashing, He is not only teaching a lesson on humility but is indicating the need for His disciples to be cleansed by Him, pointing to His soul-cleansing blood shed on the cross. He is Savior and Lord, Rabbi and the great I AM.

This text, in John's Gospel, concludes and summarizes Jesus' public ministry. Despite His amazing teaching and His miraculous signs, the people still did not believe and the Jewish leaders still opposed Him. Why? Wasn't Jesus inviting His audience to believe in Him and thus have eternal life?

The prohibitions and case law in this text promote the honor of God in the context of the covenant community. The principles contained therein point us to God's holy character and to our need for Christ.

How is God "with us" today? How will Jesus keep His promise never to leave or forsake His disciples when He then ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father? It's by the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is with us and in fact dwells in us who are believers. What a gift and what a way for "Immanuel" today!

700 years before Christ came, the people of God faced real enemies as Judah faced off against Syria and Israel. Assyria was looming and had begun to pick off places like Galilee in the north while King Ahaz turned to everything but the LORD for a way out of the mess. But the faithful remnant was given the promise not of immediate succor but of an eternal solution in the promise of a baby to come who would be both Man and God, Savior and King.

In part 2 of the Immanuel series, we look at just one of the "glimpses" of "God with us" throughout history. In God's continuous Presence with His people in the 40 wilderness years, His protection and guidance assures them. Yet this is just a shadow of what is to come when God comes to His people in the person of Immanuel: Jesus.

In this first of four sermons in the Immanuel series, we look at our need for Immanuel. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, because of their sin, went from walking with God in the breeze of the day to being expelled from His Presence. Yet the hope of a change in that relationship in the future is found even in their punishment!

In the midst of a busy, confusing, bustling Jerusalem at Passover time, the appearance of Greeks coming to see Jesus signifies that "the hour" has come. Come see what this means and what the call of Jesus is to the people as He wrestles with and reflects upon His impending suffering and atoning death.

God is holy! As Moses explains that some would be permanently banned and others temporarily banned from membership among the people of God, it is a reminder of the gravity of sin and the enormity of God's grace in Christ Jesus. We are indeed saved by faith and not by the law and yet the law points us to Christ!

The fact that Jesus is fulfilling the plan of God for salvation is very evident in John's account of the Triumphal Entry. The role of eyewitness testimony regarding the works of God is also quite evident. Finally, the inability of anyone to stop the Word and Spirit of God regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ is an encouragement to every believer!

Warning - Parental guidance suggested - both to consider the appropriate age for these matters and to remember the parental mandate to train up your children in the way they should go under the Lord's instruction. These standards of sexual morality are unchanging for God's people and should not be compromised, even as we understand that God can extend the grace of forgiveness even to those of His people who have broken these standards.

How's this for an awkward or controversial meal? A woman (Mary), likely of the host family, pours perfume all over the guest of honor, including his feet and a debate ensues over how bad an idea this was. The guest of honor, Jesus, defends the act and says it was a beautiful way for him to be prepared for burial. In the end, the disciples either betray Jesus (Judas Iscariot) or are dumbfounded and the chief priests plot to kill both Jesus and the recently resurrected Lazarus. Oh to see Jesus!

Life in the covenant community is marked by respect for one's neighbor's and their property, for God's created order, for the resources He has given us as vice-regents of creation, for life, and for purity. Amidst all that, God's covenant people remember His law and value His grace in Christ who became a curse for us.

It is downright amazing to see in demonstration the truth that someone must be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit to come to faith in Christ. Even the power of resurrection was not enough to convince the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the divine Son of God sent by the Father.

For God's glory and the faith of some of His people, Jesus waited to go to Bethany and then He did an amazing thing. He commanded dead Lazarus to come out of the tomb and despite being dead four days, Lazarus responded. Jesus truly is the resurrection and the life!

This is a unique place in the law where the people cry out to God for mercy because there is nothing they can do to atone for the sins of the land. This re-enactment of an unsolved murder with a heifer demonstrates the inability to "fix" the problem of bloodguilt before God and asks Him to atone for them - which He eventually does for those who are justified by faith through His Son Jesus Christ.

2025 Horry County (SC) PCA Reformation Worship with Grace PCA Conway, Faith PCA MB and Surfside PCA participating.

In this review of the laws pertaining to the cities of refuge, manslaughter and murder, and the preservation of land boundaries, the value of human life and the importance of true justice for a society are promoted by God and we are all reminded of how true justice is only found in the LORD.

John's claim that He and the Father are one is a definite claim for divinity, so much so that the knee-jerk reaction of the Jews was to stone Him for blasphemy. And yet, some believed!

After Moses discusses the LORD's organization of priests, judges and even kings, he speaks on the office of prophet. Directions for the office and the ultimate fulfillment of the office of prophet in Christ are both described. God's Word, both on paper and in the flesh can be foreseen in Moses' prophecy in this text.

As Moses speaks on the organization of Israel, he turns to the necessity of providing for the Levites (and priests) as well as the preamble for turning to authentic prophets for consulting the Word of the LORD.

Truncated sermon - introduction, reading of the text and the first main point are cut off the beginning of the recording.

This passage anticipates both the reality of the sinful hearts of the people in asking for a king like all the other nations and the provision of God with a King so unlike the other nations that He will reign forever in righteousness.

Jesus is the door. Both shepherds and sheep must enter the Kingdom of God through Jesus. There is no other way to be saved or to legitimately lead God's people.

God's people are to be a just people just as he is a just God. When it comes to local or higher courts, impartiality and a pursuit of true justice are crucial. Whether in Israel during Moses' day or in the church in our day, these principles of justice are vital for the community of God's people.

Here is a clear difference between testimony and evangelism. Personal testimony is bearing witness to the truth regarding your ability to give pertinent facts from your own experience. The formerly blind man did this. But he was not able to evangelize yet because he did not himself come to faith in Jesus until after the testimony recorded in chapter 9. The Gospel is not about us but about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In the law regarding the firstborn and the three annual pilgrimage feasts, Moses repeatedly uses the phrase "to the LORD your God." These festivals and feasts were about the LORD and His covenant commitment and provisions to the people of God. We, too, live our lives "to the LORD our God."

Although we don't have indentured servants or "debt slavery" today, this is the theme of this passage. There were two thrusts - if Israel followed God's ways in the covenant community, poverty would not be a problem. But because of the reality of sin and the reality of always having the poor, the way creditors treated debtors was crucial in a community with God as their master.

Jesus reinforces the fact that we cannot always associate particular sin with illness, disease or other "bad" things. Yet in so doing, He also heals a man born blind giving evidence that He is the Son of God.

Of all the I AM statements of Jesus in the book of John, this one offers the clearest picture of displaying the deity of Jesus. He claims to be the great I AM and the Jewish leaders understood this - so much so that they tried unsuccessfully to stone Jesus!

When it comes to every aspect of our lives, we believers understand our identity should impact our behavior. As a holy people who fear God, and as Sons of God, even our eating habits are meant to glorify Him!

Are you a child of God or a child of the devil? The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus claimed to be children of Abraham, which they were genealogically yet were still not in the Kingdom. What would Jesus say about you and your father?

As Moses starts off specific details about the law in Israel's new land, he began with worship and continues with the absolute line drawn at monotheism. No other gods period! Here is what to do when the temptations come and here are solid principles for today's people of God - the church.

The truth will set you free! On the one hand, this means Jesus, the Truth, will set His people free. And on the other hand, it means the Word which reveals the truth will set you free. Truth conquers self-deception, the lack of hope and slavery to sin. Listen to the wonders of Truth!

Moses is inspired to address Israel's change from mobile wanderers living amidst the roving tabernacle to landowners, many of whom would live far away from the place God would choose to place first the tabernacle and then the temple. Worship is foremost and concerns about offerings and how to handle blood (an important topic for God's people at all times) and eating meat are addressed.

Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the world. For those who walk in the Light, they will have the Light of life and will have their sins forgiven. For those who don't, they will die in their sins. Jesus is the great I AM and the perfect Son of Man.

On the brink of crossing the Jordan, Moses' first command for living in the new land centers around worship: to forsake and exterminate the false worship of the Canaanites and to maintain purity in worshiping the one true God in the place of His choosing.

This section of Scripture is consistent with Jesus' character and teaching in that He neither condones sin nor precludes mercy. He neither contradicts the law nor ignores the hypocrisy of the human caretakers of the law. Hear this record of law, mercy, and a call for repentance.

A reiteration of the need for God's people to make God's Words foremost in their lives also reminds them of the importance of obedience in the coming conquest and the connection between promise and responsibility.