Madison Reformed Church

Deut. 13:1–5 1 Kgs 12:25–33 Mark 13:9–13 2 Tim. 4:1–5  Are there such things as false and true churches, and is there a way to tell the difference? When we open Scripture, we see three things prioritized in Christ's assembly: the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and church discipline.

Christians are guaranteed to face trials and hardships, so how should we respond when they come? In this section if his letter, the apostle Peter encourages us to continue rejoicing in the salvation of the Lord. This salvation is "top-to-bottom" a work of God, and by meditating on Christ, it comes powerfully to encourage us during times of distress.

Lev. 14:1–9 Joel 2:28–32 Matt. 11:25–30 Eph. 4:1–16  What's it mean to be a member in Christ's church? Everyone united to Christ is a member of His universal church, as members of a body belong to one Head. But that membership expresses itself visibly in local churches with particular people. In this message, learn three particular ways that we maintain this unity.

Rev. Zac Wyse (Ascension Reformed Church) completes our series on Christian giving by opening to Philippians and Acts. He shows that the  act of giving is a spiritual sacrifice, like the fellowship offerings of the Old Testament, and therefore is best place in the actual worship service.

Gen. 12:1–3 1 Kings 19:9–18 John 4:19–26 1 Cor. 1:1–3 The doctrine of the Church has fallen on hard times. Many wonder what the Church actually is, who belongs to it, and whether or not it has any real authority. We confess the biblical teaching that the Church of Jesus Christ is catholic—not Roman Catholic—but "universal," which is all that the word means. We discover in Scripture the wonderful gift catholicity is in a world divided and confused.

The Christian life is lived in exile. We are not home yet, but live in a world often hostile to Christ and His Church. How do we live in such a world? The apostle Peter has written a letter that shows us the way. In this first sermon in a new series through 1–2 Peter, we discover that although we are exiles, we've been chosen by God, are guided by the Spirit, and are cleansed by Christ.

Num. 16:41–50 Ps. 103:20–22 Luke 16:19–31 Heb. 11:39–12:2  What is the "cloud of witnesses" that surrounds us? Are they the saints who have gone before us, can we interact with them? In this message, we look at the Roman Catholic practice of praying for and to the saints, and respond to this teaching.

In this short series on giving in the Christian life, we've identified the main purposes for giving are to extend mission of the church and relieve of poor. This last message now addresses the heart of the one who gives to these causes. We learn how to steer clear of prosperity gospel nonsense and rest firmly in God's generosity in the gospel.

Gen. 18:22–33 Job 9:28–35 John 17:20–26 Heb. 7:23–28  Some say doctrine doesn't matter. It's all about devotion to God. But you have to know who God is and what He says about Himself in order to be devoted to Him—and that's what doctrine is. The doctrine of Christ's intercession shows this perfectly. In this message, we learn how to overcome the fears we have in approaching by through incarnation, mediation, and intercession of our faithful High Priest, Jesus Christ.

How does the church support those in need? In this messages in our series on Christian Giving, we look to the early Church's pattern of generosity to learn that through Christ's own poverty, we have become rich. We also touch on practical considerations, like who counts as "the poor" in our day, and how do Christians best help them?

Exod. 29:38–46 Hos. 6:1–6 Matt. 5:17–20 Col. 2:16–3:6 Many are exploring movements like the Hebrew Roots, or traditions like Eastern Orthodoxy, both wildly different but filled with ceremonies. What does Scripture teach about such ceremonies? We look together at Christ's claim to fulfill the Law, and how that teaches us to seek Him in heaven, not in the earthly ceremonies of the Old Covenant, whatever form those take.

God has designed for His Kingdom to advance on earth through the ordinary ministry of the gospel. This spiritual work comes with material costs. In this message, we look at one of the main reasons why God's people are called to give generously—keeping up our churches up and spreading them where they're needed.

