Consider Death

Consider death. Think about, contemplate, and ponder on the reality of death. That’s Solomon’s counsel: It is better to go to a house of mourningThan to go to a house of feasting,Because that is the end of every man,And the living takes it to heart.…The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,While […]

The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 2

The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 2Luke 4:38-44December 22, 2024 I suppose Elizabeth was a couple of months old the first time she got sick. I don’t remember all the particulars, but I do remember it was something respiratory and she was struggling to breathe. One night she was especially uncomfortable and was […]

The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 1

The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 1Luke 4:31-37December 15, 2024 Authority. Authority is a word that can bring comfort when we are under wise and benevolent leaders. And it is a word that can provoke us to be fearful when we are under foolish, ungracious, and harsh authoritarians. Yet we all live […]

The First Reactions to the Son of Man

The First Reactions to the Son of ManLuke 4:22-30December 8, 2024 First impressions are not always accurate impressions. And first evaluations are not always true. I have experienced those truisms many times in my life, but one of the first times was when I was about seven years old. Mom and Dad were going […]

The Father’s Mission for the Son of Man

The Father’s Mission for the Son of ManLuke 4:14-21November 17, 2024 On Monday, April 2, 1739, John Wesley began preaching open-air evangelistic sermons at Kingswood Bristol. That decision and event was the start of a revival in England that the country had never seen before (or since). Wesley later wrote this in his diary about […]

God is a Missionary God

Israel was called to do missions and the church does missions because God does missions. We love missions because God loves missions. We sacrifice in giving and going and we go to risky places because God sacrificed and gave and went to a “risky” place (Jn. 1:10-11). We long to see sinners saved by the […]

Be Steadfast in the Gospel

Be Steadfast in the Gospel1 Timothy 3:14-16February 25, 2024 After his death, a documentary entitled Won’t You Be My Neighbor? chronicled the life of seemingly everyone’s neighbor, Mr. Rogers. In the film, Rogers’ wife, Joanne reveals a question he asked her shortly before his death: “Am I a sheep?” As he approached his last moments […]

Sermon: Why the Gospel?

Why Evangelism?Colossians 2January 29, 2023 All Steve wanted to do was clean his fish tank. He had no idea of the problems that would create for him. Here’s a report of the incident: [He] was trying to get rid of a colony of zoanthids — a relative of corals and sea anemones — that was […]

One more…

I have seen the headlines of the shooting in Uvalde yesterday. I have not read the stories. I started to read one article. But I closed the web page. My heart couldn’t take it. I started to cry. “Lord…Lord…how many more? How much longer until You return and make all things right?” I have not […]

Praying for Ukraine

Note: This article was updated on March 3, from its original post on February 25. I have been graced to be able to take several trips overseas to teach the Scriptures: Cambodia, Germany, Uganda, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Dubai. When the opportunity to travel and teach is given, my first response is to ask my […]

The Gospel in a few words

“…to believe the gospel is not only to accept the awesome truths that 1) God is holy, 2) we are hopeless sinners, 3) Christ died and rose again for sinners, and 4) this great salvation is enjoyed by faith in Christ-but believing the gospel is also to treasure Jesus Christ as your unsearchable riches. What […]

Sermon: Because of God’s Mercy

Because of God’s Mercy… Romans 12:1 August 30, 2020 A few weeks ago, Americans received an unexpected COVID-gift from the United States government. And the topic quickly became, “what are you going to do with your money?” Some paid bills. Some paid down debt. Some made purchases for which they had been saving. Some gave […]

Sermon: Transforming Truths of the Gospel

Transforming Truths of the Gospel Romans 1-11 August 23, 2020 “The world is broken.” That is what Raye Jeanne said to me Wednesday evening as we sat on our porch and recounted our day and the people we had interacted with and the world circumstances we’d observed. I’m not talking about COVID, though that is […]

Sermon: Failure and Faithfulness

Failure and Faithfulness Romans 11:11-16 June 28, 2020 The past four months of COVID-19 and unrighteous killings and riots have led to many questions, and few answers. Many questions have not just been asked about our political leaders, but also about God. All the questions about God might be summarized by three questions asked by […]

What the world needs now

I was going to say it Sunday, but I forgot. I had thought of it while on a run last week, but I didn’t have a pen and paper handy at that moment, and then forgot to write it down later. So when I wrote last Sunday’s sermon, it didn’t get included. When we think […]