Mission to Babylon

Christ Church DC
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A podcast of Christ Church DC. Hear CREC Pastors exposit on God’s Holy Word. Subscribe to hear Doug Wilson, Jared Longshore, Ben Merkle, Toby Sumpter, Joe Rigney, Adam McIntosh, Ben Zornes, Brooks Potteiger, Garrett Craw, C. R. Wiley and many more. Hear their weekly exhortation and sermon. Like what you hear? Join Christ Church DC live on Sundays at 10:30am in Washington, DC.

Episodes

  1. Sep 27

    Brooks Potteiger; Paradoxical Boasting (James 1:9-12)

    Summary In this sermon, the preacher expounds on James 1:9-12, addressing trials faced by both the lowly and the rich within the church, emphasizing a counterintuitive, gospel-centered perspective. The lowly, often socially and economically disadvantaged, are exhorted to “boast in their exaltation,” recognizing their heavenly status and union with Christ despite earthly humility. Conversely, the rich are cautioned to “boast in their humiliation,” remembering the transient nature of wealth and earthly life, avoiding the temptation to idolize riches as sources of identity or security. The sermon highlights that trials come uniquely to each station, requiring paradoxical wisdom that counters worldly values. Riches are affirmed as blessings from God but carry the danger of fostering pride and detachment from dependence on God. The preacher stresses rejecting cultural egalitarianism and envy, encouraging gratitude regardless of social standing. Further, the digital age’s role in manufacturing discontent through consumerism is addressed with a biblical call to contentment. Practical applications include urging the affluent to humbly relate to the lowly, fostering unity and mutual service rather than division. Ultimately, the sermon points to the “crown of life” promised by God to those who steadfastly endure trials, framing suffering as a path to spiritual maturity and eternal reward. This message roots Christian identity not in earthly status but in faithful perseverance under trials, anchored in the hope secured by Christ’s victory over death. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our sermon text today comes from the, not the gospel, the epistle of James. We’re still in the firstchapter, verses 9 through 12. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s holy and inspired word.James 1, beginning in verse 9. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in hishumiliation.Because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withersthe grass. Its flower falls and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of hispursuits.Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive thecrown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, our Lord and our God. We thank you for your word. And I praythat whatever station, whether lowly or exalted, you have placed us in, in your wisdom and in yourprovidence, that we would inhabit that station well with gratitude and avoiding the snares that areincumbent to each one. We pray it through Christ our Lord and in his name we pray. Amen.Amen. Well, a prayer book that I’m sure some of you are familiar with and that I’ve used to greatadvantage over the last decade is one called the Valley of Vision. It’s a collection of Puritan prayers andthoughts. And the first prayer in that book, the one by the name Valley of Vision, which is taken from theprophet Isaiah, that phrase, it says this in the prayer, Lord, high and holy.Meek and lowly, thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths, yet see thee inthe heights. Hemmed in by mountains of sin, I behold your glory. Let me learn by paradox.that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart will be the healedheart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that tobear the cross is to wear a crown, that to give is to receive, and that the valley really is the place ofvision.Much of living with wisdom within the economy of the kingdom is learning by paradox, as it sayswonderfully in that prayer. Let me learn by paradox that the path to greatness and to joy, to living withthe applause of heaven upon you, is counterintuitive. It is precisely the opposite.of what’s natural in the flesh. As our Lord says, to be great in the kingdom is to become the servant of all.Counterintuitive, learning by paradox. Well, as we continue on in our study of James today, James isgoing to instruct usby paradox. He’s going to teach us to remain steadfast during specific trials, whether it’s the trial thatcomes with lowliness, of having a humble estate by the world’s standards, or the trial of riches, ofhaving a high estate by the world’s standards.But we must always remember that James isn’t writing vague proverbs, fortune cookie style to anyonewho happens upon them. He’s writing a pastoral letter to a specific people with a specific purpose, aspecific logic and flow of thought, each section building upon, filling out more of what just came behind.So today, that’s why we know thatThat while he addresses the lowly and the rich, the frame around what he’s saying is the context oftrials. That they are intended to bring about maturity. We know this for at least two reasons. One, that isthe heels of what we just came on, was remaining steadfast in trials. But the second is he backends thisspecific word today to the lowly and the rich within the church with a call, again, to remain steadfastduring trials.So there are unique trials that are inherent to each station, which requires paradoxical wisdom. If youwould remain steadfast and take hold of the maturity and ultimately the life that Christ intends.And while we may think only one of these comes with a trial, namely the lowly, that they’re the oneswho are really in it, James would say, if you think that only the lowly have trials, then you have a veryshallow understanding of human nature.You are very naive to where real temptation comes from. Having riches, having influence and affluencealso has great potential moral pitfalls. As our Lord reminds us by paradox, it is quite possible, perhapsquite easy, to gain the whole world, but to lose your soul.to wake up and realize you are morally devastated after having achieved all that you set out to achieve.That’s Matthew 16.So, an overview of our text today. Verse 9, James first speaks to the lowly in the church. The lowly, theundistinguished, the anti-influencer, the one with no political sway, no social capital, certainlyfinancially impoverished. And in context, this would have made up a significant majority of Christians.The dispersed church. Remember, he’s writing to the dysphoria, the dispersed church. We talk abouthow we are in a uniquely challenging economy, which no doubt some of us feel the pinch from withrising inflation and gas prices and all the rest. Well, the lowly in James’ context…had a very uniquely challenging economy. Remember, they had to hightail it out of Jerusalem just tosave their skin after Stephen’s martyrdom, which meant not only did they have to leave their homes,they also had to leave the place where they would have had some social capital within the community.Many had to leave most of their possessions, which were likely very humble to begin with.And so you can imagine how hard this present trial would be for them, especially for the men in thecommunity, the providers who have been forced to abandon their land, abandon their labors, abandontheir network. This is a hard providence.And this lowliness would have come with a whole host of temptations. It doesn’t take much imaginationto envision what that would be. The temptation towards anger, towards frustration and a festeringbitterness towards their persecutors. Or on the other side, the temptation towards envying the rich,especially those who had recently joined the church andand who have been shielded from the painful sacrifices that manifested when they had to flee. There issome real social economic gunpowder that is laid out all across the sanctuary, which could blow up veryeasily if the sparks of anger and envy start to spray out. And so, Pastor James knows this, and so hespeaks to them, and he gives them the key.to passing the lowliness test well. They are lowly, all in God’s providence, and there is a way to endurethat trial well, and it’s this. He says that they should boast in their exaltation. They should boast at howexalted their office and their standing is.See, if they are upset by their lowliness, worldly speaking, then the test was well brought because itshows that they are measuring their worth by a worldly metric and not in light of the gospel. But Jamesreminds them of the paradoxical wisdom that they might appear lowly on paper, but that lowliness is amirage. In reality, through their union with Christ,They hold an exalted office. They’ve been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. They have become,to use language we introduced last week, nobility within the new creation. Paul makes this point to theCorinthians. He says in 1 Corinthians 3, 21-23, “…let no one boast in men.”For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death, the present orthe future, all are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. And see, the Corinthians were big ongauging status by a worldly metric within the church andThey found their identity, their cool points, by claiming they had the basest pastor. They listened to thebasest podcasters. Therefore, they were very spiritual Christians indeed. And this was causing divisionsin the church. I follow Paul. Well, I follow Apollos. Well, I follow John MacArthur. Well, I follow JohnPiper. Well, I follow Doug Wilson, right? We still see this in the church. But Paul says, though your boasthas a Christian veneer, it is carnal reasoning.This is the way the worldlings measure glory, by who they’re connected to, by what social status theyhave, but not the Christian. Our boast and our glory is that we are united together to Jesus Christ. Andthe position he has given us is vice regents in h

  2. Sep 20

    Brooks Potteiger; The Christian Virtue of Flinching Forward (James 1:1-8)

