Sermons on Reuben:

God Pursues His Beloved

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

God wants to be known personally, intimately, and vitally. He wants us to look to him with deep affection, and to depend on him always, because we know him. So foster that true commitment to God: listening to him, speaking with him, and walking with him.

Say you’ve met that “special someone.” It’s one you’ve come to love, it’s the one you want to marry. Probably we all can picture this very human event: meeting someone, falling in love, becoming husband and wife. There’s a lot of joy in this great gift! But then something takes place that nobody ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 2:2-23, Ephesians 5:22-33, Hosea 2:14-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Break Up The Fallow Ground!

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

Getting baptized on your head must have an impact on your heart. If you’ve been baptized, God calls you to put off the old nature and its sinfulness, and to put on the new. There’s no salvation without a change of life, no redemption without repentance.

There once was a book-burning in the palace of Judah’s king. A scroll-burning actually, but the idea is the same. For the LORD told Jeremiah to take a scroll, write on it everything He’d said—and then to have that scroll read before the king. So that’s what Jeremiah did. He wrote down God’s words, ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 3:1-25, Jeremiah 4:1-4

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Great And Awesome Day Of The Lord

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

Our life should be all about living in expectation for Christ's return. Praying for the end. Working for the kingdom. Making sure that we’re at peace with God, and at peace with each other.

If we ever have questions about the end of the world and about what will happen when King Jesus returns in glory, we turn to the book of Revelation. There in that last book of the Bible, there’s much about the end-times: signs and wonders, disasters and persecutions, and the Lord Jesus coming in ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:14-24, Joel 2:30-32

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Stubborn Missionary

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

More than Jonah could ever understand, Jesus reveals the greatness of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is for sinners. His mercy is for Jews, it’s for Gentiles, it’s for people of ever nation, for all who seek him.

What does someone do when they’ve been rescued from great danger—pulled from a burning house, or saved from drowning? Or how does a person act after his life’s been spared: when he should’ve been killed, but someone had mercy? A natural response is the desire to tell people about it. Because what’s ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 12:38-42

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Asking For Your Inheritance

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

Our greatest treasure, the inheritance that we seek, isn’t down here: not in the stuff, not in the people, not in the honours. But seek God. Desire Him. Long for the one inheritance that is incorruptible, that is undefiled, and that does not fade away.

They say that children should never talk about their inheritance. Sure, one day Mom and Dad might leave something to the kids. But until that day, children shouldn’t worry about what they’ll receive, or daydream about how to spend it. We know what happened to the Prodigal Son, when he started ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 27:1-11, 1 Peter 1:1-9, Joshua 17:3-4

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Lord Of The Storm

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 21, 2021

As Lord of all creation, Jesus won’t let anything stop his plan to redeem sinners. So there is nothing more powerful than these words of comfort for his believers: “It is I.” His words overcome all our fears: “I am Jesus. Do not be afraid.”

It is humbling to stand at the edge of the ocean. Looking out over the water, seeing the pounding surf and hearing the noise of the breakers, you realize your smallness. This is creation’s awe-inspiring power. And it’s not only impressive, it can also be dangerous. Sometimes the surfers have to ...read more

Scripture: John 6:16-21

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Palm Sunday King

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 23, 2021

Have a song of praise on your lips for Jesus. Be ready to go out of your way to honour him. In your life, find the equivalent of coats that you can humbly lay on the road before him. In your life, find the equivalent of branches that you can wave in the air to praise him!

Every year again there’s a day on our calendars called Palm Sunday. It always falls on the last Sunday before the Easter weekend, when the church remembers Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But unlike for those other important days, we may not really understand what Palm Sunday is all about. Sure, we ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 7:9-17, Mark 11:1-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Open Eyes, Open Hearts

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on May 2, 2021

The gospel is veiled to sinners, the eye of our heart is closed, yet God has devised a free and accessible solution in Christ Jesus. By him, God shines his Word into the darkness of our hearts, so that we may see him truly, and walk in the light of life.

