Sermon: The ABCs of Praising God

“The ABCs of Praising God” Psalm 145 April 26, 2015 One morning this week I was about to leave home for my office and I was thinking through my day and remembered that I had scheduled a meeting for later that afternoon and had forgotten to tell someone else whom I’d asked to be there […]

Sermon: The Sinning Believer and His Sin

“The Sinning Believer and His Sin” Psalm 130 April 12, 2015 Arthur Lampitt was driving his tan Ford Thunderbird to work one July morning in 1963 when he was involved in a car accident so bad that he was reported as dead on the local radio station. It had been raining and his car tires […]

Sermon: Fearing God – A Life of Blessing

Fearing God — A Life of Blessing Psalm 112 March 22, 2015 When I read Scripture, not only am I instructed by the words I read, but I often also have emotional responses to those words: Some words make me feel comforted and encouraged and hopeful and happy — like being wrapped up in a […]

Sermon: When the Well Runs Dry

When the Well Runs Dry Psalm 63 March 15, 2015 Many years ago — in what was probably one of the last great adventures my brother and I had before I got married — we went on a day hike in the Cleveland National Forest in CA. We didn’t make plans that were too extensive; […]

I confess

I confess I find confession hard. Don’t we all? There is nothing easy about admitting one is wrong. And compounding the difficulty of confession is the further requirement to ask for forgiveness from the one to whom we are confessing. And when we confess to the Lord, it additionally requires a desire to change — […]

Sermon: I Will Confess

I Will Confess Psalm 32 February 22, 2015 At least according to some researchers, a famous line from the 1970 film, “Love Story” really is true. In the movie, the character played by Ali MacGraw tells the character played by Ryan O’Neal, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” As a side note, it […]

Sermon: Joy Comes in the Morning

Joy Comes in the Morning: Giving Thanks After Discipline Psalm 30 February 15, 2015 Hebrews 12 contains the most well-known passage related to God’s spiritual discipline of His children (vv. 5-11). Did you notice all the things that the writer of Hebrews says about God and discipline in that passage? God will reprove His people […]

Sermon: One Thing to Ask God

One Thing to Ask God Psalm 27 February 8, 2015 In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes the birth of a giraffe: The first thing to emerge are the baby giraffe’s front hooves and head. A few minutes later the plucky newborn calf is hurled forth, falls ten feet, and lands on its […]

Sermon: Life with God

Life with God Psalm 15 February 1, 2015 History remembers Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan as a dashing Irishman who tickled America’s funny bone in the late 1930s, during the dark days of the Depression. He became a national folk hero, creating a household phrase still bestowed on those who do things the “wrong way.” Corrigan […]

New sermon series

Tomorrow morning at GBC we will begin a new sermon series that I’ve entitled, “Songs for the Heart” — a brief (2-month) series on a variety of Psalms. When individuals are discouraged, weary, perplexed, or sad and grieving, they often turn to the Psalms to have their hope, encouragement, and confidence in God restored. And […]

Sin is not liberating

Sin is not liberating. People will say it is liberating. Advertisers will attempt to convince you it is liberating. Those who engage in habitual sin will assert that Christians who follow the way of Christ are in bondage and enslavement. Sinners will smile, laugh, and appear joyful when engaging in sinful behavior, asserting that they […]

Sermon: What Will You Do with God’s Word?

What Will You Do with God’s Word? Psalm 119:41-48 January 11, 2015 In one of our early years of marriage, Raye Jeanne was trying to be creative with her cooking and trying to come up with some healthier options that tasted similar to some of our favorite meals. And so one night she put a […]

Sunday Leftovers: Teach Me, Lord

‪Martin Niemöller‬ was a pastor in Nazi Germany who interned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1938 to 1945 for so-called activities against the state. Following his release he revealed how the Bible sustained him during those years: What did this book mean to me during the long and weary years of solitary confinement […]

Sermon: “Teach Me, Lord”

“Teach Me, Lord:” A Prayer for God’s Word to Do Its Work Psalm 119:33-40 January 12, 2014 I have been using some kind of “read through the Bible in a year” plan for longer than I can remember. I’ve read through the Bible chronologically (like we’re doing this year); I’ve used the Navigator “Book-at-a-time” plan […]

The sinner’s pathway – redirected

Neither a farmer nor a rancher am I. Yet for at least two weeks during a couple summers of my youth, I became a “temp” farmer, working on my uncle’s dairy farm. It was a time not only for a “city-slicker” to be exposed to some life realities, but also a fun time with my […]