Redwood Church Preaching

God has given us nine acrostic psalms, yet modern songwriting sensibilities do not include this form. Why would God make alphabetical lines a priority for poetic expression? Why limit himself to having his message dictated by the order of the Hebrew alphabet? What profound truth does the form and nature of this poetry communicate about God’s love for his covenant people? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Being discipled by chick flicks and pop songs, we tend to think of love as the initial flames set ablaze when we meet the person of our dreams. But the “flame of Yah”—true love as God designed it—is a cultivated fire from start to finish. To keep this marital fire burning brightly, Song of Songs depicts key elements of romance which we can cultivate in our own marriages. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

If Song of Songs is truly named, then it is the best and most important song ever written. Yet the modern reader finds its poetry awkward, unsatisfying, and confusing. What help does God offer through this song for cultivating romantic affection in our own marriages—and how can we train our modern ears to find it profitable? Three elements contribute to poetic excellence, and help us to discern the value in Solomon’s work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Psalm 47 is a psalm that grounds all of time, drawing history together into a meaningful whole. Always it has been true, always it is true, and always it will be true. It is the great foundation of the past; the great promise of the future; the linchpin of yesterday, today, and tomorrow: King is God over the nations; very ascended is he. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Despite the celebrations, Christmas is a time of many mundane hardships and difficulties — from annoying relatives to stretched finances. Since it is easy for us to feel set-upon and inconvenienced, it is helpful to reflect on how the first Christmas is a story of stress and anxiety, confusion and unknowns for Mary and Joseph, who had their expectations, hopes, and plans for their lives completely upended. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Gideon knows the Midianite camp is given into his hand, but how shall he receive the victory? Why does he choose this strange method of warfare? The “sword of Gideon” involves no swords—instead horns and torches and pitchers. When he attacks, he does not advance upon the camp, but stands still. His strategy reflects the spiritual principles it is based upon, liturgically resonating with the cutting of God’s covenants. And it is a method God continues to use in the New Testament. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

If Gideon is afraid to go into the camp of Midian, God offers him yet another sign to help his unbelief: a dream recounted by a Midianite. The power of this sign is not in the dream itself, but in Gideon’s faith to discern its meaning. God continues to work through such dreams at times, and scripture explicitly tells us that these private revelations will be dark and riddle-like. Here we receive help for understanding the symbolic language of such dreams, and interpreting their meanings. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Now that Gideon has successfully made war on the idolatry of Israel, he is ready to make war on Midian. Yet, outnumbered four to one, God tells him his army is too big. Holy war cannot be fought, except by men who believe, so two thirds of the army must be sent away. This remains true within the church. Yet still the people are too many, so God refines them a second time, until they are outnumbered 450 to one. But why does he use the lappy-dog test? Why does Gideon need an army of 300 dog-like misfits? And what is the significance for us in the church? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Wicked rulers operate by cloaking their violence in the terminology of righteousness. Though they are preparing a path of violence, they want to appear benevolent and good. As in David’s day, so in ours, where terms like “climate justice,” and “Maori rights” are used to legitimize theft and the threat of violence. Our solution should be the same as David’s, but the church cannot act effectively without unity over the limits of the state’s right to bear the sword. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

The Spirit clothes Gideon—a word used especially for priests being invested with the garments of their identity as God’s servants. Yet suddenly, he seems to get cold feet and asks for two strange miracles. Why would someone with the Spirit act this way? Comparing Gideon’s words to Abraham’s in interceding for Sodom reveals that this is not faithless act, but a faithful one—and the sign of the fleece is not a hasty or foolish request, but a public display with a priestly logic and clear meaning. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

In response to God’s overture of fellowship, Gideon makes two offerings. Careful comparison to the Torah gives us insight into the nature of both priests and saviors in God’s kingdom. Although our worship differs in substance, it remains true that God raises his altar by tearing down Satan’s strongholds and building on their ruins; that he calls us to sacrificial service that can pit father against son; that he uses our idols as kindling for the fire of sacrifice in our hearts; and that the courageous obedience of one man can break the power of fear over an entire body of people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Like Israel before Midian, the true Israel has no power in the land of the West today. How does salvation come in such times? What kind of man does God choose? Gideon seems to be a small, doubtful loser. Why is he threshing in a winepress? What is the significance of the angel turning to face him? What does it mean that he asks to feed the angel—or that the rock eats the food? And how do these things apply in the church age? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Jesus distilled his wisdom about worry into seven simple arguments in his Sermon on the Mount. We can follow these arguments to reason our way out of anxiety, and into mental fortitude. His fifth argument is about clothing, exegeting the beautiful yet brief life of the middle Eastern desert flower to prove that God will clothe us sufficiently for our far greater callings. But what are the implications of Jesus’ argument for us, in a world where clothing is cheap and available? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

