How To “Excel Still More”

Jesus said that the way for the world to know that we are followers of Him is to love one another (Jn. 13:34-35). A dominant theme of the “one anothers” in the New Testament was that the individual believers have a mutual love and care for one another (Rom. 12:10; 13:8; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 4:2; […]

Books we recommended last year

Every month, our church promotes a book of the month — a resource we believe will help our church body grow in Christ. Here is the list of books we recommended in 2020 (this morning we recommended Ken Sande’s book, Peacemaking for Families): December 2021 – Heart and Habits, by Greg Gifford October – November […]

Sermon: Excel Still More

Excel Still More1 Thessalonians 4:9-12January 2, 2022 I have been asked many times (most often by visitors), “What is your vision for the church?” I haven’t always known how to answer that question. Sometimes that question implies other things like, “How big do you see the church being in five years? Ten years?” “What […]

Take in the Bible in 2022

At the time of year when many of us are thinking about setting goals for 2022, the best thing we can plan is how we will take in the Bible so the Bible can, in turn, transform our lives. What will your Bible reading, meditating, and memorizing plan look like next year? It all starts […]

Introduction to the Christ-Child

We are familiar with the birth account of Jesus. It’s hard not to know the story — even Charlie Brown’s friend Linus understands the advent of Christ. But there are details to the story that are easy to overlook and miss. One of the fascinating components to the birth accounts is how Jesus is addressed […]

Sermon: The King’s Worshippers

The King’s WorshippersMatthew 2:1-12December 26, 2021 We are well familiar with the Christmas stories: the appearance of Gabriel to Zacharias and Elizabeth announcing the arrival of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ — and Zacharias’ unbelief and silence. the appearance of Gabriel to Mary announcing her pregnancy with the Messiah and her willing […]

The great King and ordinary people

In the genealogy of Jesus there are many names that are foundational to the nation of Israel and even to our own faith in Christ — names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, Solomon, Joseph, and Mary. But near the end of the list of names in Matthew, there are a series of people about […]

The King’s Humility

Below is the text from the message I gave last night at our Christmas Eve service. A few years ago I listened to Walter Isaacson’s masterful biography of Albert Einstein. I am not really scientifically inclined, but I thought the story would be interesting. It was — Einstein was a fascinating character. Along with the […]

Sermon: The King’s Arrival

The King’s ArrivalMatthew 1:18-25December 19, 2021 My parents and I were born in Canada (I got to Texas as quickly as I could, though); and I suppose it was the influence of being part of a British Colony that led my mom to always be more than a little intrigued by the British monarchy and […]

Sermon: The King’s Future

The King’s FutureMatthew 24:29-41December 12, 2021 On January 1, 2000, the Wall Street Journal looked back at some predictions that had been made over the previous 100 years about what life would look like in the year 2000. There were a few errors in judgment: In 1950, Popular Mechanics surmised: “The housewife of 2000 can […]

Sermon: The King’s Kingdom

The King’s KingdomMatthew 13:44-52December 5, 2021 In our political process, whenever there is an election voters want to know in advance, “If you are elected what will you do?” “What will life be like under your leadership?” We want to know if taxes will be raised, if there will be new liberties granted, or if […]

Sermon: The King’s Authority

The King’s AuthorityMatthew 9:1-8November 28, 2021 I have a friend who — right before he gives his opinion on what I should do — likes to say, “If I were king for the day…” I think he means that jokingly. I think. What would you do if you were king for the day? Poet Judith […]

“Whatever happens to us…”

“Whatever happens to us, let us always assure ourselves that we have good cause to praise our God, and that even if we are poor and miserable in this world, the happiness of heaven is enough to appease us, to sweeten all our afflictions and sorrows, and to give us such content that we may […]

The King’s care of His people

No matter how personally wealthy a king is, no earthly ruler provides for his people. Rather, every earthly king seeks provision from his people through taxation. Political rulers don’t give to their people; they take. [And by saying that, I am not suggesting that the “taking” through taxation is wrong — it isn’t, as Rom. […]

Sermon: The King’s Father

The King’s FatherMatthew 6:9-15November 14, 2021 King George VI ruled as king of England for about 15 years in the first half of the 20th century before he died in 1952 from coronary thrombosis. He was immensely popular, as was his wife, Queen Elizabeth. Yet as popular as she was, when George (“Bertie”) died, she […]