Sermon podcast feed for King's Cross Church in Moscow, ID. Featuring Pastor Toby Sumpter. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.
King's Cross Church (Moscow, ID)

God created men and women to reflect His glory in particular ways, but sin distorts that glory. And we tend to sin against one another in ways that reinforce cycles of shame and dishonor.But Christ came to break our cycles of sin, and Deborah is a judge who points us to the Church who calls men and women back to the glory of God.The Text: “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles…” (Judges 4:1-9)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The Bible is not a book of sweet and pious aphorisms. It is the truest book because it tells the truth about our vile sin, and it tells the truth about the only way out of the shameful pits we have dug for ourselves. Ehud is a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus: a little savior who points to our Great Savior.The Text: “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD…” (Judges 3:12-31)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Despite human rebellion, God is determined to raise up a warrior people – nations trained for battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. In Christ, God has raised up the Great Judge of all the earth, who fights for us, and gives us His Spirit so that we may learn to fight evil like Him.The Text: “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof…” (Judges 3:1-11).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The people of Israel during the era of the judges largely failed, and they failed because they refused to seek God with their whole heart. They did not destroy their idols and the pagan nations around them, so they would have mild success during the lives of strong leaders and then immediately fall back into their idolatry over and over again. But Christ has come to call His people to true repentance.The Text: “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?...” (Judges 2:1-23)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

In God's world, words and names matter. Your words are either echoing God's Word and naming in faith and taking dominion, or else they are defying God's Word, naming in unbelief, fear, and setting up trouble for yourself and your children. The tribes of Israel learned this the hard way. The lesson was clear: sin must be completely destroyed or it will eventually destroy you.The Text: “And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)…” (Judges 1:22-36)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Judges opens with the death of Joshua, and Israel calling on the Lord. The book of Judges is all about the radical difference between the Lord being with you and the Lord not being with you: the difference between God being your king and having no king and doing whatever is right in your own eyes. During the lifetime of Joshua, the Lord was with Israel and gave them victories over their enemies, but Judges will contrast that blessing with a declining cycle of God saving Israel, Israel forgetting God, not seeking God, and being oppressed by their enemies. But the story opens with a warm reminder of the blessing that is possible for those who seek Him. The Text: “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand…” (Judges 1:1-20)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

It has been said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. Ecclesiastes says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us” (Eccl. 1:9-10).The repeated refrain of Solomon is that all is vanity or “vapor” and “vexation of spirit” or “striving after wind.” A better translation would be “shepherding the wind.” Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a kind of cyclical nature to time and yet there is a beginning and an end: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Eccl. 3:1, 11). The Christian view of history is more spiral.We live in days of crisis and turmoil. It remains to be seen what kind of stability will emerge, whether it will be favorable to Christianity or not. Regardless, we are called to be “men of Issachar,” who have “understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:32).The Text: “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow…” (Ps. 90:9-17)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Matthew's quotation of Hosea's prophecy has often confused Christians. How is this faithful exegesis? But what we find in what might seem like almost a casual reference in passing is something that underlines even more of the glory of Christmas.The Text: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hos. 11:1).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

When the wise men from the east asked where the King of the Jews was to be born, Herod gathered all the priests and scribes and ask them where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They cited Mi-cah's prophecy that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.It's remarkable that the Jews knew this prophesy, knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and still many refused (and still refuse) to believe in Him.The Text: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yetout of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth” (Mic. 5:2-4).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

This great Christmas verse should be understood as connected to the prophecy of the virgin birth and helps to confirm the New Testament's insistence that Jesus is the child who was born of virgin to save us and our pitiful world.But this is no mere spiritual reality; it is the ground of our confidence that Christ's government and peace will increase until all of His enemies have been put beneath His feet. The One who was born in Bethlehem is the King of this world.The Text: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Is. 9:6-7).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The doctrine of the virgin birth is one of the key doctrines of the Christian faith. Chesterton says that the Creed is like a key that unlocks the world, and as with any key, every ridge and angle matters. The virgin birth is not merely “another cool miracle,” like the healings of blind men or walking on water. The virgin birth is central to our salvation.The Text: “…Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us…” (Mt. 1:18-25)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