    Summary In this sermon, the preacher explores the opening verses of James chapter one, focusing on the call to joyfully endure trials because such testing strengthens faith and produces spiritual maturity. Using the example of a pilot’s miraculous rescue and steadfast faith amidst life-threatening danger, the message highlights how believers are invited to “flinch forward” in faith despite adversity. James addresses the early dispersed church facing persecution, urging them to see their trials as refining fires that develop steadfastness and completeness in Christlikeness. The sermon emphasizes the crucial role of prayer for wisdom amid struggles—asking God in faith without doubting—and clarifies that faithfulness in the trial process, not flawless prayer, is what receives God’s wisdom. The dignity of godly discipline is presented as training for the believer’s royal role as co-heirs with Christ, a process requiring endurance and perspective. The ultimate example is Jesus, who endured suffering joyfully, modeling obedience and fellowship in trials. Listeners are encouraged to fix their eyes on Christ, recognizing that no trial is foreign to Him, and to respond with grateful perseverance, trusting God’s providential work to mature them into joyful, steadfast disciples.Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our sermon text is the first eight verses of chapter one of James. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s word. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man. unstable in all of his ways. The word of the Lord. Lord and our God, we do thank you for your word and Holy Spirit. We pray that you would apply it precisely where it is most needed to bring about the maturity that you intend through it, through Christ our Lord. And it is in his name that we pray. And amen. About six months ago, over Easter weekend, we, the public, got news of the remarkable and the harrowing rescue of a pilot that went down over Iran after his plane was struck by enemy fire. And last week, he shared more of this remarkable story publicly for the first time since the incident. And what stood out, to me at least, among the dramatic details was… how clearly God scripted this story was and how much Bravo, even in the pain and the intensity of it all, was cognizant of that. That even here, the Lord is with me. It was amazing to hear him recall how he flinched forward in faith even as his life hung literally by a thread. In the interview, he mentioned how his parachute was damaged in the initial explosion and so that he was essentially free-falling to earth. And as he realized his predicament and his hands frantically moved to try to get some fabric out of the chute to catch his fall, he told the reporter that he prayed this. Lord, your will be done, but if I’m getting through this, I need your help. And the Lord did help. He ended up hitting the ground at an estimated 80 miles per hour, give or take, with several broken bones, but still he survived. But the drama was just beginning. He… by a whole lot of grit and a whole lot of grace, then proceeded to ascend 7,000 feet of a climb to find some coverage. And once there, he was able to send off his first communication. And it had these three essential elements. I’m hurt, I’m moving, and God is good. His was a faith that flinched forward while in the teeth of a trial. And as we begin the letter of James today, in earnest, this is the very thing James will be calling the church to. A steady faith that joyfully flinches forward when trials, which must come, do come. This is the main thrust of his message, which he wants this young church to catch a vision of. Last time we did an introduction to the letter written by the Apostle James, we considered the author and the audience and the atmosphere surrounding the writing of this letter. We noted that while church history generally assumes it was written by James, the brother of Jesus, that there is compelling reason to believe perhaps it could have been written by James, the son of Alphaeus and one of Jesus’ closest three, not least because he was martyred in Acts 12 and In the very events the letter addresses are front burner issues in the church, Acts 8 through 11, namely the dispersion of the church out of Jerusalem in the wake of Stephen’s martyrdom and the intense persecution, the intense persecution by the Jews that the church, including many of the new Jewish converts, were now facing. With that, let’s overview our text today. So it begins, James self-consciously is writing this letter, and he’s doing so in Christ’s name and for Christ’s service. He’s writing it to the 12 tribes of the dispersion, and his aim in using that language is not to saddle them with an exile mentality, an escapist mentality, but rather is to identify them as the new Israel. That is the church. And remember, we noted last week that James in the original Greek is actually Jacobus. It’s Jacob. It’s literally Jacob to the 12 tribes, which makes the connection even clearer. That’s verse 1. And he’s writing because… They are now in a persecution pressure cooker. They’re in an intense trial. And this pressure, like pressure always does, started revealing some cracks within the church. Pressure always reveals cracks. Here it was the cracks of fear or frustration or favoritism or even violent quarreling or vitriolic speech. This pressure was revealing those cracks. And so as a wise father, James lifts their proverbial chin and calls them to consider their immediate circumstance in light of the eternal story. Consider your immediate circumstance, the immediate pressure in light of the bigger eternal story. That just as molten fire burns away the dross and filler in gold, so that the hotter the fire, the more precious, the more refined the metal becomes. So the fires of their trials are removing the fluff and the filler of their faith that they thought was so strong. It is a grace. because it’s forging in them a steadfastness, a greater poise, a greater resilience in the good fight of faith. Our Lord uses the same word in the parable of the soils for steadfastness. It’s Luke 8, 15. He says, As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. That’s the word. Bear fruit with steadfastness over time. It’s a patient endurance that is fruitful. It brings something about this steadfastness. And James tells us one thing for certain, patiently enduring a trial will bring about, namely, it will bring about Christian maturity. It’ll cause toddler Christians to grow up into maturity. That’s really the word that’s translated perfect in our text. That’s what it’s getting at. It’s not perfection in the sense of complete moral purity on this side of glory. That won’t happen until we see our Lord and anyone who says otherwise has wonky theology. One only need to go to 1 John 1.8. If you say you have no sin, then you make God a liar. But that kind of settles that. No, it’s not perfect in that sense. The actual root word is telos, right? That’s the purpose or the ends or the realization of the reason the thing exists. It’s telos, the full mature expression of a thing, which for the Christian is to look more and more like Christ. That is the glorious thing. that the fires of trial ultimately produce in us in the same way that Michelangelo’s chisel strikes brought David out of the marble. That’s verses three through four. But in the midst of a trial, in the fog of a spiritual war, we get disoriented. So we must lean heavily on the Lord when that comes. We must ask him for wisdom to endure it well. James says, if anyone lacks wisdom, remember, that’s not just a general disconnected statement. It’s in context. If you lack wisdom amidst the trial, which is all of us, no one has a saturation point on wisdom, then call upon the Lord as the first and continuous action point amidst trials. Prayer. Say, Lord, help me. Lord, steady me. Bring your word to my mind. Give me wisdom for this moment right now. This is Bravo, calling out to the Lord while pulling out pieces of parachute during a free fall. Lord, I’m hands ready to act. I would like to act, but I need you to do what only you can do. Stabilize, steady, give me wisdom to endure this well. Side note, This is a good reminder that we can go straight to the source in prayer to God himself. We don’t need to go through Mary or through icons or through saints. You go to the Lord, ask him in all of his fatherly embrace and compassion to help. And God hears with alacrity, with a readiness to respond as if Jesus himself were making the request because he is. That’s verse 5. But though God doesn’t play favorites, he hears all of our prayers readily when we come to him, James does give one condition on our prayers. Namely, we should ask in faith. We should ask with a believing heart, not fingers crossed, not hedging our bets. Not while being tossed on the stormy

  3. Sep 6

    Ben Zornes; Sleep (Psalm 4)

