The King Has Conquered

I Believe; Help My Unbelief! | Mark 9:14-29

https://youtu.be/ngH7o0g8K4I And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the …

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Faithful & Talkative

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6QbgtnwrrhtwbBzWi6srMH?si=LBMBykfGR3-2F1AaSjd4ZA Having passed through the Valleys of Humiliation and the Shadow of Death, Christian's journey marches onward. On this leg of his travels, we have two distinct parts. First, Christian begins to walk with Faithful and hears of his pilgrimage thus far. Second, Faithful has a dialogue with another traveler named Talkative. Faithful’s Testimony In …

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Create in Me a Clean Heart | Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God,and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 ESV Sin is the great downfall of mankind. From the moment of Adam’s first sin, we have been perpetually under the wicked influence of this monster. Since sin is truly treason against the Divine, we should have nothing more to expect from …

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The King Has Conquered

He Was Transfigured Before Them | Mark 9:2-13

https://youtu.be/0LShBHeXOIw And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by …

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O How I Love Your Law!

Your Rules from of Old | Psalm 119:52

When I think of your rules from of old,I take comfort, O LORD. Psalm 119:52 ESV In general, our roots are shallow. How many know the names of their great-great-grandparents? How many walk about with a knowledge of family history and the weight of a family legacy? In the modern West, we tend to live …

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Humiliation, Apollyon, & the Valley of the Shadow of Death

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3OVPUmhnXglwwzGGRI6Wmn?si=QnCcQXsZT-6v-YJRudAc2Q Our reading picks up with Christian setting out from his stay at the House Beautiful. Discretion, Prudence, Piety, and Charity accompany him down to the foot of the hill, the beginning of the Valley of Humiliation. Here Christian discovered a different kind of difficulty. Scaling the Hill of Difficulty left Christian ascending slowly upon …

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The King Has Conquered

The Son of Man Must Suffer | Mark 8:31-9:1

https://youtu.be/eUwQFf88P9o And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning …

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Deliverance, Difficulty, & the House Beautiful

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EA6RiIe6kbD6mGnpxlNjn?si=8OTJcUEATKKAZjlEfAOA2A Leaving Interpreter's House, Christian soon comes to a little hill upon which stands a cross. At this marvelous sight, Christian's burden is immediately loosened and rolls into the sepulcher, never to be seen again. The burden, as we said previously, is the guilt and shame of sin, not necessarily sin itself. For this reason, …

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Unworthy Servants | Luke 17:9

Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? Luke 17:9 ESV Shortly before we were married, my wife and I were interim youth and children ministers at a church. During a children’s church service, we conducted a miniature Olympic-style competition between the children, which we divided into two groups. After a series …

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Wrestling with God

Jacob & Esau | Genesis 25

This sermon was preached in 2016. In this text, we read the beginning of God’s plan for Jacob. Before Jacob is born, God chooses him to usurp his older brother, Esau, as the inheritor of God’s covenantal blessing from his father, Isaac. The chapter ends with Jacob’s first step in securing the inheritance of the …

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