Trinity Reformed Church Chattanooga is a CREC church serving up all of Christ for all of life for all of Chattanooga. Listen to our homilies and exhortations wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Trinity Reformed Church Chattanooga Podcasts
A new Church year is upon us and that means that we must prepare our minds and hearts to celebrate and remember how Christ came into the world at Christmas. But before we get to the Christmas season, it is always helpful to gain a deeper understanding of the season of Advent as a whole, especially in how Jesus' coming into the world is a unified wh…
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The season of Advent begins every Church year with week one as a reminder of the Christian's hope. Just as the Old Testament saints looked forward to the birth of Christ, we as Christians today look forward to the return of Christ to consummate all things. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones exhorts the congregation at TRC Chattanooga to continually put th…
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The Gospel text for Christ the King Sunday is a bit of a surprising selection for the uninitiated. We find Luke’s account of the crucifixion of our Lord, and that doesn’t exactly seem like a King reigning on his throne. That’s the problem for us: things often seem upside down to us. But reigning is exactly what he is doing. Christ has put all his e…
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Christ is the image of the invisible God. No one has ever seen the Father, but we have seen Christ. And if you have seen Christ, you have seen the Father. So it is fitting for us, on the last Sunday of the church year, to consider the lordship of our Savior Jesus Christ. Today is Christ the King Sunday. How does St. Paul help us to understand what …
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Sunday School - Communion In The New Testament
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Through poor theology, misuse, disuse, and modernism’s warm embrace of rationalism, the church is at risk of missing the full value of her sacraments. Rather than letting the church get robbed blind, we need to embrace the plain words of Christ written right in the New Testament, and truly believe them. In this lesson, we follow the scriptural warr…
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People like to focus on eschatology. They have their reasons, but often it’s because people aren’t content to just busy themselves with the work the Lord has given them to do. As it turns out, this phenomenon isn’t new. Paul saw exactly the same thing among the Thessalonians, and he deals with it head on. Listen as Rev. David Beckmann preaches this…
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God has written a book of remembrance in heaven of all those who esteem his name. As Christians gather together for worship every Lord's day, faithfully and fearfully glorifying his holy name, he remembers his people and renews his covenant with them. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones exhorts the congregation of TRC Chattanooga with Malachi 3:16.…
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Why do children take Holy Communion in our church? What’s the justification for it, and are those justifications found in Holy Scripture? Fred Thompson leads us through the biblical and historical case for this practice and shows why deviation from it can be so dangerous for not only a church, but for a nation.…
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Jesus's answer to the Sadducees is one of the most memorable and impactful answers ever given about the doctrines of marriage and the individual's life after death. Even though he gave the answer in a hostile context, there is a wealth of wisdom and teaching to derive from his brief interaction with these Jewish leaders. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones…
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The second letter to the Thessalonians was written on account of a fake letter having been received by the congregation claiming to be from Paul himself. But in spite of this confusion, the Apostle Paul sends his own letter and offers them his confidence that they will not depart from the teachings and commands that he had already delivered to them…
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Sunday School - Communion In The Old Testament
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The Lord's Supper, also known as Communion and the Eucharist in Christian tradition, is the sacramental meal of the New Covenant. In today's TRC Sunday School class, we consider the Old Testament meals and how these divine and sacred events that came before the New Covenant prefigured and gave a foretaste of the good things to come in Christ and th…
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We have heard the ditches analogy: that we want to avoid behavior that causes us to fall off into one ditch or another, and stay in the center ground. There are indeed situations where this is a great way to explain how to find the moral answer. But not every moral question is a ditch. When it comes to following God’s laws, we are highly imperfect.…
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Most understand Psalm 32 to be about David’s contrition after his affair and resulting treachery with Bathsheba. In it, David says that he acknowledged his sin before the Lord and did not cover it. But that wasn’t always true. David, did for a time attempt to keep silent about it, and that had devastating effects for him. Keeping a sin secret is fu…
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On the occasion of Reformation Sunday, Elder Glenn Jones preaches to the congregation about the tale of two men, Martin Luther and John Tetzel, asking the congregation, based on Luke 18:9-14, which of them went home justified. Jesus' teaching on God's mercy is so clear in Scripture, it is hard for anyone reading Luke's Gospel to deny that one is ju…
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The Church is always to be reformed, whenever corruption and false teaching creeps in. The well known Latin phrase, Semper Reformanda, is a way of summarizing this teaching we find in Jude's epistle. TRC Chattanooga is both a reformation and a catholic congregation, knowing that all Christians throughout history share in the faith once for all deli…
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What exactly is going on with Jacob's wrestling match in Genesis 32? Who is he wrestling and why? Before we understand that, we have to understand Jacob's relationship with God, and how he viewed prayer. Maybe you wrestle with men and with God, but your prayers before God must always be importunate. Listen as Rev. David Beckmann preaches at TRC Cha…
