Category: Bible Studies

Sermon Download: A Higher Calling (1 Cor. 7:17-24)

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever heard a Labor Day Sermon? I don’t remember one either. So when I had the opportunity to preach this last Sunday, I thought I would try to focus on the topic of Work (or Labor) from a Christian perspective.

My text was 1 Cor. 7:17-24 which emphasizes that we don’t have to change our condition (or our vocational calling even) in order to be able to better please God. One of my main points was that we can please God through our work and that any profession, or any station in life, is sanctified by our Higher Calling.

I hope this message is a blessing for all who may hear it. If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (48 minutes), please do look over my notes.

Place: The Heights Church, St. Paul
Date: Sep. 2, 2018
Title: A Higher Calling
Text: 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
Notes: Download PDF
Audio Link: Click to listen (right click to download)

Book Briefs: “Listen Up: 10-Minute Family Devotions on the Parables” by Marty Machowski

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

As a parent of eight, I’m always on the lookout for Christian resources we can use in our family devotions. We’ve made use of some of the books from Marty Machowski before (The Gospel Story Bible and others), so I was eager to look at his latest book Listen Up: 10-Minute Family Devotions on the Parables (New Growth Press, 2017). I was not disappointed! Listen Up is a fantastic resource for families and guides readers through a thirteen-week series of lessons focused on the Parables.

Each week starts with an overview of what will be covered, and some prep-work that can be done for an object lesson/illustration introducing the theme for the week. Then 5 lessons follow and include discussion questions and prayer pointers, as well as a deeper dive for older kids or adults. From time to time, the book includes fun facts and points out other resources for further study. The result is an incredibly helpful resource that opens up the Gospels for young readers. Even as an adult and Bible student myself, there were new tidbits to learn — such as what flower is meant by the phrase “lilies of the field.”

The lessons are Gospel-centered and presented from a Reformed-perspective, yet the book is not an overt, over-bearing embrace of the Westminster Confession or anything like that. Conservative Evangelicals of all stripes will appreciate the teaching and themes emphasized in this small book’s pages.

This book goes hand-in-hand with a full-fledged Sunday School curriculum from New Growth Press as well. And the style followed appears to line up with a similar lesson series on Proverbs. Machowski also has Old and New Testament curricula available. Check out New Growth Press for these resources and more.

Parents, get this book! It will help you appreciate the Gospel more and open up the Four Gospels to the young hearts of your children.

Blurbs:
“Marty is a parent’s best friend when it comes to figuring out how to creatively and competently do what we really want to do, which is talk with our kids about what matters most — the word of God.”
—Nancy Guthrie, Author of Dinner Table Devotions and Discussion Starters

“Biblically faithful. Gospel rich. Theologically insightful. Practical. Creative. Engaging. These are some of the words that came to mind as I read through Marty Machowski’s Listen UP! I learned things I didn’t know about the parables, and repeatedly found myself thinking, ‘Parents and their kids are going to benefit so much from this book!’ Marty has obviously done his homework and excels at using the whole Bible to help us understand what Jesus is saying in the parables. Best of all, he consistently points us not only to the words of Jesus, but to Jesus himself as the only Savior of the world.”
—Bob Kauflin, Director of Sovereign Grace Music

“If I ever had to return to my child-rearing years, I’d certainly want to take Listen Up with me. This book of family devotions, written in a lively, vivid style, presents an accurate account of Jesus’s parables and applies them well to the lives of every participant. Machowski includes excellent suggestions for object lessons, group activities, prayer, and ‘going deeper,’ while keeping the actual meetings under ten minutes! I can’t imagine that anyone would follow the book’s directions without becoming a better disciple of Jesus.”
—John Frame, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL

Where to Buy:
Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from New Growth Press.

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by the publisher. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

Sermon Download: A Holy Priesthood (1 Peter 2:4-10)

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

I was blessed to be able to fill the pulpit this last Sunday. I took 1 Peter 2:4-10 as my text and did my best to cover some of the wonderful truths contained in that passage. I focused on how the Church is both a Temple, made up of living stones, and a company of Holy Priests to the Lord. This passage has long been one of my favorite in the New Testament, and I hope my message will be a blessing for all who hear it.

I’m sharing the sermon here, and you can find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (53 minutes), please do look over my notes.