Some of you may have enjoyed the benefits of cataract surgery. With this simple operation, one usually done in less than fifteen minutes, doctors remove the clouded lens of the eye and they replace it with a clear, artificial lens. Most people go home the same day with vision that is dramatically ...read more

Scripture: John 8:1-12, John 9:1-7

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Dead Hear His Voice And Live

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on May 9, 2021

The day will come when all the graveyards and all the cemeteries in the world will be emptied out. They will give up their dead, who will live again. And those who have believed in Christ will live forever with him.

The apostle John records seven miracles (or signs) from Jesus’s public ministry. Today we come to the seventh sign, and it is without question the greatest sign. For in John 11, the Lord Jesus powerfully restores the life of Lazarus. And it’s actually a miracle that we can relate to, in the sense ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1-44

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Encountering The Holy God Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 6, 2022

When all hope is lost, when it looks like nothing is left—when the king is dead and the world is a mess—God is still working. For He is the great and holy king, and He sits on his throne, high and lifted up.

Being a prophet was one of the hardest jobs in the Old Testament. A prophet had to speak unsettling words, confronting sinners with sin and warning of judgment. They were usually unpopular, often persecuted. So a prophet needed a really clear sense that this is what he was called to do, the ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Introducing The World-Changing Servant Of The Lord Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Sep 4, 2022

God sends his Servant, and what does He do? In short, Christ rebuilds the covenant. He reconciles enemies. He restores the earth. He sets the prisoners free. He shepherds his flock in peace and goodness. And He does one more thing: He builds roads!

Time and again Isaiah brings Genesis to our minds—Genesis, that amazing book of beginnings. Like in Isaiah 44, where God calls himself, ‘The First and the Last,’ for God is the one who existed before all things and who called everything into being. Or chapter 40, where God recalls the story of how ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-13

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Trust In Immanuel Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 13, 2022

Our Saviour is Immanuel, God with us—in the present tense. And He will be, now and always. This name can give us confidence. For if God is with us, no one can stand against us, and nothing can keep us from his love.

When Dad and Mom receive the good news that a child is on the way, there’s a few things they’ll do. Paint the baby room. Take a birthing class. And pick names. Dad and Mom might want to choose a name with a family connection, and name the little one after Grandpa or a favourite aunt. Or perhaps ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 16:5-9, Matthew 1:18-25

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

To Whom Will You Liken God? Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Jul 11, 2022

To whom shall the LORD be compared? Who is his equal? There really is none like him! When we really see that truth, and we accept it, then we’ll be comforted in all our trouble, our sin and brokenness.

There’s a lot of power in a good question. Because sometimes a question is so pointed that it leaves no possible answer but absolute truth—there’s no wiggle room, there can be no hesitation, just plain truth. In the Bible there’s lots of questions like this. Think of the powerful questions in ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 40:12-31

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Mighty Saving Works Of God's Gentle Servant Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Jul 17, 2022

Christ will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. None of his believers are disposable, none are useless to him. Be sure that when you go to Christ with your troubles, He will help. Be sure that when you repent and bring your sins to him, He will be gentle.

The book of Isaiah is sometimes called ‘the fifth gospel.’ In the New Testament we have four gospels, of course: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These tell the story of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. Well, you could say that Isaiah does the same thing, because his book is such a great ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-12

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

I Am The Light Of The World Series

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Jul 11, 2021

When we believe in Christ, the Light of the World, He delivers us from the darkness. The darkness is still there, and it’s still deadly, but it cannot overcome the light of the Lord.

Say you’re out in the bush somewhere at nighttime. All around it’s very dark, just the murkiness of midnight, and you’re a bit scared. You’re glad you have your flashlight, and glad the moon is shining. And when you come to a hill, and you look out over the treetops, you’re even gladder when you ...read more

Scripture: John 8:1-12, John 12:35-50, John 8:12

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed