Sermon notes: Abide in My Love (John 15:9)

The Twin Cities and the surrounding communities are coming out of a tragic week. In John 15 the disciples were heading into tragedy. Jesus’ words of comfort in John 15:1-11 provided the content for a sermon I delivered on this past Sunday (Aug. 5) at Trinity Bible Church in North Branch, MN. Abiding in Christ is a call for Christians to press into the vine and find our spiritual vitality in Christ and Him crucified. Jesus reminds us that we are both saved and sustained by the Cross.

Abide in My Love – 8/5/07 – sermon notes (pdf)
Abide in My Love – 8/5/07 – sermon audio (mp3) 32.6 MB

[See more sermon notes. Words of helpful criticism are always welcomed on content and delivery.]

(Tony S. Reinke; Trinity Bible Church; North Branch, MN; 8/5/2007 AM service; 47:23; 32.6 MB; John 15:1-11, John 15:9, Galatians 2:20, John 6:53-58, Galatians 1-2, The Glory of Christ by John Owen).

Sermon Notes: The Atonement

Sermon Notes: The Atonement

Last night I was graciously provided an opportunity to preach on the Atonement to a group of youth. I tried to make three overall points. First, a relationship with holy God demands perfect obedience to His Law (NPP debate). Thus, the Law silences every sinner in their guilt. Secondly, I tried to highlight the Old Testament atonement imagery in light of Christ’s work on the Cross. And third, I attempted to communicate the perfect sufficiency of the Atoning work of Christ. We see this sufficiency not only in being forgiven and “getting saved” but also in the Lamb Who is the source of the River of Life. The Atonement Lamb is both sufficient to cleanse from the guilt of sin AND sufficient to fill us with spiritual life, joy and hope! May the beauty of this Lamb soak our hearts!

The Atonement - 4/29/07 – Lesson Notes (pdf)
The Atonement - 4/29/07 – Lesson Handouts (pdf)
The Atonement - 4/29/07 – Lesson Audio (mp3) 19.6 MB

[see more sermon notes]

Sermon Notes: The Nature of Man (Anthropology)

Last night I had the honor of preaching/teaching at a youth gathering here near the Twin cities. The group is progressing through a study of systematic theology and I had the opportunity to teach on the nature of man (otherwise known as theological anthropology). I summarized anthropology in this way:

Purpose: We were created in the image of God – as humble dust and eternal spirit – to see God face-to-face.

In the message I traced out the nature of the dust (our bodies) and our need for resurrection. Then on to the image of God in the soul and how God restores this image through conversion, sanctification and glorification. The punch-line is this: God restores our image perfectly (in glorification) so we can once again see God’s glory face-to-face as Adam once did when God walked in the garden in the cool of the day.

Download …

1. The full lesson notes (PDF)
2. The lesson handout (PDF)

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Note to preachers: My biggest preaching challenges come in the context of preaching through systematic theology. In comparison to straight expositional preaching, I seem to amass a greater amount of content as various themes and threads are brought to light from Scripture (handouts like the ones above have become a critical part of preaching systematic theology).

As the systematic themes develop they begin to broaden and so the challenge in systematics is not stepping on the toes of other categories (at least not stepping too far on their toes). A study of the resurrection of the body really belongs in eschatology. The depravity of the soul belongs in harmartiology. The restoration process of the marred image of God believers go through belongs to soteriology and sanctification. But somehow anthropology really reaches out into all these categories.

It seems the demands of doctrinal content, limiting the category, focusing on the Cross, illustrating straight doctrine and keeping it all on a level accessible to a younger audience is a real trick. I seem to over-compensate the increased logos with increased pathos. It’s a fun challenge, but a challenge it remains.

Question for the preachers: Have you preached through systematic theology or a reformed catechism? What did you notice about the difference? Any help would be appreciated! - Tony

Sermon notes: Psalm 73

Last night I had the honor of preaching a sermon on Depression, Worldliness and the Presence of God (Psalm 73). For those interested here are the audio and notes:

Psalm 73 - Tony Reinke - 7/30/06 - Audio (mp3)
Psalm 73 - Tony Reinke - 7/30/06 - Notes (pdf)

Summary: Depression covers the heart when we envy the comforts and excesses of the ungodly (vv. 1-16). To help us out of depression and protect us from it we are reminded that God’s eternal judgment is near (vv. 17-22) and His presence is here (vv. 23-28).

(Tony S. Reinke, Omaha Bible Church, 7/30/2006 PM - 47:26 - 21 MB - Psalm 73:1-28, Psalm 16:8,11; Philippians 3:18-19).

Sermon notes: God sings over the justified sinner!

I had the great opportunity to preach on grace tonight here in Omaha. The sermon notes can be downloaded here (The Grand Canyon of God’s Grace, Tony Reinke, 07/15/06 PM). One of the chief texts was Zephaniah 3:14-17:

“14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: ‘Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing’” (ESV).

On this incredible text, C.H. Spurgeon said:

“I can understand a minister rejoicing over a soul that he has brought to Christ; I can also understand believers rejoicing to see others saved from sin and hell; but what shall I say of the infinitely happy and eternally-blessed God finding, as it were, a new joy in souls redeemed? This is another of those great wonders that cluster around the work of divine grace! … The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, imperfect though they be. He sees them as they are to be, and so he rejoices over them, even when they cannot rejoice in themselves. When your face is blurred with tears, your eyes red with weeping, and your heart heavy with sorrow for sin, the great Father is rejoicing over you. The prodigal son wept in his Father’s bosom, but the Father rejoiced over his son. We are questioning, doubting, sorrowing, trembling; and all the while he who sees the end from the beginning knows what will come out of the present disquietude, and therefore rejoices. Let us rise in faith to share the joy of God.” (sermons from 1837, #1990)

Amen, let us prepare to rise and share the joy of God in Sunday morning worship! - Tony

Trust in the Spirit more than your notes

I think the most difficult lesson to learn about preaching (especially in the beginning) was prying myself away from carefully crafted notes. This quote, from maybe the best preacher of the past century, reminds us to study hard and then become sensitive towards supernatural editing of the Spirit in the pulpit.

Preaching should be always under the Spirit – His power and control – and you do not know what is going to happen. So always be free. It may sound contradictory to say, ‘prepare, and prepare carefully,’ and yet ‘be free.’ But there is no contradiction … You will find that the Spirit Who has helped you in your preparation may now help you, while you are speaking, in an entirely new way, and open things out to you which you had not seen while you were preparing your sermon.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Zondervan: 1971), p. 85.