This event was Christ’s royal coronation. In His resurrection, Christ’s sacrifice was shown to be accepted as He publicly defeated death. And in His ascension, He is now exalted and enthroned high above all principalities and powers, forever having dominion (Eph. 1:20–21). As the Spirit prophesied through King David in Psalm 110, “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

The late theologian, J.I. Packer, summarized the message of Christ’s ascension as “Jesus the Savior reigns!” He wrote,

“In a weary world in which grave philosophers were counseling suicide as man’s best option the unshakable, rollicking optimism of the first Christians, who went on feeling and proclaiming that life was wonderful and the world a marvelous place because Jesus was on the throne of the universe, was beyond comprehension.”

Ascension Sunday is a joyous reminder for you, Christian, that your Lord Jesus is in control. Christ is King. He is the King of heaven and earth, the King of this nation, this church, your family, and your heart. “In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” says the Lord Jesus (Jn. 16:33). When sin and suffering threaten to destroy your peace, to destroy your family, or your health, or your comfort—there is One to whom you can turn, who has all authority and power. There is One you can trust, who sovereignly ordains all things for the good of His people (Rom. 8:28). Jesus, your great High Priest, has passed through the heavens and ascended on high. Therefore, hold fast the confession of your faith, and come now boldly to His throne of grace, where mercy may be found (Heb. 4:14–16).

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This exhortation was given on May 17, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church Downtown in Moscow, Idaho.

This liturgical uniform of the Old Covenant High Priests consisted of an ephod with two beautiful onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel on each shoulder. This was so the High Priest would carry God’s people on his shoulders before the Lord. Additionally, he wore a breastplate with twelve unique stones, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes and gloriously set in gold. This was so that the High Priest would bear the people over his heart in the holy place.

You can imagine how wonderful and encouraging this sight must have been to God’s people. To see this man of God, on the Day of Atonement, entering the Holy of Holies bearing their names before the Lord.

One of the great benefits of our Lord Jesus’ ascension is that He now forever lives as our true and final High Priest at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And it is there where He always lives to make intercession for us, the people He came to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).

Your name is engraved on the palm of His hand (Isa. 49:16). You have been set as a seal over His heart, with a love as strong as death (Song 8:6). Tribulations and distress, sin and failure, may and will come—and He will never let you go. He will be forever faithful to You, and His ascension is a sure pledge that He will one day bring You to your heavenly home (HC 49).

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on May 17, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church Downtown in Moscow, Idaho.

Each week following this exhortation and our time of confession, the minister calls you to rise and declares that “Your sins are forgiven through Christ.” For those new to our church or liturgical worship, this part of the service may be quite surprising at first, with the kneeling to confess our sins and then a minister pronouncing a pardon. You might wonder, isn’t this creeping Roman Catholicism? How can a man so boldly declare that my sins are forgiven?

There are two explanations for the appropriateness of this liturgical act.

First, the assurance of pardon you receive after confessing your sins is grounded in the promise of God found in His Word. We read in Proverbs that “he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). Likewise, 1 John 1:9 reads, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Therefore, the assurance you receive here each Lord’s Day is the same kind of assurance you ought to have whenever you sincerely confess your sins to the Lord and one another.

Second, as a minister called by God and this congregation, it is my great duty to proclaim the gospel and the free forgiveness found in Christ, especially to His people. Christ has committed the keys of the kingdom to His ordained officers, saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (Jn. 20:23). In this act, Christ is speaking through the minister in the same way that He does in the preaching of the Word. The pastor does not have any special power in Himself to extend forgiveness, but rather, in the office he holds, he is called to authoritatively proclaim God’s forgiveness to all who repent of their sins and turn to Christ.1

And when you hear these words, your simple duty is to receive them in faith, as coming from our gracious Lord Himself, who delights to cleanse you from all sin.

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This exhortation was given on May 3, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

To Packer, the fatherhood of God and adoption in Christ constitute the sum of New Testament religion. Christians are people who have God as their Father.

By nature, this is not so. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he explains that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, made us alive by uniting us to Christ in His death and resurrection and adopting us in His Son (Eph. 2).

You have been adopted in Christ, and so you, too, hear “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” in the waters of baptism (Mt. 3:17).

You have been adopted in Christ, and so you too pray saying, “Our Father who art in heaven…” (Mt. 6:9).

You have been adopted in Christ, and so you too can cry out “Abba! Father!” as a son and heir through God (Rom. 8:15–17).

You have been brought into the family of God, and you have been made one with the Father in His Son, bound together by the Spirit’s love. Therefore, God as your Father ought to be at the forefront of all your prayer, worship, and work. It should be the primary image in your mind when you hear the word “God.” To miss this is to miss the heart of the gospel. As the Apostle John exclaimed, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are” (1 Jn. 3:1).

So do you truly know God as your Father? There is only way to Him, and it is through His Son. And this is Good News for you today.

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This exhortation was given on April 26, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

In Luke 10, we have one of those episodes, the story of Mary and Martha, which presents two very different approaches to the Lord’s presence in their home. For we read that while Mary sat devotedly at the feet of Jesus to hear His word, Luke writes that Martha was “distracted with much serving.” This left Martha overwhelmed and upset with Mary, and she said to Jesus, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.” And in doing so, she not only accused Mary of wrongdoing but also accused Jesus of not caring.

In response, Jesus did not rebuke Martha for her hospitality but instead revealed the sin beneath the surface of her service. He replied with affection, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Now, while this passage is instructive for all, I think it especially speaks to the lives of wives and mothers. Do you know what this is like? Being anxious or troubled about “many things” while caring for the needs of your household? I’m sure you do. Like Martha, at times you are prone to be outwardly busy with very good and necessary things—real duties—while neglecting the most necessary thing—doing it all with humble and happy hearts in the presence of the Lord.

And so the question to ask yourselves is this: When the laundry pile seems impossible to dig out of, when the dishes are about to fall on you, when your children have you surrounded like a nest of hungry chicks, when guests have overstayed their welcome—are you laboring in faith, motivated by love for God? Or are you so preoccupied and anxious that you have completely lost the plot and forgotten what all of this is for?

In those moments, the Lord is speaking to you, as He did to Martha, saying, “One thing is needful.” And it is the one thing that makes all of your labors count for eternity—fellowship with Christ, from which all your service must flow.

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Ps. 34).

Merciful Father,

We confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against You by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

In particular, we confess the many times we have become angry or frustrated while serving others. The times in which we have let our hearts wander, forgetting that all we do is to be done heartily for Your glory. We know that Scripture calls us to practice hospitality without grumbling, and the reason we are prone to do so is that we forget that Jesus ought to be the most welcome guest in our hearts and home.

Please forgive us of these sins and those like them, and by Your Spirit make our devotion to Christ stronger, and wider, and deeper—that we may imitate Mary by choosing the good portion at His feet, that which will never be taken away.

Father, we also lift up our nation to You this morning. We are a very busy and distracted people, who have so crowded our hearts with various vices, numbing us to eternal things. And we ask that You would be pleased to pour out Your Spirit, that the hard hearts of our neighbors and countrymen would be broken, and filled with love for Christ. For without this, we will surely perish underneath the weight of our sin.

We know that if we regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you now, and Selah.

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This exhortation was given on April 19, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

Contrary to the popular interpretation, in this lesson Jesus is not prohibiting the judgment of others. Rather, He is showing how to judge righteously and without hypocrisy. He is calling His disciples to constant humility, saying, “First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (v. 5).

Now there is one immediate application of this teaching for your own households. All of you know those moments when you come to realize that something is “off” in your home. Dad is frustrated. Mom is exasperated. The kids aren’t listening. Your roommates are always arguing. There is a constant, low-boil of strife and bickering. In these situations it is very important that you do not become so overly focused on admonishing or “fixing” everyone else, without first taking responsibility for yourself.