    Summary In this sermon, the speaker unpacks Psalm 4, highlighting David’s example of finding peace and rest amid severe personal and political turmoil—specifically during Absalom’s revolt. David calls out to God as his refuge, emphasizing God’s righteousness and mercy as the foundation for comfort. Despite enemies who twist his glory into shame and companions who complain about their hardships, David encourages trust in God’s favor over fleeting human assistance. He ultimately addresses his own soul, choosing to lie down and sleep in peace, not because problems disappeared, but because God’s protective presence assures safety even in loneliness. The sermon contrasts the restless, guilt-ridden state of sinful humanity—marked by lies, accusations, and despair—with the peace that comes from resting in Christ’s sanctification and God’s unmerited grace. The message challenges believers to reject hypocrisy and complaints and instead trust fully in God, enabling them to “sleep in heavenly peace” regardless of external circumstances or inner turmoil. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Well, first of all, greetings from the saints of Moscow. It’s Moscow, Idaho. It’s always a pleasure to be with you all. It’s wonderful to hear and continue to see the growth and the fruit that God is granting to this body of believers. And I want you to know that all of us back in Moscow, Idaho are praying for you and grateful for your testimony and witness, even through all the difficulties. twists and turns that you’ve had to endure, the insults and all that sort of thing that you’ve had to endure as you come to church and go from church each Lord’s Day. We’re very grateful to see your testimony, your witness, and we’re just enthused to see God’s kindness and grace in this body. So with that, I want to begin with a few stats. Now, that’s a dangerous thing to do. We live in times that we just went through the whole COVID nonsense, right? And so you have to be careful whenever somebody says studies show or experts show, you should reach for your wallet because they’re probably about to rob you, right? They’re about to take your stuff. So I want to be careful in giving some stats, but I think it’s helpful in framing the psalm that’s before us this morning. A CDC study found that 15.4%, that .4 is very, very important, of course, of adults had trouble falling asleep most days or every day. Just under 1 in 5, 18% of adults had trouble staying asleep most days or every day. Another survey found that nearly 4 in 10 adults here in the United States have trouble falling asleep three or more nights per week. And almost half of adults have trouble staying asleep three or more nights per week. Taking that all together, we are a sleepless nation. We are a nation that has trouble sleeping. And in many respects, we’re told that foregoing sleep is somehow virtuous and courageous and that sort of thing. We even name cities after it. Sleepless, the city that never sleeps. Sleepless Seattle, that sort of thing. This hymn, this psalm before us is a nighttime psalm. It’s a hymn for going to bed. It’s a hymn for going to sleep. It’s a hymn for the evening. But all too often, our experience is that at nighttime, when the din and the clamor of the day dies down, we’re left in the stillness with our own thoughts. And that can be a frightening thing. That can be a dangerous thing. That can be a haunting thing. And you twist and turn all night long and sleep eludes you. All throughout history, depriving prisoners of sleep is a well-proven torture method, right? Keep people from falling asleep and you can manipulate them and get information out of them. Sleep deprivation is a well-worn tactic for torture. Some of you new moms have felt the pang of that as your newborn infant awakes for the fifth time that night and your mind is clouded and you go, I can identify with the fact that sleepless nights are a sort of torture. Certainly, when the lights turn off, all too often, the clamoring voice of our own fears, guilt, Regrets and worries all come shouting. And sleep eludes us. These voices of fear, regret, shame, worry, all come crowding in and they torture and they deprive us of rest. They give no quarter. They give no rest. But I want to show that in this Psalm, David exemplifies for us in this Psalm, how to sleep in heavenly peace. So I wanna work through this Psalm and then make a couple applications from it. In this Psalm, we have David addressing four different people. He addresses God, he addresses his enemies, he addresses his companions, and then he talks to himself. And that’s not crazy. That’s a good thing to do. Martin Lloyd-Jones talked about grabbing yourself in hand and preaching to yourself. And we see here at the end of this Psalm, David talks to himself, he preaches to himself. So David addresses God, he addresses his enemies, he addresses his companions, and then he addresses his own soul. So first, let’s look at David addressing God. In verse 1, it’s a prayer. He’s calling out to God. Hear me when I call, O God. Now, some context for this psalm. I take this psalm to be when David was on the run from his son Absalom. So his son, the guy with flowing locks of hair and very impressive hair, apparently, wants to overthrow his father’s kingdom, wants to… overthrow David’s, uh, uh, David’s throne and he, he, he revolts. He, he has this, um, uh, this coup that’s taking place. David is on the run from his own son. Talk about an awkward Thanksgiving dinner, right? There’s, there’s tension here in the Davidic family and much of it was, it was due to David’s own apathy and, and his own sins had brought about Absalom’s revolt. So this Psalm took place in that moment when David’s own family and nation, he had rescued from the Philistines. He had delivered from the Philistines. He had brought the Ark of Covenant back into Jerusalem and he had fed all of Jerusalem with one of my favorite descriptions is when they bring the Ark of Covenant in, David feeds all of Jerusalem with raisin cakes. whatever those are. I just imagine like a cake full of raisins. And that’s like the worst thing when you eat a chocolate chip cookie, thinking it’s chocolate chip cookie and ends up having raisins in it. So I think it was well-received by Jerusalem, but he feeds them with meat and raisin cakes. And it’s a feast that David spreads for all of Jerusalem. He’s the great psalmist. He’s given them songs to sing. The The tent of David is established there in Zion. David has defended Israel and established Israel. And then things change, things shift. David falls into some apathy, falls into the whole thing with Bathsheba. He’s… absent from the situation with Amnon, his son, and Absalom rises up to overthrow his father. This is a tense moment in David’s reign. Turmoil was abundant. Everything was unsettled. Everyone was pointing fingers. And we see that in the story in 2 Samuel. Everybody’s pointing fingers at everybody else. But instead of listening to the accusations, the speculations, the discontent, and the lies, what does David do? David calls out to God. David calls out to God in the midst of one of the worst moments of his life. He calls out to God, asking God to hear him. He asks God to hear him and he gives God two reasons why God should listen to him. David calls out to God and he gives two reasons for why God should hear him. First, he says, hear me, O God, because you are my righteousness. Hear me, O God, the God of my righteousness. The only reason I can come to you is because you reckon me as righteous in you and by the sacrifices that I offer unto you. I’m reckoned as righteous in your sight. First, God is his righteousness. Secondly, God is merciful. He says, have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. And of course, when God revealed himself to Moses, that was the language that God used in revealing his name, his character to Moses, the Lord, merciful and gracious, righteous, abundant and steadfast love. David is appealing to God’s own nature and character as the basis whereby he can come and make all these requests to the Lord. Now David is painted into a corner. He’s on the run. He has no resources. All of Israel has turned against him except for a motley band of about 600 bodyguards, friends, family, and loyal followers. He has about 600 people and the rest of Israel is going with Absalom. David is painted into a corner. The sort of corner that perhaps you’ve been in where life is tough, bills are due, work projects are breathing down your throat, and medical issues are frightening you. You’re painted into a corner and David says, oh God, you have enlarged me when I was painted into that corner. David is painted into a corner, but he knows God has gotten him out of such scrapes before. And he asks God for this enlargement, this deliverance once again, because, and he addresses God and says, because you are righteous and because you are merciful, deliver me. He cries out to God first and then he turns and addresses his enemies. And you sort of wonder like, what would that have been like when they went to church that Sunday? And he’s written this Psalm and he’s singing and it’s like aimed at the enemies. Could be fun. In verses two through five, he addresses his enemies. With prophetic bite, David rebukes the wicked for two things. First, they turned his glory into shame. They turn the Davidic glory of the kingdom, everything he accomplished, they twist it and they pervert it and they turn it into this thing that’s a source of ridicule. All of the deliverance that

  4. Sep 6

    Brooks Potteiger; The Author, Atmosphere & Audience (James 1:1-4)

