All sin is sin against God: the evidence from Numbers
When God begins to open your eyes to a new truth, you are able to see it where you once missed it. In recent months, I’ve begun to see more clearly that all sin is sin against God. And now as I read my Bible I see this truth proclaimed... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 19 | 0 Comments
Worship matters, part 1: undistracting excellence
This is part 1 in a three-part series of posts on our approach to worship at PCF. There is of course much more to say about how we approach worship, but the three points I’ll highlight in these posts are three of the things that are quite central to our... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 18 | 0 Comments
God rules the nations – including Ireland
God is the sovereign ruler of every nation on this planet. That includes America. And it includes Ireland. This morning in my devotions, I read Psalm 78 and noticed just how visible and tangible and public God’s acts in history are. Verse 12: ‘In the sight of their fathers he performed... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 15 | 0 Comments
Which is more dangerous: Bangalore or Leisureville?
So, which is more dangerous for a Christian — Bangalore or Leisureville? What do you think? 1 Peter 2.11 says: ‘Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.’ It is our own desires that enlist as soldiers to battle... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 10 | 0 Comments
Do you want to love the Bible more?
Do you want to love the Bible more? I do. I want to love the Bible the way the psalmist loved the Bible. That is, I want to love the Bible more than a really juicy year-end bonus at work: ‘In the way of your testimonies I delight as much... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 8 | 2 Comments
John Piper on the election
For a great perspective on the recent presidential election, check out what John Piper says in this brief interview on You Tube:Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 6 | 1 Comments
President Obama, a flood of emotion, and our Christian responsibility
The outpouring of emotion in these early minutes and hours after the historic victory of President-elect Obama is remarkable. African-Americans around the United States, and Africans around the world, together with all those who long for racial reconciliation and harmony, are rejoicing at the remarkable fact that a country in... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 4 | 1 Comments
Until our work is done
On Sunday, I said in the sermon that I know when each of us is going to die. We will die when we have declared God’s greatness to all those to whom God has purposed us to declare it. Until then, we are immortal. The glory of God is such... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Nov 3 | 0 Comments
Exultation and exaltation in Psalm 70
I read Psalm 70.4 this morning and prayed it for myself, my wife, and my son. I’m also praying it for our PCF staff. Psalm 70 is almost at the end of the second book of the psalter, and is a plea for God’s intervention (vv 1, 5) and God’s defeat... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 28 | 0 Comments
All sin is sin against God: the evidence from Leviticus
A few weeks ago, I posted on the idea that sin against other people is sin against God. The biblical passages I referenced were Genesis 39.9; Psalm 51.4; Luke 15.21; and Acts 5.3-4. This morning in my devotions, I saw another passage that says the same thing. Leviticus 6.1-3: ‘The LORD... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 25 | 0 Comments
An end-time motivation for present Christian affection
Other Christians are sometimes hard to love. But as followers of Christ, we are called to love them. Therefore, we must avail ourselves of all the biblical motivations offered to love fellow believers. One such motivation is found in 1 Thessalonians 2.17-20. 1 Thessalonians 2.17 But we, brethren, having been taken... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 23 | 0 Comments
Thank you, PCF!
