Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 2)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 2) Romans 3:21-23 January 29, 2017 Sometimes things are just not as they seem. Three years ago a 100-year-old woman only known by her first name, Eisha, died in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, leaving behind an estate worth approximately $800,000. Her wealth included gold coins, jewels, and a real estate portfolio that […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 1)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 1) Romans 3:21-22 January 22, 2017 Martin Luther had a problem. Listen to his words: “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in my way but that one expression, ‘the justice (righteousness) of God,’ because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is […]

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: The Son of God Has Come

“The Son of God Has Come” Selected Scriptures from 1 John December 18, 2016 What gift are you going to give to that special person in your life? Five years ago Alan McCutchen ended his relationship with his girlfriend, Mary Jo Smith, and he thought the relationship was completely over. Not quite. Two weeks ago […]

Sermon: Behold the Lamb of God

“Behold the Lamb of God…” John 1:29 November 27, 2016 In one sense, the death of Christ is a simple truth understood even by the youngest child. I am a sinner and Jesus died for sinners so that we can get to Heaven and get God. In another sense, there are deep complexities to the […]

Sermon: In Everything Give Thanks?

“In Everything Give Thanks?” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 November 20, 2016 A few years ago the London Times reported about the many letters that are sent to God from around the world. Many of those letters end up at the post office in Jerusalem in the undeliverable mail department. “We have hundreds of thousands of letters […]

Sermon: Essential Actions After the Election, Pt 2

“Essential Actions After the Election” Pt. 2 2 Timothy 4 November 6, 2016 This Sunday we conclude the brief sermon series, “Election Essentials,” where we have considered a number of topics related to the coming election. During this series we have examined: The role and responsibility of government — what should governments do and what […]

Sermon: Essential Actions After the Election

“Essential Actions After the Election” Pt. 1 2 Timothy 3 October 30, 2016 I have done more than one fix-it project at my home where just past the point of no return something has happened that made me think, “Now what am I going to do???” Most of those happened with the water turned off […]

Sermon: The Essential Issue in the Election

“The Essential Issue in the Election” Daniel 4:17-35 October 23, 2016 My sermon title this morning is, “The Essential Issue in the Presidential Election.” Pull up an editorial or blog post about the election and you will have someone’s opinion about what the most critical issue in the election is. Opinions abound: The makeup of […]

Sermon: Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election, Pt 2

“Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election” Pt. 2 Selected Scriptures October 16, 2016 The Scriptures are unflinching in their willingness to speak about subjects that are difficult for us. The Bible speaks clearly and unashamedly about sex and sexuality (consider the Song of Solomon). The Bible is unafraid to address gender roles in marriage. (I […]

Sermon: Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election

“Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election” Selected Scriptures October 9, 2016 Wednesday afternoon I was flying home from the ACBC conference in Indianapolis. As I was going through security, the officer at the x-ray machine saw a newspaper with a headline about the previous night’s vice-presidential debate poking out of my computer bag. “Did you […]

Sermon: Behold the Man!

“Behold the Man!” John 19:1-5 October 2, 2016 Familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. It may not always breed contempt, but very often, it does produce apathy. We are familiar with someone or something so we no longer find the amazement and joy that we did when we were first introduced to that item or […]

Sermon: Essential Reminders About Our Responsibility to the Government

“Essential Reminders About Responding to Government” Romans 13:1-7 September 18, 2016 Last week we began talking about “Election Essentials” — understanding what the Bible has to say about politics, the church, and you. We began that series by thinking about the role of government and the authorities in government — what is the role of […]

Sermon: Essential Reminders About the Role of Government

“Essential Reminders About the Role of Government” Romans 13:1-7 September 11, 2016 Robert Wilson, in his book Character Above All seeks to answer one fundamental question: “What is the relationship between the President’s character and presidential leadership?” He asks the question because it is his observation that as a group, the American people “‘started out […]

Sermon: Accused and Condemned

“Accused and Condemned” Romans 3:19-20 August 28, 2016 A number of years ago singer Billy Joel talked about his spiritual life: “I wasn’t raised Catholic, but I used to go to Mass with my friends and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus-pocus. There’s a guy…nailed to a cross and […]