Enslaved To…?: Obedience in Light of God’s Grace (Pt. 3) Romans 6:15-19 March 18, 2018 One of the sad verses of the Bible is 2 Timothy 4:10 — “…Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” Like Lot who moved to Sodom and his wife who yearningly looked back at […]
Read More Sermon: Enslaved to…? (Pt 3)Enslaved To…?: Obedience in Light of God’s Grace (Pt. 2) Romans 6:15-19 March 11, 2018 One of the great lessons in life is learning appropriate submission to authorities over us. And we must not only submit to (in attitude), but also obey (in action) those who have authority over us. Children must obey parents: “Children, […]
Read More Sermon: Enslaved to…? (Pt 2)Enslaved To…?: Obedience in Light of God’s Grace (Pt. 1) Romans 6:15-19 March 4, 2018 When the word “slavery” is spoken, it inevitably produces a sense of shame, regret, and sorrow. We don’t have to have been slaves or slave owners to feel the pain that is in that word. And we are hardly the […]
Read More Sermon: Enslaved to…? (Pt 1)“Since Grace is Grace…” Pt. 5 Romans 6:12-14 February 25, 2018 In his book Comrades, historian Stephen Ambrose writes about the nature of war: Combat requires all the nerves, all the physical attributes, every bit of the training. It is only in combat, nowhere else, where time is measured in other ways than by clocks […]
Read More Sermon: Since grace is grace (Pt 5)“Since Grace is Grace…” Pt. 4 Romans 6:8-11 February 4, 2018 In her book, How Did I Get to Be Forty and Other Atrocities, Judith Viorst recounts her “Self-Improvement Program:” I’ve finished six pillows in Needlepoint, And I’m reading Jane Austen and Kant, And I’m up to the pork with black beans in Advanced Chinese […]
Read More Sermon: Since grace is grace (Pt 4)“Since Grace is Grace…” Pt. 3 Romans 6:6-7 January 28, 2018 In his tremendously helpful book, The Enemy Within, Kris Lundgaard writes this in the opening chapter, “Evil at My Elbow:” All I wanted to do was surprise my wife. Since we had moved into our new house almost a year ago, the refrigerator door […]
Read More Sermon: Since grace is grace (Pt 3)“Since Grace is Grace…” Pt. 2 Romans 6:3-5 January 21, 2018 Yesterday our family went to the Fort Worth Stock Show. We attempt to do that at least one day every year and yesterday was our day. Where we park, we always start with the animal barns. Though we didn’t do it completely yesterday, we […]
Read More Sermon: Since grace is grace (Pt 2)The enticement to sin often seems like a good idea. The consequences appear to be minimal and the pleasure appears to be maximum. And there is always the lavishness of God’s forgiving grace, should one decide that the sin really wasn’t a good idea. So goes the temptation for even many believers. I have heard […]
Read More Why licentiousness is a bad idea“Since Grace is Grace…” Pt. 1 Romans 6:1-2 January 14, 2018 Two years ago, the former director of Exodus International, a ministry designed to help people struggling with Same-Sex Attraction from a biblical perspective, said this about his understanding about sin: I think, as Christians, sin is irrelevant. I look at what Jesus did on […]
Read More Sermon: Since grace is grace (Pt 1)“A Tale of Two Men, and the Supremacy of Christ” Pt. 4 Romans 5:18-21 October 15, 2017 There is a notion among unbelievers that Christians and the Bible don’t understand real life — that we live sheltered lives away from harsh realities and burdens. You don’t have to read far in the Bible to see […]
Read More Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 4)“A Tale of Two Men, and the Supremacy of Christ” Pt. 3 Romans 5:15-17 October 1, 2017 I suppose that I was 10 or 11 when my 4- or 5-year-old brother introduced me to the following lyrics: One of these things is not like the others One of these things just doesn’t belong Can you […]
Read More Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 3)Every sin is worthy of the infinite wrath of God. The appropriate, rightly deserved consequence of all sin (and every sin) is God’s judgment and condemnation (Rom. 6:23). Every sin is worthy of God’s wrath because every sin is an affront to the glory of God and fails to achieve the glory of God (Rom. […]
Read More Some sins are worse than others“A Tale of Two Men, and the Long History of Sin” Pt. 2 Romans 5:13-14 September 17, 2017 How long? Don’t you wonder sometimes how long it will take to get something completed? How long will it take to finish the road work on 377 through Benbrook? How many more years can a nine-month pregnancy […]
Read More Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 2)Martin Luther’s consciousness of his sin is well-chronicled. While he was serving in a Roman Catholic monastery he at times would feel confident of his self-righteousness that claimed, “I have done nothing wrong today.” And then almost as quickly he would become plagued with questions like, “Have you fasted enough? Are you poor enough?” His […]
Read More And then came death“A Tale of Two Men, and the Sad Story of Sin’s Origin” Pt. 1 Romans 5:12 September 10, 2017 If you read the news most days, you will find many stories that are filled with tragedy and senselessness that inevitably leads us to ask, “why?” Why does a man drink alcohol and then get behind […]
Read More Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 1)
Words of Grace 