Theology / The Church

  • One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church by Kim Riddlebarger

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2004

    I hope this does not come as a shock, but the Christian church wasn’t founded by the Jesus People in the 1960s. Nor was the church founded by Billy Graham or even by Charles Finney a century earlier. The …Read More

  • Vital Members by John MacArthur

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    I have often spoken out against all the pragmatic and “seeker-sensitive” approaches to contemporary worship because they tend to diminish the proper place of preaching and replace it with quasi-spiritual forms of sheer entertainment (music, comedy, drama, and whatnot). Any …Read More

  • Training Pastors in Church by Albert Mohler

    FROM TABLETALK | February 2008

    The Bible consistently affirms education as a central responsibility of God’s people. In the Old Testament, the Jewish people were reminded that the education of their own children was an essential part of their responsibility as God’s covenant …Read More

  • One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church by William Webster

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2004

    From its earliest days, the Church of Jesus Christ has been described as “catholic.” The first usage of the term appears in writings known as the Apostolic Fathers in the early to mid-second century (Ignatius of Antioch, Smyrneans 8.9 …Read More

  • The Marks of the Church by Mark Dever

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2008

    Is a small group Bible study a church? Is the Roman Catholic Church a church? Many people are confused today about what a church is. How do you know if what calls itself a church is indeed a church? Christians …Read More

  • Character Qualifications by Terry Johnson

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2009

    The composition of the typical Presbyterian session is familiar enough. Professionals, prosperous businessmen, and community leaders predominate. Some are devout, some less so. Most were chosen, truth be known, because of their prominence in endeavors outside the realm of the …Read More

  • The Pastor-Scholar by Philip Ryken

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2009

    As far as John Calvin was concerned, almost nothing was more urgent for the church than the reformation of pastoral ministry. For centuries, most ministers had been shockingly ignorant of the Scriptures and thus ill-equipped to preach the gospel. As …Read More

  • Pluralistic Worship by Terry Johnson

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2008

    During the Reformation era, debates raged over what things must be considered crucial to Christian faith and practice, and what could be considered adiaphora (Latin for “things indifferent”). All sides agreed that the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, and …Read More

  • The Church is One by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | June 2012

    In the seventeenth chapter of his gospel, the Apostle John recounts the most extensive prayer that is recorded in the New Testament. It is a prayer of intercession by Jesus for His disciples and for all who would believe through …Read More

  • The Public Reading by Terry Johnson

    FROM TABLETALK | July 2009

    “Until I come,” says the apostle Paul, knowing that his death is imminent, seizing, perhaps, the opportunity to give direction to the church for the centuries ahead, “give attention” (NASB), or “devote yourself” (NIV), “to the public reading of Scripture …Read More

  • In Season an Out of Season by Albert Mohler

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    Observers of American church life have noted a striking phenomenon — the high levels of lay involvement in evangelical churches. Against the backdrop of decline and membership losses in the more liberal denominations, trends related to attendance, giving, and active participation …Read More

  • Laying Down Our Lives by R.C. Sproul Jr.

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2005

    The laity are on the move … and they’re moving to Bristol. I serve as a pastor at Saint Peter Presbyterian Church in Bristol. We have all manner of quirks and oddities, some matters of conviction, others unexpected fruit of …Read More

  • The Undoing of Babel by Derek Thomas

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2006

    “Man’s nature,” Calvin wrote in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, “is a perpetual factory of idols” (1.11.8). Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the Babel episode (Gen. 11:1–9). Babylon becomes in time …Read More

  • A Solemn Discharge of Duty by Tom Ascol

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2009

    One of the most popular sermons I have preached is entitled “How to Fire Your Pastor.” I should have been suspicious when so many people requested copies of it! My purpose wasn’t to advocate such action; rather, I wanted …Read More

  • The Prevailing Church (pt. 2) by Simon Kistemaker

    FROM TABLETALK | January 2009

    As we saw in last month’s installment of “Pro Ecclesia,” privileges and duties go together. In making disciples, Jesus commanded they be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …Read More