Sermon: No Condemnation! (Pt 1)

No Condemnation! (Pt. 1) Romans 8:1-4 August 19, 2018 In my closet I have a bag of letters. Most people would not be interested in those letters. They are cards and notes that have been kept in that bag for over thirty years. But they are a treasure to me. They are the correspondence Raye […]

I’m thankful

Several years ago I got up in the middle of one night and fainted in the bathroom, knocking a few tiles off our shower wall where my head hit and putting a gash in my head in the process. (Yes — insert joke/comment here about my head being harder than ceramic tile!) Then about 2-1/2 […]

Sermon: The Believer and Sin (Pt 3)

The Believer and Sin (Pt. 3) Romans 7:14-25 August 5, 2018 As I have told my wife (though she already knew), I am impatient. I want things done quickly. I want a 24-hour virus to go away in six hours. I want one-day dry cleaning done in four hours and one-hour dry-cleaning in 15 minutes. […]

It’s a fight

In his book Comrades, Stephen Ambrose writes this about warfare: Combat requires all the nerves, all the physical attributes, every bit of the training. It is only in combat, nowhere else, where time is measured in other ways than by clocks or calendars. Only in combat does the soldier realize that he is in the […]

“I’m no good”

Too many times I have made the statement, “I’m no good,” or “I’m no good at…” And too many times I have heard others make similar statements. Very often, these (and other) self-deprecating comments are actually solicitations of affirmation or a veiled desire for compliments (“Oh, Terry, you’re really good at…” or “You’re not like […]

Sermon: The Believer and Sin (Pt 2)

The Believer and Sin (Pt. 2) Romans 7:14-25 July 29, 2018 In August, 2011, Danya and Troy Donovan closed up their home of 13 years in Littleton, CO and traveled to Indiana to seek work. They winterized their home, anticipating they would be gone through the winter, and planned to return in the spring. In […]

Be a hater

Having teens and now twenty-something daughters has helped me keep up with contemporary slang terms (kind of). One of the phrases that I learned from them a few years ago was, “don’t be a hater.” As I understand the phrase, it means something like, “don’t be jealous of me because of what I am/have,” or […]

Sermon: The Believer and Sin (Pt 1)

The Believer and Sin (Pt. 1) Romans 7:14-25 July 22, 2018 For years, the bumper sticker and slogan, “Visualize World Peace” has been both affirmed and mocked. And while people want peace, war is a reality of the world in which we live. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that historians have compiled […]

God is Faithful

A few evenings ago, my doorbell rang and it wasn’t a neighborhood child selling band candy. It was a young man selling a service that he was convinced I needed. It is a service that I purchase monthly from another company. But he promised that his company would be more reliable. At less than half […]

Sermon: The Eternally Faithful Word of God

The Eternally Faithful Word of God Psalm 119:89-96 July 15, 2018 We are now six months into the New Year. The New Year is not so new anymore. It’s not even a teenager. It’s hit the doldrums of the middle age years. In case you haven’t noticed, we are closer to next Christmas than last […]

Counsel the Word Podcast

Our church and counseling ministry launched The Center for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship — a counseling resource website — several months ago. On that website you will find many resources to biblical counseling: audio from our conferences, blog posts, and resources on a vast number of topics (look at the list). And this week we […]

Sermon: Go to the Nations, Pt 3

Go to the Nations: Our Responsibilities in Missions 3 John June 24, 2018 It has been suggested that Acts is the best manual for missions that the church has. We learn a tremendous amount about missions by reading Acts. But many of the principles of missions we glean in Acts are also present in 3 […]

Sermon: Go to the Nations, Pt 2

Go to the Nations: Priorities and Responsibilities in Missions Selected Scriptures June 17, 2018 When I was in college I got a job working for a lumber supply company. I worked in the showroom selling things like plumbing and electrical parts, cabinets, and paint. To say that I was ignorant about the building business when […]

What is missions?

“What is missions?” seems a simple question to answer. But it is not. Because so many are now using missions with a variety of emphases — the social gospel as missions, social justice as missions, outreach as missions, and missional ministry — we want to articulate what we mean by missions. When we use the […]

Sermon: Go to the Nations

Go to the Nations: the What and Why of Missions Selected Scriptures June 10, 2018 I started studying for this sermon series almost 13 years ago. A man who was involved in a kind of mission ministry that we already were a part of in a part of the world where we were already supporting […]