2026.08.07 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 1:12–2:1

Read Habakkuk 1:12–2:1

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Habakkuk now address (v12)? What does he ask (v12a)? What does he call Him (v12b)? What does he conclude about God’s people (v12c)? What does he conclude about the purpose of the Chaldeans (v12d–e)? What does he know about God’s character (v13a–b)? What difficulty does he have with God’s use of the Chaldeans (v13c–e)? What does he ask about men (v14)? What do the Chaldeans do that reduces the Judeans to that (v15)? But how will these Chaldeans respond to their success (v16)? What difficulty does Habakkuk express in his question (v17)? What will Habakkuk do, having asked that question (2:1a–c)? What does he assume that he will need (v1d)?

What should perplexed Christians do? Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that perplexed Christians should cling to the Lord, sure of His character, and expecting to be corrected by Him.

Habakkuk has one significant advantage over Job. From the start, God is talking to him. But this advantage has not fully resolved his problem. He knows the character of God. He has heard the plan of God. He understands the explanation of God. But he is having difficulty putting all of these together. God is sovereign, faithful, wise, just, good, and holy. It is the last of these that now gives him difficulty.

God is sovereign: “Are You not from everlasting?” Habakkuk acknowledges the difference between his perspective and God’s perspective. It is not only that God knows, and can see, infinitely more than Habakkuk can. It is that, from all eternity, God has planned what He will do. He is sovereign.

God is also faithful. Notice how Habakkuk addresses Him. By the covenant Name, YHWH. By His covenant identity: “Holy One” is an abbreviation of “Holy One of Israel,” used of the Lord dozens of times in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah. And Habakkuk especially addresses the Lord as his own: note how he uses the possessive “my” twice. God has affirmed that He has not abandoned His covenant with Israel, but rather is keeping it, and Habakkuk responds by holding onto God’s faithfulness to His covenant and to His people. When you are perplexed by what the Lord is doing in your life, or in the church, it is transformative to come to terms with the fact that He is the One Who is doing it (sovereign), and that it is in faithfulness to His people (you!) that He is doing it!

God is wise. “We shall not die.” God knows what He is doing. If He is the One Who is in control, and if He is acting in faithfulness to His people, faithfulness to His covenant, and faithfulness to His promises, then that means that the people of God cannot be eliminated. Surely, Habakkuk is still perplexed about some things, but one thing that he is sure about is that Israel will not die.

God is just. Habakkuk’s initial complaint was that the Lord was not doing anything about the violence in Judah (cf. 1:2–4). The Lord’s description of the Chaldeans has been terrifying, but it is justified. So now Habakkuk answers “O YHWH, You have appointed them for judgment.” He has learned something. He doesn’t completely understand how it all fits together, but he acknowledges that the Lord is righteous and just in whatever He does. It is part of our Christian growth to assimilate the fact that everything the Lord does, He does in faithfulness, wisdom, and justice.

God is good. He gives us the correction that we need. “O Rock, You have marked them for correction.” The noun in v12e is the root of the verb in 2:1d. When Judah needs rebuke/correction, the Lord gives it. When Habakkuk needs rebuke/correction, the Lord gives it. He is giving what is good for His people.

God is holy. In v13, we begin to see Habakkuk’s difficulty. How can the holy God, Whose “eyes” are too pure to tolerate evil, patiently endure for the even-more-wicked Chaldeans to be an instrument of correction upon Judah? How can He let His people be treated like fish (v14), by this ruthless nation (v15), who continuously empty and refill their net (v17), while worshiping the idol of their ruthlessness for the worldly goods that it obtains for them (v16)?

It is important to see that, as Habakkuk, wrestles with these things, He does not do so as one who is judging God or contending with God. He does so as one who just doesn’t get it—and who hopes to receive the correction that he needs. In fact, he is eager for God’s reply, eager for God’s correction. He stands watch for it (v1a). He positions himself to see it as soon as possible (v1b). He watches for what the Lord will say to him (v1c). He even anticipates modifying his own responses based upon the correction that he expects to receive (v1d). What a way to describe how we all ought to incline toward God’s Word, and even to submit to it in prospect, as we look forward to it!