    Summary In this sermon, the preacher introduces the Epistle of James, focusing on its practical wisdom for believers facing trials and persecution, especially the early dispersed church after Stephen’s martyrdom. James calls Christians to embrace joy amidst suffering because trials refine faith and produce spiritual maturity. The sermon highlights James’s emphasis that true faith is active and evidential, not merely intellectual, and addresses common misunderstandings about faith and works. It explores the likely authorship by James, the brother of Jesus, and situates the letter historically in a period of intense cultural and religious hostility. Addressing internal church conflicts and the danger of hypocritical zeal, the sermon challenges believers to grow in patience, holiness, and genuine Christian love. It encourages contemporary Christians to resist frustration over delayed victory, to avoid reactive zealotry, and trust in God’s providential work as His kingdom expands gradually but irresistibly. Ultimately, the letter’s timeless call is to mature, faithful living that visibly reflects Christ’s lordship amid adversity. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our sermon text this morning comes from the letter of James, chapter 1, the first four verses. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s word. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, and she may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing. Then Acts 8, verse 1 says, And Saul approved of Stephen’s execution. And there rose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered, dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The word of the Lord. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, especially as we push out into a new book. We are grateful for the letter of James, and we will pray, Holy Spirit, that as the apostle inspired by the Spirit would have wanted us, that as we give ourselves to the boot camp of this book, that we would come out on the other side more mature in the faith and more glad in the gospel and more confident in the providence of God over every second of our journey. Through Christ our Lord, and it is in his name that the people of God said, Amen and Amen. Well, today we do begin a new sermon series through the letter, the epistle of James. Real quick flyover over the next few weeks in our sermon time. Today, I’ll do more of an introduction generally on the book of James. It’ll feel a bit more like a sermon flavored lecture that rather than a full throttled sermon as intros are want to be. Then next week, I’ll be here leading the service, but Pastor Ben Zorns will be in town from Moscow. And so he’s going to minister the word to us. And then after that, we’ll get into the meat of the letter itself and begin our exposition of it in earnest. But now in this sermon, I would like to introduce you to the book of James. James is somewhat unique within the canon of the New Testament in that it really reads more as the wisdom literature that we find in the Old Testament, the Proverbs and the Ecclesiastes. James is brimful of on-the-ground, earthy, practical, dirt-under-the-fingernails exhortations. For James, of course, faith is essential. It is important. But he also makes it crystal clear that true faith, the kind that saves, saving faith, is not something that just happens between your ears. Genuine faith lives. Genuine faith flows out of your fingertips. James insists on this so much that he even has that notable verse in 2.24 where he says, This has even famously compelled Martin Luther when he was writing his preface to the New Testament to say, in comparison to Paul and John, he is an epistle of straw. Well, he went on to say, James has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it. Luther didn’t get everything right, just so you know. Got a lot of things right. And that’s because, of course, he thought that James ran roughshod over the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which one can understand if you just abstract that verse out of context. That was so precious to him for good reason. It was the rallying cry of the Reformation. We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone. He didn’t like James. He cast sidelong glances at this rogue letter and far preferred the seemingly more gospel-soaked letters of Romans and Galatians. Now, of course, there would be a problem, of course, if James and Paul were in contradiction. But in fact, they are not when understood contextually and understood given the semantic range of the word justification. What all can that mean when we say that? To use the fancy words, justification can have a forensic thrust. Namely, it can mean a legal declaration in a moment, or it can have an evidentiary thrust. It can mean evidence, fruit that reveals that moment actually happened. As our Lord said, with merciful simplicity, you will know what kind of tree it is by what kind of fruit it bears. This is the angle James is emphasizing in his letter, and we’ll get more to that when we get to that text itself. But what’s true is the gospel and the implications of the gospel, what it looks like when it goes to work in a people, is all throughout the epistle of James. That’s what it’s all about. Of course, we’re saved by faith alone, but what does that look like when it actually hits the ground to quote Francis Schaeffer’s iconic line, how then shall we live if we have trusted in Christ? Does the Spirit have any power that shows up on a Tuesday afternoon? James would say, well, of course. And so would Paul, of course. James wants to make it clear that lip service about Jesus’ lordship means nothing if you are not living under Jesus’ lordship. It doesn’t matter if you say, Christ as king, I don’t care how big the font is or how bold it is. The question is, are you actually living like it? Or James would say, do you love the royal law that flows down from your king? This is what he’s getting at. Side note, Luther did personally edit out that slander against James in the later editions of that work, though he never actually retracted it, though. I don’t think he had it in him. James doesn’t sound exactly like Paul, of course, not because he has a different theology, but because he’s writing to a different audience. in a different context who needs a unique exhortation to address their specific challenges and their specific temptations. See, when God chose to communicate to us through a book, The story of his redemptive dealings in the world, that’s what scripture is. He did not send it to us as a shrink-wrapped set of systematic theology. Neatly formatted, properly indented, cold, blunt facts. He did not do that, thanks be to God. It came to us as a grand, true story. Different genres, different authors, different contexts, different audiences. And this is important. The good Bible student always remembers that when he’s reading scripture, What he was reading wasn’t written to him, but it was written for him. What I’m reading, okay, wasn’t written to me, but it was written for me. And to rightly understand how it applies to you, you have to understand the author’s original audience and the atmosphere he was writing into. And we’ll look at that in just a moment. But first, let’s consider the author himself. So what we know is it was written by James. Verse 1, James, a servant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notably, James is actually, in the original, the name Jacob. It’s Jacobus in Greek. James actually is Jacobus. The late Latin got us all confused because it softened the B to an M, and then when we took it on, we just said James is easier to say. But it really is Jacob. So that’s where we got that. So in this letter written by Jacobus or James, we know that much, but which James is it? Which James could have had the apostolic authority, the pastoral gravitas to write this letter in this context? We have three James in the New Testament that in theory could fit that bill. There’s James, the son of Zebedee. He was one of the 12, the brother of John, one that the Lord called one of the sons of thunder. There’s James, the son of Alphaeus, also known as James, the lesser one of the 12. He only ever shows up in the listing of the disciples, nothing else notable. And there’s James, the brother of our Lord. who before the Lord’s resurrection was actually himself something of a skeptic. John 7, 5 tells us that even his brothers did not believe in him during his life. But that changed. After the resurrection, Brother James became not only a believer, but a stalwart leader in the church, the first bishop of sorts, actually oversaw the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and would ultimately give his life for the faith. He would die for his faith in his brother, who he knew was the Messiah. Well, the overwhelming consensus has been that this letter was written by James, the brother of our Lord. There were some outliers. Calvin, for instance, was open to it being James the Lesser. Now, I’m going to throw a little wrench into things. Bear with me. I’m not prepared to go against the majority of church history yet, but I will simply say there’s a minority view that has compelling reasons for seeing James, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of John as a likely potential author. I just want to offer it to you. I don’t want to spend too much time here

  5. Aug 30

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses Part 6

    Summary This final sermon in the Cultural Trusses series exhorts Christians, especially those in the DC area, to embody an “all of Christ for all of life” mindset, faithfully representing Jesus in every sphere—including government and military roles—without compartmentalizing their faith. Drawing from Daniel’s example, who resisted cultural assimilation in Babylon by refusing to defile himself and clinging to his true identity despite pressures to conform, believers are urged to daily remember their baptismal identity and resist being “re-baptized” into worldly loyalties, whether political or cultural. The preacher highlights the church’s need to recover public Christian witness, countering decades of cultural silence that allowed secularism and competing ideologies to dominate. Christians are called to courageously engage civil society with hope and expectation, trusting in Christ’s authority over all life. Moreover, the sermon stresses honoring Christ through excellence in work and witness, recognizing that wisdom and skills are gifts from God to be leveraged for His glory and kingdom impact. This enduring faithfulness and integrity will cultivate respect, influence, and divine favor, equipping the church to serve boldly in a hostile and secularizing culture. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Well, this is going to be our final sermon in the Cultural Trusts series. As I’ve sought to begin my pulpit ministry here by hitting on a few distinctives, a few values, a few structural components of our church life, as it were. First, we looked at the gospel itself, the good news, the astonishingly good news that Jesus Christ saves sinners, which is the foundation for everything. We then considered the importance of thinking covenantally. Then, on why we have such a cheerful, optimistic eschatology, we ponder the potency and the preeminence of Lord’s Day worship. That was last week, and today we’ll land the plane on this series. That’s not to say, obviously, that we could not add on many more. There are many more we could say, but these are load-bearing ones, and frankly, I’m really eager to get into a book of the Bible, and we’ll do that next week as we push out into the book of James. But our final cultural trust is this, and it’s the very first thing you’ll see if you go to our website. And so it seems like that’s one we should probably unpack. Namely, that we have an all of Christ for all of life, for all of DC mindset. We are a people that have an all of Christ for all of life for all of DC mindset. That is, we believe Christ has placed us here, has placed you here to have an impact for him as a Christian at whatever specific post that he’s placed you in. And with us being in DC, for many of you, That’s even going to be in a government or military post. The stat I was given is that roughly 70% of our congregation is connected or works for the government or the military. And we want all of you, every one of you in all the church, to labor wherever Christ has placed you, including positions of civil influence, with great hope. and great expectation, and great courage in the name of Christ. Or to say it another way, your Christianity is not like a lapel pin that you put on and take off depending on what day it is or what room you’re in. Rather, Jesus is the king of every room, and we are his ambassadors in every room that we show up in. And this is an especially important conviction for the church to recover because for the past several decades, the church has allowed a play to be run on us where we were told that we were never to get religious in the public sphere. Don’t mind the fact that if you turn over your $20 bill, it says, in God we trust, over the White House, right? You’re never to get religious. You can do what you want in private, in church, but Christians must never be Christians out loud in civil society, especially not in the political realm. The gospel is a private affair. Meanwhile, the public square never got any less religious. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something will be worshiped. If the worship of the living God wanes, then a thousand idols will scurry in to set up shop in his place. And that’s what’s happened in our nation. The idols of secularism. The idols of the LGBTQ cult, the idols of Hinduism and Islam have rushed in to fill the void while the Christians compliantly walked off the field into the high parts of the bleachers. But by God’s grace, he has not abandoned us. And there’s been a fresh groundswell. Just like there was at our founding, there’s been a groundswell of Christian witness and Christian courage in recent days. And we intend to get in on that. We intend to get in on what Christ is up to in all the world and specifically in the greater DC area, because that’s where we live. And with the first chapter of our church plant being tagged Mission to Babylon, if you go to our podcasts, that’s what it says, it seemed fitting to go to the book of Daniel today to tighten down the bolts of this trust biblically. Because at the beginning of this book, we find Daniel and his friends showing up in an idolatrous city, but they show up as the Lord’s men. They show up not dissuaded, not discouraged. They show up as the Lord’s men under his providential decree on purpose. They aren’t hostile, but they certainly aren’t compromising either. And because of that… Against impossible odds on paper, Daniel ends up having an astounding influence for the living God on the leaders and by extension on the entire trajectory of that kingdom. One quick word on the overall flow of the sermon. By beginning with my foundational text in the book of Daniel, I I’m making an argument throughout the sermon. I’m making an argument from the lesser to the greater. That is to say, if you remember your logic chops, if we see this type of godly influence in Babylon before Christ, before his ascension in a pagan land, how much more should we as Christians expect the Lord to use us in this era of history, in this city with the gospel? 30,000 foot view. So to the text now. We’ll do an overview and then draw out some applications. The book of Daniel begins after Babylon’s initial attack on Jerusalem circa 600-ish BC. King Nebuchadnezzar He starts bringing over the spoil of victory from Jerusalem into Babylon. He does so in the form of the temple treasures, in the form of human captives. He starts bringing them over to build up his kingdom. He’ll do this in successive waves over several decades, culminating, ultimately, in the destruction, finally, of the temple. But in the first wave, which is what we get at the beginning of Daniel, he tells his chief unit to bring in a whole company of the top-tier Israelites from the royal family. Nebuchadnezzar wants the brightest, he wants the best, the most skilled, the most clever, the most competent. And for a full three years, they were to be instructed, they were to be catechized, they were to be enculturated in all things Babylon. You will be catechized by something. Nebuchadnezzar knew this. Christians all forget it. So that’s where he begins, catechize them. They were to learn Babylon’s wisdom, learn her ways, learn her language. They were to be fed by the choicest meats and the finest wines that Babylon has to offer so that even their palates would crave the delicacies of Babylon. And at the end of the three years, after the thorough immersion was complete, they were to be presented to their new king for an oral examination on how they had fared. Are they Babylonian yet? That’s verses three through five. However, there quickly emerged four young men who are standouts, namely Daniel and his three notable friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. You might say, Those names aren’t all that familiar to me. Well, that’s because Babylon tried to scrub their true names by giving them the Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which even in the church we know better than their original names. And that renaming is, of course, very significant. We’ll circle back around on that in a little bit. Then as the text unfolds, we see Daniel on behalf of he and his friends. He asks his eunuch handler if they can just opt out of the king’s delicacies. They don’t want his menu. They don’t want the king’s food. And verse 8 gives the reason why. They didn’t want to be defiled by Babylonian delicacies. They did not want to be defiled by the king’s food. How would it defile them? This is a layered meaning, of course, several ways. One, the king’s menu obviously would have zero regard for the Levitical system and the rules of cleanliness and uncleanliness. They did not want to become ceremonially unclean, even if they were in Babylon, men of integrity. Second, it was one way that Daniel and company could resist. They could resist the Babylonian enculturation. He did not want his palate to be put on a leash, to have a craving for pagan wine, to have a craving for meat offered to idols, no matter how delicious it was. And when you remember the circumstances actually get inside of their flesh a little bit, of what they have just been through, to forego that shows a remarkable resolve. They’ve been led in bonds from their homeland, uncomfortable in a foreign place, now offered better food and wine than they have ever known in their life, and how we crave creature comforts, especially when we’re far from home in uncomfortable places. But Daniel and his guys value their spiritual purity, their cleanliness of heart before their God, than their physical cravings. Well, the eunuch’s main concern is pragmatics. If