Deut. 6:1–3 Ruth 2:8–16 Luke 17:5–10 1 Cor. 3:5–15  We continue in the doctrine of sanctification by focusing in on Scripture's teaching on works and rewards. How can it be that God promises to reward our good works if sanctification is by grace? The answer is that even the rewards are by grace.

This message begins with several intro comments about this new and quick series on giving in the Christian life. In this message, we turn to Scripture's instruction on the tithe. What was it? What did it mean? And does it still apply for Christians today?

Deut. 11:18–23 Isa. 51:4–8 Luke 17:5–10 Gal. 5:1–6 Sanctification is the glorious teaching that God Himself works powerfully within us to make us more like Christ. Do we do good works? Of course. And it God who works within us, causing the very same faith that received Christ in the first place to being "working in love" (Gal. 5:6).

The end of each year causes most people to reflect on what's happened in the previous 12 months. Amid big changes and maybe some successes, there are big disappointments. Perhaps even disappointment with God? In this passage, during which infant Jesus is presented at the Temple, we learn what faith looks like in the face of disappointment as it's put on display by Simeon, Joseph & Mary, and Anna the prophetess.

The Magi's trip to find the newborn King reveals to us that the world is filled with danger for those devoted to Christ, but that He remains worthy of our deepest devotion and promises to defend us. Christmas Eve 2025 - Lessons & Carols Homily.

Lev. 18:1–5 Ps. 143 Luke 5:17–26 Gal. 3:10–14 We go through tests in life that feel like passing through a judgment. There is one judgment we can't avoid, the Judgment of God. But the doctrine of justification teaches us how to pass this judgment—one of two ways: either by perfect obedience to the law (which no one can do), or by faith in the obedient Savior.

In a self-centered world, John the Baptist teaches us to look away from ourselves to the coming Savior, Jesus Christ. In this advent sermon, we learn to listen to the cry of the voice in the wilderness, saying "Make straight the way of the Lord!"

What do you think of when someone says "the end of the world"? Jesus wants us to think—redemption. In this Advent sermon, we open to Jesus' Olivet Discourse, where He teaches us how to read the signs of His coming and to respond, not with a sense of doom, but great confidence.

Deut. 4:32–40 Isa. 44:1–5 John 5:19–24 Rom. 3:21–28 What is faith? For something so central to Christianity, we have a lot of confusion about it. In this message guided by Belgic Confession article 22, we learn where faith comes from (the Holy Spirit), what it is (a faculty of the heart), and what is brings about (Christ given to you).

The second Sunday in Advent. We focus our hearts on Christ's arrival into Jerusalem, which reveals to us the character of both His first and second comings, and—as a result—how we might best prepare ourselves to say with the crowds, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Madison Reformed Church gathered on the evening before Thanksgiving Day to offer our gratitude to God for all His kindness to us. In this message, we learn the obstacles to giving Him thanks from a full heart.

Lev. 16:1–5 Isa. 53:4–12 Matt. 27:45­–51 1 Cor. 2:1–5 What is the atonement? It refers to the work of Christ that He accomplished on the cross. But what the atonement means and what Christ accomplished by it takes us to its Old Testament roots. In this doctrinal message, we open up centrality of the cross, and the good news it still proclaims today.

In this final message in our Genesis series, we remember the ongoing work of God through His covenant, and how—despite the obstacles of death, doubt, and domination—His covenant mercies triumph in the end.

Deut. 28:15–19 Jer. 11:1–5 John 11:45–53 2 Cor. 5:16–21 Around the year A.D. 130, an early Christian wrote a letter to a skeptic named Diognetus, and he explained that the work of Jesus Christ for sinners like this: "O sweet exchange!" In this message, we see how God poured out His justice against His Son in order to show mercy and goodness to us.