The mindset of fearing Canaanite gods, and allowing their altars to remain, seems alien and inconceivable to us—we have no gods or altars of this kind. But have we none of any kind? To the contrary, many hold sway in our lives, and we often convince ourselves that it is in our best interest to let them remain. We even offer fearful sacrifices to them. One such god is especially prevalent in the lives of modern Christians. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Does God delight in the death of the wicked? Should we? In the same way that we are instructed to seek his vengeance, we are also called to celebrate it. Though there is a danger in this becoming fleshly, yet there is still a pure way for us to laugh righteously at the calamity of the wicked. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

In Deborah’s song, she recounts the angel of Yahweh cursing those who did not help God in battle. If we are to be holy as he is, should we follow his example? What is a curse, who is qualified to pronounce one, and when is it appropriate to do so under the new covenant of grace? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Psalm 32 describes how to be happy, proved from David’s experience, and then taught to Israel. As long as we cover our sin, its weight crushes us with sorrow, but when we confess, God lifts our iniquity and gives us happiness. Yet this is not just an offer of forgiveness and joy; it is a command, to be heeded freely lest God have to “take our reins.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Israel’s victories are not won by military strategy or strength of arms, but by the intervention of God’s presence with his hosts of angels. This is plainly depicted in Barak’s battle with Sisera, revealing a world not governed by mechanical, natural forces, but personal, spiritual agents. How does this affect our view of providence, and what is and (is not) possible? Rather than asking “what can I do in this situation?” and running a simulation in our heads, we should simply ask, “what should I do?” and leave the rest to God. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Whereas in one part of the church, singing anything but the Bible’s psalms is viewed as worldly progressivism, and in another part, singing psalms at all is viewed as backward primitivism, in fact scripture reveals the need to continually write new psalms. After going to war and defeating their enemies, Deborah and Barak model the proper response: a victory psalm commemorating God’s help. But what is the pattern of such a psalm? Does it look like contemporary Christian music? Old hymns? Or something else? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Yael, the lady of a house in league with the Canaanite king, defies her husband by deceiving and slaying Sisera, the principal of the Canaanite army. What should we make of Yael’s treatment of Sisera? Is she a liar and a murderer? Or is she indeed blessed among women? And if so, what is the implication for women in the church, and spiritual warfare? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Jesus distilled his wisdom about worry into seven simple arguments in his Sermon on the Mount. We can follow these arguments to reason our way out of anxiety, and into mental fortitude. His fourth argument is against the futility of worry: that we cannot make ourselves grow in any way by it; rather the opposite. When we worry, we could be doing literally anything else of value, and the outcome would be better. We should therefore give our anxiety to the One who can do something about our problems. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Scripture tells us we are to participate in Christ by forgiving our enemies — sacrificing ourselves and our anger, knowing that ultimately God is the one sacrificing us for the sake of shaping us into his image. Yet the New Testament doesn’t give much practical instruction in how. This is because the Psalms already do. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Contrary to popular belief, we can and must forgive even those who wrong us unrepentantly. Repentance is not a necessary precondition for forgiveness — but, in fact, forgiveness is a necessary precondition for repentance. The doctrine of the cross helps us to understand how and why — and the scriptural distinction between forgiveness and reconciliation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Jesus distilled his wisdom about worry into seven simple arguments in his Sermon on the Mount. We can follow these arguments to reason our way out of anxiety, and into mental fortitude. His third argument is that God provides food for all creatures through various means — even birds who don’t have to work for it. Since we are of superior worth, we should trust that God will provide our food also, through the means he has ordained for man: work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