  6. Aug 23

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses Part 5

    Summary In the sermon, the preacher explores the profound significance of robust, faith-filled worship on the Lord’s Day, emphasizing its transformative power not only in believers but in the world around them. Using biblical examples like Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16) and King Jehoshaphat’s unconventional battle plan (2 Chronicles 20), the sermon illustrates how worship serves as spiritual warfare that provokes God’s powerful intervention. Far from merely individualistic or emotional moments, authentic corporate worship calls God’s presence from heaven, renewing covenant with Him, strengthening the church, and frustrating evil forces. The sermon explains that worship is both a heavenly encounter and a catalyst for earthly change, inviting believers to participate expectantly and joyfully. It highlights five key elements of the liturgy—call, confession, consecration, communion, and commissioning—showing how the Lord meets His people to equip them for kingdom work throughout the week. Ultimately, worship is presented as the foundation of the church’s mission and spiritual strength. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more The true life of all We blossom and flourish As leaves on the tree And wither and perish But naught changeth Amen. And you may be seated. We have two texts this morning for our sermon time. The first comes from Acts chapter 16, verses 25 through 26. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. And then from 2 Chronicles 20, verse 22. And when they began to sing in praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. The word of the Lord. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your holy word. And Holy Spirit, we pray that you would push it into the corners of our body here, that we would understand in a more profound way, in a more gladdening way, both the privilege and the power of worship on the Lord’s day, through Christ our Lord. And in his name we pray, and the people of God said, Amen. Well, today I will continue on in my inaugural Christ Church sermon series, one that I’ve entitled Cultural Trusses, where we are tightening the bolts on some structural elements, some foundational values that we hold together as a church. We began by staring in fresh wonder some weeks back. at how astonishing the good news of the gospel actually is for sinners like us. We considered then how the lies of radical individualism has hollowed out the soul both of the church and our society and culture and the need then to recover a robust covenantal vision of life. Last week, we considered why we have an optimistic eschatology, a surprisingly cheerful outlook on where the whole story of Earth is headed. And today, we’re going to look at the trust of what we are doing right now, namely the importance of robust, reverent, faith-fueled worship on the Lord’s Day, and how this heavenly worship actually shapes the world around us. How heavenly worship shapes the world around us. See, another way that radical individualism has hollowed us out as a people, both in the church and as a nation, is how it has flattened our view of worship on the Lord’s Day. The Christian who has been shaped by individualism will have an anemic view of Lord’s Day worship and the glory therein. Because, being individualistic, they will default to placing themselves at the center of the service. Even when singing songs about Jesus, the running question will be, how do I feel right now about what’s happening? And the picture they’ll likely hold in their mind is of them individually with Jesus having a moment together. Now, of course, this is not entirely wrong. Just as Jesus compassionately, patiently met with the woman at the well, so our Lord does minister to us with great compassion, great tenderness, patiently, patiently and personally on the Lord’s Day. But what I’m saying is, Lord’s Day worship is so much more than that as well. For it is when the people of God are called up to heaven to meet with their God to renew covenant. where the people of God worship their God and are transformed from one degree of glory to another in His presence. And even more, what happens in heaven when we worship does not stay contained in heaven, but it powerfully shapes the earth around us, judging and frustrating the workers of evil and bringing salvation and gospel refreshment to our corner of the kingdom. For the God of heaven really does respond to our worship in ways that shape the world. I know many of you believe this. I want you to believe it even more. I want that trust to be firmly and biblically welded at Christ Church. So that’s the goal for our day. Now to the word we go. To begin, I want us to join Paul and Silas again in prison in our Acts 16 text. So for context, since we’re parachuting right in to the middle of the story, Paul and Silas were ministering in Philippi. They converted Lydia. Encouraging ministry is starting to happen around them. Then a slave girl attaches herself to them. This was a girl who practiced divination. And she will not stop crying out that these men are God’s servants and gospel ministers. Now, her message is not wrong. It’s gloriously true. But she gets stuck on repeat for days. And finally, the apostle can take it no more. So he commands that spirit to leave her, which it does. And now Paul can finally have some peace of mind, which lasts for all of about five minutes, because when she lost that spirit, her owner lost a lucrative part of his business. He lost profits. He wants recompense. And so he gets the local crowds and the magistrates to come together to turn on Paul and Silas, who are then summarily beaten without a trial, tossed into a grimy prison, hands in iron, all their ministry plans put on ice. So it seems. But as we reflected on in our exhortation, they respond to all of this physical pain and blatant injustice so very differently than we would often respond. Verse 25 again, about midnight, Paul and Silas, they were praying and they were singing hymns to God. Their response was to worship God. Their reflex was to lift their voices to heaven in praise and in petition. The joy of the Lord really was their strength, not the joy of perfectly executed plans, not the joy of physical comfort, not the joy of civil justice. If their joy was contingent on any of those things, they would not have been singing because all of those in this moment are completely gone. No, it was the joy of the Lord, which rests content in his perfect providence. And the text goes on to say, the prisoners were watching them. This is a fascinating scene. The prisoners were watching them, and I’m sure they were. This is a new sight. This is a strange thing to see. Sacred music at midnight from strange men in bonds. Well, if the prisoners thought that this was a strange sight, it was about to get a lot weirder. Because as Paul and Silas lifted their voices to heaven, the God of heaven responded. The God of heaven responded in power. And in this case, it came as a physical earthquake. an earthquake which crumbled prison concrete, tossed open iron doors so that they and all of the prisoners could go free now. But if you remember the account, something even more incredible, we might argue, than a psalm roar-induced earthquake happened right after that. Namely, they didn’t flee. They didn’t seek the freedom that the Lord just provided for them, right? Who could have blamed them? They were there unjustly, pray to God, doors open, go. They don’t. Rather, their focus was on where is Christ at work right now here? Where? They weren’t thinking about their immediate comfort. Where is Christ at work here that we can enter into? And here right in front of them, it turns out there was an opportunity. Because there was a despondent jailer on the brink of suicide. at the apparent loss of all the prisoners, right? Because if they’re gone, he’s as good as dead. That’s what the text says. He’s about to kill himself because the prisoners are gone. This is somebody who really could use some good news right about now. Well, it turns out that is the very thing Paul and Silas had. That is the very thing they were eager to offer to this man. And so they share Christ with the jailer. They explain to him The basis of their song. What prompted their song? It was Christ. And so they evangelized him, evangelized his whole family. And the text says that very night they were all baptized. What’s this, 2 a.m. at this point? Probably. They’re released in the morning, go on to visit Lydia, bring her in on the happenings before heading out to expand the work. And here’s what’s truly remarkable. I hinted at this in the exhortation. This would become the core group for the Philippian church to whom the book of Philippians was written to. And even more… Why this is significant for us, as we review the church history game film from our vantage point, we know historically that this was the moment in God’s providence when the gospel was first planted in Europe. It’s questing west at this point. It was the doorway into the evangelization and the Christianization of the West as we know it, of whom our very country was fruit of some 1800 years later. But remember the flashpoint. What lit the fuse? What caused heaven to shake the earth? It was the faith-filled worship of Paul and Silas. Persecute

