A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
When I sit back and read the deluge of thoughts and opinions online about what the church ought to be doing, I sense a noticeable lack of focus on the Gospel. In the many twitter rants that recur on a daily basis, there is a discernible deficiency with regard to Scripture and the Gospel. ...
It is the common lot of those God has called into gospel ministry to become discouraged on account of the challenges and trials that come from serving as a pastor. I can almost always sense when a brother is weighed down by the pressures, demands, and discouragements that come with serving as a pastor of a congregation, because I have known them throughout my own pastoral service. The apostle Paul intimated the challenges that pastors face in the church when he added to the external opposition he experienced from the unbelieving world the care that he had for the church. He wrote, "apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28). So what are ministers to do when they feel overwhelmed by the discouragements of ministry?...
We are meant to know that Jesus had to remain silent when he was judged so that we might have our mouths shut before the just tribunal of God. Then, having heard the sentence exacted against the spotless lamb of God, believers might open their mouths in praise to God for all the ways that He has removed their transgressions and the righteous condemnation that stood against us for Christ's sake. The silence of condemnation belonged to Jesus that praise for justification might be ours. ...
Sadly, many professing believers approach the gifts of the Spirit by overvaluing the idea of the miraculous spiritual gifts (e.g., tongues, prophecy, healing) and undervalue the common spiritual gifts (e.g., salvation and sanctifying fruit). Holding faulty views of the miraculous spiritual gifts is usually due to a failure to grasp the redemptive-historical purpose of the gifts. When we come to understand the biblical teaching about the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, we will better value the greater and continuing gifts in the life of the church today....
When each of the Old Covenant signs (i.e., the rainbow, Sabbath, circumcision, and the Passover) are viewed in light of the fulfillment of all that they typified, we come to understand a great deal about the work of Christ...
As we enter a new year with new personal goals and desires, the Lord wants His people to commit to Christian living among the members of the body. We must resist the urge to look to practices and programs in the local church to live out the Christian life or do the work of ministry for us. Our God has given us the enormous privilege and responsibility of diligently living out, daily, our Christian lives in Christ. Let’s commit ourselves to the practice of seeking to live the organic Christian life in the context of the local church to which we belong. ...
The reason why Mary sang a song of humility is because she was focusing on what God was doing to provide the Savior she needed. Mary had been waiting on God to fulfill the promises that He had made throughout the Old Testament era. Mary doesn't speak of herself or her privileges because Mary was focused on her need for redemption. ...
We rightly wonder of the coming of the eternal Son of God into the world in true human form while wrongly neglecting to wonder at the accompanying role of the Spirit of God in the ministry of the Redeemer....
In many of life’s circumstances, we struggle to understand how we will come to attain the promises of God, forgetting that their fulfillment is entirely based on the person and work of Christ. Jesus has secured an everlasting joy, an inheritance of hope for His people through His death and resurrection. Though we do not now see all that he has for us, we wait for him with patience. We are to be a people who trust in and wait for Christ in faith....
There is tendency to think we can only learn from the smartest, most gifted, most successful, and most popular Christians. We must be ready to learn from all kinds of people, from a variety of backgrounds (young and old, weak and strong, well known and obscure), because they fear the Lord. Consider a few of the people the Lord uses to teach us: Mary the Mother of Jesus (a ...
Keep ReadingThe audio and video from the Sunday morning service at New Covenant Presbyterian Church is now available online. The text was Acts 12:1-24 and the title, "He Sets the Prisoner Free." You can listen to the audio here. You can watch the video below: http://vimeo.com/14346903...
Keep ReadingIt is a glorious thing to be called of God to proclaim his gospel. Yes indeed! I am blessed to be able to serve my congregation as a teacher (in the OPC, a minister can serve as a pastor, teacher, or evangelist). I am able to teach, preach, serve on the session and sit at presbytery (and at the GA when appointed). I am also a PhD candidate chipping away at ...
Keep ReadingRecently we at the Christ the Center internet audio program over at Reformed Forum interviewed the Rev. Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn about his involvement in the Westminster Assembly project. The WAP is a boon to us for the historical and theological understanding of the WS. We look forward to the publication in the near future of the minutes of the assembly under Dr. Van...
Keep ReadingWhile there have been endless volumes written on the book of Revelation--and, it seems as many interpretations as there are books--the following are some of the ones I have profited from most. I would especially recommend the sermon series by Sinclair Ferguson, Eric Alexander and Brian Vos. B.B. Warfield's short article below is probably the most helpful three page pie...
Keep ReadingI, for one, am thankful to be a part of a denomination that has many godly and knowledgeable men who care deeply about important theological and social issues. Many times when an issue is raised in the evangelical world, one or another theologian is appealed to for conclusive answers. This can be helpful, but it lacks the collective wisdom of a unified body of biblical...
Keep ReadingThe most recent sermon audio and video from New Covenant Presbyterian Church is now available online. The text was Acts 11:19-12:2, and the title, "What's in a Name?" You can listen to the audio here. You can watch the video below: http://vimeo.com/14183248...
Keep ReadingActs 11:26 is one of those verses that can easily be read over without giving due consideration to its significance. There we find Luke making the point, almost in passing, that it was "at Antioch the disciples were first called Christians." This is the first time the title is used in the Scriptures, and it establishes for us the historical setting in which the nicknam...
Keep ReadingBack in February I recommended several volumes the deal with the theology of the Acts of the Apostles. That was at the beginning of a sermon series I started at New Covenant Presbyterian Church. Now that I am just about half way through I would like to expand that list and offer some further suggestions. I have provided links for each title, many of which link to Google Bo...
Keep ReadingOver at Christ the Center, we recently talked with Dr. Steve Lawson, senior pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, about his book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards. You can listen to the interview here. Dr. Lawson is the author of several books including Famine in the Land, Foundations of Grace, and The Expository Genius of John...
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