After 20 years, a new generation has been raised up by Deborah to war against evil—led by Baraq, the lightning-man, to fight the lightning-god Ba’al. While modern readers haughtily interpret Baraq as a man of defective faith, he has the trust in God (along with the confidence of 10,000 peasants) to engage a humanly suicidal strategy to defeat 90,000 Canaanite soldiers, consuming them as fire from heaven on the mountain of Tabor. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Because Israel has failed to represent God’s father-rule into the world, its own fathers are unable to rule. For as long as it takes to raise a child for battle, they are thus without a savior — and a married woman under authority must judge them. Yet through grace, this curse turns to a blessing, as Deborah the holy mother raises up a spiritual son as a warrior-savior. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Jesus distilled his wisdom about worry into seven simple arguments in his Sermon on the Mount. We can follow these arguments to reason our way out of anxiety, and into mental fortitude. His second argument is that rightly ordering our concerns in a proper hierarchy is foundational to cultivating peace about the future: placing the lesser things beneath the greater, and taking care to how they fit together in our lives. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Shamgar and Ehud are a study in contrasts: Ehud is Hebrew, Shamgar is Canaanite; Ehud smote a people of the land, Shamgar a people of the sea; Ehud struck one head, Shamgar 600 bodies; Ehud used a weapon for intimate and personal assassination, Shamgar a tool for impersonal killing at arm’s length. There is a clear picture here of the progression of the power and peace of the gospel from Israel to the nations, from Jesus to the Church, from reformer to evangelist, and from warrior to worker. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

What is the relationship between the story of Ehud and Eglon…and the story of the church? What enduring principles does this story exemplify, and how do they inform the way Christians should live today? Should we expect God to still raise up men like Ehud — men of daring and deceit? What would they look like, and how would they act? To answer this question, we must understand how the symbols of Israel’s history are visible words which have a “future tense” — which must now be translated into the “perfect” tense of the church age. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Worry is fundamental to the human experience, and our worldly cares and concerns often unsettle us. Jesus, the man with perfect mental health, knew what it took to deal with anxiety—and he distilled this wisdom in seven simple arguments against anxiety in his Sermon on the Mount. We can follow these arguments to reason our way out of anxiety, and into mental fortitude. The first is that anxiety oppresses those who are mastered by earthly concerns; therefore, we must submit ourselves to the inevitable loss of earthly things in the providence of God. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Whereas the story of Othniel frustrated us with its lack of detail, now the story of Ehud frustrates us with its details. What are we to make of the scatological humor, deceit, and assassination in this first “real” story of one of Israel’s saviors—a type of Christ? From the left-handed “son of the right hand” to the fattened Eglon (“calf”), every element of this narrative reveals through physical history the patterns of spiritual warfare we ourselves are engaged in. In fact, the text uses so many strange words to tell its story that you cannot help but notice: it is as much sacramental as martial. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Who are God’s sheep, and how does he feed them? And what is different about the pastures of God, compared to the world’s? While all those baptized into the Church are called to respond to the food of God’s word, not all are eternally elect. Some will harden their hearts — yet are still exhorted as sheep. This can only be understood through the doctrine of covenantal election. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

In the book of Judges, why is the first story of an actual judge so short on details? Because it is crafted to teach us how to read the more detailed and difficult stories that are to come. It establishes a clear paradigm for interpreting these—lest we imagine the judges as crazed vigalante superheroes. It also establishes what is at sake—the victory of Aram over Israel, the world over the church, Babel over Jerusalem, a wicked giant over Christ. Finally, it establishes the manner in which God ensures this will not happen—by raising up saviors anointed by his Spirit, and appointed by his people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Psalm 137 expresses Israel’s grief in exile and longing for true worship. Though contextually bound to Babylon, the psalm applies to the church today as we seek worship that pleases God, mourn sin, trust in divine justice, and anticipate the perfect worship of heaven. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Worship should shape us—not be reshaped to our comfort. Psalm 137 calls believers to unashamedly embrace God’s justice, long for his kingdom, and trust his sovereignty in judgment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Israel’s failure of warfare leads to two major compromises: bonds with their enemies and idolatry. The same failure and compromises are present in the new covenant age. The church today feels overrun by the world because we shrank back from our spiritual warfare—and now cannot even recognize the enemy because of the bonds we have formed and the false gods we serve. This became very obvious during covid, where the church conceded the state as god. But the same compromises and idolatries occur with education, voting, taxation, and many other issues. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Psalm 132. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

