This account is certainly a gem, sparkling and catching the eye of faith. It calls us to stop and examine the Word of our Father: “This is My beloved Son… Hear Him!” Help us, Father, to see only Jesus by hearing His Word, which transfigures our lives and transcends our unbelief.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” In the name of Jesus                               

It’s natural for us to shrink from looking too closely at the grievous, sickening torments of Christ's cross. It is also natural for us to minimize any looking at how I, we caused this torment on the cross. Yet did you hear in our text the Spirit direct us to LOOK ON HIM WHOM WE HAVE PIERCED.

1. Jesus’ gift in Baptism – giving forgiveness and new life.

2. Being rich in the Word – letting Christ’s Word dwell in us richly.

3. Walking under His influence – daily repentance and a Spirit-shaped life that says “no” to the flesh and “yes” to Christ.

The Spirit fills us not with passing thrills, but with abiding faith, repentance, worship, and joy that lasts into eternity.

The message centers on Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:1–6), proclaimed to a grieving and shaken people in the aftermath of 9/11.

Key movements of the sermon:

• “Let not your heart be troubled”: Christ speaks peace to fearful disciples then and now, anchoring shaken hearts on His promises.

• The Way: Jesus’ cross and resurrection provide the solid ground that shoots down every “flight of doubt” Satan launches.

• The Truth: Christ alone guarantees justice, security, and hope—not governments, not military might, not human promises.

• The Life: Jesus’ death and resurrection rescue from sin’s rubble and open the eternal mansions of heaven for all believers.

The sermon repeatedly contrasts the fragility of earthly security with the eternal certainty found only in Christ.

This is a meditation on the First Commandment and Psalm 37:25 (“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread”).

The sermon emphasizes:

• Idolatry is subtle: even Christians may place trust, love, or fear in military power, loved ones, money, or self rather than God.

• God’s provision is certain: David’s testimony and the lives of believers show that God does not forsake His children but provides daily bread.

• The result of trusting God: instead of being beggars, believers become givers; instead of deceivers, they become speakers of wisdom; instead of forsaken, they become heirs both in this life and in eternity.

• The final inheritance: not just earthly security, but an eternal home with Christ.

Christ’s victory over Satan and our calling to pray for and join in the Lord’s harvest with compassion. The text begins by comparing temporary earthly grief (floods, terrorism) with the far greater eternal tragedy of millions dying without Christ. It highlights Satan’s ongoing attacks, but also proclaims that Christ crucified has cast Satan down. The “still, small voice” of the gospel is the true power, not our own strength. Believers are called to rejoice in their salvation, pray the Lord of the harvest for more workers, and share the riches of Christ with a perishing world.

It’s a call to:

1. Grieve with compassion over the lost.

2. Trust in Christ’s authority over Satan.

3. Pray and go as laborers in God’s harvest.

4. Rejoice that our names are written in heaven.

I Am your Who

Judges 13:22

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given

Joshua 3:9-17

When John Bowring first saw the port city of Macao, it was all ruins and desolation. This once thriving port had been superseded by Hong Kong and abandoned to thieves and the relentless weather. But there towering o’er the wrecks of time stood out a bronze cross on the steeple of a church and thus began Bowring’s “In the cross of Christ I glory” (TLH #354).