I’m not big on New Years, but I am big on resolutions, especially godly resolutions. As Christians we should be resolved to behold the glory of Christ in God’s Word, to be desperate in prayer, to regularly gather with God’s people, and to walk in obedience to the Lord as we seek to live for […]
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may […]
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV). What is Christmas all about? Giving? Being home with family? Peace on earth and good will towards men? The truth is that Christmas is about all […]
“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5 ESV). God is a covenant making, covenant keeping God. A covenant is like a contract or agreement with vows that must be upheld. Our Bible is divided up into two covenants (the word Testament comes from the […]
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30 ESV). In Ephesians 5:32 we’re told that marriage is a profound mystery that has to do with Christ and His church. Essentially what Paul is saying there is that the covenant of marriage between one […]
“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you (Psalm 85:6 ESV)? Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote, “The greatest need of the hour is that the thoughts and the minds and the prayers of Christian people everywhere throughout the world should be channeled and directed into this matter of the urgent need […]
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 ESV). The world around us, and often even we ourselves, seem to hold to two contradictory beliefs: 1) That we will live forever, and 2) That death is coming and we have to do anything and everything we […]
“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” (Psalm 69:30 ESV). C. S. Lewis once wrote, “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.” In other words, praise is a necessary overflow of our delight in […]
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 ESV). Let your heart feel the weight of that word: beloved… As Christians we know God because […]
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7 ESV)… Forgiveness God! Forgiveness… For that is what I need. I’ve turned to sin for satisfaction, Instead of the Bread of Life for feed. Forgiveness God! Forgiveness… That is what my heart […]
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6 ESV). God proclaims in His Word again and again, “My glory I will not give to another” […]
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25 ESV). The above text […]
“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28 ESV). One of the central doctrines of the Reformation was Sola Fide (faith alone). This doctrine teaches that salvation is by faith alone, not by works. And this doctrine was perhaps the most opposed doctrine of the Reformation, […]
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV). Martin Luther is the main name associated with the Protestant Reformation. Historically the reformation is said to […]
“Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11 ESV). I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to only consider myself when trials come. Suffering may come […]
“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV). For much of King Uzziah’s life he was faithful to the Lord, and thus blessed by […]
“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34 ESV). I recently read a scientific article that argued that we have free will because ultimately everyone chooses what they want… People make their decisions based on their desires… But, that’s exactly why the Bible says we don’t […]
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. God’s Word is like a lighthouse on dark and stormy seas. It brings illumination and guides us onto and down the straight and narrow way. But how? Though it is truth from beginning to end, though it has […]
“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, […]
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV). Can you say […]
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30 ESV). John the Baptist was called to prepare the way for the Lord. In the above verse John had completed that task, and now he had come to the point of his ministry where it was time for him to fade into the background so that […]
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14 ESV). Logically speaking, in order for anything or anyone to exist, something or someone must have already existed… Because something doesn’t come from nothing. The Bible says that God Himself is that Someone; He is […]
Christianity: The Only Thing That Makes Sense Nick Esch 8/7/2019 Introduction I have a great desire for people to come to know, love, trust, and follow Jesus… For their good and His glory I want to see as many people as possible become Christians. And that’s the heart behind this post. In what follows I’ve […]
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:3-6 ESV). C. S. Lewis once said, “Humility is not […]
Beholding the Glory of the Lord Together Nick Esch, 7/28/2019 Cornerstone Baptist Church The three main things that separate us from other churches are that we are God-centered, Bible-saturated, and Christ-focused in all we do. I often lump these ideas together in the term gospel-centeredbecause fundamentally this means that we will live and love for […]
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the […]
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28 ESV). In the world around us today, and sadly even within the church, it is so common to hear people say things like, “I just don’t love him any more…” Or, “There’s […]
“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23 ESV). J. C. Ryle once said, “There is something, even in the hearts of the most eminent saints, that will never be fully satisfied as long as they are on earth and Christ is in heaven. So long as […]
“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation” (Psalm 85:6-7 ESV). Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “The greatest need of the hour is that the thoughts and the minds and the prayers of Christian people everywhere throughout the world […]
2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV) For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. Christ is our all in all… He is our everything! The only promise in God’s Word that would apply to us, if it […]
Psalm 42:5-6a (ESV) Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you… Each day we’re faced with two choices… We can either listen […]
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the […]
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 ESV)… What does Jesus mean when He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”? Does He mean we have to earn His love, or that we have to be perfect? No… He means that if we truly love Him following Him […]
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 ESV)… Christians are a strange people in this world. The author of Hebrews tells us that men and women of faith are strangers and exiles on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). Peter says that Christians are sojourners […]
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his […]
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my […]
John 15:5 (ESV) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. We have no hope of salvation, of bearing fruit, of growing in holiness, of living Christ-like lives without Christ. He saves […]
“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live […]
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6 ESV)! Recently a couple at church reached out to my wife and I in love and appreciation and gave us a gift card to a restaurant. When they gave us the gift they explained how much they enjoyed the restaurant and what it meant to […]
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (ESV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. In Ephesians 2:1-3 […]
1 Corinthians 15:20a (ESV) But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead… There is one thing above all else that brings us together as Christians… the truth that this week—Passion Week—is about especially: the truth that Jesus is alive! This is good news! This is a crucial part of the good news—the gospel. […]
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 ESV)… Here Jesus continues His teaching on prayer, showing us how to pray, and not merely telling us what to pray. And the whole goal of what He’s laying out here is that we would pray in such a way that God would make us love […]
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34 ESV). And though we may know that verse, I fear that many Christians have no idea what it looks like to follow Jesus. Often when I ask people to tell me how things […]
Matthew 6:10 (ESV) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. As we’ve seen, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us a structure to follow in prayer. In verse 9 He says that we should pray, “like this…” as in, in this way or pattern… And then in the […]
Matthew 6:9 (ESV) Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Here, in what is known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus doesn’t give us a prayer that we are to repeat mindlessly, but He gives us a structure to follow in prayer. He says that we should pray, “like this…” as […]
“Praise the LORD” (Psalm 106:1 ESV)! Have you ever known someone who was the type of person that seemed to always demand praise? I mean the type of person that seems to always want everyone to know how great he is, and always has to one up everyone. Well, the author and professor C. S. […]
John 13:34 (ESV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Love is not defined by how we feel, but by Jesus. That so, love is being committed to and working for the good of another, even at […]
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8 ESV). They say you know you’re a Texan when you pick what restaurant you’re going to eat at based on their chips and salsa. I guess that means I’m officially a Texan. I really like […]
In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV). Over and over again in Ephesians Paul highlights the wonders of God’s grace. He goes […]
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29 ESV). Put simply, the word foreknew or foreknown means to know beforehand. But what does that mean? Well, throughout the Bible the word known is […]
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20 ESV). Do you realize that you are not your own… that you are a steward of everything you are and everything you have? You are to glorify God with all that you are and […]
Romans 8:18 ESV For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. This week I did something I usually try to avoid: I paid far too much attention to the news. Watching the news can be utterly depressing; it can […]
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7 ESV). We live in a world obsessed with justice. There are countless shows, books, and the like where the main point is justice. We long to see this. We delight when justice is served. And this isn’t a bad thing. One of the major […]
In 1839 John Williams and James Harris, from the London Mission Society, went to the New Hebrides (islands about two-thirds of the way between Australia and Hawaii) with the intent to take the gospel to the people there. But, within minutes after going ashore, both of these missionaries were killed and eaten by cannibals. Less […]
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)… […]
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18 ESV)… The way we typically think about this verse is that Satan will not defeat the church, but Satan doesn’t run hell, God does; so even though […]