Census, pestilence, sacrifice, curtains. Why does the book of Samuel draw to a close in such an odd way? How does the ending shape what we make of David? How does it contrast him with Saul on the one hand, and point forward to Jesus on the other? Join us as we wrestle with a perplexing conclusion.

Hard words from Jesus about where our hearts lie as he confronts us with two treasures, two visions, and two masters. While we may think we can follow Jesus part time, he bids us choose—and reveals to us the slavery inherent in pursuing earthly wealth. Join us as we weigh his words and their challenge, and join us next week as Jesus goes on to address the anxiety that his commands may produce in us.

Join us we consider more of what the Westminster Larger Catechism has to teach us.

In these closing chapters of Samuel we have seen David at war and David in worship; here in this penultimate chapter we see both again, in reverse. The two parts of the chapter together reflect on the Lord’s covenant with David and the success he has brought him in war. Join us as we discuss David giving God the glory, see how this distinguishes him from Saul, and scratch our heads over why Samuel must add one more chapter.

How does one pray? In the midst of a passage on hypocrisy Jesus provides us instruction on prayer. First he tells us how (not) to pray, then he provides us a prayer that we may both pray ourselves and use as a model. Join us as we consider the six petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, of how to pray for God’s glory and our good, together with some further reflection on growing in prayer.

Join us as we consider both our ultimate problem and the ultimate solution, found in Christ. The end of Genesis 3 and the beginning of Revelation 22 help frame our discussion as we continue in the Larger Catechism, wrapping up the outline of our sin and mercy and beginning to consider the covenant of grace.

As we continue through the closing chapters of Samuel we encounter a Psalm, also familiar to us as Psalm 18, that bids us reassess David and to frame the whole of his reign in light of God’s favor. How does a chastened yet grace-filled reflection help us to frame our own experience? How does it help highlight for the work of the son of David? Join us as we consider 2 Samuel 22!

Paul’s description of Adam’s sin and Christ’s obedience helped frame our discussion of WLC 22–27 this morning as we dove into the bad news of Adam’s sin and its devastating effects, trying to bear in mind as we did so how the one man’s obedience is not like the trespass, for Christ’s obedience is able to undue all the damage Adam’s sin has wrought. Along the way we considered how sin touches every aspect of what it means to be human, how this helps us make sense of the world as we experience it, and how this relates to the importance of affirming the full and complete humanity of Christ, bearing in mind Gregory of Nazianzus’s phrase, “That which is not taken up is not healed.”

As Jesus begins the next section of the Sermon on the Mount we meet instructions that appear to stand in tension with something he said earlier. Are our good works supposed to be observed by others, or not? As we work through Jesus’ words we see him answering three “how” questions: how do we resolve apparent contradictions, how do we understand hypocrisy, and how do we walk in obedience? Join us as we make this first pass through Matthew 6!