Due to our creatureliness, and especially our ongoing sinfulness, there is much that will confound us in the providence of God. But we may cling to Him, sure of His character, and awaiting the correction of the Word.

What current situations in your life, or in Christ’s church, are perplexing you? What aspects of God’s character are you more sure of, than you are of anything that you think about these situations? In what actions and activities are you waiting upon God’s Word for correction? With what attitude are you waiting for that correction?

Sample prayer: Lord, we praise You for Your perfect sovereignty, faithfulness, wisdom, justice, goodness, and holiness. We confess that, when we cannot make sense of things, it is because we need correction. Please give to us the correction that we need. And please give us humility and zeal as we wait for it, we ask through Christ, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP131 “My Heart Is Not Exalted, Lord” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

2026.08.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 8:22–38

 Read Mark 8:22–38

Questions from the Scripture text: Where did Jesus come in Mark 8:22? What did they beg Jesus to do to the blind man? What did Jesus do by touching the man’s hand in Mark 8:23? Then what did Jesus do to the man’s eyes? When Jesus put His hands on the man again, what did He ask? How did the man answer (Mark 8:24)? What does Jesus do when He touches the man the third time (Mark 8:25)? Where does Jesus send the man in Mark 8:26? What does He tell him not to do? Where are Jesus and the disciples, when they have the conversation in Mark 8:27-33? What does Jesus ask them first (Mark 8:27)? What do they answer (Mark 8:28)? What does He ask them in Mark 8:29a? What does Peter answer (verse 29b)? What does He warn them in Mark 8:30? What does He begin to teach them in Mark 8:31? What does Jesus do to Him in Mark 8:32? What does Jesus call Peter in Mark 8:33? What explanation does Jesus give for that? Whom does He call to Himself for the rest of the lesson in Mark 8:34? What does He say someone who desires to follow Him must do? Whom does He say will lose his life in Mark 8:35? For what purpose does He say we should lose our life? What will we lose if we gain the whole world by being ashamed of Christ (Mark 8:36-37)? Of whom must we not be ashamed (Mark 8:38)? Of what must we not be ashamed? If are ashamed of Jesus and His words now, who will be ashamed of us and when?

What can believers expect in this life? Mark 8:22–38 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seventeen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers should expect crosses of their own, as they follow a crucified Christ. 

Christ works in His own sovereign way. He could have healed the blind man, immediately, with a word—or even simply by willing it. But He takes many steps to heal him. He touches him, as He leads him by the hand out of town (Mark 8:23). He spits on his eyes. He touches him again, putting His hands upon him, when he asks him if he saw anything. He touches him a third time (Mark 8:25), when He puts His hands on his eyes, turning them upward. It’s quite the process!

Similarly, He works in His own sovereign way in our lives. Those who follow Him must deny themselves and take up their crosses to do so (Mark 8:34). Each disciple will have his own particular cross. His life is not his own anymore; he must lose it to Christ, in order to gain it by Christ (Mark 8:35). In particular, believers must be prepared (and willing) to be scorned for Christ’s sake (Mark 8:38).

Christ’s sovereign way is a perfectly saving way. It is not only in our lives that Christ often operates opposite our expectations. He did this especially in His own life. He did not come to be famous, but to die and rise again for sinners. He forbade the blind man to tell about Him (Mark 8:26). And after Peter confesses Him to be Christ (Mark 8:29), He also warns the disciples not to tell anyone about Him (Mark 8:30). He does not build His kingdom by impressiveness of reputation. He came to suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and after three days, rise again (Mark 8:31). By opposing this (Mark 8:32), Peter goes from confessing Christ to being a mouthpiece for Satan (Mark 8:33). And we know that it was in following His own perfect plan that He atoned for our sin, and conquered Satan and death. 

Dear believing reader, whatever cross your Redeemer has assigned to you is the right and best one. He has already taken the atoning and redeeming one, and He carries you through only those crosses by which He applies that redemption. 