  7. Aug 16

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses Part 4

    Summary In the sermon, the speaker presents an optimistic eschatology grounded in Scripture, emphasizing that Jesus was sent not to condemn but to save the world, highlighting His victory over Satan and death through the cross and ascension. He explains that Christ, as the “last Adam,” has reclaimed authority stolen by Satan, defeating all rulers and powers, and will ultimately establish His kingdom over all nations through the faithful expansion of the gospel. Despite present cultural challenges and spiritual warfare, believers are urged to maintain hope and vigor, relying on Scripture rather than worldly pessimism. The preacher encourages embracing a joyful, expectant faith—being “happy warriors” proclaiming the kingdom’s advance empowered by the Holy Spirit—with full confidence that Jesus’ mission to redeem the world will be successfully completed, culminating in the renewal of all creation where death is finally destroyed and God reigns forever. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our first scripture text today comes from John 3, verse 17. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And then 1 Corinthians 15, 24-26. Then comes the end, when Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. The word of the Lord and thanks be to God. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, Holy Spirit of the living God. We pray that through this proclamation as a people, we will be strengthened, we would be matured and transformed into another degree of glory for the glory of Christ. And it is in his name that we pray. Amen. Well, today we continue on in our cultural trusses series as I begin my time here as pastor, setting up some structural components that will shape and define and be integral to our life together as Christ’s church. And today we’re going to consider from the scriptures why we, as a church community, have a very optimistic, a surprisingly cheerful eschatology. And eschatology, if that’s a new word for you, it’s the fancy word… for the doctrine of end times or end things? Where’s the story headed? What’s the culmination of this story of earth going to look like? And as Christ Church, we have gone all in on hope for the ultimate trajectory for this world, the actual world that we actually live in right now. Or to put it, put a G.K. Chesterton frame around it. He once wrote, There are two equal and eternal ways of looking at this twilight world of ours. We may see it as the twilight of evening or the twilight of morning. That is, if you were placed in a moment when the sun’s only half on the horizon and it’s just muted light all around, you’d have to ask, is it dusk, meaning it’s only going to get darker from here, or is it dawn, meaning the story’s trending to a bright horizon? Well, as a church, we believe it’s the twilight of the morning. More than that, indeed, I’d argue it is a chief ingredient in our happy warrior ethos. That oomph in our song, that hopeful glint in our eye as we labor. as we labor even amidst a hostile culture, as we labor even amidst the griefs and struggles that the world and our life invariably will bring our way, we remain hopeful with a vigor and an expectation amidst it all. And we do so because Jesus said, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. but in order that the world might be saved through him. We do believe this world will be saved. Now, to be clear, this does not mean we believe everyone will be saved in the world. We are not universalists. We are not all roads lead to God, adamantly so. We are not, it will all work out in the end for everyone. No, judgment is real. Hell is real. It is eternal. People will really be there. However, Jesus says the world will be saved. Anyone who goes to hell is excluded from this great cosmic salvation that Jesus Christ is inaugurating in the world. Because if the Father sent him into the world to save the world and to not condemn the world, that’s precisely what he will do and is going to do. or to hit that diamond with light from another angle. Since Jesus told us to pray that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, when you pray, ask God that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, we believe that’s going to happen. Why would he tell us to pray it? Except that he intended to answer that prayer, to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Now, you might say, Well, yeah, but that’s a stretch to think that Jesus meant his kingdom would cover a vast majority of earth ultimately. Maybe some pockets around the world, but certainly he didn’t mean it would quest out through the entire world. Well, that’s not a stretch because that is exactly what he said. Matthew 13, 33. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven. is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. He also calls the kingdom like a tiny mustard seed, the most tiniest of seeds that ends up questing out through the whole garden until it becomes a tree in the center that joyfully dominates the landscape. So yes, Jesus did speak this way. He did so explicitly. He did so repeatedly. So I have two goals in this sermon. We can spend an entire series on this. I’m not just this one sermon. Two goals, and it depends on where you are in your eschatological understanding. I know many of you have an optimistic vision of the gospel’s success in the world, what we typically would call post-millennial success. Though I’m not overly concerned about the label, you can call it post-millennial, you can call it optimistic, amillennial, you can call it inconsistent, premillennial. Call it what you want. All I want for us is to have a Bible-sized vision of the hope that Christ has put before us through the advancement and the success of his kingdom. If that’s you, my goal is to add wind to your sails, to stir you up by way of reminder, as the Apostle Peter says. But I’d have to imagine that there are some who are not there, who actually expect things to get darker and darker, with the elect being airlifted to safety as the sulfur starts raining down, and that a very small crew. If that’s you, first, we are most glad that you are here and you are most welcome and we are in full fellowship together. This is not a primary doctrine. It’s an important one, but it’s not primary. But my goal is not so much to convince you. That’ll probably take more than one sermon. My goal is more modest. I simply want to challenge some assumptions that you might not realize you have held in It could be because you inherited your eschatology more from the Left Behind series than the full scope of Scripture. And so I hope to perhaps provoke some curiosity in you. I hope that after this sermon, you will say, as some said to the Apostle Paul after the Areopagus, I will hear you again about this. That’s my goal for you. So you can listen in without feeling like this is a hard sell, though I do want you to believe it. Okay, so why the optimistic thrust in our eschatology? Many ways we could go with this. I want to consider two glorious truths from Scripture that are absolutely foundational to grasping this, to seeing this from the text. There are more. These are the two that I chose. We are abounding in hope for this world, first, because of the abasement of Satan. Because of the abasement of Satan. Second, because of the ascension of Christ. Because of the ascension of Christ. First, the abasement of Satan. Or we could call this the other thing the cross accomplished. First, we know that on the cross, Christ became the propitiation for our sins. He absorbed the wrath that our sin had occurred. He drank it to the dregs. He exhausted it so that a just God could grant us full pardon while maintaining his justice. The glorious phrase that Paul uses, he is both the just and the justifier. It is through the cross that he became that. He is the one who justified us by dying in our place and he maintained his justice. by punishing and judging sin and evil as it must be if God would maintain his justice. So because of the cross, we have full assurance of our forgiveness because Jesus dealt with our sin problem. But our sin, our sin is not the only thing the cross dealt a blow against. On the cross, Christ dealt Satan a mortal blow as well. On the cross, Christ dethroned him as the usurping prince over this world. See, there are many in the church, there They downplay their own sinfulness, very much upplay the power and authority of Satan in the world, and functionally see him still as the ruler over the fallen world. But he’s not. He is not presently. He was, for a time, all under God’s sovereign power, the prince of this world. But on the cross, Christ deposed Satan. He cast him down from the stolen throne that he had usurped from Adam and Eve. This is a vital and a clear teaching of Scripture that ought not be obscured. So I want to make sure you see this straight from the text. First, multiple times, as Jesus is seeing the shadow of the cross coming closer and closer to this, He made this very point, John 12, 31-32, just a few days before the cross. Now is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. He will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself. Through the cross, the current ruler of this world cast out. I’m lifted up. I will draw all peoples t