Think about it—what do your wife and children need the most? A holier husband and father. What do your husband and children need? A more sanctified wife and mother. How can you best love and encourage your parents and siblings? By being the best son or daughter, brother or sister, that you can be.

There is a striving in the Christian life that must always be constant. It is not a striving for God’s love. It is not a grasping for God’s acceptance – you already have those things in Christ. But it is a striving to grow more and more, by the Spirit, into the likeness of Christ. And the best way to help those around you grow in godliness and joy is to do so yourself. It is only then, when you have examined yourself and remembered your own sin, that you are best equipped to address and restore others with a spirit of gentleness and love (Gal. 6:1).

Prayer of Confession:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them (Rom. 1:18–19).

Merciful Father,

We humbly confess before You now our many sins which we have committed against You in thought, word, and deed. We have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, following the sinful desires of our own hearts. But You have called us back to Yourself, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Great Shepherd.

We confess this morning the times in which we have focused greatly on the sins and failures of others, while neglecting our own transgressions against your holy law. When we have become harsh with those we love, while being soft with our own sin. We ask that You would show us clearly own our hearts, that by Your grace we would be enabled to remove any logs from our own eyes, so that then we would be able to see clearly and with humility help remove the specks in our brother’s eye.

Lord, we also confess that we live in a nation that is far from You, living in rebellion and practicing all manner of sin and wickedness. And so we ask, that in Your mercy, You would pour out Your salvific grace on our unbelieving neighbors. And we also ask in light our Lord’s teaching, that You would make Your church in America both more holy and humble, that we may judge righteously, without hypocrisy, and shine as a city on a hill.

We know that if we regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you now. Selah.

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This exhortation was given on April 12, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

God is our uncreated Creator. All things are of Him and through Him and to Him (Rom. 11:36). He works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11). He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Mt. 5:45). He is the Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift (Jas. 1:17).

At the same time, what God gives is none other than Himself. As John 3:16 reads, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (Jn. 3:16). He is the gift. Through the incarnation of His own eternal Son, God united Himself to His own creation, and redeemed for Himself a people through the shedding of His own blood (Acts 20:28).

That is what we see and receive here in this holy sacrament. This Table is prepared for you by God the Father. And what you receive here in this bread and wine is God the Son by His Spirit. Therefore this is a weekly visible reminder that God, who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him over for us all, will also with Him freely give us all things (Rom. 8:32).

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on April 12, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

For on the cross, Christ forgave our trespasses, our guilt piercing His hands. And in His resurrection, He disarmed principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them in triumph (Col. 2:13–15).

This was in fulfillment of what is called the “protoevangelium” or “first gospel” found in Genesis 3:15, in which God curses the serpent, declaring, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” As the Apostle John wrote, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:8b).

After His resurrection, Jesus then commissioned His Church to go throughout the earth, proclaiming His victory to every creature and nation. Satan had once offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world as a reward for His allegiance, but Christ refused, and having crushed and bound Satan, He instead received the nations as His rightful inheritance from His Father in heaven (Lk. 3:5–9, Rev. 20:1–3, Ps. 2:8). And now as the Church walks by the Spirit under Christ’s authority, we also have the privilege to crush Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20, Rev. 12:11).

But what does it mean for us to crush this Serpent?

We crush the Serpent every time we worship the Lord, confess our sins, take up our crosses, walk by the Spirit, read Scripture, pray for those in need, love our wives, respect our husbands, honor our parents, instruct our children, work with our hands, practice hospitality, evangelize our neighbors, support missionaries, and love our enemies.

All these things Satan hates, and the Lord absolutely delights in them. So may the God of peace soon crush Satan under your feet.

Prayer of Confession:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23–25).

Merciful Father,

We humbly confess before You now our many sins which we have committed against You in thought, word, and deed. We have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, following the sinful desires of our own hearts. But You have called us back to Yourself, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Great Shepherd.