Place: The Heights Church, St. Paul
Date: Jan. 14, 2018
Title: A Holy Priesthood
Text: 1 Peter 2:4-10
Notes: Download PDF
Audio Link: Click to listen (right click to download)

Sermon Download: Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching for a special five-part series at our church. Each week a sermon has been devoted to one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. In English, the Five Solas are: Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and to the Glory of God Alone. This is also the order we are using for the sermon series. Our pastor has opened the series and will finish it, and two other men and I are privileged to contribute one of the messages for the set.

My sermon from this Sunday was on Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone. I was especially burdened by this topic which is so all-encompassing. My sermon highlighted the role of Grace in salvation — we are saved not on account of our works (praise God!). And I also emphasized how grace opposes legalism, in both its doctrinal and practical forms. Finally I was able to touch on Sovereign Grace just a bit as well.

My text was Titus 3, and I was pleased to discover that Martin Luther preached a pair of sermons on Titus 2:11-4 and Titus 3:4-7 for Christmas of 1522. Those sermons were epsecially pertinent to my theme and I included some quotations. (You can find Luther’s sermons on Titus  here and here).

I’m sharing my sermon notes and audio in this post and welcome any feedback. You can also find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (52 minutes), please do look over my notes.

Place: The Heights Church, St. Paul
Date: November 12, 2017
Title: Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Text: Titus 3:3-8
Notes: Download PDF
Audio Link: Click to listen (right click to download)

The Five Solas of the Reformation

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Tuesday will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. One way of focusing on the key truths recovered by the Reformers is looking at what has come to be known as the “Five Solas.” These truths are pictured below and represented by the following Latin phrases: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

The following points are adapted from part 5 of my teaching series: “A Survey of the Reformation: Its History and Doctrine” which is available for free download here.

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Scripture Alone

  • The Scripture was liberated for the common people.
  • Reformers insisted on Scripture’s supreme authority. [Scripture has final say over church tradition, but the Reformers still appreciated much that the Church Fathers and the ecumenical Church councils had agreed on (e.g., the orthodox statements on the Trinity and the Deity of Christ, for instance).]
  • Scripture was held as infallible and inerrant.
  • Scripture was preached — preaching and Scripture reading took pride of place in the “order of worship.”

Faith Alone

  • Faith, not works, is the condition for justification.
  • Faith provides an “alien righteousness” –the works of Christ on our behalf (active and passive).
  • Justification by faith is a gift of God — and was absolutely essential to the Reformation.
  • Justification declares us righteous, it doesn’t start the process of making us righteous (sanctification).
  • However, we are justified by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone. (No place for “easy-believism”).
  • Helpful quote: “Where there is true faith, works necessarily result, just as fire necessarily brings with it heat.” (Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli)

Grace Alone

  • Grace didn’t just enable man to “pull himself up by his bootstraps.”
  • Grace for the Reformers, was Sovereign
  • Helpful definition: “the free favour of God… conferred… upon the unworthy.” (19th Century Calvinistic Baptist, William Newman)
  • Grace = “unmerited favor”
  • God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
  • Grace calls us (Gal. 1:15), regenerates us (Titus 3:5), justifies us (Rom. 3:24), sanctifies us (Heb. 13:20-21), and preserves us (1 Pet. 1:3-5).

Christ Alone

  • The Church does not dispense salvation, Jesus does –Acts 4:12.
  • Mary & the Saints are not the mediator, Jesus is the only mediator –1 Tim. 2:5.
  • The Cross-work of Christ is sufficient for all the merit needed for salvation –Christ is “our righteousness.”
  • The Cross-work of Christ is not repeated, but a finished work (no “re-run” of Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass).
  • Christ’s righteousness was both passive (submitting to death for us) and active (life that pleased God).
  • Today, we need to remember that Christ alone is where salvation is to be found –not in other religions or philosophies (contra postmodernism and pluralism).

God’s Glory Alone

  • Hebrew word for glory is: kabod = “weight”
  • Greek word for glory is: δοξα = “opinion”.
  • Definition: “value or worth, intrinsic to something and the value we externally place on it (in worship).”
  • God’s goal is to manifest His glory.
  • Helpful summary: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1)
  • God is the one who gets glory in the work of salvation – not man, Mary, the saints, or the Church.