I am so grateful to God for calling me to be the pastor of Pepperell Christian Fellowship, and for the work he is doing among us. I am also deeply grateful to you for sending me to the conference I attended the last three days. Thank you, PCF! From Sunday through... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 15 | 1 Comments
Sinful people aren’t like dirty dishes
Jesus hated the disparity between the outward respectability and the inward filth of the religious leaders of his day. He said: ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence’ (Matthew 23.25). Jesus... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 9 | 0 Comments
Do what I do
‘What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you’ (Philippians 4.9). When Paul tells his readers to imitate himself and to imitate Christ, he is voicing the conviction of the Jewish and Greco-Roman world of... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 7 | 0 Comments
SIN SERIES, Part Four: God is sovereign over sin
We had a good discussion in David Fenton’s adult Sunday School class a few weeks ago about God’s sovereignty over all things, including human sin. The Bible makes it clear that God is in control of all things, including the sin that human beings commit. The classic Old Testament example of this... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 3 | 0 Comments
Five Great Books
Thanks to the generosity of Kathy Crooker, our church has recently added five great books to our church library. These books are on the rack in the foyer as you head out of the sanctuary. I would love for every member of our congregation to read them. John Piper’s The Passion... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 29 | 0 Comments
SIN SERIES, Part Three: House on a Swamp
There is a house not far from Pepperell that captures my attention every time I see it. It is a large, expensive-looking house, nicely painted, well-maintained, with a carefully manicured lawn. It looks wonderful. But it overlooks a swamp. To be precise, it sits right on the very edge of a... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 27 | 1 Comments
SIN SERIES, Part Two: Why sin against God is so serious
In the first part of this four-part series on sin, I said that sin is serious because all sin is sin against God. When I say sin against God is serious, I mean it is infinitely serious. The reason this is so is that the seriousness of sin is a function... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 23 | 0 Comments
SIN SERIES, Part One: Why all sin is sin against God
This post is the first in a four-part series on sin. The Bible is clear that all sin is sin against God, even when we’re not consciously trying to offend God through our sin – even when, in the moment of our sin, God is the very last one on our... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 18 | 0 Comments
What is Christian love?
1 Peter is a great letter. We’ve now embarked on a study of this letter in the Sunday morning sermons, and this study will take us through the Fall of 2008. 1 Peter has sometimes been ignored in favor of other, more well-known New Testament letters such as Galatians, Philippians, or... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 14 | 0 Comments
In the house of mourning
With the death of Chris Crooker this week, our church family has entered the house of mourning spoken of in Ecclesiastes 7.2, 4: ‘It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 10 | 0 Comments
Five lessons from the life of Lloyd-Jones
I recently finished reading the first volume of Iain Murray’s two-volume biography of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the greatest preachers and Christian leaders of the twentieth century. Lloyd-Jones began his ministry in Wales and then was the minister at Westminster Chapel in London for many years. This volume covers... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 4 | 1 Comments
God is gracious because he is just
Isaiah 30.18: ‘Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, therefore the Lord exalts himself to be merciful to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.’ The question raised by this verse is: why and how does the second sentence... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 1 | 1 Comments
How Samuel Connor Witmer brings glory to God
Three days ago, on August 24, 2008 at 3.36pm, Emma and I welcomed Samuel Connor Witmer into the world. What a life-changing experience. We arrived home yesterday afternoon and I checked our mailbox, expecting mail to be piled up from our long time away from the house. After seeing how... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Aug 27 | 1 Comments
Truman Capote and Our Self-Centered Hearts
Last night, for our weekly ‘date night,’ Emma and I watched the 2005 film Capote, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and tells the story of Truman Capote’s writing of his famous non-fiction book In Cold Blood. Capote’s book is about the real-life murder of a family of four in a... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Aug 22 | 0 Comments
Jesus is God: therefore, build your lives upon his words
In my sermon last Sunday (‘Who is Jesus? Jesus is God’) I concluded by drawing several implications from the fact that Jesus is God. I said: ‘Because Jesus is God, every command of Jesus that we read in the Bible comes to us with divine authority. And every promise of Jesus... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Aug 20 | 1 Comments
God is Sovereign over Christian Suffering
1 Peter 4.19 is an important verse, because it indicates that God is sovereign over Christian suffering, and also that he is sovereign over the wicked actions of those who persecute Christians. 1 Peter 4.19 says: ‘Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Aug 16 | 0 Comments
On being sent (without knowing it)
A couple years ago, Emma and I were going through a difficult period of waiting to see where God wanted us in the next stage of our lives. I was teaching New Testament to undergraduates in England, but had felt called for years to pastor a church in New England... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Aug 9 | 0 Comments
The voice that rules the waves
...the earthly Jesus had complete authority - he had authority over all nature and he had authority over the entire demonic realm... Keep Reading...Posted by Stephen Witmer on Jul 30 | 0 Comments