The Family of God

Series: Water & Blood

Church and MinistryVirtues

The Family of God

38 min

Series: Water & Blood

Church and MinistryVirtues

The Family of God

38 min

Do today’s Christians focus a little too much on the family? According to Jesus, natural family relationships can actually get in the way of true discipleship, teaching that whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me (Mt 10:37). On this program Michael Horton, Jeff Mallinson, and Sam Allberry unpack this issue and make the argument that our ultimate loyalty is to Christ and his family, and that the waters of baptism are thicker than the blood of kith and kin.

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Jeff Mallinson (D.Phil., Oxford) is Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Concordia University, Irvine. He is a popular speaker, podcaster, and writer. His specialty is the history of ideas, especially as they shed light on the ways in which religious and philosophical ideas can both emancipate and enslave individuals. In addition to several scholarly book chapters and articles, he is the author of Sexy: The Quest for Erotic Virtue in Perplexing Times (ViW Books, 2017), (ViW Books, 2017), Faith, Reason, and Revelation in Theodore Beza (Oxford University Press, 2003), and associate editor of The Encyclopedia of Luther and the Reformation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017).

Michael Horton (Ph.D., Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Coventry University) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California and Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Sola Media.

Sam Allberry is a pastor, regular conference speaker, global speaker for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, editor for the Gospel Coalition, and visiting professor at Cedarville University.

Series • 6 Episodes

Water & Blood

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White Horse Inn

The Ministry & Marks of the Church

The world regularly fragments us into various constituent groups where we are divided by age, ethnicity, music preference, or political affiliation. Unfortunately, many of our churches reflect those same divisions. But according to Scripture, the church is new kind of society that has been called out from every tribe, language, people, and nation to worship […]

White Horse Inn

The Church & the Kingdom of God

According to Scot McKnight, there is a great deal of emphasis today on social activism, outreach to the poor, and various kinds of programs which people refer to as “kingdom work.” But if you try to get support for evangelism or the ordinary work of the local church, there doesn’t appear to be a lot […]

White Horse Inn

Members of the Body of Christ

Should the church attempt to engage the culture in relevant ways, or does this strategy end up continuing to divide us by worldly preferences and priorities that are opposed to the gospel? What does it mean to be a member of a healthy church and, additionally, what does it mean to be a healthy church […]

White Horse Inn

Consumerism, Pragmatism & the Triumph of the Therapeutic

Many churches in our day attempt to make their services relevant and entertaining in order to attract people in the marketplace of competing options. The focus often centers on practical lessons designed to help us cope with life’s problems. But what are the historic roots of this particular approach to ministry? Michael Horton discusses these […]

White Horse Inn

The Embassy of Grace

What is the primary role of the church? Some today argue that its primary task is to participate with God in the redemption and reconciliation of the world through the means of either right wing or left wing social activism. But in 2 Cor 5:19-20, Paul teaches that God has reconciled us to himself by […]

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Church and Ministry

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Vocation: God Doesn’t Need Your Good Works, but Your Neighbor Does

Scott Keith from ‪1517.org‬ joins Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb to discuss how churches can recover high views of preaching and the sacraments, as well as robust views and practices around vocation.

5 Signs Your Church Might Be Too Seeker-Sensitive

Is it wrong for a church to be seeker sensitive? Pastor Adriel Sanchez expounds on the differences between seeker-sensitive and seeker-driven churches, and why ordering our services to be palatable for certain demographics is a way of domesticating the worship of God.

A Presbyterian and Lutheran on What Most Christians Miss About Church

A Presbyterian and Lutheran on What Most Christians Miss About Church

Episode 1582 | According to Pew Research, only 51% of self-identified Christians attend church regularly. Pastor Adriel Sanchez is joined by Caleb Keith from ‪1517 where they both argue that this crisis is not primarily cultural, but theological. Most Christians are simply unaware what the church actually is, what happens there, and why nothing else can replace it.

A mother and daughter sitting together in a church pew.

When Mother’s Day Misfires

I’ve rolled into church many a Mother’s Day morning with a heavy heart and deflated expectations. There were years of singleness, and then miscarriage, when I felt invisible in the pew, wondering if I would ever wear the title of “mother” myself. Then came holidays where I felt steamrolled by the demands of raising babies […]

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