As we begin this Advent season preparing for Christmas, the plan is to look at five Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.This week we look at Jacob's blessing of his son Judah (sometime around 2000 B.C.), foretelling that God would raise up kings in the tribe of Judah, until all people have been gathered before one king of Judah.The Text: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:8-12).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

In the first century just after Jesus ascended into heaven, the unbelieving Jews murdered Stephen, and Saul of Tarsus was breathing threats against the Christians in every city. The temptation to go dark was great. The Christians were hated, lied about, and mistreated. It would have felt very justified to bitterly hate those Jewish zealots (and their Roman collaborators), and to have done so would be to join their carnal, devilish ways.But God has determined to conquer this dark world with His grace. That means mercy for the wicked. God justifies the ungodly. God's plan was to save the leader of that violence and evil. True grace has a backbone, but it is a radical, humiliating grace. This is the wisdom of God and the ground of all Christian gratitude.The Text: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain…” (Js. 4:1-10)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

We live in the ruins of a great civilization that was built in many ways by faithful men and women, who kept their marriage vows. Nevertheless in fallen world, sin will wreak havoc, and we need to know what to do when sin happens. The fundamental duty is confession of sin and forgiveness, but marriage is a public covenant and therefore sometimes there are public ramifications for certain sins.The Text: “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?...” (Mt. 19:3-9)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

In Colonial America it was common for sermons to be preached around elections reminding God's people of the biblical duties of magistrates, citizens, and the biblical blueprint for civil government.Today's message is focused on the duty of citizens to be a certain kind of people, and for men in particular to practice being dangerously good.The Text: “… Then said he unto them, ‘But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one…” (Lk. 22:35-38)King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

After salvation, the choice of who you marry will likely be the next most significant decision in your life. Marriage is a nuclear reactor – where new immortal souls are being brought into existence, and therefore it is good and right to guard its formation carefully.This law concerning vows applies in a number of different directions, but since marriage includes covenant vows, it certainly applies there.The Text: “…If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand…” (Num. 30:1-5).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

God, in His infinite wisdom, made men and women different. These differences inform our roles and duties, especially in marriage, where they complement each other. Scripture clearly teaches that wives are to submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22, Col. 3:18). This call to submission is not demeaning or oppressive, but is a genuine glory and a necessary part of a thriving marriage and family. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever you want. Humanistic lusts always end in tyranny, slavery, and destruction. Liberty is the freedom to obey God, to live according to His law under His blessing. Liberty is doing what you were made for.Therefore, the foundational governments that God has established of family, church, and state are the foundational checks and balances that limit human tyranny and truly set men free.The Text: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Rom. 13:1-2).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

While we reject all “health and wealth gospels,” as though Jesus were a mechanical vending machine for worldly wealth and power, we fully affirm the personal and covenantal nature of the world, which includes blessings and curses both in this life and in the life to come (Mk. 10:29-30).Sometimes God sends hardships to His people for their sanctification, and those hardships are working for us an “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). Sometimes He gives the wicked great wealth, yet without His blessing, they do not have ability to truly enjoy it (Eccl. 5:19-6:3). However, sometimes God's people turn to idols and become debt slaves and are taken out of the fight, but we are called to freedom and dominion.The Text: “…The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” (Dt. 28:1-14).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Many Christians say they prefer smaller churches, and in God's providence, there are many smaller, thriving churches. But it's worth checking your preferences against God's word. Are your preferences aligned with biblical priorities? Or are you making your preferences into biblical priorities?Our church and community have grown significantly over the last few years, and while it is understandable to miss seeing certain friends, we want to make sure that we are processing this growth like believing Christians. So this is a message on big church blessings.The Texts: “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:5-6)“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:39-41).“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9-10).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The gospel collides with all idolatry, whether external shrines or internal obsessions. But idols can be sneaky and even warnings about idolatry can weaponized and misused to steer unthinking Christians. Is it idolatry to love your work, your family, your church, your nation, your ethnicity? The answer is “no,” so long as “love” is defined biblically, so long as your love is obedient to God. Idolatry is disobedient love. And obedient love is at war with every disobedient love. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Two messages delivered at a joint outdoor worship service with all three campuses of Christ Church and King's Cross Church. "A Mind to Work" by Toby Sumpter and "Lessons for the Limelight" by Doug Wilson.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1–11King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Paul begins his third missionary journey in Ephesus, and the Lord confirms His presence with Paul through extraordinary signs, causing the Word of God to overcome all opposition. It was true then, and it is true today. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Whatever you face, whatever you need, Scripture is your light, your power, your peace, your wisdom.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

