“One Grateful Man” Luke 17:11-19 November 22, 2015 It’s one of my (several) favorite Peanuts cartoons: Linus is shown sitting at a table, pencil in hand. In the second panel the paper he was writing on is crumpled with his expected exclamation, “Rats!” In the third panel we see a trash can surrounded by numerous […]
Read More Sermon: One Grateful Man“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 6 Romans 1:28-32 November 15, 2015 How many times in the past few months have you observed something culturally and asked a question something like, “How can that possibly be…what are they/is he thinking?…” I said that when I read some of the opinions that were espoused by our Supreme […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 6“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 5 Romans 1:26-27 November 1, 2015 For many years I have been maintaining a filing system with articles and information on hundreds of different topics (it currently fills 27 file drawers in my office and a substantial portion of my hard drive on my computer). In one of those drawers […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 5“The Message of the Cross: Redemption” Ephesians 1:7-8 October 25, 2015 Sometimes communion feels like an afterthought to a worship service: “it’s our monthly duty and we just squeeze it into an already full morning of worship.” But because the work of Christ is central to our salvation, communion should never feel like an after […]
Read More Sermon: Redemption“The Bible and Homosexuality” Selected Scriptures October 18, 2015 Twenty-five years ago, my best friend from high school wrote me a letter. Finally on the bottom of page three, he finally said what I’m sure was the reason behind his writing. Let me read it to you: “I’m gay, Terry. I’ve been so my whole […]
Read More Sermon: The Bible and Homosexuality“The Bible and Sexuality” Selected Scriptures October 11, 2015 Years ago I preached a series of sermons on marriage and family issues. Near the end of the series, I preached a sermon on a biblical perspective of sexuality from 1 Corinthians 7. And I talked pretty plainly about the topic. When we got home from […]
Read More Sermon: The Bible and Sexuality“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 4 Romans 1:20-25 October 4, 2015 It has been said many different ways: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you want to dance you have to pay the fiddler. “We are free to choose our paths, but we can’t choose the consequences that come with […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 4“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 3 Romans 1:20-25 September 20, 2015 They have been called some of the world’s weirdest festivals. Consider: On the last Tuesday of January on St. Ninian’s Isle (Scotland) the local men dress in full Viking regalia, light torches, and go rampaging through town. Of course. (What else is there to […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 3“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 2 Romans 1:20-25 September 13, 2015 I believe it was about April of 1990 that I was first contacted by Grace Bible Church after I’d submitted my resume for consideration of the open pastoral position here. I responded to the nine questions they sent me and then waited for their […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 2“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 1 Romans 1:20-25 September 6, 2015 The day after Christmas in 1944, Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda was sent by his commander to Lubang Island in the Philippines with these orders: You are absolutely forbidden to die by your own hand. It may take three years, it may take five, but […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Revelation, Man’s Rejection, Part 1“God’s Wrath Revealed” Romans 1:18-19 August 30, 2015 It is clear that the world hates God. God’s morality is mocked. His truth is ignored. His commands are violated. Christ is scorned. What Jesus told his disciples in the first century is still true of both Him and us today — “If the world hates you, […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Wrath Revealed“The Wrath of God” Romans 1:18 August 23, 2015 It was spring of my sophomore year in college (in Jacksonville, FL) and I had a bad case of spring fever. A group of friends was headed to the beach on one particular day, and I had a dilemma — “beach or class?” Sand and surf […]
Read More Sermon: The Wrath of God“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 2) Romans 1:16-17 August 16, 2015 A few years ago an investment company produced a commercial advocating using their services to accumulate enough wealth for retirement — the commercial showed a couple sitting on a couch being bounced up and down from behind by their hosts in an attempt […]
Read More Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 2)“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 1) Romans 1:16-17 August 9, 2015 I have in my closet some important letters — Raye Jeanne wrote them to me when we were dating and not yet married. Over the 13 months that we dated before marriage I suppose I have 100 or more letters (hard copies — […]
Read More Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 1)“Caring for One Another: A Life of Service” (Part 2) Romans 1:11-15 August 2, 2015 A number of years ago, London resident Simon Thompson was trying to push his stalled BMW off a road in a London suburb when another driver called out, “Do you want a hand?” And then the car’s back doors flew […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Service (Pt. 2)
Words of Grace 