In particular, we confess the ways in which we have grown cold and lost our first love. We confess our backsliding, our complacency, and our unwillingness to destroy the works of the devil in our hearts and lives. Forgive us of this sin, and grant us Your Spirit, that we would have abundant life in Christ and see His kingdom advance.

Lord, we also recognize that our nation has turned from Christ and embraced the Serpent by the many sins that we practice and celebrate. And so we ask that You would have mercy on us. May Your gospel go forth through the work of Your church, and may Satan be crushed under the feet of Your saints in this land.

We know that if we regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you now. Selah.

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This exhortation was given on March 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

Graphic created by Kevin Carden.

Jesus joined them in their journey, although they did not recognize Him.

He asked why they were sad, and they shared regarding a prophet named Jesus of Nazareth, whom they thought was going to redeem Israel. They explained it had been three days since He was crucified, and now His body was missing from the tomb, with some women reporting an angel appeared saying He was alive.

And yet, they did not understand or believe.

In response to this, Jesus replied, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things to enter into His glory?” And He then walked them through all the Scriptures concerning Himself.

But they still did not recognize who it was speaking to them, until they sat down for a meal.

Luke writes, “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” (vv. 30–32).

On this Easter Sunday, over two thousand years later, your Lord Jesus is the same. You may not understand what it is that He is doing. You may be confused and not seeing clearly. You may be foolish or slow of heart to believe. And Jesus of Nazareth comes to you now, at this table, and offers You this broken bread. And He is pleased to open your eyes, and by His Spirit fill your hearts again and again, with a joy that is eternal.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ. He is risen, indeed.

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This communion meditation was given on April 5, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

We can see this teaching clearly in Psalm 44. In the midst of distress and misery, the Israelites turn to God in this psalm and say with absolute honesty to Him, “All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You and we have not been false to Your covenant.” They’re saying in effect, “Lord, we have kept our part. We have remained true to You, so why have You left us?” And they continue to entreat God, crying out, “Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord. Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever.”

Now it seems quite audacious to say to the eternal and living God, “Wake up!” You might wonder if that is even allowed. The answer is yes—because this cry is done in faith.

This psalm begins with Israel recalling the mighty deeds the Lord has done for them, then declares that He is their King and the only one they look to for salvation. They are approaching God as His people, as His children, covenantally bound and devoted to Him—loyal even while suffering.

And so this Psalm serves as a pattern, a directive, for how you are to turn to the Lord in your distress.

When you encounter a difficult trial, one of the greatest acts of faithfulness is to call upon the Lord, and you do not need to hide your feelings from Him. It can be right to say, “Lord, where are You? I am drowning. I am lonely. I am so afraid. Why is this happening to me and my family?”

But you must not stop there.

You then need to remind God—and yourself—of His past faithfulness toward You. Literally count your blessings. Be specific. And then in faith—call upon Him for help, ask Him to wake up—just like a child who appears at the bedside in the middle of the night when they are scared or sick. For like every good Father, our Lord delights to comfort and protect His children.

Prayer of Confession:

Most Merciful Father,

Father, we come before You to confess our sins, because we know that You are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Often, when we undergo trials or afflictions, we do not turn to You for deliverance. Deep down we think that You are powerless or do not care. We are afraid to ask for You to intervene because in our doubt we do not trust that You will, and we do not want to be let down. We mistakenly think that in our suffering it is somehow holier to simply go on our own, and that it would be wrong to acknowledge our pain and cry out to You with honesty and for deliverance.

And so we ask that You would forgive us of our faithlessness, and teach us to trust You in all seasons of life, and to approach You as our compassionate Father, even and especially when You feel distant.

We know that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we confess our individual sins to you now, and Selah.

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This exhortation was given on March 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

This is a disposition toward Lord’s Day worship that all of God’s people should desire to grow in. In a very real way, your soul should long to be in fellowship with God and His people, to hear the Word preached, to sing His praises, and to sit at His table in the congregation.

