If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then the universe we live in was created primarily with marital romance in mind. The heavens and the earth were created for the marriage of Adam and Eve. The new heavens and the new earth will be created for the marriage of Christ and his bride. The whole of cosmic reality exists as the venue for …

Christian singleness is a testimony to the supreme sufficiency of Christ for all things, testifying that through Christ life is fully blessed, even without marriage and children. It prophetically points to reality greater than the satisfaction of the present age by consciously anticipating the Christian’s eternal inheritance and the kingdom of God.…

Genesis affirms a balance of sameness and difference between the sexes. This is a delicate balance that is difficult, but necessary, to maintain. Most theories of gender lose this balance, veering into extremes of uniformity (men and women are interchangeable) or polarity (men are from Mars, women are from Venus). Both extremes lose the fruitful te…

The Lord puts a special honour upon baptism, and it would be ill for us to neglect that which he so evidently esteems. Do not make any mistake, and imagine that immersion in water can wash away sin; but do remember that if the Lord puts this outward profession side by side with the washing away of sins it is not a trifling matter. — C. H. Spurgeon …

The Father is pleased with us because we are united to His Son. United to Christ, the Father loves us as He loves His Son and accepts us completely and unreservedly. — Michael Barrett Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

The central basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us. — Tim Keller Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

The gospel is a glorious declaration of the mighty acts of God when he invaded this earth in the person of his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. — John Blanchard Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

We are to consider, that though Christ is greatly exalted, yet he is exalted, not as a private person for himself only, but as his people's head; he is exalted in their name, and upon their account, as the first fruits, and as representing the whole harvest. He is not exalted that he may be at a greater distance from them, but that they may be exal…

Unbelief is the root of evil and the essence of evil. All our sinning grows out of unbelief in the living God and what He has said to us in Scripture. — John Piper Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

“The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say they all lived happily ever after. . …

Only at the cross can Jesus be rightly known, not simply as a great moral teacher or as the most noble person who ever lived; nor only as a miracle worker or as an answer to this or that pressing question of the world. At the cross Jesus is revealed as the suffering Son of God, whose rejection, suffering and death reveal the triumph of God. Only at…

God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits an…

Wimpy worldviews make wimpy Christians. And wimpy Christians won’t survive the days ahead. — John Piper Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

A believing sight of God's glorious majesty should affect us all with Godly fear. — Matthew Henry Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

When earth-bound men want symbols of power they conjure up mighty beasts and birds of prey. Russia elevates the bear, Britain the lion, France the tiger, the United States the spread eagle – all of them ravenous. It is only the Kingdom of Heaven that would dare to use as its symbol of might, not the Lion for which John was looking, but the helpless…

The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is not inadequate technique, insufficient organization, or antiquated music; and those who want to squander the church’s resources bandaging these scratches will do nothing to stanch the flow of blood that is spilling from its true wounds. The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today …

Adversity has slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand. — Thomas Brooks Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

There is no peace like the peace of those whose minds are possessed with full assurance that they have known God, and God has known them, and that this relationship guarantees God’s favor to them in life, through death and on forever. — J. I. Packer Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com

The central basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us. — Tim Keller Order of Worship • Kids' Guide PermalinkBy www.ebcupstate.com