  8. Aug 9

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses Part 3

    Summary In the sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of a robust, covenantal vision for life, building on the biblical foundations found in Job and Colossians. He discusses the chaos that ensues from Adam’s transgression of God’s covenants, highlighting the redemptive work of Jesus as the last Adam, who restores all aspects of life, including marriage, family, church, and nations. The sermon specifically addresses heads of households, urging them to take responsibility for their families’ spiritual and physical well-being, citing Job’s example of sacrificial leadership. The preacher encourages future heads of homes to embrace their roles with a clean heart, practice collective language when addressing family issues, and eliminate grumbling, framing leadership as bearing burdens. Additionally, he calls on the entire church community to uphold their covenant bonds by practicing forgiveness and reconciliation, likening the church to Roman concrete, which strengthens over time through challenges, rather than succumbing to division. Ultimately, the message is a call for resilient, covenantal relationships rooted in Christ’s love, which can withstand conflicts and demonstrate the gospel’s transformative power to the world. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our first reading comes from Job chapter 1 verses 4 through 5. And then from Colossians chapter 3 verses 13 through 14. The word of the Lord. Our Lord and our God, we do thank you for your word. Holy Spirit, the very God who inspired these words, we pray that you would place them where they are most needful in each one of us. It is in the strong name of Christ that we pray these things. And amen. As we establish some foundational, load-bearing, biblical truths that structure our life together at Christ Church DC. And today is a continuation on the trust, on the theme from last week. Namely, on the need to recover a robust, covenantal vision of life. We saw last week how God created a world with covenant structures when he first created it. Of marriage and family. Of church. And of the civil realm. But most importantly, he made a covenant between himself and humanity. With Adam as humanity’s federal head. But Adam transgressed that covenant. He broke the covenants. And very quickly, all the other covenants started to come apart at the seams within one chapter, throwing the world into chaos. Because that is what sin does. It is a corrosive. It brings disconnection, disunity, and ultimately despair. However, God in his loving kindness did not leave us in this chaotic disconnection that we inherited from Adam. Rather, he so loved the world that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, on a cosmic rescue mission to redeem the world and the entirety of it. Jesus came not as the divine savior of disconnected mass of human individuals. He came as the last Adam, as 1 Corinthians 15 says, the new covenant head of a new humanity to bring us back into covenant with God and to go to work redeeming and restoring all the structures within the world. The family, Genesis 12, 3, or 2, 9, you, the church are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And he came to redeem nations as nations. Revelation 21, 4, by the light of the lamb will the nations walk and the kings of earth will bring their nation’s glory into it. So yes, Jesus saves us as individuals, but he is not individualistic. He is making all things new, the structures that God built into the world. And part of our work then as ministers of reconciliation sent by Christ into the world is to strengthen and repair on purpose these structures as well for the glory of God and for the joy of our great grandchildren. So that’s all review for our time today. I want to get more practical, pull it down to earth. What does it look like for us as a church community? To continue growing into a sturdy, healthy, joyful covenant community together on purpose in this city. And I’m really going to narrow my focus to two specific angles today. Two specific exhortations. First, a word to heads of home or soon to be heads of home. Second, a word to every one of us in the church as the church. First, heads of home. A church is fundamentally made up of households. And so a healthy, covenantally minded church means having healthy, covenantally minded households. And that means heads of home who gladly and sacrificially start taking responsibility for the state of their entire household. Protection, their physical provision, but also for their spiritual protection, their spiritual provision. And of course, he takes his cues from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Jesus took full responsibility for us as God’s people in our provision on the cross, in our protection through his Holy Spirit. In that text, verse 4 of chapter 1 of Job, we’re told that his children had a sort of feasting tradition around their cul-de-sac, as it were, where the sons would take turns hosting feasts. They would invite their sisters over as well. And we’re not told if they would invite their servants or friends over. We could probably assume that. But apparently, it was a festive affair of eating and drinking. And then we were told in verse 5, that afterwards, Job would send and consecrate them afresh, likely some sort of ceremonial washing. And then he would go and he would offer sacrifices on their behalf, just in case they had done anything at all that offended God during their feasting. This is a picture of a covenant head taking responsibility before God, for those God has placed under their care, just as Christ does for his people. Job does not say, well, I wasn’t there. I didn’t make the party. So I have no idea what happened. Therefore, how can I possibly be responsible for any of that? None of this. If something happened, it’s not my problem. That is decidedly what he does not do. Rather, he stands before God. For forgiveness, should there even be any, which we’re not told that there even was. And Job stands as an example for us of having a spiritual pulse on our people, of taking initiative to protect and provide for them. But husbands and fathers, taking this kind of responsibility, if we are honest, does not come naturally. As sons of Adam, our instinct in our flesh is abdication, and blame shifting. By nature, we don’t like taking responsibility for our own sins, let alone sins of other people or cares of other people. And this is why we need to pursue this together on purpose. Because God has called us to it. He has sent us as sentinels for the souls in our household. So a few thoughts on embracing your responsibility and future head of home. Because if you aren’t a husband or father yet, you likely will be. And now’s the time to start preparing. One, you must live with a clean heart before your God. You must live with a clean heart before your God. Which means you must deal with your own sin quickly and thoroughly. As head of home, if you are constantly bogged down with guilt. You cannot take responsibility for the souls of others. If you are gunked up with undealt with shame in your own hearts. Unconfessed sin will sap your spiritual strength. And it will leave your people without a covering. Unconfessed sin will sap your own spiritual strength. Unintended. This is something King David recognized. A covenant head who knew great sin in his own life. When his own heart was not clean before his God. He says in Psalm 32.4. Day and night your hand was heavy upon me. And my strength was dried up. As by the heat of summer. And he goes on in the Psalm 32 to talk about how he confessed. And there was this great lifting. This great strengthening. He goes on to exhort people to seek God while they may be found. Undealt with personal sin will sap your strength and make it impossible for you to lead well. In this generation, there are many fathers who simply will not address things in their home that do need addressing. Because they feel hypocritical. They feel disqualified. They feel inadequate. They won’t confront a son when they suspect a pornography issue. Because they struggled in the past. They won’t instruct or correct their wives, but will rather fall into a low hum of passive aggression. Because they’re sick of the constant fighting because they won’t address anything. They won’t lead in family prayer now, though they really do want to. Because the first one will be awkward when the kids ask, why are we just starting this now? If that’s you, the first thing you need to do is go back two weeks ago and listen to that sermon on the podcast, on the gospel. How God chose Paul for the purpose of showing the world he draws straight with crooked lines. This is the freedom of the apostle Paul in his ministry, not because he was a perfect man, far from it, but because he had repented and received forgiveness of sins and was free to do his ministry then. You do that, so far as the east is from the west, so far I’ve removed your transgressions and then turn afresh. And embrace with faith the office God has called you to. He chose you of your head of home. And that is an objective fact. So it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it. Just embrace the responsibility confidently and cheerfully. And know this, other than Christ, there’s no such thing as a sinless head of home. Other than Christ, there’s no such thing as a perfect head of home. That’s not possible, but it is possible to be a faithful head of home. And that’s a really important distinction. It’s not possible to be a sinless head of home. It is possible to be a faithful head of home. And that requires having a clean heart before God and your family so that you’re not bogged down and sidelined with sin and shame. Now, suppose some thing