In the Isaac Watts hymn that we will sing shortly, How Sweet and Awful is the Place, we are given a tune to this Christian attitude, and a call to humility.

“While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast,
each of us cry, with thankful tongues, ‘Lord, why was I a guest?
Why was I made to hear Thy voice, and enter while there’s room,
when thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come?’
’Twas the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in;
else we had still refused to taste, and perished in our sin.”

Where you are seated right now is the best place in the world to be. For you are seated among the people of God and in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. And you are a guest of the King at His feast. And yet, your presence here has nothing to do with who you are, where you come from, or what you have accomplished. You did nothing at all to earn your place here. All of this is free and unmerited grace from God.

So with thankful hearts, Come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on March 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

“‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm… Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly…” (Joel 2:12–13, 15).

As with Judah in the ninth century BC, our state and nation are clearly under God’s judgment because we have turned from His ways, embraced wickedness, and are reaping the consequences. But one of the first mercies of the Lord in the midst of judgment is the opening of His people’s eyes to their need to repent and turn to Him again with prayer and fasting.

This past week, the Idaho House of Representatives and Senate passed a resolution “encouraging the people of Idaho to observe a day of fasting and prayer on March 1st to seek peaceful resolutions to the challenges facing the state and nation, to pray for snow and rain for Idaho’s water supplies, and to pray for wise decision making by state and federal leaders.”1

There is a long tradition of both the church and the civil government calling people to observe corporate days of prayer as an appeal to God in times of desperate need. In 17th-century Scotland and England, it was normal for the civil magistrate to call for times of prayer and fasting.2 And this practice continued in the United States, with an estimated 1,400 prayer proclamations issued by state governments prior to 1815. Therefore, in response to this biblical call from our elected representatives, our elders believed it would be right to pray in our service this morning for our state and nation.

We live in interesting times, but in the midst of the chaos of our sin, there is hope. Our Lord has preserved a remnant of His people in our land, and His Spirit has not altogether departed. He still graciously hears the prayers of His people, and He may yet relent that we may not perish (Jon. 3:9).

Prayer of Confession:

Most Merciful Father,

We come before You this morning, on behalf of our state and nation, seeking Your undeserved compassion. For we confess that we, as Your church, have fallen short of Your glory. We have followed the idols of our hearts and have not discipled our nation in righteousness. Many of our neighbors and countrymen have departed from the truth. They do not seek Your face and have embraced all manner of wickedness, even calling evil good.

Lord, have mercy on us.

In particular, we ask for peaceful resolutions to the afflictions besetting our land, including violence, protests, lawlessness, strife, envy, societal discord, and even war abroad.

We also pray for our state and federal leaders. We ask that Your Spirit would soften their hearts and cause them to humble themselves before You. Grant them wisdom to render decisions guided by justice and compassion, and let Your blessing and protection be upon our families and communities.

Father, we also lift up before You our need for snow and rain in our Idaho mountains. Without this blessing, not only are our water supplies diminished for crops, but our risk of destructive wildfires this summer also increases. Therefore, we ask that You would open Your heavenly storehouses and send rain upon our lands.

Lord, as we pray today for our land, show us also this day what our own besetting sins are. Reveal to us the ways in which we are not honoring You in our hearts and in our homes. Purify us, Your people, that we may be a light to our neighbors in troubled times. For as we pray each week, we know that if we in the church cherish secret sin in our hearts, these prayers are in vain and will be ineffectual. And so we now silently confess our individual sins to You. Selah.

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This exhortation was given on March 1, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

In the early church, the Lord’s Supper was often joined with a full meal known as a love-feast. The church would have what we call a “potluck,” and then at the end of the common meal, set aside the bread and wine. This sort of practice is how the Apostle Paul could rebuke the Corinthians for getting their fill before others, even to the point of drunkenness (1 Cor. 11:21).

