How we think about the form, structure, and purpose of the New Testament will inevitably affect the way we approach, read, and interpret it. What did Jesus have to say about it, and what did its writers say about why and how it was written?
(Preaching on the new covenant of Christ. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on November 2, 2025.)
One of the main points of conflict in the early Church was the question of how to handle or relate to the Law of Moses. This is still a question many people wonder about today. How did Jesus and his apostles intend for Christians to think about the Law of Moses?
(Preaching on the transition to the Covenant of Christ. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on November 2, 2025.)
The first part of Acts is the first stage in the growth and the expansion of Jesus’s church, first in Jerusalem but then to the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria. What kinds of struggles did the early church face, how did they overcome, and which of their attitudes and characteristics should we be emulating?
(Preaching on the early church. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 26, 2025.)
A basic apologetic consideration of the historical reliability of the Gospels (and indeed the broader New Testament) breaks down into two main lines of reasoning: arguments based on history and how we know things, and arguments based on psychology and human nature. This is a very brief overview of a defense of the Gospel accounts, and if you want to know more please let me know!
(NOTE: Similar to Sunday morning, the audio cuts in and out a bit at the beginning. One of our microphones is apparently dying. Preaching on the the Gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 12, 2025.)
Mark’s Gospel is a good one to use as a base for digging down to the core Gospel story; the part of the good news of Jesus’s life that all four Gospel writers included in their accounts. The list is surprisingly short, and while everything each writer wrote is essential for all Christians, considering the story in its most basic form powerfully confirms the simplicity and communicability of the Gospel story.
(NOTE: The audio cuts in and out a bit at the beginning. Sorry. Preaching on the Gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 12, 2025.)
The “kingdom” is an especially important theme in Matthew’s version of the Gospel story. Jesus’s work was not disconnected from the story of Israel in the Old Testament; it was a fulfillment and continuation of God’s plan to establish his eternal kingdom, promised to David and Daniel. How does Matthew explore the importance of the “kingdom of heaven” in the life and teaching of Jesus?
(Preaching through the Gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 5, 2025.)
Matthew’s gospel is the most closely connected to the Israelite story in the Old Testament. He connects these stories in two main ways: the fulfillment of prophecy, and the continuation of the kingdom. First, we will consider how Matthew addresses prophecy in the life of Jesus. How does Jesus fulfill all the promises of God in the Old Testament, and what does it mean for the modern reader?
(Preaching on the gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 5, 2025.)
We begin our foray into the New Testament with the Gospel of John; not the first gospel in most English Bibles, but the one that most closely parallels the beginning of the Bible in Genesis. What is different about John’s version of Jesus’s story, and what does he emphasize more than the other authors?
(Preaching on the gospel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 28, 2025.)
For a word that carries such importance in modern Christianity, the word “Messiah” appears astonishingly little in the Bible. Why is that? Aside from the quirks of translations and transliterations, why is this such an important prophetic title, and how did the intertestamental Israelites begin to think about it, leading to the arrival of Jesus?
(Preaching on the intertestamental period. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 21, 2025.)
While there are no narrative parts of the Bible that describe the 400 years between Nehemiah and Jesus, the Bible is not silent about that era of history; Daniel had a string of visions describing that time. How do Daniel’s visions guide us through this era and bring us to the arrival of the “Son of Man”?
(Preaching on the intertestamental period. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 14, 2025.)
Watts in the Word 