Today is a day for thankfulness

Today is a day for thankfulness. Every day is a day for thankfulness. Every circumstance is a time for thankfulness. That’s not my opinion. My (personal and fleshly) opinion is that most days are for grumbling, complaining, disputing, and arguing. I do not naturally gravitate to thankfulness. I naturally move towards ingratitude and discontentment. But […]

Sermon: Thanking God for the Past…

Thanking God for the Past; Trusting God for the Future Philippians 1:3-11 June 14, 2020 Sometimes it is hard to give thanks for the circumstances and people of our past. That’s not just true in the past three months, but it’s also true of life in general — illness, unexpected deaths, financial hardship (poverty), broken […]

Sermon: A Prayer for One Another

A Prayer for One Another Philippians 1:9-11 January 5, 2020 One of the questions that the elders have been wrestling with (that you will hear more about in our state of the church meeting) is “how do we continue to shepherd well a growing church in a way that honors the Lord?” There are things […]

What Christ gained through His incarnation

What follows is a manuscript of my message at this morning’s Christmas worship service. What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received? When I was a child, it was a table game called, “Pro Draft.” It was a 1974 game that simulated being a general manager of a pro football team and it came with […]

Learning to obey the command to rejoice

Paul’s command to “rejoice always” in Philippians 4:4 seems a little unreasonable. We naturally think that joy is something that happens to us, not something that we control. And even if we acknowledge that rejoicing is something that we can do and a command that we can obey, we naturally assume that certain circumstances are […]

Sermon: Rejoice Always

“Rejoice Always” Philippians 4:4-7 November 29, 2015 Tuesday afternoon I went to get a haircut. And while I was in the chair, the discussion inevitably turned to Thanksgiving and the meal ahead. “What kind of trimmings are you having with your turkey?” I asked. “Mom asked if I wanted pecan or chocolate pie…I told her, […]

What’s on your mind?

Since it is true that there are certain things that should occupy our thoughts, it is also true that there are certain things that should have no place in our minds:

What do you think?

It’s a simple question. It will often be spoken at a car lot as a decision is about to be made. And a young man will ask his friend this question about the girl he is interested in taking on a first date. And a child will ask this of her mother as she wonders […]

To know God

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10; NASB) We live in the age of information explosion. More information has been generated in the last three decades than in the previous 5,000 years. Over 4,000 books are published every […]

The Word of life

I’ve been sick on a pretty regular basis — I’ve gotten a hold of the same “bug” too many times. I have been known to have a good case of the “not-so-holy grumbles.” Have you ever had them? At the time, it seems to feel good to grumble about: hot (or cold, depending on where […]

Be heavenly minded

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21; NASB). Jonathan Edwards was a man who longed for heaven. In one sermon he said, “Labor to obtain such a disposition that you may choose heaven for your inheritance and home, and may earnestly long for it and be willing to […]

Reading Philippians

In today’s Bible reading, we read the book of Philippians — a favored book of many because it is one of Paul’s most personal and intimate letters and strikes a strong note of encouragement to rejoice in Christ. Of note, joy is not only encouraged, but it is even something that is commanded — a […]