Now, for various reasons, the practice of “love feasts” largely ceased in the church from the third century onward. However, while this particular custom has ceased, the celebrations continue. This meal is still a glad feast for the people of God. For at this Table we are joined together in love by God and with love for God. And as we commune with our Lord by His Spirit, this love overflows toward one another, as we recognize our unity as the Body of Christ.

So in the words of the Apostle Paul, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast…” (1 Cor. 5:7). And come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on March 2, AD 2026 at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

In leading their people to obey this command, the Protestant Reformers taught fathers to practice what we call “family worship” daily in their homes. This duty was so important to the Puritans that pastors would visit homes to demonstrate how it could be done, and a father’s persistent neglect of family worship could result in church discipline, for failing to raise his children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).1

So what does family worship consist of? Simple family worship has three components: Scripture, prayer, and song.

First, you should consistently bring the Word to your family’s ears and hearts. If your children are young, consider starting with a narrative book, like the Gospel of Mark, one brief passage at a time. Read, and then engage your family with simple observation and application questions. Additionally, a catechism can also be used alongside the Word to further teach them the truths of Scripture.2

Second, lift up your prayers to God. Praise God for who He is, and then lay before Him the needs of your family and this congregation. Give your children a moment to say their own prayers in their own words for the things that matter most to them.

And third, sing unto the Lord. Whether it’s one song or a few, cheerfully sing psalms and hymns that the whole family knows or can easily learn. While there is no set order that you must follow, the benefit of singing at the end is that songs tend to linger in our memories longer than readings or prayers.

These three elements—Word, prayer, and song—can be as brief as ten minutes, as you remember your children’s frames and carry them out with simple joy.

No father in this church will regret having led his family in this holy habit when his children were young and at home. Therefore, do not let shame or discouragement keep you from trying. Dedicate your household to the Lord again—for His glory and for their eternal good.

Prayer of Confession:

Most Merciful Father,

We confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against You by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

In particular, this morning we confess that we do not offer You the worship You deserve each day. Both within our own hearts as individuals before You, but also in our families. And especially as fathers we confess our failure in this as those who have been charged to lead in our homes, and to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

And so we ask that You would forgive us our sins, and by Your Spirit renew a holy desire to take hold of You through Your Word and prayer. Give a glimpse of Your glory this week as we seek You and encourage our faith. And help us lead our families with joy to Your throne of grace.

May a renewal of family worship in Your church lead to a reformation and revival in our land, fulfilling Your promises spoken through our father David, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.”

We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.

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This exhortation was given on February 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

This morning I want us to meditate on Paul’s last three words here – until He comes. With this orienting statement, the Apostle Paul is teaching that this sacrament is not simply about looking back at our Lord’s death. Rather, in more ways than one, this is an eschatological meal. As we partake, we are proclaiming Christ’s sacrificial death, and the church is to do so looking forward to that final Day, when He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Fundamental to the historic Christian faith, from the beginning, has been this longing for Christ’s return and the hope of the future resurrection of the dead. Imitating the Apostle Paul, our great desire in this life ought to be to know Christ crucified – to participate in His death – in order that we too may participate in His glorious resurrection.

And so this Table is a sign to all of Christ’s victory over death until He returns. He died for our sin and then on the third day was raised. He is the first fruits of the resurrection, the pledge of the greater harvest to come, when all those who partake of His flesh and blood will be raised up unto eternal life and be seated with Him at an even greater feast. Therefore, as you eat this bread and drink this wine, may you say in your hearts, “Come, Lord Jesus.” And as surely as He comes to you now by His Spirit, know that He will come again on that great Day.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on February 22, AD 2026 at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

But once we are outfitted with God’s armor, what is next? Where do we go from here?