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Paul tells Timothy that he must continue in the things which he had learned, and he tells him why. But we must understand the importance of the teachings of our own youth. It is critical that we not deviate from what our parents and ministers taught us about the Christian faith. Because there are many forces upon the Christian urging them to form n…
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Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy at the end of Paul's life. Rather than the problem being about Paul, this letter was about the problem of Paul no longer being in this world and the reality that Timothy would face in appointing younger leaders to succeed in the faithful teaching of the Gospel message Paul had preached. We in the American chu…
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Paul warns Timothy to charge the congregation not to quarrel about the meaning of words because it ultimately leads to the ruin of the hearers. In Paul's day, the dispute was over the meaning of the Resurrection, but in our day the dispute is over the meaning of the created world and such terms as man and woman, the meaning of marriage, and much mo…
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When the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, he doesn’t really address their request directly. Instead, he tells them what one of the effects of having even slightly more faith would be. But then he explains the relationship between a slave and the slave master. As we labor for God in his kingdom, we see ourselves in the slave in this accou…
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We all face temptations with anger. We see others appearing to get away with wickedness, and we naturally get upset about it. But David warns us that we must restrain that anger, and keep it in check. In the end, if we do not, it leads to evil. Even when we have righteous anger about evil that we see, we can still succumb to a state of perpetual wr…
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In Luke 16:19-31 we have the account of the rich man and Lazarus. The plot twist comes in the middle, when Luke reveals to us that the rich man knew who Abraham was. He was raised in the faith. But something happened. He forgot the faith he was raised in. While he had known Abraham, he forgot about the paths Abraham walked. There is something instr…
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“Trust not in princes!” It’s misunderstood and abused in our age. This verse is trotted out anytime someone supports a politician they believe will lead their country in a better direction. So what does scripture mean by this? And what should we be concerned about, with respect to this passage? We need to remember who gives a country good leaders, …
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Sunday School - Baptism In The New Testament
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Christian Baptism is a treasured gift from God to his Church. Though many disputes have arisen in our modern day, believing all that God's word has to say about Christian Baptism is the most important commitment we can make. We are, in fact, free to speak as Scripture speaks about the water rite of initiation into the Faith. Listen as Elder Glenn J…
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1 Timothy 2 contains many teachings that a lot of ministers in the church would like to avoid talking about. Many of them offend the god of feminism. But we need to take Paul’s exhortations to heart…even the ones that are difficult to understand the reasoning behind. Listen as Rev. David Beckmann preaches this week’s sermon at TRC Chattanooga.…
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The Psalmist prays that the word of truth not be taken out of his mouth. So he at least acknowledges the possibility that it could happen. The Christian ought to value the opportunity to not only study and meditate on God’s words, but also talk about them. Taking the word of God in our mouth is a privilege reserved for God’s children. Listen as Eld…
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Sunday School - The Doctrine Of Infant Baptism
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Baptism is to be administered to both young and old. If we believe that God's covenant is entered into by whole households (and Holy Scripture says it is), then children must certainly be part of that arrangement...even infants. Sacraments are a work of God, and men are the beneficiaries of them - including children. Listen as Fred Thompson leads t…
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Elder Glenn Jones preaches a lamentation for Charlie Kirk, warning of God's judgment on our rebellious Christian nation and how we, as Christians, must respond in this present moment. Listen soberly to the wisdom of Scripture and understand the times in which we live and the disposition of our hearts that must become bolder and stronger if we are e…
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King Jehu did well in wiping out the worship of Baal from Israel, yet he did not go far enough, because he tolerated the remaining demons being worshipped as golden calves in Bethel and Dan. The martyrdom of our Christian brother, Charlie Kirk, has revealed just how much idolatry our rulers must still wipe out here in America. Listen as Elder Glenn…
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Sunday School - Baptism In The Old Testament
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Baptism is not just a New Testament practice. There were many Baptisms in the Old Testament, and they offer great insight into the purpose and fulfillment that comes to us in New Covenant, Christian Baptism. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones leads the Sunday School class in a fruitful and enlightening discussion on the topic of Baptism in the Old Testame…
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Luke 14:25-35 has some very difficult words from our Lord for us to hear. Not everything in Holy Scripture is easily digestible. Our Lord helps us to keep our priorities straight with respect to the relationships we have in our lives. But then Jesus offers us some unexpected advice about the business of setting out to be his disciple. Is it possibl…
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As Christians, we know we are to continually be in repentance. But what does that really mean? Moreover, what can we learn from Scripture about the necessities and benefits associated with repentance? Listen as Elder Wes Keene exhorts the congregation at TRC Chattanooga.By Trinity Reformed Church Chattanooga
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God is hospitality. We show hospitality to one another because God first showed it to us. At Trinity Reformed Church hospitality is central to our life as a congregation and it creates the context and viability for building one another up in the faith and using the gifts God has graciously given to each of us. If you want to better understand this …