While Paul takes a brief sabbatical to visit and encourage a number of the churches, the Word is going forth mightily in public through a man named Apollos and in private through a refugee missionary couple. This is how Christ rules the nations: through His living and active Word.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Here is the record of the challenges Paul faced planting the Corinthian church to which Paul wrote at least two letters which now make up the New Testament. This also appears to be one of the longer stints Paul spent in his mission, and given what we read here and in First and Second Corinthians, it appears that it was particularly difficult. Yet, at the center of this text is the Lord Jesus assuring Paul that He is with him, protecting him, and taking dominion. That same Risen Jesus is still with us today.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

All religion tends to fall into one of two ditches: imagining an immanent god(s) embedded in the universe and nature or else an utterly transcendent god who is impersonal and ultimately unknowable. Greek philosophy and religion had lurched from the old immanent gods to transcendent principles. But the Bible declares the true God who is outside of creation, and who has freely revealed Himself in His Word and through Creation and in His Son. The true God is utterly distinct from all of creation, and yet He has made Himself known so that we might truly know Him and walk with Him. This is what Jesus is talking about when He says that He is the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11-16).King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The apostle Paul wanted to sing in the Spirit, but wanted to sing with the mind also (1 Cor. 14:15). In a similar way, we come here week after week to worship God in the Spirit of God. But it is important for us to understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it. Otherwise we will drift into a mindless routine—which is quite different from a Spirit-led routine. We are now worshiping, and we should understand what we do because it is the most important thing that any of us can do. Your assigned purpose in being created was to be a worshiper of God. Nothing is more important than this, and it is because of this that all the less important aspects of your life can be integrated and can come to have any significant importance at all. It is either homo adorans or homo demens. Christ or chaos.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

As we look around the room each Lord's Day, we can see that many of us are in the thick of it when it comes to raising children. This is not simply an optical illusion; back in January, we ran a report and discovered that 37% of our congregation is under the age of 11, and nearly half are under the age of 18. Therefore, it is good to keep returning to the important topic of childrearing from time to time, for as the Apostle Paul wrote, it is no trouble for him to repeat himself, and it is good for you (Phil. 3:1). King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Human beings are inherently religious. We are homo adorans – worshiping man. We will either worship the Creator or some part of creation. Basing your life on some part of creation (reason, experience, science, health, pleasure) ultimately results in despair, anger, and anxiety because all of them are ultimately dependent on you and self-esteem, self-awareness, self-determination, and self-care are a backpack of bricks too heavy to bear. The weight of “self” is too heavy for any of us to carry. Paul saw this phenomenon in Athens, and our culture is currently at “crush depth” with these mantras. But the gospel is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to carry us, and He is risen from the dead. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

After the Fall, there are really only two kinds of community in the world: the fellowship of nobility and the fellowship of envy. Cain envied his brother, murdered him, and was exiled and built a city; Seth was the father of noble generations who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The word “noble” literally means “good generation” (high-born). Envy is the gangrene of bitter zeal. It is murderously destructive, while claiming to be concerned about truth and justice. Paul and Silas found examples of both nobility and envy in Thessalonica and Berea.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