In a world of pain and sorrow, Scripture teaches us to take refuge at God's right hand (Psalm 17:7), where Jesus is preparing a Kingdom for His people. In the blessings given to Joseph and Benjamin, we get a glimpse of that Kingdom and of the Son of God's Right Hand. In Him, we have the strength to overcome adversity while we wait.

In this reflection from Reformation Sunday 2025, we consider the joy of being Reformed Christians.

The 12 sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of Israel, the assembly of God's people at that time. We are one with them, and we learn about ourselves by studying them. It's like a Bible-based personality assessment, helping us know who we are and what our place is in the Church. We are unique in what we bring to the table. But, like them, we are united in our need for the grace of God. In this message, we learn that because we are waiting for the same salvation as the patriarchs, we can grow in godly self-awareness by looking to them.

Gen. 14:17–20 Ezek. 34:11–24 Luke 23:44–49 Heb. 5:5–10 Part of being any calling is learning its vocabulary. If you work in finances, you have to know the difference between assets and liabilities; equity, debit, and credits, and so on. There's a Christian vocabulary too. It's part of our calling. In this message, we learn the term “hypostatic union," which teaches that the Lord Jesus is one PERSON with two NATURES.

Lions take advantage of the early morning hours to roar loudly as a warning to all who would try to take their territory. Lions are fierce and mighty. And in this passage, the patriarch Jacob blesses his fourth-born son Judah by calling him a lion.  One will come from Judah's line who is like a lion. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, descended from Judah's tribe, a leader worth following.

Gen. 15:1–6 Jer. 23:1–8 Matt. 1:18–25 Heb. 2:14–18 Ever get tired of waiting? If you open the Bible, that's a pretty constant complaint. “How long, O Lord?” is a question that's on repeat. The incarnation of the Son of the God is God's answer to that question. In this message, we look at Matthew 1:18–25 to see how this great miracle came about and why God did it.

Have you ever thought about what you'd like to use your last words for? In Jacob's deathbed scene, he speaks prophetic blessings to his 12 sons. These words set the trajectory for the tribes that come from these men, and also give us a glimpse of life in the Church. In his first three sons—Reuben, Simeon, and Levi—we learn what God is able to do even through sinners whose sins echo down to the next generation.

Gen. 3:8–15 Lam. 3:49–60 Mark 5:24b–34 Heb. 2:14–18 When humankind fell into sin, God could've acted in swift and overwhelming justice. But instead, He made a promise. He promised that a chosen offspring would come to battle the devil, and undo all his harm. This is the promise of the covenant of grace, forged by divine love, and useful for us in all our trials and temptations.

God's will was that the covenant promises would pass on to the next generation in the unexpected way. That's the divine pattern. He uses the weak to shame the strong. In Jacob's adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh, we see Jacob embrace this divine pattern. After years of learning to discern the grace of God, he gets it right. This gracious God still works like this in the world today. And because that's the case, we're called, like Joseph, to put away our assumptions, and embrace God's way of grace. 

What has the Church to do with the state? Genesis 47 gives us plenty of biblical insights into how God's people—who abound in blessings—are to bless the nations they inhabit. Energized by the redemption we have in Christ, we are called to godly engagement with our earthly governments, even while we rest and hope for the eternal Kingdom of God.

Deut. 7:6–11 Isa. 41:5–10 John 15:15–17 Eph. 1:3–14 The doctrine of election is not meant to be a topic for debate, but good news for sinners. God has chosen to save those who could not and would not save themselves. And in this message, we learn where this choice comes from, what it leads to, and why we teach it.

What has the Church to do with the Family? In Genesis, the covenant family of Abraham is the Church, and so we are given wonderful answers to this question when we study how this family makes it through trials from without and from within. In this message, we learn that the blessings God has given His Church are so abundant that they overflow to families who join themselves to it: the blessings of peace, covenant worship, and family honor.

