Why We Exist
A conference talk from Lorenzo Small on the church's reason for being. Not its programs, not its buildings, not its institutional momentum, but the underlying calling that holds every congregation accountable: the gospel its existence is meant to bear witness to.
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A Firm Foundation
A sermon on Matthew 16, where Peter recognizes Jesus as the Christ. Small preaches against the language of dying churches, hearing in Christ's promise to Peter the foundation that no rate of decline can shake: the gates of hell will not prevail against the church Christ is building.
The Gift: The Enemy Of The Church
Why does the world resist the church, and what does Jesus pray for us in the middle of that conflict? Gerrit Dawson, preaching John 17:8-19, argues that the deeper danger is a church that gives up its boundaries to avoid friction.
The Gift: A Love Story
What is really going on in a pew full of distracted, ordinary people on a Sunday morning? Gerrit Dawson preaches John 17 and says the church is a love gift passed between the Father and the Son, bound together by the Spirit.
Historic Principles of Church Order: What They Say Today
What did Presbyterians mean by saying that God alone is Lord of the conscience? Randall Otto takes the eight Historic Principles of Church Order one at a time and asks what each says today about liberty, discipline, truth and Scripture.
Recovering Our Knowledge Of Scripture
What happens to a church that treats the Bible like letters it no longer needs? Mary Holder Naegeli, drawing on Nehemiah 8, calls Presbyterians to read the Word aloud, explain it, and receive it again with joy.
I Do?
What are couples really promising when they say “I do”? David Blankenhorn argues that self-written vows without a pledge of permanence have emptied marriage of its meaning, and that pastors must take back the wedding.