From Egypt to Promised Land It would be very hard to overestimate the importance of the book of Exodus in the Bible. It is an epic story of equally epic significance. Exodus recounts some of the greatest events in the history of redemption— from the plagues and Passover Lamb, to Read more…
Summer sermon series Every month at River Oaks, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (also known as “Communion”). Regularly we baptize new Christians on their profession of faith as well as the children of believing parents. But why do we do these things? What are “sacraments,” and why do we do Read more…
For Just a Time as This Esther is one of only two books in the Bible to be named after a woman–and one of only two books where the name of God does not appear. Both facts magnify this book’s importance as an exciting portrayal of God’s invisible hand at Read more…
A Remnant Returns Seventy years after the judgment of exile fell upon the people of Israel (2 Chronicles 36), the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to allow a remnant of his people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. After a promising start the work Read more…
“The Lord roars from Zion…” If you are familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, you will know that God is pictured in the story as a great lion named Aslan. When Lucy, one of the 4 children in the book, learns that Aslan is a lion, she Read more…
Is all vanity? The book of Ecclesiastes begins with the infamous words, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Such a statement makes us wonder why this book is even in the Bible. After all if God is the author of life, how can everything Read more…
Christmas is the Bible’s Story The first two chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke give us the classic version of the birth of Jesus Christ. But his birth didn’t come out of nowhere. It was anticipated thousands of years before. In fact, you could say that the whole Read more…
Sermons on Joshua-Judges-Ruth “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” With those crushing words, the book of Judges (21:25) reminds the reader of a big problem. God’s people need a godly leader. Without one, chaos ensues. This Fall we Read more…
Summer Series on the Psalms In his 1557 commentary on the Psalms, theologian John Calvin said this: I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, An Anatomy of the Soul; for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here Read more…
God Works in History In this 51-sermon series on the first book of the Bible, we focused on two themes: The audio recordings for each sermon can be streamed or downloaded below. Reflection questions for each sermon are also included. Listen Reflection Questions The questions below are great to use Read more…
The Fear of the Lord Join us for a series through the book of Proverbs entitled, Wisdom From Above.” We often ask God for wisdom when we are facing difficult situations or unclear choices and we want to do what is right or make a choice that produces the most Read more…
The Short Books Some books, like Isaiah, justly receive a lot of attention in church because they are lengthy and cover a lot of theological ground. But there are some shorter writings that often run the risk of being overlooked due to their brevity—in fact, many folks may never have Read more…
Hope of Renewal Isaiah begins his monumental prophecy by exposing and denouncing the utter sinfulness of God’s people living in Jerusalem. Their social system was devoid of justice, their religious system was an abomination to the Lord, their political system was oppressive, and the people themselves were riddled with the Read more…
Psalms of Ascent The psalms of ascent tell the story of the people of Israel’s desire to be near their God. They were sung by Israelites as they ascended the road into Jerusalem to attend the annual festivals and worship in the temple. They are, thus, “songs of the road.” Read more…