Faith & Code | Reflections by Errong

One of the things I sometimes struggle with when reading the Bible is feeling a little lost. It can feel like the first day of school. You open the textbook, look at the material, and wonder, “Where do I start? What is this really about?” Some parts of the Bible are especially difficult. We read the prophets, or some of Paul’s letters, and we know there is something important there, but we are not always sure how everything fits together. This sermon reminded me of a simple but very important truth: The Bible is about Jesus Christ. Lord’s Day 6 asks who the mediator is who is both truly God and truly righteous man. The answer is our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to bear the burden of God’s wrath in His human nature and, through His divine nature, to accomplish what we could never accomplish ourselves. That is the gospel revealed throughout Scripture. From the beginning, God promised a Saviour. The sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ. The prophets spoke...

  This Sunday’s sermon from Proverbs 8 gave me a helpful way to think about wisdom, learning, and how we live in God’s world. The sermon’s main theme was simple: To get wisdom, you must go to the school of Christ. When we think of wisdom, we often think about being intelligent or having a lot of knowledge. But biblical wisdom is more practical. Wisdom is the skill of living rightly in God’s world. We may know many things, but knowing how to live faithfully before God is something we need to learn. Proverbs reminds us that we are not naturally wise. We need instruction. We need someone to teach us. The sermon described two “schools” presented in Proverbs: the school of Wisdom and the school of Folly. Every day, we are being taught by something. The question is: Who are we listening to? Who is shaping our minds, desires, and decisions? What especially stood out to me was the connection between Wisdom and Christ. The New Testament tells us that Christ is the wisdom of God. In Him are...

One illustration from this sermon stayed with me: the difference between a pilot and a paratrooper . When we travel by airplane, passengers can easily become anxious. We sit in our small seats, looking out the window, wondering what is happening. Is the flight delayed? Will the weather affect us? Why is there turbulence? But the pilot has a different perspective. He knows much more about what is happening. He can see the bigger picture and has information that the passengers do not have. The Apostle Paul also had this kind of perspective. Earlier in Colossians 1, he reminds us of the greatness of Jesus Christ. Christ is before all things. All things were created through Him and for Him. In Him all things hold together. Christ is Lord over everything. Paul also understood the reality of this fallen world. He knew that human beings were once "alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds" (Colossians 1:21). He was not surprised by sin, suffering, rejection, or opposition. ...

This Sunday, I was reminded again of Jesus' Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30. The parable takes place as Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure and for His eventual return. The message is clear: Jesus is coming back. We do not know exactly when. Therefore, we must be ready. But this parable also teaches us something very practical: How should we live while we wait? The answer is found in the Master's words to His faithful servants: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Everything We Have Belongs to the Master In the parable, a master goes on a journey and entrusts his property to his servants. One receives five talents, another two, and another one. A talent was a very large amount of money. Even the servant who received only one talent received something extremely valuable. This is important. Sometimes we look at other people and think: They are more gifted than I am. They have more opportunities. They can do more for God's kingdom. Perhaps that is tru...

  Paid in Full: When Our Debt Could Never Be Paid There are some moments in life when justice and mercy seem to stand on opposite sides of the courtroom. In 1780, George Washington faced one of those moments. During the American War of Independence, a young British officer named John André was captured behind American lines. He had been wearing civilian clothes and carrying maps and other incriminating documents. He was guilty, and Washington had the responsibility of signing his death warrant. It was a painful responsibility. Washington reportedly carried out his duty with great reluctance. Justice demanded a sentence, even though he took no pleasure in carrying it out. That story gives us a small glimpse into the problem we face before God. The Problem: We Are Guilty The Heidelberg Catechism begins its section on deliverance by asking how we can be delivered from God's just judgment. That question is important because we often think about salvation in terms of the things Jesus sa...

  When God Doesn't Change Your Circumstances: Trusting the Hands That Hold You There are times when we pray because we want God to change our circumstances. We want the difficult situation to end. We want the problem to disappear. We want the uncertainty to become clear. We want God to make everything better. But what if sometimes God's answer is not to immediately change what is happening around us? What if His work is to change us within the circumstances ? Psalm 138 gives us a beautiful picture of this kind of faith. At the heart of the psalm is a simple but powerful confidence: God will not let go of the work He has begun. The Hands of God The sermon begins with a beautiful image: God's hands. We often think of strong hands as hands that build, protect, or carry heavy things. But the sermon invites us to imagine God's great and strong hands gently holding us. Those hands created us. Those hands brought us into life. Those hands continue to shape us. And those same ...