I preached!

Last Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to preach my second sermon ever. The pastor of my church here in Mexico City invited me to fill in for him while he was on vacation. It was my first sermon in an actual church and also my first sermon in English. I preached on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here is an excerpt I thought I'd share:


"The wonderfully good news of the parable is that the Good Samaritan is Christ himself! This is the very heart of the gospel and it is what gives us any hope at all and all the hope in the world. If we are going to understand the hope and comfort that Christianity offers at all, we must understand that the gospel is a person. I work at the UNAM with a Christian ministry, and I talk with students all the time who are self-proclaimed “spiritual” people, but who are absolutely against the idea of Jesus as Savior. Maybe that’s where some of you are at this morning. I always try to explain to these students that, according to the Bible, and according to Jesus himself, there is no spirituality without the person of Christ. In other words, spirituality is a person. Religion is a person. And until we know the person of Jesus, we do not know God."

This is surely hard to believe

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

-William Cowper, 1774


O, that we would believe this!

Spurgeon on the "Black Words" of the Bible

I found this quite eloquent and enlightening.

"So the Lord doth add threatenings to commands; for sometimes a black word will drive a soul to Christ where a bright word would not draw it. Fears of hell sometimes make men flee to Jesus. The weary wing made the poor dove fly to the ark: and the thunderbolts of God's justice are only meant to make thee fly to Christ the Lord."