“Thy kingdom come.” The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer is about the ultimate hope of God’s people—the coming of the kingdom of God. As devout Jews in the first century were waiting for the kingdom of God, they prayed earnestly…
Hughes Oliphant Old on Worship
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my teacher Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old and reflecting on his insights into Reformed worship. Here are some of my favorite quotes from his writings. What is worship? We worship God because God created…
The Didache
The teaching of the Lord through the twelve apostles to the Gentiles:[1] 1:1There are two ways, one of life and one of death. And there is a great difference between the two ways.
The Lord’s Prayer in Reformed Worship, Pt. 3
The Lord’s Prayer has six petitions: three thy petitions and three us petitions. The first three petitions have in view God’s name, God’s kingdom and God’s will; the last three petitions, our bread, our forgiveness and our deliverance.
The Lord’s Prayer in Reformed Worship, Pt. 2
The Lord’s Prayer may be divided into three sections (cf. LC 188). It begins with an invocation, “Our Father in heaven.” The middle section consists of six petitions. It ends with a doxology, “For yours is the kingdom and the…
The Lord’s Prayer in Reformed Worship, Pt. 1
Since the beginning of the Christian church, the Lord’s Prayer has been used as a guide for daily prayer. The treatises of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen on the Lord’s Prayer bear witness to this. The earliest witness, however, is the…
The Origins of the Church Calendar
Now that Easter is over, this is a good opportunity to reflect on what just happened yesterday and to share some thoughts on the origin of the church calendar. As we noted in our previous post, Christians have been…
The Oldest Easter Sermon
The oldest extant Easter sermon from the ancient church is a sermon preached by Melito, the bishop of Sardis in Asia Minor at the end of the second century. This sermon gives us a taste of how Christians celebrated the feast…
The Lord’s Supper and Eschatology
Having seven children, I’ve seen a lot of cartoons. Every now and then, I’ll take them to the theater to see a new release that they’re dying to see. Since one of my children is visually impaired (having vision…
Infant Baptism: Commanded, Forbidden, or Neither?
Infant baptism is forbidden unless it is commanded. Now, that may seem obvious to most Christians, but there are some who believe that infant baptism is lawful even if it is not commanded in scripture.