In what current situation in your life has the Lord’s wisdom puzzled you? What, ultimately, is He doing?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise You for Your perfect wisdom, and thank You for the glorious grace in which You gave Yourself to become a man, to suffer, to be scorned, and to die the accursed death of the cross for us. And we thank You for applying Your wisdom in how You sovereignly rule our lives. Please give us grace to be content under crosses—to trust You as You carry us through them. 

Suggested songs: ARP22A “My God, My God” or TPH131A “Not Haughty Is My Heart”

2026.08.02 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

To tune in for the Lord's Day streams, we recommend that you visit the livestream page.

2026.08.01 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:19–22

Read Ephesians 2:19–22

Questions from the Scripture text: What are they no longer (Ephesians 2:19)? What are they now with the saints? Of what are they now members? Upon what were they built (Ephesians 2:20)? Who is the chief cornerstone? What role does He have in the building (Ephesians 2:21)? Into what does the building grow, in Him? Who else is being built together in this building (Ephesians 2:22)? For what? For Whom? In Whom?

How is our peace with God and one another perfected? Ephesians 2:19–22 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our peace with God and one another is perfected by our being built upon, and growing in, Christ, by His Word. 

This passage gives us three pictures of the nearness into which Christ has brought us toward each other and toward God. 

First, we are fellow citizens with the saints. We identify with one another like two people who are living in a foreign land and discover that they are from the same hometown. We are living in one place, but we come from another, and our identity is there—in “Saintville.” Whenever we meet a fellow city-zen from Saintville, we should find that they are “our people.” We should speak the same dialect, fondly remember the same landmarks, and serve the interests of and defend the honor of our city.

Second, we are members of the house of God. Before getting into Ephesians 2:20-21, this is a way of saying that we are “family.” We are stuck with one another, so we need to overlook offenses and be more tolerant of quirks. These are the people with whom we can be ourselves. But it also means that we are to bear the family resemblance and live by the house rules. God Himself is Head of the household, so it’s not really “up to us” to decide what a “family” (this family) should be.

Third, we are parts of a building. This can get uncomfortable for us, because in order for the stones to be fit into a building, and especially a great building like a temple, they must be very precisely tooled into line with the foundation. Christ, the corner stone, establishes shape and size and direction for the rest of the foundation. And the apostles and prophets (the latter, the preachers of the NT church, including but not limited to the former) are extensions from Christ who determine everything about what will be built upon them.

Being built is not particularly enjoyable for “living stones.” Parts that don’t fit must be knocked off, rough edges made smooth, two stones that don’t complement each other well both shaved off until they come into alignment. But the process by which we are “fitted together” (Ephesians 2:21) and “built together” is called “growing” in verse 21. These painful alterations to our character and interaction come not so much by decisive blows but by an organic process. Some of the sharpest “growing pains” in the Christian life come not only because of our own sin, which must be done away with in order to build properly upon the foundation, but also because of the way that we interact with other sinners, with whom we must be fitted together.

Finally, this increasing closeness to one another (same town, same family, fitted together) comes with an astonishing closeness to God. Of the two common NT words for temple, this one refers to the inner, holy place. God’s glory had come down and filled first the tabernacle, and then the temple, but now He Himself has taken up residence in His church—the holiest of all holies on earth. That’s a massive privilege! 

And it comes with a responsibility: the church is not ours to “have a vision for.” Not only is it to be built according to God’s exact specifications, but it is His Spirit who takes up residence there and directs all by His Word.

Into what amazing closeness our peace-making Savior has brought us with one another and with God!

