This article is a Bible study on Matthew 4:5-7. 

How was the Immanuel prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 fulfilled? Come read about the beauty of "God with us" and the path of fulfilment God followed to reach that day.

This article is a Bible study on Matthew 1:22–23. 

This article is a Bible study on Isaiah 7:14.

This article is a Bible study on 2 Samuel 23:1-7. 

This article is a Bible study on Genesis 13:5-13 and Genesis 13:18.

This article is a Bible study on Genesis 12:6-8.

This article is a Bible study on Genesis 12:1.

This article is a Bible study on Genesis 11:1-9.

This article is a Bible study on Genesis 3:22–24.

True Christian living insists that the believer’s life should be such that God’s Word may not be blasphemed — meaning believers must live in sincerity, holiness and integrity so that their conduct does not cause the gospel or God’s name to be dishonored. When life, speech, and behavior reflect the truth and holiness of God’s Word, the church bears witness to the gospel rather than giving cause for reproach or disbelief.

The article explains that although God destined Israel to become a “kingdom of priests” and live amidst His people, when He descended upon Mount Sinai no one—priest or layperson—was permitted to ascend the mountain on their own, for the Lord is so great and holy that to attempt self-climb leads to death.

The article outlines how “diaconal” ministry (diakonia) centers on service, charity, mercy, and justice — not as an optional add-on, but as intrinsic to the church’s calling. It argues that true diaconal ministry flows naturally out of the proclamation of God’s Word and the gospel, so that mercy, justice, healing, help and love become visible expressions of Christian faith.

The article explains that under the covenant of grace the two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were instituted by Christ as visible signs and seals of God’s promises to his people. It describes baptism as the once-for-all rite of initiation by which one is grafted into the covenant, and the Lord’s Supper as the ongoing feast of remembrance through which believers proclaim Christ’s death and look forward to his return.

Servitude and likeness to Christ belong together, as connection with Christ leads to servanthood while practising service in love deepens that communion through perseverance, sharing in Christ’s suffering, and discovering anew what God’s costly hospitality means. Experiences like Christmas meals in the church show how service strengthens community, makes God’s love tangible, fosters amazement and joy, and shapes us into Christ’s mentality and disposition as we join him in reaching others with God’s love.

In the article “God’s Word in human tongue,” the author argues that although the Bible must remain God’s unchanging Word today, many people no longer link the Scriptures with God’s Word and have come to view them merely as human writings shaped by modern biblical scholarship. He warns that this shift reflects a deeper crisis: the real issue is not textual criticism but the erosion of belief in God’s mighty works and miracles, which the Scriptures proclaim.

God’s protection under the “tent” of faith means not a guarantee that believers will escape all suffering or death — but a promise that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High may trust His protection in trouble. The call is not to presume safety as a magical shield, but to rest in the Lord as refuge, finding peace that transcends outward calamity or plague.

True preaching, for Hermann Friedrich Kohlbrugge, must come from the heart — not simply as doctrine spelled out, but as the living Word of God addressing conscience and life. He believed the Word’s power is “unto salvation,” so sermons should comfort mourners, revive faith, and bring sinners into deeper communion with Christ. Preaching should not be a cold intellectual exercise, but a heart-directed proclamation that brings the burdened soul to rest in God’s promises and grace.

Experiential preaching within the context of the Dutch Second Reformation (or “Further Reformation”) seeks to bring the truths of the Word into the believer’s heart and life, stressing not just doctrine but how the triune God works savingly in sinners — especially regarding guilt, grace, sanctification, and gratitude. It urges that faith and sanctification be lived out in everyday life, so that genuine holiness and personal transformation follow doctrinal truth.

Experiential preaching shows how the Triune God works savingly in sinners, especially bringing together a poor sinner and a rich Christ so that the truths of sin and grace become a felt reality in the heart and life. It draws believers (and sinners) into heartfelt communion with God in Christ by moving from the objective truths of Scripture to the subjective life of faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.

