God RemembersZechariah — an OverviewSeptember 18, 2022 Several years ago, when the girls were in high school, I attended a conference in Washington D.C. Raye Jeanne and I thought it would be a great opportunity for a family trip, especially since we are a little bit nerdy and like things like historical sites and museums. […]
Read More Sermon: God RemembersWhen Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11), He was not teaching the disciples a new truth. He had previously — several times — identified Himself as the Shepherd of His people. Consider: Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. […]
Read More Our Good ShepherdJesus Christ — the Good ShepherdJohn 10:1-21September 11, 2022 A few years ago I was running some errands one afternoon when I noticed that one tire was almost completely flat. I slowly made my way to a tire store. There was a long line and wait (with mild irritation). Finally, I spoke to an employee: […]
Read More Sermon: The Good ShepherdLife in Seasons of LamentPsalm 119:153-160August 28, 2022 When we are in crisis, we don’t always think rightly or well. The disciples were no different. On one occasion, Jesus took the disciples on a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee — a body of water with which many of them were very familiar. Seemingly […]
Read More Sermon: Life in Seasons of LamentA few decades ago, a medical doctor wrote about some of the implications of being alone that he had observed: “Medical statistics on the loss of human companionship, the lack of love and human loneliness quickly reveal that the expression ‘broken heart’ is not just poetic image for loneliness and despair. It is an overwhelming […]
Read More Alone, but not aloneIn the New Testament, God tells us how to care for others in the church body. Frequently we find those instructions in conjunction with the word “brothers” — as in, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your […]
Read More Why love others?Love Still More1 John 4:7-11August 14, 2022 The number/letter combination A113 is seemingly everywhere in animated movies. It’s Andy’s mom’s license plate number in Toy Story; It’s a door number in Monsters University; It’s the courtroom number in Up; It’s the camera model number in Finding Nemo; It’s on a rat’s ear tag in Ratatouille; […]
Read More Sermon: Love Still MoreI’ve been told that I’m not always the best patient when I am sick. It seems that I whine a little much about my illness, perhaps even venturing into the category of complaint and discontentment. I do acknowledge that I have a propensity for not being patient with any sickness — I just want it […]
Read More How God comforts His peopleComfort Still More2 Corinthians 1:1-7August 7, 2022 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor and theologian in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. He not only was opposed to the doctrine of Naziism, but was one of only a few pastors to publicly oppose Hitler and his regime. His vocalism against Hitler propelled him into leadership of […]
Read More Sermon: Comfort Still MoreFixing Our Eyes on JesusHebrews 12:1-3July 31, 2022 In 1948, Dutch physicist Hessel de Vries began doing some research on the two daughters of a colorblind father and discovered that their eyes perceived colors differently from both their father and others with normal color perception. Our eyes perceive color through the cones in our eyes; […]
Read More Sermon: Fixing Our Eyes on JesusYesterday I wrote about ordinary people. In preparing to write, I rummaged through my files and found several helpful statements about being ordinary and how God uses us in our humility. Alas, I wasn’t able to work those quotations into the article. But they are helpful and worth reading. So here are a few things […]
Read More Ordinary PeopleSeveral years ago, as part of the release of a new pen, the Bic corporation developed a project called “The Universal Typeface Experiment.” The intent was for individuals around the globe provide handwriting samples for each letter of the alphabet and that those samples would be compiled by an algorithm into a single universal typeface. […]
Read More We are all ordinary and that’s the way God planned itVictorious FaithHebrews 11:32-40July 24, 2022 They have been called “The Most Crushing Losses in Sports History,” “The Hall of Flameout,” and “Snatching Defeat from the Hands of Victory.” They are sports events that are considered major failures, gaffs, and defeats. For years, ABC captured the sense of loss on Wide World of Sports with an […]
Read More Sermon: Victorious FaithWhat makes a man? That’s not an irrelevant question for a day in which gender is so widely misunderstood and misused. It’s also not irrelevant to ask in the wake of Father’s Day. While opinions of manhood, fatherhood, and gender abound, I have found the four qualities of mature manhood in Titus 2 to be […]
Read More Four Questions to Examine a Man’s CharacterLiving by Faith in Our Great GodHebrews 11:30-31June 19, 2022 In his book Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? Robert Wells exposes the size of the universe in understandable terms: The largest animal on earth is the blue whale.… But a blue whale isn’t anywhere near as big as a mountain. If […]
Read More Sermon: Living by Faith in Our Great God
