Blog: January 2017 — December 2017

Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection are the center of the gospel. Jesus accomplished the plan God had been working out throughout the Old Testament to bring salvation to sinners, and it happened in such an unlikely way.  In the Book of Acts, Peter testified to the Israelites about Jesus’ death: “Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him” (Acts 2:23). Crucifixion was a horrific way to die. As you share with your kids, rather than focus ...

As I work on the current sermon series, “Jesus, Friend of Sinners:  Our Reforma­tion Roots,” I’m finding many terrific resources.  Like: Michael Reeves, Freedom Movement, a brilliant little book about what happened in the 16th century and why it matters today.  You can download it for free at Desiring God.  Get it and read it out loud (in under an hour) with family or friends.  It will make church history come alive. The fall 2017 journal from 9Marks is entitled, “The Reformation and Your Church,” with contributions from numerous ...

Are you a member of Goshen Baptist Church? If this church is your church and you're trusting Christ for salvation, why not embrace the privileges and responsi­bil­ities of membership?  We'll be running our Discovery Class (i.e., the pathway to membership) on Sundays, Oct. 1-22 from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m, in Room 007 (downstairs).  Come join us! (By the way, this Sunday’s session is going to be fascinating!  Terry Stick will lead the group down the long and winding road of our church’s history (which extends 190 years), and look even further ...

The Pharisees and other Jews in Jerusalem did not like Jesus. He didn’t play by their rules (Matt. 12:1-14), He claimed to be God (John 8:58-59; 10:22-33), and He extended salvation beyond the Jewish people (Luke 4:29). So they plotted several times how they might kill Him. The events leading up to His death did not surprise Jesus. Each step was part of God’s established plan. (See Is. 53:10; Acts 2:23.) But knowing God’s plan didn’t lessen Jesus’ suffering as He was betrayed by His friends, arrested, falsely accused, and beaten. As you ...

Question:  How do you think about money?  How does God? Where did you get the things you have?  From God (1 Cor 4:7), the giver of every good gift (Jas 1:17).  He grants us life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25), including the ability to make money (Deut 8:18). What about ownership?  “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1; 50:12).  All you have is really God’s.  Your house—it’s God’s.  And your car:  God’s.  Your bank accounts, investments, electronics, books, clothes, jewelry, collectibles… God owns it all.  Even ...

This year we mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  It was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, publicly questioning several prevailing doctrines of the day. Luther, a Catholic monk, had no intention of leading a break-away movement to exit the Roman church:  his aim was to open debate and pursue the church’s reform.  But his proposed corrections were, shall we say, not well received, and as a result Luther and others who protested certain ...

Sermons Exploring Our Reformation Roots • Fall 2017 Goshen Baptist Church • Pastor Peter Nelson   500 years ago an anguished German monk nailed a list to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg:  “95 Theses” based on Scripture for debate about the nature of true Christianity.  And so, in God’s provid­ence, Martin Luther sparked a movement of revival by the rediscovery of the gospel message—God’s “good news” that had been obscured, distorted, and even lost in medieval Europe.  “The Reformation” announced to the world that Jesus ...

Friends, join me in praying for Nabeel Qureshi. If you don’t know his story of faith in Jesus Christ, you can read a summary of it here or listen to him share it here. It is an amazing testimony! I thank God for his powerful, soul-transforming work in Nabeel’s life, as is documented in his book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, and in his numerous other writings and talks and interviews.  And I thank the Lord for the powerful spiritual impact that has come, by God’s Spirit, on countless people around the world through the brilliant, kind, ...

Since June 4th we’ve been exploring the Psalms together in Sunday morning worship.  This coming Sunday that adventure will come to an end. The diversity of the Psalms “topography” is stunning.  That is (to make an analogy), taking a spiritual trek through the Psalms is like journeying into rain forests and frozen tundra and mountain passes and barren deserts; in cold and heat, wind and rain, bright sunshine and pitch dark nights.  And that’s a good thing, very good. To live in this world, where the effects of sin are all around us and ...

In Psalm 73:2-3, Asaph, a worship leader of God’s people, tells how his life almost came to ruin:  “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.  For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Why did he nearly fall into the spiritual abyss?  Answer:  “For I was envious.”  Envy almost did him in! We may be tempted to think of envy as a “minor sin,” but the biblical truth is that it’s perilous.  “Envy makes the bones rot” (Prov. 14:30), and it undermines reverence for God (23:17).  ...