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The New Covenant clearly teaches that all Christians throughout all times and places are to practice hospitality, but this command even comes with a bit of twist to it in the letter to the Hebrews. Consider what it means to not neglect hospitality, especially to strangers, and listen as Elder Glenn Jones exhorts the congregation with Hebrews 13:2.…
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We live in a world with almost unlimited danger. Multiple hot wars are taking place right now, a third is always threatening to break out, and we have rampant violence in our cities. It’s easy to see why someone would be fearful. But as Christians, that’s not an option that is available to us. The Christian is to live without fear, and be confident…
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Our entire lives are worship to God, whether we act like it or not. We serve the Lord in all that we do…and not ourselves. In Psalm 63, David tells us that he will remember God when he is on his bed, and meditate on him in the watches of the night. We should do likewise. As Christians, we need to make it a regular practice to worship God in our hom…
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One of the more painful things for parents to deal with is a child that departs from the faith. Many parents have raised their children in a godly way, doing the best they knew how to do. Yet, when the child grew up, they were dragged away by other forces. Parents can end up blaming themselves. But Christ came to bring a fire upon the earth. How ca…
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The Holy Scripture addresses many hard things about this life, especially how to understand suffering and evil. When suffering comes our way, even as a result of someone else's sin or our own sin, there is encouragement to be had for God's work in the Christian's life. God's discipline comes to us, not to drive us away, but to make us more like him…
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It is with eyes of faith that we behold that which is as of yet invisible, that we hope for the things not yet realized. In Hebrews, Paul gives us several examples of faithful saints of old. We need to understand what faith is and what faith is not. Once we have done that, we need to understand that faith in the life of the Christian is always live…
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You have heard it said “home is where the heart is”, and the saying is true. The location of your heart says something about what you value, trust in, and are comforted by. But our Lord says: “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. So if we understand what our Lord is telling us, then we need to consider carefully what we treasure.…
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The wisdom of Solomon was greatly desired among the ancient nations of the world and it has lasted, as the very word of God inspired by the Spirit, throughout all generations. But what Solomon concluded about the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge teaches us that those very things themselves are fleeting, like smoke in the wind. True wisdom, as Solomo…
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As modern Christians we tend to think that merely the pursuit of Bible knowledge will draw our hearts closer to God. That of course has its part, but the Apostle Paul also teaches that without singing psalms and hymns to God regularly, the word of Christ will not dwell in us richly. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones exhorts the congregation of Trinity Re…
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If you ask people to describe their qualities, very few would put “impudent” on their list of adjectives. We’ve been taught that being impudent is wrong. But what does Holy Scripture tell us? And if being impudent before God is something the Christian actually can and should do, then what would that look like, and what examples can we find in Holy …
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Being a Christian isn’t always easy. The Christian will face many temptations throughout his earthly life. One, perhaps, surprising temptation is to add to the law of God. In fact, others will attempt to force us to do that, as well. But in Colossians, Paul tells us to see to it that no one takes us captive. If other people want to give us a new la…
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Christian, will you be shaken to abandon your faith in God one day? King David wrote Psalm 15 as both a warning and a charge to the people of God to live honorable lives, despising what is vile while being genuine worshippers of God in his kingdom. This psalm teaches us what it means to be a faithful covenant member and warns against doing the thin…
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Mary chose the necessary and good thing when Jesus came to the house of her and her sister, Martha. Just as Jesus explained to Martha, we must not allow our service and the things of this life to cause us to neglect the most important discipline in our lives - namely our relationship and fellowship with God through prayer and his word. Listen as El…
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Sometimes people get confused about the kind of gifts God hands out to his children. Particularly in our modern American context, we have been taught to focus on what could be called “soft gifts”, rather than the tangible, physical gifts God even promises in his own word. There are common errors people make when they read passages like Deuteronomy …
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The book of James teaches us something about how to pray. In particular, James 5:16b teaches that the effective and fervent prayer “avails much.” If that’s the case, then we need to understand what effective and fervent prayer is, and how we can avoid ineffective prayer. We must beware of bad habits we sometimes fall into and what we should do inst…
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Many know and use the Biblical saying, "You reap what you sow". But many times it is misunderstood or misused and abused by those who speak it. The Apostle Paul gave us a clear context in which to learn about its meaning and proper use. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones preaches a sermon on Galatians 6:7-10 to the congregation at TRC Chattanooga.…
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God calls us to pray at all times and for all people. But many times it is the most powerful and influential rulers who Christian people fail to pray for in their daily habits of intercession and supplication. The Apostle Paul knew that this would be a weakness for us, so he wrote to Timothy to ensure that we never forget to pray for those in autho…
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