Nick Batzig

"Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The death of Christ removes all obstacles out of the way of God's mercy: such were the bars hindering our access to God as nothing but the death of Christ could remove, and thereby open a way for believers to come to God." – John Flavel

Today marks one year since my father went to be with Christ. My heart has hurt the past year in ways I’ve never experienced before. But, I hold on to the hope of being with dad for all eternity in the presence of the Lamb of God. While this video was hard to watch this morning, I am so very thankful that Nan and I could sing hymns over dad in his final days. I am eternally grateful for the father the Lord gave me.

I wrote this article several years ago. It is already somewhat dated with regard to biomedical advancements. Nevertheless, bioethics remains one of the most significant fields for theological scholarship. We need to adopt a Christian theistic approach to bioethics. tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2023/1…

"Discipleship occurs primarily through the ministry of the means of grace—namely, the Word, prayer, the sacraments, and discipline—in the context of the gathered worshiping assembly of God’s people." learn.ligonier.org/articles/churc… @Ligonier

"Our Lord Jesus so offered Himself of His own will as a sacrifice to make reparation for all our iniquities by His obedience and He was willing to be condemned to wipe them out. That is why it is said that 'He did not answer at all' the accusations that were raised against Him. He had enough wherewith to answer, but He was silent, as is also mentioned [in Isaiah 53]. That was not only to show his patience, but in order to acquire for us liberty to be able today to glory in being righteous and innocent before God (indeed, notwithstanding that our conscience accuses us and condemns us), knowing that God has received us in mercy, and that all our faults are abolished by the perfection which was found in our Lord Jesus Christ." – John Calvin

“Let us draw near, and with the eye of faith. . .and behold the face of Him, who is fairer than the children of men, crimsoned with blood; see His sacred head bowed in agony amid the shouts of derision, and the cries of, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' Let us look steadily and earnestly on our suffering Savior, until He becomes unspeakably precious to our souls; until His love is abundantly shed abroad in our hearts; until in the blissful light of heaven we behold Him in the midst of the throne, as the Lamb that was slain, and join in the unending song of the church triumphant- a song sweeter than angels sing- 'All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us!' — F.W. Krummacher

New audio and video of a sermon preached at Church Creek PCA in Charleston, SC: “Sanctified Exiles (Part 3)” (1 Peter 2:13-3:7) church-creek.org/sermons/sermon…

“Jesus Christ has never refused the worst of sinners who are willing to receive him, to believe in him, to rest upon him for happiness and blessedness. Why should you be more cruel and unmerciful to your own souls than Christ is? Christ has not excluded you from mercy, why should you exclude your own souls from mercy? Dwell often upon that choice Scripture (John 6:37): 'Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.' Or as the original has it, 'I will not, no never cast out.'” — Thomas Brooks

"Everyone needs a priest. No one can approach God without a mediator. It is for this reason that the High Priesthood of Jesus Christ is one of the most glorious truths in all of God’s revelation in Scripture. Christ’s role as the High Priest of believers has a far-reaching impact on our Christian lives and experiences." tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/why-we-n… @Ligonier @Tabletalk

"They that think they know the gospel well enough betray their ignorance. No man can be too evangelical [i.e., rooted in the gospel]. It will take all his life-time to get a legal temper destroyed." – Ralph Erskine

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." – C.S. Lewis

What a great commencement speech.

“The Gospel works anywhere. No matter what kind of society we may live in, the gospel can work there. The amazing thing is that one of the ways in which it works and becomes visible to non-Christians is this: that they see this dignity that Jesus Christ has produced, this freedom from bondage to self that enables us to treat others with Christ-like respect.” – Sinclair Ferguson

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither.” – C.S. Lewis

Tomorrow morning at 10:55 AM, at Church Creek PCA in Charleston, SC, we will continue in our series on 1 Peter with a sermon on 1 Peter 2:11–3:9, “Sanctified Exiles (Part 3).” If you’re in the area, we’d love to have you worship with us. church-creek.org

"Every human being is, from the very constitution of his nature, of far more importance and dignity, than a whole universe of inanimate matter, or even of irrational animated beings. . . . . .The want of this feeling has contributed, in no limited degree, to the production and permanence of some of the greatest social evils which prevail in the world. Had man had reverence for man, slavery with all its horrors could never have existed. Every feeling like honoring our common nature must be extinct, before man can make property of his brother, can treat him as if he was not a person at all, but a thing, a portion of his goods and chattel." – John Brown of Edinburgh archive.org/details/exposi… The same goes for abortion, human trafficking, etc.

In the new heavens and new earth, there will be no more weeping (Isaiah 25:8; 65:19; Rev. 21:4), sickness, sin (Isaiah 33:24), sorrow, sighing (Isaiah 35:10), and—most significantly—death (Hosea 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:54; Rev. 214). The Lord has secured this for His people for all eternity, by the death and resurrection of Christ.

New audio and video of a sermon preached at Church Creek PCA in Charleston, SC: “Sanctified Exiles (Part 2)“ (1 Peter 1:22–2:10) church-creek.org/sermons/sermon…