This past week we’ve been reflecting on the life of our dear sister in the Lord, Anne Horn, who passed away at the age of 60 on August 7.  The experience of meeting with the family and helping coordinate the memorial service has been deeply moving to me—in ways that are both uplifting and unsettling. I am so encouraged by the blessings of the Lord in Anne’s life—how he cared for her in her early years despite the tragedies that came upon her parents, how he gifted her with new birth and a boundless faith to trust in Jesus for all that life ...

The recent rally of white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, is deeply disturbing—and from multiple angles.  Let me name just two—the national, and the spiritual. Right at the heart of being an American is affirming the vision of humanity that's enshrined in the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”  All people—including those of any and every racial background.  Therefore, the drive to elevate one racial group above others is fundamentally un-American. And ...

Last Sunday we dove head-long with David into his prayer of humble confession in Psalm 51.  There are a few questions on temptation, sin, confession and forgiveness I’d like to address now after the fact. David succumbed to temptation by first allowing his eyes to look in a certain direction (2 Samuel 11).  And the heart follows the eyes.  So where are you looking?  Amidst his turmoil, Job reveals this convic­tion:  “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (31:1).  And Jesus says “everyone who looks at a ...

Just think what the Lord is teaching us about prayer in last Sunday’s memory verse:  But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.  At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness (Psalm 69:13). This verse is jam-packed with practical truth. The first thing to notice is that David speaks these words in a time of turmoil:  enemies attacking; God seems remote; feels like he’s sinking in quicksand.  I don’t know about you, but when a flood of trouble hits me, I feel tempted to rush ...

When I read the Bible, God’s promise of a glorious, eternal future for all who trust in Jesus grabs my heart.  Nothing can separate God’s children from his love, not even death! (Romans 8:38-39).  We walk with Christ today, secure in the hope of a most excellent tomorrow! But this God-centered vision of the future clashes with pop-culture.  A Jose Cuervo tequila commercial depicts the end of the world.  While chaos unfolds outside, a man in a bar puts the Elvis song, “It’s Now or Never,” on the jukebox.  As he dances, a woman joins him—this ...

It was Christian capitulation déjà vu this week:  a once-evangelical leader changing his/her mind so as to endorse same-sex marriage and get in step with the culturally ascendant LGBTQ movement.  Eugene Peterson, author of the Bible paraphrase, The Message, announced that he’s now ready to officiate at weddings of Christian gay couples. But wait, no, he didn’t!  …  Huh? CT later reported how Peterson retracted his comments and said he affirms a biblical view of marriage—“one man to one woman.”  So maybe the whole story was much ado about ...

I find myself reflecting on time a lot these days.  And how time flies.  I look in one direction and see my dad who’s now up in his 90s, and I look in the other and see our grown “kids” exploring life in their 20s.  Frankly, it’s unnerving—how swiftly the changes burst upon the scene!  As time rockets by (you realize 2017 is over half gone now, right?), something inside us wants to step on the brakes. So what are we to make of that impulse—the yearning to hold back the relentless advance of time?  Two thoughts.  First, we may be fail­ing to ...

Over the long Independence Day weekend, many thoughtful Christian leaders have been posting words of wisdom to help us think carefully about patriotism.  When and how is it fitting, for example, for American Christians to express patriotism?  And when and how do we compromise our first allegiance to Christ the King by such expressions? As followers of Jesus, we walk a complex path as citizens of two “empires”—the Kingdom of God, and also the particular country in which we now reside this side of heaven.  What does it look like navigate this ...

If ever there was a tidbit of pop-psychology that twenty-first century Americans embraced, it’s this:  Follow your heart. Be true to yourself.  Pursue your own dream.  Perish the thought that you should feel obliged to act in any way to fulfill someone else’s wishes for you!  You want to sing along with Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way!” “Follow your heart” is an unassailable creed of contemporary culture; it’s beyond the reach of any question, much less critique.  In today’s world, it’s simply “right.”  And if you challenge this popular ...

On Sunday, July 16, at 6:00 p.m., we’ll be gathering by the water’s edge at Marsh Creek State Park for our summer Baptism and Church Picnic.  It will be a great time!  Mark your calendar and plan to come—bring a friend, bring the family. I want to challenge anyone in the Goshen family who’s following Jesus but hasn’t been baptized by immersion to take a stand through this public plunge (i.e., older children, teens, or adults).  The next step would be to attend our baptism class this Sunday, June 25 (9:00 a.m., Library) or on July 9 (9:00 ...