In connection with whom do you need some of your rough edges worked out? How are you growing closer with your church? What is God’s plan for His church, and where can we learn more about it? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making us fellow citizens with the saints and members of Your household. Grant that we would continue to be built upon Christ, by means of His Word. Reshape us, until we fit in with the rest of the building. Grow us, until we are perfected in holiness. Indwell us by Your Spirit, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP87 “The Lord’s Foundation” or TPH87A “Zion, Founded on the Mountains” 

2026.07.31 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 1:1–11

 Read Habakkuk 1:1–11

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the prophecy called in Habakkuk 1:1? Who saw it? What was his office? What question does he ask in Habakkuk 1:2a? What has he been doing? Whom is he addressing? What is He not doing (verse 2b)? What, specifically, has Habakkuk cried (verse 2c)? What, specifically, does YHWH not seem to have done (verse 2d)? What six things does he say that YHWH has been making him to see (Habakkuk 1:3)? What conclusion has he drawn about the law (Habakkuk 1:4a)? And about justice (verse 4b)? Why—what do the wicked do (verse 4c)? With what effect (verse 4d)? With what double command does Habakkuk 1:5 begin? What will astound them? What cannot even enable them to believe? Whom is He about to raise up (Habakkuk 1:6)? What are they like, and what will they do (Habakkuk 1:6-11)?

How can believers respond, when providence is heavy? Habakkuk 1:1–11 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eleven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, when dealing with heavy providence, we must remember God Himself.  

How long? Why? These are questions that believers who experience life in this world end up asking. There are many things that we encounter that seem inconsistent with what we know of God’s character and Word. What Job personally experienced, in an extreme instance of this, Habakkuk is experiencing 

This is why Habakkuk’s prophecy is called a “burden” (Habakkuk 1:1), literally “a weight.” In the midst of God’s plan of redemption, weighty experience casts us upon the Lord. The theme of Habakkuk, through the dialog with God in chapter one, the woes of chapter two, and the psalm of chapter three, is learning to persevere in trusting and enjoying God, even in the absence of all situational comfort and encouragement.

Habakkuk isn’t doubting God like many skeptics who ask these questions, nor is he doubting his own assurance. In his inability to reconcile what he experiences, with the surer knowledge of the character and word of God, Habakkuk cries out to God Himself. 

It is God Himself that he needs. It is God Himself that we need. The people of Judah have the Word of God, the law, but it is stunned/paralyzed (v4a). It is the same word as what happened to Jacob’s heart in Genesis 45:26. The people of Judah have God-given authorities, but the judgments are ineffective (Habakkuk 1:4b). 

One thing that life in this world certainly teaches us is that we must have God Himself acting, not merely the other good provisions that He gives us. Even with those things, the transition from Josiah to Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, find Judah filled with the three pairs of evils in Habakkuk 1:3: iniquity and toil, plundering and violence, and strife and contention. Habakkuk cries out in the singular, but the Lord answers in the plural (“Look,” in Habakkuk 1:5, is plural). 

Behold what God is doing (Habakkuk 1:5a–b). The Lord answers in the plural: look (y’all) and watch (y’all); be utterly astounded (y’all). God’s people should consider, with wonder and astonishment, what the Lord is already doing among the nations. In this case, the Lord has already punished the northern kingdom. In addition to what we know from Scripture, there is plenty food for praise and thanks in what the Lord has already done in history. 

Remember Whose work it is (Habakkuk 1:5c–d). Verse 5c–d literally says, “a working work in your days which you would not believe if told.” Providence is God’s work, not ours. God tells us that even if He were to tell us in advance how it all fits together, we wouldn’t believe it. One reason that we are discouraged is the fleshly desire to be on the throne ourselves, or to be able to see into God’s mind, and to give our own assessment of whether things are going well. The secret things belong to God, and the revealed things are for us and our children. Duty is ours; events are God’s.

Wait for what the Lord is yet to do (Habakkuk 1:6-11). God’s interest in His people, but His domain is everywhere. He will use the most powerful resources of the whole world to sanctify Judah. In comparatively few words, He gives twenty frightful descriptions of the Babylonians. What the Lord has yet to do may include much that is frightful (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1–9). But in all that He does, He does it for the gathering and perfecting of His church. World history is full of people and peoples like the Babylonians, and it will continue to be. But through it all, the Lord is building His church.

