Come Sojourn with Us
This is where you will find sermons and updates for our church. Our mission is to preach expository sermons focusing on the gospel of Christ. We are a church that is tied to the reformed tradition and seeks to submit to the scriptures so we walk in the Lord’s wisdom rather than our own.
We would love to have you join us on our Christian sojourn if you are in the Belgrade, MT area. If you are not in area then join us by listening to our bi weekly free sermon podcast.
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Zechariah sees a woman in a basket and then two women carrying her away to the land of Shinar. This is a vision of the Lord removing wickedness from the midst of his people in his holy land. Those who desire to worship other gods or being rebellion against God will be carried over to he Babelite community
Peter warns us that Satan is prowling around seeking someone to devour. This is a horrible picture to think that our main enemy is seeking to destroy us in such a degrading way. This sounds like we are facing David's fate where he writes, "like a ravening and roaring lion"(Psalm 22:13). The thing we need to remember is that Psalm 22 does not end with a cry of abandonment, but the comfort of God's presence. So Peter exhorts us to see the Lord's presence in the midst of our suffering. We consciously persevere while being assured of God's preserving power.
Zechariah sees a court room. This court scene is in heaven. In this vision Zechariah sees the Angel of the Lord, Satan, and Joshua the high priest assembled for court. Joshua is dressed in a garment that is ceremonially unclean. It is uncouth and not something that the priest should wear. The Lord commands the priest to be unclothed and clothed once more. The priest's condemning garments are removed, but not to humiliate him. This testifies to the Lord's redeeming mercy not only for the priest, but even for his people. The Lord demonstrates in his vision his passion to redeem, cleans, and dwell with his people forever.
Our instinct is to think that if we are assured of our faith then we will not grow because we will continually backslide. We might think that in order for us to grow we should be a little afraid, terrified, of God. If we are not terrified of the Lord's wrath then we will not be properly motivated to grow to conform to him. This is what we might think, but the Canons of Dordt is teaching us the opposite truth. The Canons of Dordt teaches us that If we are not assured of our faith then we will not grow in our faith. How does the Apostle Paul exhort the church? What can we learn from his exhortation?
The Lord places his people back in the promised land only to have their progress stalled by a letter. It is a letter that goes forth seeking to halt any progress Israel makes in rebuilding the Lord’s holy city. The Lord has affection for his people, and his dwelling in their midst. Can the Lord bring about his redemptive promise to dwell with his people? Is the Lord stronger than the nations?
Christ tells us that we are to turn the other cheek if someone slaps us. If someone takes us to court we give them more than they are asking in the settlement. If someone wants us to go one mile then we go with them two miles. If we take these words at face value they can become rather burdensome to the abused and the afflicted. We know that God defends the widow and the orphan so how can we care about injustice while hearing an exhortation to tolerate injustice?
The Apostle Paul shows where God's people have failed and disappointed the Lord in the past. The Lord's people have fallen into idolatry while calling it proper worship. This is intended to sober God's people and awaken us to see that we too are prone to these temptations. The Apostle Paul interjects at the conclusion of these examples that God is faithful. How can God being faithful encourage us when we doubt his goodness? Why is it so assuring that God will keep us until the end?
We are tempted many times in our Christian walk to doubt whether God is strong enough to fulfill his promises. We can survey the world and it is not as we think it should be. We might pray to God and in our perspective it seems that he is not listening to us. The prophet Zechariah gives us the absolute assurance that God does listen to our prayers. The prophet assures us that the Lord will build his heavenly city. The prophet assures us that the Lord has all this in check. How can this brief vision give us the assurance that God's plans do not fall flat when it seems his redemptive program has failed?
We are warned by those who have gone before us that if we push the boundaries of grace that God might give us the sin that we desire. The Lord might allows us to wallow and to walk in our sin for a time. So, what happens when the Lord snaps us out of our sin? What does David communicate to us about the Lord remembering his promises? How does David's sin, and more importantly, his restoration, teach us about the Gospel?
Mary goes out to the tomb to pay her respects to her dead teacher. She finds that the tomb is disturbed, the stone is rolled away, and someone has taken her Lord. She tells the disciples and they believe her report. The disciples are locked in a room, hiding away, and their Lord appears to them two times. How does Christ deal with these skeptics? How does Christ deal with the skeptic who does not believe the apostles' report? How does Christ show that his mission is not just to confirm God's promises, but to shepherd his people?
We look at Christ and Pilate going back and forth. The issue that we consider is how can Christ say that he is the essence of truth? It seems rather strange that the truth teller is handed over to a foreign official to be put to death. He is not even tried, but rather his own nation hands Christ over to face death. We seek to see and show that Christ is in fact truth despite Christ's kangaroo court.
The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is sometimes summarized as, "Once saved always saved." There is truth to this statement, but it radically misses the complexity of the Christian walk. God will certainly preserve his people until the end, but we are called to persevere by the Lord's grace. The challenge in this life is that we can have sinful desires that are contrary to God's kingdom. The Canons of Dordt warns us that God can hand us over to those desires. Where do we find our strength in this life to continue on our Christian sojourn?
People in the city of man think that they are safe. They trust in their military might and their strategy. However, the city of man looses sight of the reality that it only functions in the confines of God's providence. The Lord sees the actions of the city of man and the Lord will act on behalf of his people. We can take comfort in Zechariah seeing the Angelic Horsemen surveying the earth.
God says through his prophet, “Return to me and I will return to you.” This is a promise that sounds rather conditional. This is strange considering that the Lord promises to send a redeemer to Adam. The Lord calls Abraham out of his idolatrous land to sojourn to heaven. The Lord is the one who walks between the cut up animals as the Lord cuts a covenant with Abraham that we call the “Covenant of Grace.” So, how can the Lord say to Israel “return to me and I will return to you?”
The Apostle Paul tells us that we are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. Is our situation really this dire? Are we really just people destined to slaves of one thing or the other thing? Is it really a good thing that we are slaves of Christ Jesus? Why would we actually find freedom in such slavery?
Samson is the judge that Israel deserved as one who characterizes Israel. He is an imperfect messiah-deliverer, but he still delivers God's people.
Christ is a gracious king who shows his servant quality by washing his disciples feet. This shows us the call to love and service in the kingdom.
Christ has come to establish the Lord's kingdom and to bring his people to his heavenly city. We might wonder how one is worthy to enter into this city. Does one make themselves worthy through a series of preparations or is the Lord's grace bigger than our ability?
Paul, the Apostle, writes to a dear friend. Paul writes to a young minister who is most likely seen as Paul's child in the faith. As Paul departs and says his farewell how do we know that this letter extends beyond even Timothy? How do we know that Paul intends to encourage us today?
God is the one who overwhelms us with his mercy and Grace. God is the one who prevails over his people. We might think that this is a terrible thing until we realize that it is God who is conquering us. We might think that we would naturally love God, but Isaiah teaches us something radically different: we weary God while thinking he wearies us. So, is it good that God overwhelms us with his grace and mercy?
We are a bible believing church in the Belgrade, MT. We are a Reformed Protestant church who desire to build one another up in love as we sojourn under the sun.