Paul continues, writing that we are then to pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for the saints” (v. 18). And so we see that Christians go to battle in prayer. Paul tells us that our enemies are not flesh and blood, but “against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (v. 12). Therefore, if we are to be effective in our battle, if we are to be faithful to the Lord in our own lives and in our families, we must first engage the enemy in the realm in which he lives and moves. We need heaven’s weapons to fight in the heavenly places. It is only after we engage the battle there that we will see results here on the ground. It is only through prayer, in which we acknowledge our weakness and rely on God’s strength, that we will see our families and church thrive, and our world transformed.

And so as we pray together today in this worship service, don’t for one moment think that this is the precursor to the real battle “out there.” Don’t believe that this is just a nice pious practice or a good way to start your week, but after you leave, then you can really get to work in building the kingdom.

It’s the other way around.

You will only be effective out there in your homes and in your work when you engage first in the battle here—among the gathered assembly of the saints in the corporate worship of God.

Prayer of Confession:

Heavenly Father,

We humbly come before You now, confessing that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed; and that apart from Your saving grace there is no health in us.

In particular, we confess our prayerlessness. You call us to pray at all times, to pray without ceasing, and we do not fulfill this command which is for our good. You call us to fight the good fight of faith, You have equipped us with Your armor, and we remain largely idle—outfitted for war but content with seeking merely our own comfort. Our pride leads us to believe we can make progress on our own strength, and our faithlessness causes us to doubt that You really hear our prayers or care for our needs. And so we ask that You would forgive us of these sins, and that Your Spirit would help us lift up our every need to You first, teaching us to trust You in all things, and to engage in the fight that You have made us for, the battle that Christ has already won.

Father, we also acknowledge that our nation does not pray, and when we do, it is often to a vague deity who has no ears to hear. And so we do humbly ask that You would answer the prayers of Your saints and turn our nation back to You in a remarkable way.

We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.

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This exhortation was given on February 8, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

And here in this Sacrament, we see this cosmic reality represented concretely with simple bread and wine, teaching us that not only is Christ’s body and blood ours, but that they are meant to be spiritual food for us. Just as bread nourishes and sustains the body, so does Christ’s body nourish and revive our souls. Just as wine nourishes and gladdens the body, so does Christ’s blood nourish and gladden our souls.

For as our Lord once taught, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53). Christ’s flesh is true food, and His blood is true drink. And whoever partakes of Him abides in Him, and He in you. Therefore, as you eat this bread and drink this wine, taste and see Christ Himself, willing and able to strengthen your souls.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on February 8, AD 2026 at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

You will recall that when our Lord gave the Great Commission to His apostles, He grounded His command in His authority as King – “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Mt. 28:18–19a). What this means for us as a church is that when we participate in the work of foreign missions, we are not working out of our own strength, but by Christ’s authority. He has purchased all nations of the earth by His blood, and we are now willing participants in His victory march throughout the earth, gathering in His elect (Rev. 5:9, 2 Tim. 2:10). We can have confidence in the work of the mission because we are under orders, and our King has promised to be present with us in power, even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20).

This morning, at the end of the service, we will pray for the Madsen family as they return to their mission in Zambia this coming week. We are very thankful to God for the opportunity to partner with them in this work, and I know they have been greatly encouraged by you all. So the exhortation this morning is to continue to remember the Madsens and the students they minister to in your prayers. Lift them up daily in your homes, remembering God’s promises to them and to the nations. Isaac has repeatedly said during this trip that the greatest way you can support them is through prayer, and he is absolutely right. Our God uses means, and chief among them are the prayers of His people for the advancement of His kingdom.

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Prayer of Confession:

Merciful Father,

It is indeed right, our duty, and our joy, always and everywhere to give you thanks, for You are King over all the earth and a most gracious God to us. For though we readily acknowledge our many faults and weaknesses, the ways in which we have fallen short and sinned against You each day—we also know and remember that Your mercies are new every morning.