Know that the Lord is just. The Lord’s assessment of Babylon is that “he transgresses, he commits offense.” Though Babylon is used by the good God to do His good work, Babylon himself is evil and does evil things. God sees this; God assesses it; and, God will repay it. His sovereign employment of the wicked does not excuse them for their wickedness.

What circumstances in your life are too heavy for you? What, in the condition of the nation or the church, is too heavy for you? What has God done in history that astounds you with His wisdom, power, and goodness? How are you humbling yourself before the fact that He is sovereignly at work in the world? What can you know about what God will do next? What wicked people and actions trouble you? What is God doing through them? What will God do about them? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, how long will we cry out, and it does not seem as if You are doing anything? But we know that You are working, and that Your work is good. Give us to humble our understanding before You and persist in crying to You, trusting You, and even rejoicing in You. Thank You for reminding us that the secret things belong to You. We are so glad that they do, and we are content to entrust all unto You. Grant unto us to behold Your work with wonder and praise. We look forward to what You will do, and cry out for Your justice upon the wicked. Thank You for punishing our sin at the cross. Give us to receive all of Your providence as coming in the same love that gave us Christ, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

2026.07.30 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:14–18

Read Ephesians 2:14–18

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the peace between the Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14)? What has Jesus done to them? What has He broken down? What did He do to the enmity (Ephesians 2:15)? How? What had sealed this enmity? What has Christ done to it? What has He created in Himself? To Whom has He reconciled them (Ephesians 2:16)? How? What did this put to death? What did He come and preach (Ephesians 2:17)? To whom? What do we both have (Ephesians 2:18)? Through Whom? By Whom? To Whom?

How do we have peace with one another? Ephesians 2:14–18 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ Himself is how we have peace with one another. 

He has broken down the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14). The wall, in verse 14, refers to an actual wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the consecrated part of the temple. A Gentile could be killed for going beyond it. The wall physically represented the law of commandments, in ordinances, that consecrated Israel unto God and separate from the nations. But Christ has come as the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and where there is a new priesthood, there is a new ceremonial law (cf. Hebrews 7:11–12). Now, through the new way of drawing near to God that is in Jesus Christ Himself, one’s nationality does not make him an outsider or enemy. Jews and Gentiles may come equally near to God, in Christ.

He has created one new man (Ephesians 2:15). There is one race that descended from Adam (cf. Acts 17:26). But that race had been divided into two, between Jew and Gentile. Over against this, Christ is the last Adam, the Head of a new humanity who have their unity in Him, each as much as the other.

He has reconciled us to God (Ephesians 2:16). We needed peace, not only among ourselves, but especially with God. Jesus Christ has reconciled us—that wonderful exchange in which He gives us friendship and adoption in place of the enmity with God into which we had fallen by our sin in the first Adam. The only way for a Jew to be reconciled to God is in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. The only way for a Gentile to be reconciled to God is in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. We had made ourselves God’s enemies by our sin, and Jesus has killed that enmity for all who are in Him.

He applied that peace to our conscience (Ephesians 2:17). Jesus came to Ephesus and preached! This is truly a wonder, for He never physically visited Ephesus. But He is the One Whom we hear through the preachers whom He sends (cf. Romans 10:14–16). He is the One Who address us from heaven (cf. Hebrews 12:24–26). Just as He did to the Ephesians, so He does to you, dear reader—especially in the preaching of the Word. Jesus has not just won peace with God for all who trust in Him, He brings us to trust in Him through His proclaiming that peace to us. The gospel addresses Gentiles as much as Jews, proclaiming the same peace to both. It proclaims to you peace with God, in Christ, regardless of how far from Him you might be.

He brings us into fellowship with the triune God (Ephesians 2:18). Here is the greatest peace, the greatest unity that there can be: to have access to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. In Christ, we are brought into fellowship with the Triune God, and each of the Persons particularly (cf. John 17:20–23). There can be nothing so unifying as to come into this fellowship. 

When we fail to leave peacefully toward each other, we live in contradiction to some of the most important truths about Christ, and being in Him. Here is one of the greatest among the good works in which God has prepared believers to walk: to live at peace with one another.