Gen. 5:1–11 Job 14:1–6 Matt. 15:10–20 Rom. 5:12–21 Have you ever wondered why it is harder to maintain good habits than it is to slip into bad ones? Why do we need to teach children, over and over again, how to obey while disobedience comes naturally? In short—why is it so much easier to do wrong? The answer is that we have a deep, ingrained problem called a sin nature, or "original sin." Original sin is the corruption that all people have inherited from Adam and that deserves death.

In this next section of the Joseph story, his brothers experience the biggest twist imaginable: not only that Joseph is still alive, but that he still loves them as family. This is the great unveiling that happens to all people who come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:11 says that Jesus is not ashamed to call us "brothers.” What else does Jesus reveal to us about Himself? We answer that question in this sermon.

Gen. 1:26–28 Ps. 14:1–7 John 6:41–51 Rom. 8:5–11 The future is here. World leaders speak about immortality through continuous organ transplants. Tech companies discuss how to upload our consciousness to the “digital afterlife." What does all this mean for humankind? In this message, we return to the doctrine of the image of God, which teaches us that we were made with spiritual excellence, but that has been lost in the Fall.

At some point or another, most people get into a situation where they have to muster the courage and go and do it, and the higher the stakes, the easier it is to be afraid. When it comes to God, the stakes couldn't be higher. How to we come to Him? In Genesis 43, this dilemma that is laid out for us, and the process of Joseph's brothers coming to ask him for what they need shows teaches us today how to approach God. It is only through a willing substitute.

Exod. 9:13–18 2 Sam. 24:1–15 John 9:1–7 Jas. 1:12–18 Have you ever been told that you have control issues? Actually everyone struggles with the thought that they may not be steering the ship. In the doctrine of providence, we learn how God controls all things. Providence is God's "orderly arrangement" of all things, in line with His own nature, without causing sin, for His glory and the good of His people. It is an unspeakable comfort.

Repentance is when a person turns away from his sin toward God and others. In this chapter in the story of Joseph, when the first signs of repentance show in his treacherous brothers, we are given a glimpse of how the Lord produces true repentance in us.

Deut. 32:10–18 Ezek. 28:11–19 Luke 10:13–20 Eph. 6:10–20 In a culture obsessed with the supernatural, Christians need to know the basic about the devil and his demons. In this message, learn where they've come from, what their goals are, and how we are to defend ourselves from them.

In Genesis 41, a great famine strikes the land of Egypt and surrounding countries, and God raises up Joseph to save the people during it. Famine is a time of deep hunger, and in this passage, we learn that through the Greater Joseph—our Lord Jesus Christ—we are delivered from our deepest hungers.

Gen. 3:14–21 Isa. 55 Lk. 24:36–49 Acts 17:16–34 What's the difference between the law and gospel? In this final message in a short summer series, Ben Phelps shows how the law is woven into the nature of things, but the gospel of the Lord Jesus can only be found in the holy Scriptures.

Should we anoint the sick with oil, as described in James 5? In this message, Rev. Welch spends time explaining why Madison Reformed Church practices this solemn ritual—what it is, what it isn't, the and way it stirs our faith to remember that Christ has overcome the grave.

Lev. 4:13–21 Ps. 50 John 1:1–18, 29–34 Heb. 9:22–10:18 Moving from the section of the catechism that explains our guilt on to the "grace" section, we learn what God Himself has done to pay the sinner's debt on their behalf. Ben Phelps preaching.

How can those who are filthy from their sin stand before the God of all holiness? They must be cleansed of their filth and clothed in righteousness. Ben Phelps opens to Zechariah 3, and the amazing prophetic vision in which the high priest Joshua shows us how sinner gain access to the heavenly council through the grace of God.

Lev. 26:9–13 Isa. 40:1–2 Matt. 10:26–33 Rom. 14:7–9Rev. Nick Alons (Lynwood United Reformed Church) opens to the beautiful first question of the Heidelberg Catechism and shows us from Scripture where the exclusive, extensive, and enduring comfort we all need comes from.