We are all by nature thankless creatures; but God, through the gospel, makes us thankful. Yet even after this transformation, we are still prone to grumbling, and must be beckoned back to gratitude. The truth of this should be applied especially to public, corporate worship—coming into God’s great and gracious presence, and responding with appropriately loud singing and praise. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Israel’s existence is threatened by her forming covenant bonds with the Canaanites, leaving God’s altar (the center of her identity) for Baal’s. Yet God nonetheless leaves leaves these serpents in the garden of Canaan—because Israel must learn his work of warring against evil. This is a picture of the New Testament age: Israel is the church, the promised land is the world, and the Canaanites are sin and Satan. Unlike Israel, however, we do not drive out nations from their physical territory; we rather drive out sin and the devil from hearts of the nations themselves—discipling them into an inheritance for Christ. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

To understand what happens in the book of Judges as a whole, we must understand what happened immediately after Joshua died. Every time Israel is oppressed, it is because a new generation arises that prostrates to the world, rather than to God. Why? Because their parents failed to teach them to remember who God is, and what he has done…and what he requires of them. The church, too, is in the same danger — in just the past 5 years, 50% of young people with a biblical worldview have abandoned it. And the solution today is the same as the solution then: a return to God’s model of family discipleship, over the world’s model of secular education. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Christ is Lord over all things — so we must submit to his rule over every part of life. Christ’s lordship is mediated through his infallible word — so we must learn to read it as he reveals. Christ is sovereign to choose whom to save (and who not to) — so we can rely on him to build his church through our preaching. Christ intends to save the world — so Christianity will surely conquer the world in the end. Christ rules through three spheres of authority: family, church, state — so these must all be led by Christ, to achieve his peace in the world. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Like Israel, we have been given a command to drive out the Canaanites. Like Israel, we have failed. Like Israel, the reason is the same: we have compromised our ability to build God’s city, because we have formed covenant bonds of convenience with those who hate God’s religion and culture, and want to build their own cities instead. Judah’s compromise at Luz is the toe in the door that leads to Israel’s complete failure of take the rest of the land, and being dispossessed from their own inheritance. How will our compromises affect our Great Commission, and the inheritance of Christ—and will we respond with repentance as Israel does? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

A common Christian trope is to wonder what Mary knew when she pondered the baby in her arms. Scripture tells us that she knew a lot. Many of her responses to the angel Gabriel are unintuitive and surprising to us, but reveal an extraordinary knowledge of scripture, of God’s plan, and of the implications for her own life. Examining the Magnificat can help us to become more like Mary in our own responses to God and his word. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Judah’s failure to conquer key territory planted the seed for Israel’s later division. In the same way, spiritual compromises today can produce disastrous long-term divisions in the church. We have mirrored Israel’s failures in fearing worldly opposition like COVID-era shutdowns, more than fearing God. Correcting these errors is necessary to restore the church’s ability to fulfill the Great Commission. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Psalm 98 calls all creation to a joyful celebration of God’s salvation, kingship, and coming judgment. These are not hidden, but proclaimed to the nations, and established in history through the birth of Christ. In his cross, he promises salvation; in his reign, he restores both humanity and creation; and in his coming judgment, he assures us that justice, righteousness, and peace will prevail. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Many details in Judges are perplexing if we don’t know how to read symbolically. The Canaanite City of Records is captured and renamed Word—a picture of the church replacing the false identities of the nations through the gospel. Aksah is given a field and asks for the upper and lower springs—a picture of the Church seeking the Spirit from God, to make the world fruitful. The burning of Charamah, and coming on a donkey, similarly are pictures fulfilled in Christ. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

In an age where the church has taken much ground, but failed in the last hour to fulfill the Great Commission, perhaps the record of Israel’s prior failure will be of help to us in understanding our times—and what we ought to do. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

As with all sanctification, the pursuit of happiness is already and not yet. It is a forward-looking anticipation of the perfection we already have in Christ, which will become ours when we are glorified. By faith, we anticipate the perfect bliss of eternal union with God, but we also know we already are united to him in Christ. And so we seek to participate in that union now, as practice for what will become fully ours then. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

As Western civilization collapses, Western Christians are struggling for identity. For some, the pendulum is swinging from woke radical individualism to ethnic allegiances. But without recovering these natural bonds as covenantal categories, we are trading one form of identity politics for another. To rightly order the bonds of blood and soil, they must ultimately be fitted together under the covenantal arche of Christ. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

How can it be true that “ask ye whatever ye may wish, and it shall come to be for you,” when our prayers so frequently go unanswered? The answer is that we do not pray as we ought—either continually enough, persistently enough, or with true faith: i.e., a living participation in Christ, discerning what God desires in him. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com