With what believers do you have the most difficult time living at peace? How do you and they draw near to God? Of what humanity are you and they a part? How did you and they exchange enmity for adoption? How did you and they come to know peace with God? What fellowship do you and they enjoy with the triune God?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making Christ Himself to be our peace, both with You and with one another. Grant that we would live in accordance with that peace, bringing glory and honor to Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP67 “O God, Give Us Your Blessing” or TPH2B “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage” 

Christ, the Lamb of God [Children's Catechism 63—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 63—especially explaining how all God-given sacrifices pointed sinners to believe in Christ.

Q63. What did these sacrifices represent? Christ, the Lamb of God, Who was to die for sinners. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The lesson explores the theological significance of Old Testament sacrifices as pointing to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It traces this theme from the first gospel promise in Genesis through Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, highlighting his faith that God would provide a substitute. The message emphasizes that salvation has always been only through faith in Christ, whether prospective or retrospective, as illustrated by the Passover and affirmed in Revelation. By examining these passages, the teaching reinforces that Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of all God-given sacrifices. This understanding assures believers that redemption is found exclusively through faith in Jesus.

2026.07.29 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:11–13

Read Ephesians 2:11–13

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the initial/primary command at the beginning of Ephesians 2:11? What does the apostle say that they were in the flesh (verse 11)? What are they called? In what and how were “the Circumcision” circumcised? When they were Gentiles in the flesh, Whom were they without (Ephesians 2:12)? From what had they been aliens? What had been their relationship to the covenants of promise? What did they not have? What were they without in the world? What are they now in (Ephesians 2:13, as opposed to when they were in the flesh in Ephesians 2:11)? What has happened to them, in contrast to their being far off? By what had they been brought near?

What has Christ’s reconciliation done? Ephesians 2:11–13 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ’s reconciliation has brought us near to a holy God. 

The apostle begins “Therefore, remember.” Since we have been created to walk in good works, there is something that we are supposed to keep in mind. Hopefulness in Christ obligates us to holiness in Christ. Christians have been brought into a citizenship with responsibilities: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

The Israelites knew this; the Lord had constituted them into a commonwealth (Ephesians 2:12, the word means “a people held together by a common citizenship”), brought near not only to one another but especially to God in the covenants of promise.

Including the preceding verse, we are given three foundations of believers’ duty to holy living: creation (Ephesians 2:10), commonwealth (Ephesians 2:12a), covenants (Ephesians 2:11, Ephesians 2:12b). We are a people created for these good works. We are a commonwealth of people who have been separated from the rest of the world to be holy together. And we are a people who have been joined unto God by covenant, and must live as those who are bound unto Him and His holiness.

But despite this great obligation to live a life that is set apart unto God, according to the law of God, and for the glory of God, our passage will not allow us to think that we live this way in order to show our worthiness or earn anything from the Lord. 

For, Ephesians 2:10-12a are bookended by grace. It was by grace that we were saved through faith that God gave us (Ephesians 2:8-9), and it was the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13) that has brought us into this position of holiness from a place of alienation from God and hopelessness (Ephesians 2:12b).

Praise be to our God of grace! And how shall we thank Him? By this life of holiness for which He has created us new in Christ Jesus, and brought us into the commonwealth of His people, and covenanted us to Himself by His promises!

What do you spend most of your time doing? What does holiness look like in that? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for bringing us near to Yourself through the blood of Christ. By His grace, grant unto us to live in a way that shows that we are Your new creatures, citizens of Your commonwealth, who are bound to You by covenant. Make us to live as those who are holy, since You are holy, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!”

2026.07.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:8–10

Read Ephesians 2:8–10

Questions from the Scripture text: By what have we been saved (Ephesians 2:8)? Through what? And not of whom? Of whom is it a gift? If it is a gift of God, what is it not of (Ephesians 2:9)? What does this prevent anyone from doing? What are we, according to Ephesians 2:10? What has been done to us in Christ Jesus? For what were we created? From where did these good works come? For what purpose did God prepare these good works beforehand?

