Sermons on Abraham and Isaac:

Embodying The Gospel Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

Living in a manner that is worthy of the gospel has three conditions.

If you don’t mind, let’s go back to the beginning of this passage. We read there – in chapter 1, verse 27 – that we are to live our lives “in a manner [that is] worthy of the gospel.” This is a simple but urgent appeal to us, and if we are to respond to it, if ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Looking Out For Number One Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

Jesus Christ deserves to be your Number One.

Paul, you will remember, writes these words from a Roman jail. And he is not there for committing a crime; he is there for his commitment to Christ. But, even though he is in Rome, he is concerned about his friends in Philippi, some eight hundred miles away. They are concerned about him, too. In ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:19-30

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Greatest Gain Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

Whatever advantage you think you have, consider it a loss, so that you may know Christ and be found in him.

Tim Keller has said that there are three ways to live. One is the way of the rebellious. The second is the way of the religious. And the third is the way of the redeemed. You can see all three of these played out in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a story that Jesus told about two brothers. One ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Running In A Standing Position Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

Consider three moves of grace. Our record is cleared of sin. Our lives are conformed to Christ. And our destiny is sealed by God.

There are three great moves that God makes on your behalf – three initiatives of grace that have to do with securing and insuring your salvation. They are, first, justification, second, sanctification, and, third, glorification. In his mercy, God justifies you – that is, he pronounces ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Mind Your Thoughts Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

When you "mind your thoughts," you don't have anything to worry about.

Next Sunday is Stewardship Commitment Sunday. You and I recently received pledge cards from our Finance and Stewardship Committee, and they are asking us to make a commitment about what we will give in the year 2015. There will be a time set aside in next Sunday’s service for those of us who ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:4-9

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

An Acceptable Sacrifice Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

If you give out of love for God, you will get what you desire most. You will get God's riches in Christ.

I once missed a great blessing. I was part of a student organization in college, and we were having a clothing drive. Our leader encouraged us to donate an article or two of clothing, but, when he did, he said, “Don’t give away something you won’t miss. Give something you really ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:10-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Comeback

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 26, 2015

God makes our desert a garden; He turns our exile into homecoming.

MY MOTHER DIED when I was twenty-six. She was only fifty-seven. A few years before her death, she was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. She fought it bravely, but, in time, it overtook her, and all too soon, by our accounts, she died. We had a service led by an Air Force chaplain at a local ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

With His Coming

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 30, 2015

Jesus became vulnerable so that we might become victorious. He put himself in harm's way to drive all harm away from us.

THERE’S A STORY in the Bible about King Jehoshaphat and how, one day, he was given some distressing news. Messengers came, and they told him that the massive armies of three – not one or two, but three – nations were coming against him. “A great multitude,” they ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Easter Reservations

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 9, 2015

Our risen Lord thrusts us into a future we’d never choose but we’d hate to lose.

THE FAMILY I GREW UP IN was highly conflicted. You would think that, for all the fighting we did, we would have gotten good at it – or, at least, that we would have seen something constructive come out of it. But the incessant bickering never seemed to bring about change; we just grew ...read more

Scripture: Mark 16:1-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Our Inheritance

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 27, 2014

A funeral sermon in which we learn about the person something of her relationship to herself, to others, and to God.

Jutta was one of those people that make a preacher’s job easier – or really, the job of anyone who speaks in public. I came to know Jutta at the vespers service held each Thursday evening at the Manor. She always sat close to the front – on the second row, in fact – ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-14

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Christmas Journeys: The Magi Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 27, 2014

We ought to take our cue – not from Herod, who rejected God’s gift of Jesus – but from the wise men, who received it with glad and thankful hearts.

This is the last of our series on the theme of Faces at the Manger. We started with Joseph, remember, and we continued with the angels, the shepherds, and Mary, the mother of our Lord. And now we conclude with the wise men, or the magi, as they are sometimes called. Technically, they did not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Jan's Triumph

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jan 9, 2015

God's love has made us His children, and it will make us like His Son.

One thing I learned about Jan: She never felt the need to control others. I don’t mean by that that she had no boundaries or no expectations of us. She wanted us to be our best selves. But she didn’t see the need to coerce us. She didn’t need us to be a certain way for her to be ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1-3

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Bob's Legacy

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jan 9, 2015

Don't just be religious. Make your life a spiritual quest.

Bob’s house was well built, by which I mean that his life was well-grounded. That’s what the Bible means – at least, most times – when it talks about building houses. We saw in Proverbs where it says, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38-48

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

God Is Above Us Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jan 12, 2015

There are aspects of God that we cannot know. God is above us -- far above us.

This would be Moses’ second trip up the mountain to meet God. The first trip had ended in disaster. God had given him the tablets of the law, written in stone, and he was coming down the mountain to give them to the people. But he heard something unexpected. He heard what sounded like loud ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 33:17-23

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Before The Harvest

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jan 12, 2015

The wheat and the weeds, then, grow side by side – and will, until the harvest. Then, according to Jesus, there will be a separation.

This is a simple tale, isn’t it? Or, so it seems. But there’s actually more to Jesus’ story than meets the eye. If you and I were to look down the page just a few verses, what we would find is Jesus’ explanation of this parable and what it means. As he lays it out, he ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed