Caleb Drahosh \\ Our pursuit of sound doctrinal understanding is meant to lead to doxology. Knowing God is the grounds of our boasting as Christians. As we grow in our understanding of the Scriptures we worship God individually and congregationally by going further up and further in.Af Buffalo City Church

Caleb Drahosh \\ When the truth of the gospel is proclaimed, God works in the heart of the individual, bringing that one from death to life which results in faith and repentance. By faith these ones are declared righteous and their sin is removed. They are joined to Christ, receiving the adoption as sons and progressively growing in practical Chris…

Caleb Drahosh \\ From eternity past God planned to redeem a people for His possession. That plan is fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the righteousness of God who God put forward as an atoning sacrifice for sins, justifying the ungodly while maintaining His perfect justice. In this way, Jesus accomplishes redemption for all the Father gives …

Caleb Drahosh \\ The crowning act of God's creative work is the creation of man. God created male and female and placed His image upon them. He charged them to be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion over all the created order. Nothing else in creation bears God's image. But sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam and the image of G…

Caleb Drahosh \\ All theology is meant to lead to doxology. Knowing God is the grounds of our boasting as Christians. God is the Creator of everyone and everything and He freely makes Himself known in and to His creation. Humanity bears the image of God and is invited into relationship with God who reveals Himself through His Word.…

Blaze Culliton \\ The Psalmist provides a template for worship of a Holy God by telling them to praise the Lord and give thanks for His steadfast love and to remember His mercy. Recounted through the history of Israel, we see the mercy of the Lord for a people who forgot His works and did not wait for His counsel. Despite their forgetfulness, God r…

Caleb Drahosh \\ The Psalmist tells God's people to give thanks to, sing to, glory in, seek, and remember the works of the LORD. Why? Because the LORD remembers His covenant forever. As an example, God remembered His covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He sent Joseph to Egypt to preserve His people in famine, and sent Moses to bring them out of …

Caleb Drahosh \\ Paul planned to go to Corinth but postponed his visit because God had opened a wide door for effective work in Ephesus. Many were hearing the gospel in Ephesus and the harvest was coming in. But there were those that would disrupt the work, and Paul labored to protect the gospel fruit. God has charged Buffalo City Church with minis…

Caleb Drahosh \\ Psalm 104 is a lengthier Psalm, outlining the act of creation according to the days God made each element. And at the end, the Psalmist prescribes rest for the individual, mirroring God's rest on the seventh day. The rest is shown to be an act of worship as his people rejoice in the works of the LORD. This Sabbath rest is made for …

John Baumgartner \\ Grumbling is one of the most prevalent sins among God's own people. We forget what He's done for us and so we begin to grumble like Israel did so many times before us. Psalm 103 is the solution to our bad memories. We are to tell ourselves all that God has done for us, in detail. Grumbling dies away before the grateful heart tha…

Caleb Drahosh \\ The Psalmist pours out his complaint before the LORD. In his distress he approaches God and lets his plight be known. But the Psalm doesn't end there. The Psalmist is reminded that the LORD is enthroned forever. He resolves to let his complaint be heard, and treats it with truth, for the sake of future generations. Even as we suffe…

Caleb Drahosh \\ To whom should the people look for an example of how to live before the face of God? The King. David knew this was the king's role and so he made resolutions to walk in integrity of heart on the blameless way. Jesus Christ is King and exemplifies David's resolutions perfectly. Jesus sits on David's throne as King forever.…

John Baumgartner \\ What's wrong with the world? Mankind does not honor God or give Him thanks. This Psalm is an antidote to that thanklessness. Learn from the Psalmist how to thank God with a whole heart for all His kindness to us.Af Buffalo City Church

Caleb Drahosh // As redemptive history unfolds, the free gift of salvation is offered to all peoples. This Psalm works backwards, indicating that the Lord will be exalted over all the peoples, that His justice and righteousness is at work in Israel, and that His hand was upon them in the past. This is all due to His holiness, which punctuates the P…

Kalen Heller \\ All of creation is to sing a new song to the LORD for He has worked salvation for His people. The Lord shows his steadfast love and faithfulness through His deliverance of Israel, which is done in the sight of the nations. God has delivered for His people in the past, is delivering for them in the present, and will deliver for them …

Caleb Drahosh \\ The foundation of the throne of the LORD is righteousness and justice. When He issues His judgments, nothing in creation can stand. The wicked are put to shame, but the righteous rejoice and worship in reverence and awe, expressing gratitude that they receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken.…

John Baumgartner \\ David pitched a tent for God's worship on Mount Zion. He saw the blessings of God flow out from this worship tent. All the nations will be blessed through the true worship of God. David calls not just the people but every single thing that exists in all creation to the blessing that is found in true worship.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ The Psalmist invites God's people to worship Him recognizing both His heavenly might and His gentle leading. But there is also a warning: God's people must not faithlessly wonder if God is with them. Instead, God's people are to respond by trusting His Word. Jesus came offering the bread of life and living water and unbelieving hea…

Blaze Culliton \\ The Sabbath Song of Psalm 94 acknowledges the sin of the world through a call to God for vengeance. Creator God is almighty and His discipline is a promise that He will not forsake His people. Through Jesus Christ, the Lord is doing and will finish the righteous work of the end of sin and death.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ The Lord is dressed for action and there is no corner of creation where His strength diminishes in potency. The mightiest of earthly forces rage, but the Lord stands undisputed above them. When Jesus Christ came into the world, the waves and wind heard His voice and they knew it as belonging to the King sung of in Psalm 93.…

John Baumgartner \\ It is good to give thanks to the Lord. What separates the righteous from the wicked? The righteous want to praise God for His goodness. The wicked cannot see any reason to. The wicked cannot see how God works, but the righteous know that all things come from God's gracious hand. The righteous know how to sing for joy.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ Moses composed Psalm 90 to teach Israel how to pray while they wandered in the wilderness and it's so good, it gets a retelling in Psalm 91. That which threatens God's people will not touch them when they make the Lord their dwelling place. All of God's resources are deployed for the protection of His people.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ When God speaks, things happen. Back at the beginning of this section in Isaiah God spoke comfort to His people. Now He reminds them of the effectiveness of His Word; they will be comforted. God's Word does not return empty; it brings about a perfect yield of joy and peace.Af Buffalo City Church

Caleb Drahosh \\ God's people have looked for satisfaction in all the wrong places. And now God calls them to take action. The satisfaction He provides isn't theoretical. It's as practical as eating and drinking, listening and looking, seeking and finding. The food is free and the finding is easy to all who come to Christ by faith.…

John Baumgartner \\ Following the last servant song in Isaiah, the Lord reveals just what His servant has accomplished for His people by His suffering. The Lord proclaims that it is now time for His people to rejoice because He will give them increase and security. They will fill the whole earth with the worship of their God, and He will build them…

Caleb Drahosh \\ The wisdom of God is wiser than men and in God's wisdom He chose to send a substitute, despised by men, to bear the grief, sorrow, transgressions, iniquities, chastisement, wounds, oppression, affliction, judgment, and anguish of His people in order to make many to be accounted righteous. Kings promote the good and punish the evil,…

Caleb Drahosh \\ God's strength does not fail, it does not run out. Will His strength fail when He sets out to deliver, redeem, and comfort His people? God commands His people to put on His strength and to rejoice because their deliverance is near. God is preparing to bring them out of their captivity back to their home.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ Israel abandoned their God in their sin and their sin became the reason they were carried off into exile; they preferred their sin over God. But God did not put them away. God comes for His people by sending His servant who would deliver Israel through His suffering. Jesus Christ is the suffering servant sent by God to deliver God’…

Blaze Culliton \\ In the second servant song of Isaiah, the Lord reveals attributes of His Chosen Servant Jesus Christ. The Chosen Servant will be made as a light for the nations that His salvation may reach to the end of the earth and comfort & compassion for His people. While the response of God’s people is unbelief and questioning, His response …

Caleb Drahosh \\ God's unwavering commitment to His people, despite their waywardness, serves as proof that He is the true God. God is gracious and patient toward His children for the sake of His name. He is the true God because His actions aren't contingent on human action, they are aimed at His glory and that always results in the good of His peo…

Caleb Drahosh \\ As the gospel made its way to the ends of the earth, Paul writes to Timothy, who is pastoring in Ephesus, about the correct approach to implementing a deacon ministry. He tells him to look for individuals who are exemplary servants, but even more than that, who model godly character and doctrinal fidelity.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ As the gospel took hold and the church in Jerusalem continued to grow, a challenge presented itself. The newly-converted Gentiles made it known that the widows weren't being properly taken care of. The Apostles knew that the charge given to them was to focus on the word and prayer. And so they had the Gentiles choose seven qualifie…

Philip Reeves \\ The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not reactionary events to the deceitful plots of men. Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates that God is in perfect control over everything that leads to Jesus’ crucifixion. Those who have placed their faith in Christ can trust that God’s redemptive purposes cannot and will not fail.…

Caleb Drahosh \\ In the garden, sin opened the door to death. Death spread to all men. Death ruled unopposed. Death swallowed up everyone, but Christ swallowed up death according to the promise in Isaiah. The undefeated was defeated. In these things, Jesus brings His people out of darkness and neutralizes their greatest enemy. All who are in Christ…

John Baumgartner \\ God's people in exile are going to be tempted to believe that the gods of Babylon–Bel, Nebo, and others–are mightier than the Lord. The Lord reminds His people that unlike the idols of the nations that must be carried about by their worshippers, He has carried them like a father. Just as He carried them out of slavery and put Eg…

Kalen Heller \\ The people of God don’t simply need things patched up, they need a complete overhaul. Their exile has left them in desperate straits. But God is in control of their situation and He will, even through the most unexpected means, bring them into abundant life.Af Buffalo City Church

Caleb Drahosh \\ Isaiah goes into detail on how idols are made; he takes us inside of the idol factory and inside the heads of those who worship them. The absurdity of the whole situation is that the same wood that a man uses to kindle a fire to cook over, he also fashions into an idol and worships. God's good gifts are given to us not for us to wo…

Caleb Drahosh \\ God's people grew tired of God. They ignored His Word in weariness, claiming to be burdened, all while it was Israel who burdened God with their sins. But God is merciful and blots out the sin of His people. He extends the grace needed to return to worship that flows from the heart instead of the rote pacification of an impersonal …

Caleb Drahosh \\ The people of God grow insensitive to God's purposes for them and resist His discipline. But God is rich in mercy. He graciously intervenes on behalf of His people, paying a great price and going to great lengths to accomplish the redemption of His wayward people.Af Buffalo City Church

Blaze Culliton \\ In lieu of the foretelling of sending His chosen servant, the Lord through the prophet Isaiah commands His people to sing to the Lord a new song, lift up their voice, sing for joy and declare His praise. The Lord will redeem His people, stopping at nothing to destroy sin and death and restore them - for He does not forsake His peo…

Caleb Drahosh \\ God turns the attention away from the cheap substitute of idolatry and toward His plan. Here He introduces His servant. But this isn't one who will rise to prominence through political and military conquest like Cyrus. Instead the Lord's servant will come gently, not trampling on rulers as on mortar, but tending to the bruised reed…

Caleb Drahosh \\ God tells the idols to speak, to make a case. He tells them to speak about the future. But they can't. God pursues His people with simple reason: there is no substitute for Him. Nothing or no one can speak in the way that He speaks; nothing or no one can do the things that He does.Af Buffalo City Church

John Baumgartner \\ God continues to lift up valleys and bring down mountains. He contends with the nations to bring down their pride, and He comforts His people to lift them up again from their humiliation. God promises His humble people that He will use them for this work. God miraculously refreshes His people as they wait for Him to accomplish H…

Caleb Drahosh \\ After clearing away the obstacles that stand in the way of His people seeing Him clearly, God challenges the comparisons that His people rebelliously make. Nations and nature and idols cannot compare to God. And for His people who are wondering where He is, God reminds them that He didn't get tired or fail to understand their situa…

Caleb Drahosh \\ By disciplining His people through exile, God removes obstacles for His people to behold their God. He levels out all earthly positions and highlights the fallibility and fickleness of men. God’s Word endures forever and we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; Christ alone is our confidence. Those who behold their G…

Caleb Drahosh \\ In Isaiah 40-55, Israel has been carried off to exile in Babylon. They broke covenant with the Lord and God used the hand of their enemies to bring discipline upon them. But now that Jerusalem had been emptied, God speaks comfort to His people. True and lasting comfort can only come from God; peace and security may be temporarily l…

John Baumgartner \\ In the Tenth Commandment, God tells us not to covet anything that is our neighbor’s. This means we cannot look at anything another person has and wish it were ours instead of theirs. Covetousness is not a small sin that can be taken lightly. God has given us this commandment, as well as the others, to teach us our need for forgi…

Caleb Drahosh \\ Jesus, along with His disciples and His mother, attend a wedding in Cana. When the wine ran out at the wedding, Jesus used the opportunity to express that the Messiah had arrived by turning water into wine. The master of the feast exclaimed, “You have kept the good wine until now.” In this way, Jesus revealed His glory; He is the r…

Caleb Drahosh \\ Jesus, along with His disciples and a large crowd, came upon a funeral. Jesus had compassion on the widow who lost her only son. Jesus spoke to the man, telling him to arise, and the dead man was restored to life. The crowd exclaimed better than they knew, "God has visited his people!"…

John Baumgartner \\ Early in Jesus’ ministry, a leper came to Him to be cleansed. Lepers were social outcasts. The disease prevented them from coming to God in His Temple. But when this leper came to Jesus, he was nearer to God than the Temple ever was. Jesus is compassionate to come and heal all sinners like this leper. Come to Jesus.…