How is God’s glorious grace displayed in the redeemed? Ephesians 2:8–10 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s glorious grace is displayed in both our justification apart from works and our sanctification unto doing good works. 

In Ephesians 2:1-7, the apostle wrote about our utter deadness in sin, as the black velvet backdrop against which shine the diamonds of God’s rich mercy, great love, and exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness. Ephesians 2:6 took us back to Christ’s seat, from Ephesians 1:20–23—to the highest height of heaven, whereupon God has placed this dazzling trophy of His grace.

But that is not the only place where it is displayed. God displays the glory of His grace down in the nitty gritty of our lives on earth as well, both in our justification and in our sanctification.

In our justification, God is pleased to display His glory in what we do not do. We do not save ourselves; we are saved by grace. Grace supplies righteousness, because we have only guiltiness to offer. Grace absorbs wrath for us, because we have nothing worthful with which to atone. Grace supplies life for us, because we have only death in us. All of this is supplied in Christ, but we are unable even to produce from ourselves the faith that makes us Christ’s and Christ ours. So grace supplies the faith too; even that is not of ourselves.

In our sanctification, God is pleased to display the glory of what He has done through what we do. Having invalidated all boasting by saving us only through union with Christ, the Lord begins to turn that black velvet into a mirror in which the dazzling glory of Christ’s goodness is reflected. 

Those who began dead in sin actually begin to do good works! Not meritorious works, to be sure, but genuinely good. God beings demonstrating His workmanship (us, Ephesians 2:10) by the good works that we do. A Christian is a good-works-doing creature that did not previously exist, created in the same Christ through Whom the original creation was made. 

God is displaying His workmanship when believers submit and learn under their shepherd-teachers (Ephesians 4:7–12). God is displaying His workmanship when believers study doctrine to get it right instead of “celebrating diversity of thought” (Ephesians 4:13–14). God is displaying His workmanship when no church member is dispensable, but the God-assigned role of each is understood to be used by Christ in building up all the others (Ephesians 4:15–16). God is displaying His workmanship when believers refuse to be controlled by desires and feelings, but rather control them with truth (Ephesians 4:17–24). God is displaying His workmanship when believers do good to one another and take care not to offend one another, not to be quick to be offended, and to be quick to forgive offenses (Ephesians 4:17–5:2). God is displaying His workmanship when believers refuse to live in the fleshly or careless way of this dark world, but as the children of light whom they have been re-created to be (Ephesians 5:3–21). God is displaying His workmanship when believing wives submit to their husband (Ephesians 5:22–24). God is displaying His workmanship when husbands give themselves for their wives’ sanctification (Ephesians 5:25–33). God is displaying His workmanship when children honor and obey their parents in the Lord (Ephesians 6:1–3). God is displaying His workmanship when fathers take the lead in their children’s discipline and instruction as something that belongs to the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). God is displaying His workmanship when employers and employees serve Christ first and foremost in all workplace interactions (Ephesians 6:5–9). And that is why all of these works must be supernaturally sustained by God through spiritual means that e has appointed (Ephesians 6:10–20).

Where is this great glory of God displayed? In the most mundane, everyday lives of those who began as darkness but whom He has created anew as children of light. Good works are essential, even before our needing to be holy for admittance into glory, because God has given them such a central place in displaying His glory in our sanctification. God prepared them beforehand for this!

How do you emphasize your not doing anything for your right standing with God? How do you emphasize the transforming power of God’s sanctifying grace in the transformed character of what you do? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for glorifying Yourself by making us right with Yourself entirely by Your grace in what Christ has done outside of us. And, thank You for glorifying Yourself by making us to live holy lives in good works. Please make us to walk, by Your grace, in those good works that You prepared beforehand for us to do, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!” 

