The Impact of God's Covenant with King David

What are we to make of the Davidic covenant found in 2 Samuel 7 and described again in 1 Chronicles 17?

First, we should be clear what we mean by 'covenant'. In the memorable words of the Children's Shorter Catechism, a covenant is a "relationship that God establishes with us and guarantees by His Word." Thus, when God made a covenant with King David, the LORD was telling David and his descendants what he could expect in the generations to come. 

The LORD looked upon the shepherd king of Israel and established an everlasting covenant – a binding and constant arrangement between God and David and his offspring. The Davidic covenant established an expectation of a greater Son of David who would come to bring us into an everlasting kingdom! And if we want to summarize the significance of the Davidic covenant in a single sentence, we might say: 

Because God keeps His Word, His promise of an everlasting house (or dynasty) and Kingdom to David gave confidence to all who anticipated the fulfillment of this promise. 

Ray Grau

The Story of Pastor Norm's Calling to the Ministry

At a recent meeting of the City Hall Connaught Toastmasters Club, Pastor Norm gave a speech on his calling to the ministry of the gospel. If you'd like to learn more about our pastor, here's a little snippet into his life and leading up to this point. Enjoy!

Augustine and the Defense of the Faith

With the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation being celebrated especially on this day (Oct 31st), it's always important to keep in mind that Luther was not the first to draw attention to the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. St. Augustine was one such figure who stridently defended the doctrines of scripture and the attack on the gospel found in the writings of Pelagius. 

The history of the monk Pelagius is a compelling read and illustrates how he frequently crossed heads with the early church’s St. Jerome and St. Augustine. Augustine spoke out against the merited grace doctrine of Pelagius in a series of letters and doctrinal treatises. Historian Rebecca Harden Weaver describes it thus:

“The issue for him was the utterly gratuitous character of grace. Any connection between the divine conferral of grace and human distinctions in merit would have the effect of making the former dependent on the latter. Grace would be a reward. Such an arrangement was totally unacceptable to Augustine. Instead, he argued that God had created human nature as good; yet in Adam all participated in sin and, as a result, deserve damnation. The grace of God, however, rescues some from their just deserts and bestows on them eternal life.” (Rebecca Harden Weaver, Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1996), 5)

What was the Reformation All About?

500 years ago, a German monk named Martin Luther started a protest that exploded into a worldwide movement. So what was the Protestant Reformation all about? Discover the answer in this short video narrated by Dr. R.C. Sproul. Learn more at http://Ligonier.org/reformation

On the Psalms ...

"We should understand the Psalter as a vital part of God's preparation for the coming of Christ. We should understand a particular psalm in its historical context and New Testament usage and ponder how that Psalm relates to Christ. Above all, we should understand the Psalter as divinely-inspired, Christ-centered songs worthy of joyful praise unto God."
(From '150 Questions about the Psalter' by Bradley Johnston; http://www.crownandcovenant.com/product_p/ds199.htm)

Pagans of the first century viewed Christians as killjoys...

We're studying 1 Peter 4:1-6 in our Bible Study tonight and there's a brilliant piece of commentary by Karen Jobes on this passage that is worthwhile fodder for reflection:

“Pagans of the first century viewed Christians as killjoys who lived gloomy lives devoid of pleasure... The pleasures from which Christians of the first century typically abstained were the popular forms of Roman entertainment: the theater with its risqué performances, the chariot races, and the gladiatorial fights with their blood and gore. Christian lifestyle also condemned the ‘pleasures’ of an indulgent temper, sex outside marriage, drinking, slander, lying, covetousness, and theft. These attitudes toward contemporary Roman customs and morals, combined with the Christians’ refusal to burn incense to the emperor – a gesture of civic gratitude intended to assure the well-being of the empire – earned Christians the reputation of being haters of humanity and traitors to the Roman way of life.” ...
“Peter encourages his readers to continue to abstain from the things that society deems acceptable, even though by their abstinence they condemn such conduct and thereby possibly incur the anger of those who indulge in such things. As [Paul J.] Achtemeier points out, ‘It is a problem that will recur whenever Christians are forced by their faith to oppose cultural values widely held in the secular world within which they live.’” (Karen Jobes, 1 Peter, p. 262)