In 42 B.C. in the fields of Philippi in Macedonia, Greece, the armies of Brutus and Cassius collided with the armies of Mark Anthony and Octavian, and the latter soundly defeated the former. Octavian would become the emperor of the Roman Empire, taking the name Caesar Augustus and eventually lavish a great deal of prominence on the colony of Philippi as the site of that historic battle. Around 80 years later, in that same city, Paul and Silas began proclaiming the reign of another King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and a new way of being Roman. And as is the case wherever this gospel goes, it caused trouble – trouble that sets prisoners free. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The wisdom of God is foolishness to man, and we must understand deep in our bones that one of the central missions of God in the history of the world is to destroy the wisdom of man (1 Cor. 1:19). This doesn't mean that we cannot grow in God's wisdom, but it means that we must be incredibly skeptical of human wisdom. The goal of the history of the world is that no flesh would glory in His presence but that all would glory in Him (1 Cor. 1:29-31). This wisdom is on display in Paul's circumcision of Timothy, and in his obedience to the Holy Spirit leading him to the Philippian riverside to preach to a few Jewish women.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

We live in world full of petty divisions and many foolish alliances. Maturity means growing up into a deep commitment to the truth as well as being able to tell the difference between gnats and camels. Unity at all costs will always lead to compromise, and certain wooden ideologies create brittle men and communities. We are seeking to build an anti-fragile like-mindedness, full of resilient, joyful saints, loyal to Christ and their people. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Sermon Text: Luke 10:25-37King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The decision of the Jerusalem Council illustrates a principle that Christians have always struggled with: grace has a backbone. True grace really is radically free, and because it is so free, it is potent and transformative. Grace welcomes and instructs. Grace rests and works.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Christian warfare always consists of multiple fronts: external, domestic, and internal. The fact that we see this in the first century should give us hope and reassurance that we are not facing something profoundly new or different. This dynamic is also part of the ‘continuing adventures of Jesus.' Our task is to walk by faith before God, the ‘Knower of Hearts, in obedience, trusting His grace. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Far too many people in the church are not truly converted to God. They are religious or maybe conservative, but they do not know Christ and the power of His resurrection. They know about Christ, and perhaps they know about the Bible and catechism answers. But they do not know Christ, and this is obvious because sin still has power over them. They are still dead in their sins, even while they may think they are serving God. This is what Saul/Paul thought until the Risen Jesus met him and gave him a new life. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Our modern world pits authority against friendship, falsely insisting that friendship can only exist be- tween complete equals. But in that case, a complete equal has nothing to offer, nothing to contribute. True friendship exists in relations of inequality and hierarchy, where different parties have different skills and responsibilities.Ultimately, this heresy of egalitarianism seethes with pride that hates the authority and friendship of God over sinful creatures – that we are completely dependent on Him, that He has made us and not we ourselves, and that true blessing only exists in bowing before Him. But that is what we celebrate on Palm Sunday and every Sunday. God made us, and God saves sinners. He has true authority, and He is good and therefore He defines what is good.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

THE TEXT: James 5:16–18King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

One of the marks of the Reformed faith was a great political reformation. This is why it is sometimes called the “Magisterial Reformation.” The Pope and Roman church had slowly claimed political power, but the Reformers insisted that Scripture clearly taught that all power was given to Jesus Christ and therefore, directly and delegated to magistrates, pastors, and parents for particular tasks by Him. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

We live in a world that says you can be anything you want, anything at all – the more bizarre and perverse the better, just don't be an ordinary, faithful man who marries an ordinary faithful woman, and have a pile of happy, ordinary kids and love and serve the Lord together. Anything but that. And the mischievous Tom Sawyer inside you should grin and say, “Well, now I'm going to normal even harder.”A significant part of the Protestant Reformation was a recovering of the Bible's teaching concerning the goodness and power of marriage, children, and family. Celibacy had come to be seen as the “higher calling,” and the duties and responsibilities of family as therefore lower and menial. The devil has always sought to lure people away from the glory of marriage and family precisely because when God's blessing is upon it, it is such potent goodness.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

