Author: joemarino (Page 4 of 47)

Psalm 50 | The Courtroom of the Righteous Judge

August 27, 2023 / joemarino

When I read Psalm 50, I imagine it as a courtroom drama. I do not know how many of us have ever stood in a courtroom in front of a judge for some crime we committed. But I am pretty sure we have all witnessed a courtroom drama on TV.

Psalm 45 | Anticipating the Wedding Day

July 22, 2023 / joemarino

Psalm 45 is a love song – according to the superscription which reads: “To the choirmaster: According to Lilies. A maskil of the Sons of Korah; A love song”. Think about what a good love song does for your heart.

Psalm 44 | Where is God When We Suffer

July 16, 2023 / joemarino

I remember meeting a young lady early on in my walk with the Lord. She had lived a very hard life far from the Lord but was beginning to show some early signs of interest in the things of the Lord.

Psalm 43 | Finding Hope in the Darkness

July 9, 2023 / joemarino

When was the last time you longed for or desired to be vindicated or declared innocent? When was the last time you longed for protection from something or someone? When was the last time you longed for full deliverance from something that was afflicting you? When was the last time you found yourself seeking shelter from all that is unholy in this world or all that is unholy within you?

Psalm 42 | Hope For The Conflicted Heart

July 2, 2023 / joemarino

The forty second Psalm is the song of a heart that is full of conflict. As you study this Psalm you may notice how our Psalmist wavers back and forth between high confessions of theological truth and sobering cries of depression, fear, and loneliness. His heart is conflicted within him.

Psalm 41 | What to Do When You Are Feeling Weak

June 25, 2023 / joemarino

Our Summer in the Psalms series is the series I look forward to the most every year. This will be the fifth year we have devoted our summer series to studying through the Psalms and I am anticipating it to be one of the richest times yet!

Acts 9:19 – 31 | The Making of a Minister

June 10, 2023 / joemarino

This passage outlines the early years of the making of the apostle Paul into a minister of the gospel.²In our previous text (Acts 9:1 – 19) we saw how God took a blood-thirsty terrorist and began turning him into a blood-bought evangelist when he encountered Jesus, the sovereign Savior of sinners, on the road to Damascus.

Acts 9:1 – 19 | A Chosen Instrument of Mine

May 28, 2023 / joemarino

The story of Saul’s conversion is probably one of the most startling and simultaneously encouraging stories in the entire Bible. It is startling because in this story, God executes his eternal plan of redemption in the life of a man who went from being a blood – thirsty terrorist to a blood – bought evangelist. The hunter and persecutor of early Christians became a radically transformed apostle of Jesus Christ as the Hound of Heaven (God himself) hunted this hunter down on the road to Damascus.²

Acts 8:1 – 25 | Scattered To Samaria

May 21, 2023 / joemarino

In this passage Luke records how the church gets scattered by persecution (vv. 1 – 3), how Philip proclaims the gospel in Samaria (vv. 4 – 8), how Simon the magician tries to buy the Spirit’s power (vv. 9 – 24), and how the apostles continue preaching the gospel throughout Samaria (v. 25).

Acts 6:8 – 7:60 | A Man Named Stephen

May 14, 2023 / joemarino

Before we dive into the story of the church’s first martyr, Stephen, I want to take a few moments to address last week’s text and sermon from Acts 6:1 – 7. Most preachers struggle with wondering if their sermons are faithful, effective, and helpful. I am not immune to those feelings or questions at all. I do not typically walk away from preaching a sermon feeling like Jesus is fist bumping me on the way out of the pulpit, but I do typically find some joy in preaching and some assurance that the Lord helps me to be faithful to his Word and his people.