  9. Aug 2

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses Part 2

    Summary In today’s sermon at Christ Church DC, the focus is on the importance of recovering covenantal thinking as a foundational truth for community life, contrasting it with the pervasive radical individualism that has broken down covenant structures in society. The sermon highlights biblical texts, particularly Psalm 103:17-18 and Romans 12:4-5, to underscore that God’s steadfast love is tied to covenant faithfulness, which is essential for generational flourishing. The speaker argues that the covenant, established by God and distinct from mere contracts, entails solemn obligations with blessings for faithfulness and consequences for unfaithfulness. The breakdown of covenant, as seen from the fall of Adam and subsequent biblical narratives, has led to chaos in family, church, and civil life. The advent of Christ represents a redemptive plan that restores these structures through the gospel, emphasizing that the essence of community is found in covenant relationships, which stand in opposition to the divisive nature of individualism. The sermon concludes with a call to embrace and nourish these covenant obligations, positioning the church as a witness to God’s renewing work in the world. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more show less

  10. Jul 26

    Brooks Potteiger, Cultural Trusses: Astonishingly Good News

    Summary In today’s sermon from 1 Timothy 1:15-17, the pastor emphasizes the core message of the gospel: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, highlighting the personal testimony of Paul, who identifies himself as the foremost sinner. The sermon introduces Paul as a key figure and mentor to Timothy, framing the letter as a manual on church leadership and gospel proclamation amidst challenges. The pastor outlines three central questions regarding salvation: how Christ saves through His life, death, and resurrection; why He saves to showcase His grace and patience; and why this message is particularly relevant for Washington, D.C., where self-righteousness and shame are prevalent. The pastor calls on the church to live in the freedom that comes from this gospel, which is vital for being a transformative presence in the city, encouraging believers to fully embrace their identity in Christ despite their pasts. Transcription Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our scripture today for the sermon time comes from the epistle to Timothy the first one chapter 1 verses 15 through 17. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s holy and inspired word. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But I receive mercy for this reason. That in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, God only wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Word of the Lord. Amen. Well, after having had one foot in two states over the last few months, I am grateful to be securely in the saddle here in Christ Church, D.C. And you don’t need me to tell you because if you have eyes in your head, you can see. God has been extraordinarily gracious to this young church. Aslan is truly on the move in our time, and I am so humbled and grateful to be a part of it. And though expository preaching will be our bread and butter on the Lord’s Day, just line by line, precept upon precept, going through books of the Bible, I do want to take the first several weeks of my pastorate here to hit on some foundational themes. To reinforce what we might call some cultural trusses, truths that undergird, truths that shape our life together at Christchurch DC. We’ll consider four or five of them over the coming weeks. But for today, what we’re going to consider is not so much one of the trusses, to stick to the metaphor, but it is the foundation itself. It is the pillow that we lay our head on at night and find rest. Though there are many things that DC needs to hear, it is the primary message Christ Church DC exists to proclaim. And it is this, of course. The astonishingly good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The astonishingly good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what gospel means. It is a declaration from heaven to earth of good news. That’s what I want to do in our time today. To see it again with greater clarity. I want you, I want us to be re-enchanted with just how good the news is. A savior Christ is and why it is especially good news for a city like Washington, D.C. Because what’s true, and the enemy knows it, that’s why there’s such resistance. What’s true is there is no more potent redemptive force in the world than a church who lives free. Gloriously free from guilt, from shame, from condemnation, from the shackles of human sin that have afflicted us from the moment of our first fall. That is the most potent redemptive force in the world is a church who lives free from all of that. That’s what I’m arguing. Many texts we can choose from to get a rich summation of the gospel, John 3.16, Romans 6.23 come to mind, Timothy today. Because here the apostles’ words show, with intensely personal effect, the freeing power of the gospel. Why the news is such good news. Paul knew it intensely, personally. With that, let’s turn to the text. Quick background. So this is from the first of two letters that Paul penned to Timothy. It was his protege. His successor in ministry, he would leave Timothy at Ephesus to help pastor the Ephesian church. And so these letters are full of practical advice. They are a sort of church planters inspired manual about combating false teaching, about how to raise up more leaders and so on. But near the beginning of this first letter, Paul gives Timothy a brief biographical sketch of his call to his apostleship. And he reminds Timothy that his calling, his appointment, his being raised up, as it were, was a sovereign act of God’s mercy towards him. And it’s in verse 15 where he distills it all down. And he fixes Timothy’s eyes here near the beginning on the glory of the gospel. He says this again, verse 15, this saying. So it is a saying for Paul. It is an anthem. This saying is trustworthy and it’s deserving of full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I, Paul, am the worst, am the foremost. This is the one thing Timothy must never get over. This is the one truth Timothy must always hold out, must keep front and center, proclaim and declare with a soaring and fervent urgency that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Despite the many things Timothy will be called to teach and exhort the church in, and there are many, this is the one thing he must never get over. This is the one thing all those other exhortations must be seen through. He lets his mentee know that he himself, the one who is now being used by Jesus to take the gospel to the Gentiles and to the western hemisphere of the world, him, he was the worst of sinners. He was the most unworthy, unlikely one to be called an apostle. He wants Timothy to know this. This is no self-deprecation with a spiritual veneer, which we’re all so good at. No, Paul in his previous life, he was formerly the church’s most vicious persecutor and prosecutor. He was the protester, not just with a silly bullhorn. He had the badge and the baton, and the apostle Paul levied physical assaults on the church of Christ as the gospel was going out. Acts 8.3. Saul was ravaging the church, ravaging the church, going from house to house, dragging out men and women, and then committing them to prison. This is Paul. Acts 9.1. He breathed out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. This is laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. That was Paul. So this is in Paul’s rearview mirror. All the days of his life, all his apostleship, this is part of his story. So when he declares Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost, this is not a false humility on Paul’s part. Formerly the church’s most belligerent opponent. And that is why, this is what he wants Timothy to see, that is why he relished so much in the gospel. It was not theory for him. It was not the bubble he penciled in on the spiritual scantron. What religion do you believe? Christian. It was not that for Paul. This was experiential for the apostle Paul. And I want us as Christ’s church to have the same wonder, to have the same marveling, to have the same confidence in the power of the gospel that Paul had. Paul wants that. That’s what he’s telling Timothy. I am a trophy of grace so that the church will see that and say, if God can do that with him, what in the world could he not do anywhere with anyone? That’s the point Paul’s making with this text. And so to that end, in the remainder of our time, I want to answer three questions to help us get more clarity on this. One, how did Christ Jesus save sinners? Two, why did Christ Jesus save sinners? And three, why is this especially good news for a place like Washington, D.C.? First one, how? How did Christ Jesus save sinners? Paul tells Timothy, came into the world to save sinners, whom he’s the foremost. My question, what did he do when he came into the world that brought about our salvation? The answer to this most important of questions can be summed up in three words. Life, death, resurrection. Life, death, resurrection. If you’re wondering, what about ascension, pastor? That’s a pretty important part. This is an entire sermon. We’ll get there in two to three weeks, so just be patient. Give me a minute. Today I want to focus on what Christ came, what he came to the earth to do to save sinners, which Paul is talking about. In the most basic terms, he saved sinners through his life, death, and resurrection. First, his life. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, born of a woman, fully God, fully man. And as a man, he experienced everything categorically that you have experienced, that I have experienced. He knew joy. He knew sorrow. He knew calluses on his feet, indigestion, laughter, tears, family drama, and great temptations. He was made just like his brothers. However, there was one way Jesus was unlike us. He never sinned. Jesus Christ, the man, fully God, fully man, never sinned. Where the first Adam failed through his disobedience to the Father and fell into judgment, the second Adam succeeded through his perfect obedience to his Father. Every thought, every word, every deed of his life, he perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law. He was the only image bearer who ever bore the image of God. Accurate. Perfectly. Jesus Christ saved sinners through his life. Next, death. Even though he never died, Christ willingly, obediently, even joyfully, according to Hebrews 12, died a horrific sinner’s death on a cross. And he did so to absorb the full fury, That’s what he was doing. This is why in John 1.29, when John the Baptist sees him, he cries out, Behold the La

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About

A podcast of Christ Church DC. Hear CREC Pastors exposit on God’s Holy Word. Subscribe to hear Doug Wilson, Jared Longshore, Ben Merkle, Toby Sumpter, Joe Rigney, Adam McIntosh, Ben Zornes, Brooks Potteiger, Garrett Craw, C. R. Wiley and many more. Hear their weekly exhortation and sermon. Like what you hear? Join Christ Church DC live on Sundays at 10:30am in Washington, DC.

Information

  • Creator
    Christ Church DC
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © 2026 Christ Church. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Mission to Babylon

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