As a young church, we have not yet experienced a public church discipline case. While the elders have been active in encouraging, admonishing, and occasionally suspending individuals from the Lord's Supper privately, we have not yet reached the point of needing to go through the formal process of excommunication.But if we are a faithful church, a time is coming when we will have to work through this together. Therefore, we should seek to understand the biblical practice of formal church discipline now in order that we may be found faithful when confronted with the task. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

The 16th Century Reformation was a reformation of worship. Worship is at the center of human life, and therefore, we believe it is the most important thing we do as Christians. How we think about worship and offer our worship flows into all of life. In the beginning, God placed Adam in the Garden Sanctuary where Adam had direct communion with God, and from that Garden a river flowed out to the four corners of the world. In Ezekiel's vision, a river flows out from under the altar growing deeper until it reaches the sea, bringing healing to the nations. What we do in worship impacts us and the whole world. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

One of the great recoveries of the Reformation was the notion of covenant. The doctrine of the covenant steers a biblical “middle way” between sacerdotal mysticism on the one hand and subjective mysticism on the other. God's covenant is His objective personal relationship with human beings in history, with attendant blessings and curses. And because God deals with us in this way, we also deal with one another broadly through covenants in our families and nations.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Pastor Wilson has used this phrase “Chestertonian Calvinism” for a number of years to describe the flavor of Calvinism we are aiming for. It's a riff on something C.S. Lewis once said about the Puritans: “On many questions, and specially in their view of the marriage bed, the Puritans were the indulgent party; if we may without disrespect so use the name of a great Roman Catholic, a great writer, and a great man, they were much more Chestertonian than their adversaries.” In other words, far from the morose and harsh caricatures, the legacy of John Calvin is joy and gladness, astonishment and relief, and the early accusations were that, if anything, they were too celebratory when it came to the gifts of bed and board. So as we go over the basics of what has come to be called “Calvinism,” we want to do so in an obedient and humble way, which is to say: the right kind of humility before these high doctrines ought to result in a robustly earthy joy. King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

As a newer congregation with many newer folks, I want to spend the next few weeks going over some of the basics of what mean when we say we are “Reformed.” Historically, this name goes back to the Protestant Reformation of the 16thcentury, but it is fundamentally based on the supremacy of God, revealed in Scripture, as the perfect Word of God. To say we are Reformed is to say that we want everything we think, say, or do to be God-centered and obedient to His Word. This is not to say that we have arrived, but it is to say that He is worthy. As we do this, we really do want to stand in the “old paths” and hold fast to the “faith once delivered for the saints,” but we want to actually live in this glorious house and not merely become the next museum curators. Or to change the metaphor, we want to fire these cannons at real, modern enemies, not merely polish them and rehearse how they were once used in the glory days of yore.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

Scripture says that we Christians are more than conquerors. And that is one of our beloved verses. But, if we are conquerors, that means there are things standing in our way. This truth, the one about looming obstacles, can weigh down the spirit if we let it. But, there really is no need for soul troubles. We are victors after all. And what good are victors if they have nothing to vanquish?King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

In January 2022, the Canadian government enacted Bill C-4, effectively criminalizing Christian preaching, teaching, and counseling that upholds Biblical morality for human sexuality. Many pastors in Canada have determined to preach messages annually until the law is repealed and have invited American pastors to join them in proclaiming God's truth about sexual sin and the gospel of grace.The Bible teaches that when God judges a people, it often comes as a kind of suicidal sexual madness. Apart from God there is only sorrow and destruction, but sometimes when people defy God for a while, He turns them over to their degrading demands. Ezekiel describes the fruit of this “sexual liberation” as self-mutilation, murder of children, and complete destruction.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.

As we begin a new year, it's worth reviewing some of the most basic assignments we have in our marriages. The central paradigm is the gospel, and the central duties are love and respect. But as with many of these things that we hear often, it is incredibly important that we determine by God's grace not to be merely hearers of the Word but doers.King's Cross Church is a member congregation of the CREC in Moscow, ID. Visit our website at https://kingscrossmoscow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/kingscrossmoscow.