The world will oppose the church, but we have no reason to fear because Christ has overcome the world. Gospel proclamation will invite hostility from the world.

The miracle gets our attention. Peter’s sermon exposes our problem. And the gospel gives us the remedy. But the remedy isn't simply that Jesus will make your circumstances better.

The remedy is Jesus Himself. He forgives your sins. He turns you from your wickedness. He reconciles you to God. And He promises that one day He will return and restore all things.

What if the thing we thought we needed healing for didn’t really cure the disease? What if the thing we thought we needed that would solve all of our problems didn’t actually solve anything?

That's what makes this story so remarkable. This man comes to the temple looking for one thing. Peter and John look at him, and he expects them to give him some money. That's what he thinks will help him. That's what he thinks he needs.

But God had something far greater in store for him.

God has appointed means or ways through which He ordinarily saves, sanctifies, nourishes, and strengthens His people. God certainly can work in extraordinary ways, and He sometimes does. But He has not left us wondering how He intends to build His church. He has given us His Word, His sacraments, and prayer, and He has promised to work through them.

The gospel is not merely information about Jesus Christ that we are meant to understand and store away. It is a message that confronts us with who Christ is, what He has done, and who we are as sinners before a holy God. And because the gospel confronts us in this way, it demands a response.

We see that response unfold very clearly in Acts 2. Peter has preached Christ crucified, risen, and exalted as Lord. And when the crowd hears his message, they don't simply walk away with a few new theological facts. They are "cut to the heart," and they ask, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

In Acts 2:14-36, Peter reminds us that the wind, the fire, and the tongues all served a specific purpose and that purpose was to point everyone to Jesus Christ. Everything that happened, the wind, the tongues of fire, the speaking of tongues, all of those things were miraculous tools used by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus Christ.

Luke isn't simply recording one event; he's drawing together themes that stretch across the entire storyline of Scripture. Every detail—the timing of Pentecost, the wind, the fire, the languages—is loaded with theological significance. And if you don’t take a moment to draw them out, you miss something significant. Which is why I want to make six observations that help us understand what Pentecost means and why it matters for the church today.

Before Luke tells us about the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit, he spends nearly an entire chapter describing the ordinary rhythms of the life of the church. They spend time in corporate prayer, seek direction from the Scriptures, and have a congregational meeting. Before Jesus sends His Spirit to empower the church, he first lays the foundation he’ll build his church upon.

The ascension is significant because it is Christ's royal coronation. Having accomplished the work the Father gave Him to do, the risen Christ ascends into heaven and is enthroned at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

Acts reminds us that the church is not ultimately built or sustained by human effort. It is built and sustained by Jesus Christ. The mission of the church is entirely dependent upon Christ's authority, His abiding presence, and the power of His Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is not to manufacture success, but to faithfully rely on Christ’s promised means of ministering in and through His Church.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’ve probably heard this passage at some point or another. We just read “judge not, that you be not judged.” But the more common way we refer to it is “judge not lest you be judged.” 

Our culture generally hates the Bible, but for whatever reason, it seems to love this passage. And much of the reason our culture loves this passage is because it’s become something of a shield. It’s been reinterpreted to mean, “Christians are not allowed to condemn the actions or behaviors of anyone.”

And so, “Judge not lest you be judged,” has become a slogan for immunity. “You can’t criticize or condemn anything that I’ve done because, well, judge not…”

How many times has someone criticized or questioned you and then you threw out, “judge not lest you be judged!”

But things get somewhat complicated if you know your Bible, you probably know that Jesus also commanded in John 7 to “judge with right judgment.”

The Bible makes it crystal clear that the world is not caught in some sort of endless cycle. All of human history is moving towards a final day. God has appointed a day when He will judge evil, vindicate His people, and establish His kingdom forever. 

Here Malachi points us to the final Day of the Lord—the day of God's ultimate judgment and salvation, what Christians often refer to as Judgment Day.

If we're honest, there are moments when we look around and wonder whether the sacrifices are worth it. We may never say it out loud, but the thought can creep into our hearts: "What profit is there in serving God?"

As it turns out, that is not a uniquely modern struggle. It was the very struggle facing the people in Malachi's day. They looked at the prosperity of the wicked and the difficulties of the righteous and concluded that serving God was a waste of time! Their hearts had grown cynical, and their cynicism was beginning to shape the way they viewed God, worship, and obedience.

And it is to those cynical and discouraged people that the Lord speaks in Malachi 3:13–18.

This past Sunday, Providence Presbyterian Church was blessed to have Rev. Richard Brueck fill the pulpit. Rev. Brueck is leading the church planting effort in Bedford, VA. You can learn more about it here.

Malachi reminds us that anything other than the Lord makes terrible saviors. Money can disappear. Careers can end. Health can fail. Beauty fades. Relationships change. 

Which is why the Lord's invitation is so astonishing. He does not merely expose their sin. He does not simply condemn their worshiplessness. He graciously calls them back to Himself: "Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts."

It’s easy for us to forget an incredibly important point: God’s justice is impartial. When the Lord comes, He’s going to judge His enemies, but He’s also going to purify His own people. The church is going to be purified. 

What a society worships trickles down into their moral and cultural values. What is celebrated, tolerated, or excused today often shapes the broader culture tomorrow. And here’s where things get intimidating–a moral drift at the top almost always leads to a moral drift among the people.

That is precisely the issue in Malachi 2. The priests had been corrupted which led to weak, apathetic worship, but of course it didn’t stop there. Their corruption and indifference towards God trickled down into the entire covenant community.

This past Sunday, Providence Presbyterian Church was blessed to have Rev. Andrew Newman from Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Greer, SC fill the pulpit.

As the church officers go, often, so goes the church. There are always consequences for poor church leadership. The attitudes and convictions among those entrusted with spiritual oversight inevitably shape the tone and direction of the entire congregation.

That’s why James says that those who teach will be judged with a greater strictness. There’s a weightiness, a seriousness, a heaviness to come with being in a position of spiritual authority. In the Old Testament, the priests were not anonymous religious robots; they were supposed to protect public worship—they were entrusted with maintaining the holiness of God’s name among His people. When they were faithful, they led Israel into the presence of the living God. But when they became careless, indifferent, or self-serving, they led Israel away from the Lord. 

The One who is infinitely greater than any earthly king—the One who rules over all things—invites us into His presence. This is not a casual gathering. This is not just another event on your calendar. This is where you show your honor and reverence to the King of kings. And yet, far too often our worship is like walking into the White House or the Buckingham Palace in your pajamas, carelessly unprepared, distracted, and indifferent.