This morning we confess that though we believe You have given all nations to Your Son as His inheritance, we often do not live as if that were true. We lack faith in Your promises to fill the earth with Your glory. We do not evangelize with boldness. We do not pray with expectation, laying hold of Your promises. And our zeal falters with unbelief. Forgive us of these sins, O Lord, and renew within us an earnest desire to see Christ worshiped in obedience by every tribe, tongue, people, and nation as He so deserves.

Father, we also confess that our own nation has closed its eyes to Your light. And so we ask that we would not only believe these promises for missionaries in faraway lands, but also for our own neighbors right here in Moscow. May Your Spirit move Your church to pray for reformation and revival in a powerful way, and may You be pleased to answer that prayer in due time. We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.

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This exhortation was given on February 1, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

Often, when we think of the church, we think simply in terms of interchangeable units – just a number of individual Christians, all alike, brought together. And while this is partially true, the Apostle Paul does not hesitate to note that we really are a unity of unlikes.1 The build, function, and role of an eye are very different than the build, function, and role of a foot – and that is actually very good. Bodies need this God-given diversity of members in order to live and thrive.

Each person in this church has been made unique by God, granted different gifts and abilities, and we all come together to function as one body united to and under Christ. Therefore, we must not despise one another because of our differences, but instead learn to rejoice in the ways in which God has distributed His gifts, knowing that it is all for our good (1 Cor. 12).

And we now come to this Table together, remembering our communion with Christ and one another. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16–17).

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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This communion meditation was given on February 1, AD 2026 at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.

As you know, there are several ways Christians have organized the governance of the church, according to the general principles found in the Word of God (WCF 1.6).1 At King’s Cross Church, we practice what is called the “four-office” view of elders and deacons. In this, we have deacons and then recognize three distinctions among the elders (ministering elders, teaching elders, and parish elders).

The collective duty of our elders consists of shepherding the flock (1 Pet. 5:1–2), equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11–12), laboring in prayer (Acts 6:4, 13:1–3, Jas. 5:14–15), preaching and teaching the Word of God (1 Tim. 5:17), administering the sacraments (Mt. 28:19–20, 1 Cor. 11:23–26), and performing church discipline and restoration (1 Cor. 5:1–5).

While elders care for the spiritual needs of the congregation, deacons primarily care for material needs. As we read in Acts 6, “seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom” were appointed to benevolence ministry, allowing the apostles to focus on the Word and prayer. Our deacons provide financial counsel and assistance to families in need, and they helpfully oversee hospitality and logistics for our Lord’s Day services.

As members of this congregation, you also have duties in relation to the brothers who serve in these offices. You are called to honor and encourage them as they labor among you, obey them in accordance with God’s Word, imitate their godly example, assist them as you are able, and pray that the Lord would sustain them in their ministries (Heb. 13:17, Phil. 2:28–39, 3:17).

The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth that he was a laborer for their joy (2 Cor. 1:24). It is not a light thing to be chosen by a congregation for these sacred offices and to take on the responsibility of caring for those God has purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). But our elders and deacons gladly serve you in this way for the glory of God and for your eternal good. Therefore, you are called to support them in their work as they minister Christ to you and your families.

Prayer of Confession:

Merciful Father,

We readily confess to You this morning that we sin each day in various ways against Your holiness, and also against those closest to us. We truly have no hope apart from Christ and the mercy found in Him.

We know that Your Word calls us to obey those who watch over our souls, and to do so in a way that brings joy and not grief to them in their work. And so we confess the ways in which we have not heeded their teaching from the Word, any dishonoring thoughts or attitudes toward those we have called to serve us, and the sins which cause them sorrow.

Lord, we also acknowledge that one reason why our nation has strayed from Your light is that those appointed as leaders began to neglect Your Word, and those in the pews did not hold them accountable to it. And so we ask that You would raise up many more godly men to serve as ministers, elders, and deacons in Your church, men who tremble at Your voice, who deeply love the flock entrusted to them, and who are willing to proclaim the truth. And may they be called to serve by godly congregations who sincerely love You.

We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.

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This exhortation was given on January 11, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.