“Oh that I were as in months past.” Job 29:2 Numbers of Christians can view the past with pleasure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction; they look back upon the days which they have passed in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known, but as to the […]
On June 7th, the leadership of MHC made the joyful and cautious decision to resume our public Sunday gathering. As a smaller congregation this is something that we think we can handle in a responsible way. Gathering for worship is the norm for followers of Jesus. After 3 months apart this was our top priority […]
Do you remember when you were baptized? It was likely a powerful moment in your life. It was the starting point of your Christian life, the moment where your faith went public. Yet, the reality of your baptism isn’t meant to be relegated to the memory vault of nostalgia. It’s a reality that should be […]
The following is an excerpt from Ray Ortlund’s The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. How wonderful it is to come every Sunday into a liberating church! All week long we swim in an ocean of judgment and negative scrutiny. We constantly have to comply with the demands of a touchy world, […]
Reigning Lord Jesus, We declare that you sit upon your throne as our Ascended King. Yet, we lament that your power and authority is often hidden from our eyes. How long will you let death ravage your world? How long will you let Satan ravage people’s lives? How long will you let sin and sickness […]
In these strange times, when we’ve been scattered and upended, our solution is what it is always is – God’s Word. Whether we’re in a pandemic or not, we need God’s Word. We need to be reminded of our hope in Christ and our gospel identity. We need to be challenged to live faithfully and […]
Throughout the New Testament, the resurrection is viewed as the vindication of the message and mission of Jesus. If God raised Jesus from the dead, then his claims are true and the salvation he announced has been achieved. [Yet] if the resurrection did not take place, Christianity is a false religion and should be abandoned. […]
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted! Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! ‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee. Lo, […]
The sociologist and historian Rodney Stark has written extensively on the early Christian church’s response to epidemics and plagues in the Roman Empire. In a culture where pity was viewed as a character defect, Christians spoke and acted differently. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, devastating plagues swept through the empire. Two responses were common: […]