Camden Bucey speaks with Harrison Perkins about Meeting God in His Means of Grace: How Word, Sacrament, and Prayer Help Us Encounter Christ. Perkins argues that the Christian life is fundamentally receptive: we do not invent our own paths to God, but meet him where he has promised to be present and active for the good of his people.The conversation explores the ordinary means of grace—Word, sacraments, and prayer—as Christ’s appointed instruments for strengthening faith, assuring believers, and shaping the churc...
Camden Bucey speaks with Harrison Perkins about Meeting God in His Means of Grace: How Word, Sacrament, and Prayer Help Us Encounter Christ. Perkins argues that the Christian life is fundamentally receptive: we do not invent our own paths to God, but meet him where he has promised to be present and active for the good of his people.
The conversation explores the ordinary means of grace—Word, sacraments, and prayer—as Christ’s appointed instruments for strengthening faith, assuring believers, and shaping the church’s worship. Perkins discusses the reading and preaching of Scripture, baptism as a covenantal sign, the Lord’s Supper as communion with Christ and a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb, prayer as a means Christ uses to sustain his people, and congregational worship as active participation before God rather than religious spectatorship.
Watch or learn more at reformedforum.org/ctc967.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:03 Meeting God in His Means of Grace
- 3:04 The ordinary things Christ gives his church
- 5:55 The Christian life as fundamentally receptive
- 7:46 Connection, experience, and the means of grace
- 12:54 The danger of treating faith as a mystical quest
- 16:39 Means of grace as God’s work for us
- 19:28 Christ at work through the reading and preaching of Scripture
- 30:54 Private Bible reading and communion with God
- 38:25 Grace as fellowship with God
- 42:04 Baptism as Christ’s appointed means
- 47:16 Baptism and the covenant community
- 50:59 The Lord’s Supper and Christ’s presence
- 51:30 Passover, the Lamb, and the Supper
- 54:51 A foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb
- 57:33 Prayer as a means of grace
- 1:00:15 Singing as prayer in public worship
- 1:03:59 Worshipers are not spectators
- 1:08:05 Resisting consumerism in worship
- 1:10:16 Closing thoughts and resources
Mentioned in this episode:
Join Us In Person: Four Upcoming Reformed Forum Events
Before today's episode, Camden Bucey shares four opportunities to gather with Reformed Forum in person over the coming months:
Apologetics and Evangelism Seminar — August 4–5, 2026, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Taylors, SC. Camden Bucey and Carlton Wynne lecture on apologetics and evangelism for the pastor at the GPTS Summer Seminar. Details: https://reformedforum.org/event/apologetics-and-evangelism-seminar-greenville-sc/
Discovering Christ in All of Scripture — August 28–29, 2026, Cahaba Park Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL. A Friday evening and Saturday morning seminar exploring how every part of Scripture reveals God's redemptive plan in Jesus Christ. Details: https://reformedforum.org/event/birmingham-alabama-seminar/
2026 Annual Theology Conference — September 25–26, 2026, Lakeland Church, Gurnee, IL. The Covenant of Grace: One Savior, One People, One Purpose, featuring Dr. G. K. Beale. Early-bird pricing ends August 31. Register: https://rf26.reformedforum.org/
Christ the Center 1000th Episode Celebration — February 19–20, 2027, Hilton Austin, Austin, TX. A live recording of episode 1,000, a shared dinner, and conversations with longtime friends of the ministry. Details: https://reformedforum.org/event/christ-the-center-1000th-episode-celebration/
Seats are limited — register today at https://reformedforum.org/events
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