A Goal for the New Year

As you think about personal goals for 2023, here is an old goal from an old writing that will work well in the New Year —

Sermon: Excel Still More – Marriage

Excelling Still More: Marriage1 Peter 3:1-7February 13, 2022 The couple that stands before their friends and family and in front of the preacher in a gleaming white dress and an immaculate tux, with flutters in their hearts and beaming smiles on their faces (and maybe tears in their eyes) can never imagine the time when […]

Sermon: Excel Still More – Evangelism

Excelling Still More: EvangelismColossians 4:2-6February 6, 2022 Randy Newman introduces his book Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well by writing this: When I informed a friend I was writing a book on witnessing to family, he told me he had the perfect chapter titles: Chapter […]

Sermon: Excel Still More – Prayer

Excelling Still More: Prayer for One AnotherEphesians 1:15-19January 30, 2022 I am going to go out on a limb and make a generalization that I believe applies to all people. No one is satisfied with his prayer life. None of us will say, “I pray enough; I am content that God always gets my best […]

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 […]

Sermon: The “Foolish” Gospel

The “Foolish” Gospel 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 December 30, 2018 Tuesday is New Year’s Day. So perhaps you, like many of us, will spend some time in the next couple of days doing some self-evaluation — where have you done well physically, financially, relationally, and spiritually this year? Where have you not done so well? And […]

Sermon: Prayer and the Gospel

“Prayer and the Gospel” Ephesians 6:18-20 January 7, 2018 One of my annual goals is to read at least one book each year on evangelism. So this week I read Rico Tice’s book, Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus When It’s Tough. In his introduction he writes: I find evangelism hard. The problem with […]

Reading your Bible in 2018

The spiritual life is not complicated. It can be difficult, but it’s not complicated. Growth in the spiritual life and development in Christlikeness happens as we take in God’s Word and then apply that Word. And taking in God’s Word begins with reading it, then studying it, meditating on it, memorizing it, and finally applying […]

Life’s Questions and God’s Word

“Life’s Questions and God’s Word” Psalm 119:81-88 December 31, 2017 It’s hard to think about Americans being persecuted for their faith for two reasons: While our country was founded largely for a pursuit of religious freedom, that very pursuit of religious freedom has largely kept believers from being persecuted for our faith since that time. […]

Sermon: God’s Good Word in the School of Affliction

“God’s Good Word in the School of Affliction” Psalm 119:65-72 January 1, 2017 Every year for the past five or six years, on the first Sunday of January I have preached a sermon from Psalm 119 to encourage us to read and meditate on and memorize Scripture in the coming year. And I had planned […]

Sermon: Pray for One Another

“Pray for One Another” Ephesians 3:14-21 January 3, 2016 In my freshman year in college, I began to grow significantly in my spiritual life. One part of that growth was that I began attending a Wednesday evening Bible study — and part of that study was a prayer time with other men in the church […]

Sermon: Pray in this way

Pray in This Way Matthew 6:9-15 January 18, 2015 At the beginning of a new year, we often engage in self-evaluation — Perhaps you have an annual physical like I did this week. You may evaluate the state of your marriage and home — “how are the children or grandchildren doing and how effective are […]

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 […]

Setting goals?

The beginning of January is typically a time when people set new goals for the coming year. And generally they are akin to some kind of self-improvement project: lose weight, save some amount of money, spend more time with family, get spiritual, and meet an achievement at work or school. If you are among those […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: You may have made a resolution this week about your Bible reading for this year. Here is some good counsel for “How to read the whole Bible in 2014” (including a variety of Bible reading plans) by Justin Taylor. I’ve also posted several plans for our church here. […]