2026.07.27 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 104:1–15

Read Psalm 104:1–15

Questions from the Scripture text: What does the Psalmist command his soul to do (Psalm 104:1a)? What does he call YHWH in verse 1b? For what does he first praise Him (verse 1b–c)? For which creatures does he praise God in Psalm 104:2? And what part of creation in Psalm 104:3? And whom in Psalm 104:4? For what action does he praise God in Psalm 104:5? And what part of it in Psalm 104:6-9? In what way does He leave water on land (Psalm 104:10)? For what purpose in Psalm 104:11? And what other in Psalm 104:12? And what other in Psalm 104:13? What does He provide for what creatures in Psalm 104:14? What three things has He especially given man, for what three purposes, in Psalm 104:15?

For what does our soul bless the LORD? Psalm 104:1–15 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fifteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our souls are to bless the LORD for His Creator-goodness to all His creatures and especially to us among them.  

In the previous Psalm, our souls blessed the LORD among those blessed hosts who will bless Him forever. Now in this Psalm, our souls bless the LORD among those needy creatures who have a mighty Creator.

God is glorious in Himself, Psalm 104:1-4. YHWH, our God, is very great (Psalm 104:1b). And how has He given to us to begin to conceive of His greatness? With things like light itself (Psalm 104:2a), the heavens (Psalm 104:2-3a), the clouds (verse 3b), and the wind (verse 3c). We see these, and we don’t see the greatness of God Himself; we see “clothes” that He has set out for us by which we can see an infinitely greater (but invisible) greatness. That’s His “clothing.” Then there are His servants, who are also invisible to us (Psalm 104:4a) and sometimes appear as flames of fire (verse 4b, cf. Isaiah 6:2). There is a similarity here to the display of Solomon’s greatness in 1 Kings 10:4–5. The Lord has made all this display to take our breath away with His glory!

God acted generously in the creation, Psalm 104:5-14. These verses praise especially the work of the first three days of creation, preparing where the creatures would live. An established earth, gathered seas, and grown plants were all expertly and lovingly designed for the good of His creatures. Even the creature’s neediness—the thirst of the donkeys (Psalm 104:11), vulnerability of birds (Psalm 104:12), and hunger of cattle and men (Psalm 104:14) are all part of the plan for the creature to enjoy the goodness of God’s design.

God acts graciously in providence, Psalm 104:15. Before the Psalm turns back to the creation in the portion that we hope to have next week, verse 15 focuses on what God does for man as His special creature. God made us capable of gladness so that He would gladden us (verse 15a). God made us capable of a blessed countenance, that images His blessing by His countenance, so that He would make our face shine (verse 15b). God made us capable of resolve, diligence, and courage, so that He would strengthen our heart (verse 15c). 

Later, He would make use of the common elements of bread and wine to communicate to us that Christ gives Himself immediately to us to be our strength and our gladness. So, He both makes creational provision for how these are affected by our bodies and spiritual provision directly to our souls. Thus, He has arranged His providence so that by responding to the provision of wine and oil and bread as means, we would glorify the God Who has made us in His image to enjoy Him.

Let us learn from this portion of the Psalm to reflect make us of God’s goodness to all His creatures  to stir our hearts up to praise—and especially things like wine, oil, and bread… every good provision of His providence, throughout every day, as opportunities to enjoy Him Who gave us to know Him.

What examples of the goodness and beauty of creation has the Lord especially presented you with? What good use are you making of things like wine, oil, and bread for the purpose of turning your heart to the Lord in joy and strength?

Sample prayer:  Oh YHWH, our God, You are very great! You are clothed with honor and majesty! You have made light itself, as if a garment to tell us Your greatness. You stretched out the heavens like a beautiful curtain to tell us the greatness of the One Who made this house and rules over it. Your perfect wisdom and love are on constant display in Your care for the creatures. But You have displayed that wisdom and love most of all to us. Just as You made wine to gladden the heart, be the gladness of our hearts in worship now. Just as You made oil to make our face shine, come now and be the brightness of Your people’s coutnenance. Just as You made bread to strengthen man’s heart, come now by Your Spirit, and grant that Your Son would be the true bread that strengthens our heart in this worship, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP104AB “Bless the LORD, My Soul” or TPH104B “My Soul, Bless the LORD”