Dan Lee
John 17:1-2, Salvation for the Glory of God

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 begins with a focus on the glory of God. Jesus prays that His impending death will ultimately glorify the Father and that this would come about through the granting (gifting) of eternal life to His elect. What Jesus’ crucifixion puts on display is the glory of God’s grace in salvation.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 27-34, Two Ways to Live

As Moses closes his final message to the children of Israel, he focuses on the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He does so by setting down before them two pathways: the pathway to life, good, and the blessing, and the other pathway to death, evil, and the curse. Along with these options for their future, he reveals to them their future in apostasy, judgment, and even a restoration afterwards. The Pentateuch closes with an allusion to the prophet like Moses to come, the Lord Jesus, who speaks from the LORD and all the people ought to hear. The call to choose life echoes throughout the ages, calling all to be reconciled and restored to God and to enter into His blessing through the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 12-26, The Place and The Prophet

In this final legal section of the Pentateuch, Moses touches on a wide range of laws. Among these, two stand out as the most prominent in the main message of Moses regarding the Messiah: the place of worship and the future prophet like Moses. These two ideas propel us to build up God’s church, hope in Christ’s return, and listen to Christ.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 1-11, Remember and Obey

Moses speaks his final message to the children of Israel before heading up Mount Nebo and see the land of Canaan and die there. His aim is to expound the law but he is gripped by the urgency of the spiritual needs of his people and thus he earnestly exhorts them with a long introduction (nearly all of 11 chapters) to remember and obey. In this three part study of Deuteronomy, we examine the practical relevance of this exhortation and consider the ultimate Israelite who lived up to all that this exhortation required.

Dan Lee
Numbers 22-24, The Messianic Prophecies of ...

The very perplexing figure of Balaam shows that God can use even a wicked pagan priest to speak forth His truth. Unbeknownst to this man, the LORD intended to use him to reinforce His immutable commitment to bless Israel and send the Messiah for our salvation. Balaam’s prophecies show that Jesus is the coming king who will reign supremely over all the nations, crushing all His enemies. They also show that Jesus is the promised seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, who grants the blessing of salvation to all the elect of God.

John 13:31-32, The Glory of the Cross

At the outset of the Lord’s farewell discourse, He prepares His disciples with a proper perspective with which they were to view His impending crucifixion. They were to see it as Jesus saw it, the means of glorifying God in His grace and in His divine oneness with the Father. Jesus Himself did not cave under the pressure of the challenges that surrounded Him, but He instead maintained His resolve and mental clarity about what His cross was all about. May the Lord open our eyes to see our Savior for the man of steel that He is and learn to trust in this most dependable Savior and Shepherd all the more.

John 13:21-30, Sin, Satan, and the Sovereignty of God (Part 2)

John presents Judas’ betrayal of Jesus as a concurrence of sin, Satan, and the sovereignty of God. This provides for us a grid by which we ought to understand moral evil in our world both in history and in the present. Humans are truly capable of heinous evil, Satan is really at work to deceive and plunge men into sin and hell, and God rules over all (even sin and Satan) to produce a good that far outweighs all the evils we can possibly imagine. His sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility, but it ensures that all will in the end work together for the good He has for His people. To Him be the glory!

Psalm 67:1-7, Let the Nations Be Glad

God has a purpose for His world and a role for His people to play. His purpose is worldwide salvation and our role is to pray and leverage all God’s given us to advance His purpose of salvation. God does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). God has a heart for the lost and teaches His people to reflect His heart. This is a psalm that teaches us to pray down blessings from heaven for the purpose of reaching the lost. May the Lord wise us up not to squander our lives and our resources, but leverage all He’s given us to advance His glorious cause in His world.

Matthew 4:18-20; 5:14-16, From Fishing to Glory (Part 2)

True salvation brings about a real likeness to Christ that enables His disciples to shine brilliantly like Him in the dark world of sin. The Holy Spirit then uses our changed lives to draw others to repentance and reconciliation with God so that they, too, might become worshippers of God who glorify Him. May the Spirit of our God mightily use us as the brightly shining light of the world to call sinners to Christ and bless them with the joy of heaven!

Matthew 4:18-20; 5:14-16, From Fishing to Glory

Jesus called ordinary fishermen to become something beyond their wildest dreams, to become fishers of men who will lead sinners to repentance and reconciliation to God and to eternal life. In this sermon series, we examine two passages in which Jesus shows us what it means to be a witness for Him in the dark world around us. We are fishers of men and the light of the world as His followers and imitators.

Titus 2:11-14, The Gifts of God's Grace

The grace of God not only saves us out of sin (remember the lifeline?), it also instructs us to say no to the wrong things and yes to the right things (remember the pondboy?). The grace of God also gives us the anticipation of the happy and shining return of Jesus our great God and Savior (liken to a wedding day!). Finally, the grace of God prepares us to live as Jesus’ own people, doing that which is good in His sight, for His glory and honor. We get to play on Jesus’ team! How marvelous indeed is the grace of God by which we are saved!

Matthew 4:12-17, The Blessing of Repentance (Part 3)

Jesus’ call to repentance is a message of healing for the soul. What John the Baptist could not do, Jesus does. He gives (“baptizes in”) the Holy Spirit. Jesus can transform people from inside out as John could never do. This is the wonderful blessing for all those who repent and trust in Christ: Jesus gives the healing for their souls to live fruitful lives for the glory and honor of God we could never do on our own. He is indeed the great Physician of our souls (Luke 5:31), the sun of righteousness that arises with healing in its wings (Mal. 4:1).