For John Calvin, preaching is always “scriptural”: the Word of God itself is alive and powerful, so true preaching never needs an added “experiential supplement.” What later preachers term “experiential preaching” — stressing inner feelings, personal spiritual experience, the believer’s guilt, grace, assurance or comfort — is for Calvin not a separate kind of sermon but implicitly contained in faithful exposition of Scripture and God’s promises.

The article argues that Martin Luther’s preaching was not “experiential” in the sense later associated with Pietism — his index of sermons lacks terms like “experientiality,” “experience of faith,” or “experiential preaching.” Rather, when “experience” appears at all in his preaching it always refers to fides — faith — so that the “experientiality” in his sermons is really just the believer’s experienced faith, not a broader mystical or introspective experience.

Experiential knowledge in the Bible raises a controversial theme, since some groups claim that preaching is poor and does not build up the congregation if it is not experiential, while others object that experiential insight supplements the Word of God and places human experience in the centre. The article seeks clarity by exploring spiritual experience as inward, in-the-soul awareness of communion with God, showing that spiritual experience is the experiential side of faith and that there is no true faith without this experience.

When the gospel is faithfully proclaimed and hearts are converted, the work of Christian Study Library explains that planting a church means more than building a new congregation — it means establishing a new community of believers united under the Word, baptism, and the sacraments, where the gospel is preached, heard, and lived out. It’s a God-ordained means for fulfilling the mission of the church, reaching new people and new places with the good news.

Being patient means trusting God’s timing and relying on the Holy Spirit so we endure hardships, delays, or trials without giving in to anger or despair. True biblical patience is not passive waiting, but steadfast endurance — persevering under burdens and maintaining faith amid adversity until God’s promises come to fruition.

Being “sealed with the Holy Spirit” means that when a believer hears the gospel and trusts in Christ, God marks them as His own — giving the Spirit as a seal of ownership, authenticity and belonging. The Spirit serves as a guarantee (or earnest) of the believer’s inheritance, assuring that redemption and full possession of that inheritance will come when Christ returns. This sealing signifies a present, lasting security in Christ, marking believers as God’s redeemed people and assuring their future glory.

Being filled with the Spirit calls believers away from drunkenness to the control and influence of the Holy Spirit, so that their life is governed by the Spirit rather than by fleshly impulses. It means living under the Spirit’s power, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, worshipping God in heart-felt thankfulness and mutual encouragement, and walking in submission to Christ.

Though the article draws on Hebrews 5:8, it shows that Jesus Christ — though He was God’s Son — learned obedience through what He suffered, meaning He fully experienced for Himself the cost and weight of submission to the Father even amid suffering. His suffering and submission, including agony, tears, and the cross, are not signs of weakness but the path through which His obedience was perfected and He became the source of eternal salvation.

True gratitude to God’s Word means bowing before it in humble reverence — receiving Scripture with thankful hearts, and letting it shape our lives in worship, obedience, and thankfulness. Believers are called not only to hear the Word, but to honour, cherish and obey it, so that gratitude becomes a lifestyle rooted in God’s truth.

This article is a discussion of Belgic Confession Article 37.

The centrality of the sermon in worship often impacts how we view and deal with the other liturgical elements, such as the Scripture readings, songs, and prayers. This article will discuss the place of the Scripture readings in the liturgy. It explains historical practices like the lectio continua, and calls for a renewed appreciation of the reading of various parts of Scripture, from both the Old and New Testament, in worship.

This article looks at the theme of being a Christian in the everyday practice of life in the workplace.

I think that one of the reasons many have difficulty feeling real joy is that we have too little awareness that the joy within the church has its own style. It is a different way of being joyful. 

The Reformation was born out of Luther’s famous question, “How am I righteous before God?” It is the question of a believer in desperate need of God’s mercy. But is it also the question of people in the twenty-first century? 

Mourning is a process that takes place in many ways and in each case it is influenced and determined by different factors. Read this article to learn more about the process of mourning.

What is the relationship between our church services and our daily life? How is our daily life addressed in the worship service? What is the connection between the service of the Lord in the liturgy and our overall service of God to which we are called by virtue of the covenant with him?