Sermon: You and the Government, Pt. 2

You and the Government, Pt. 2 Romans 13:1-7 March 14, 2021 Romans 13-2 Pt 2 ser Someone told me this week (and I have forgotten the details) that the first word spoken by their grandchild (I think that’s who it was) was — “thank you.” That’s not the expected answer. Commonly, the first word of […]

Sermon: You and the Government

You and the Government, Pt. 1 Romans 13:1-7 March 7, 2021 If you are a baseball fan, you know this face — one of the most successful managers in baseball history. If you are not a baseball fan, you might still recognize his name: Casey Stengel. Casey had an ability to say the right thing […]

Sermon: The Government and You, Pt 2

The Government and You, Pt. 2 Romans 13:1-7 February 28, 2021 For those of you who have been to my office, you might have noticed a bank of file cabinets outside my office. Those are my resource files — Bible books and topics. And I also have a large digital file on my computer. One […]

Sermon: The Government and You

The Government and You Romans 13:1-7 (Pt. 1) February 14, 2021 A number of years ago, U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf (WA), revealed that the US Forestry Service and a Washington State agency planned to spend $18,000 to dye rocks gray and brown along a scenic highway in the Cascade mountains, because the rocks in question […]

Sermon: Preserving Unity, Building the Body

Preserving Unity, Building the Body Ephesians 4:11-13 February 7, 2021 Ted was discouraged. He had written what he thought was a pretty entertaining children’s book. But it had been rejected by multiple publishers — 27, in fact. He had just decided to go home and burn the manuscript to the book when he ran into […]

Sermon: Jesus Prays

Jesus Prays John 17:20-26 January 3, 2021 Few things reveal the nature and condition of our hearts like prayer (when we are genuine and truthful). That is true as well of the heart of Christ, which makes the Lord’s prayer in John 17 a particularly rich and stimulating passage of Scripture. Of this passage, Melanchthon […]

Sermon: What We Want from the Word

What We Want from the Word Psalm 119:129-136 December 27, 2020 What did you want this week? That’s a fitting question for a week when there is much gift giving. What gifts were you anticipating giving? What kinds of gifts were you hoping to receive (or not receive)? Where did you want to go (or […]

The Father Who Sent His Son

The following is the manuscript of the message given at our Christmas Eve service this evening. In February 1942, the American war against the Japanese in the Philippines was not going well. It was going so poorly that by March 12, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur, who was stationed in the Philippines, to […]

Sermon: Christ is Coming

Christ is Coming Revelation 1:7 December 20, 2020 It was early in November that I saw my first sign of Christmas. There on someone’s Facebook video was a Christmas tree in the background — two weeks before Thanksgiving! It was shortly after that Raye Jeanne and I began noticing that Christmas lights started appearing on […]

Sermon: Christ Has Come

Christ Has Come Revelation 1:4-6 December 6, 2020 A truck driver was driving across a town but something appeared to be wrong — every time he stopped at a red light or stop sign, he would jump out of his truck running around it and beating the side of it with a baseball bat. Someone […]

Sermon: Fellowship and the Cross

Fellowship and the Cross 1 John 1:1-4 November 29, 2020 Many years ago (while in seminary) I was an evangelism trainer on a team of people from our church who went out weekly to share the gospel. One of the people on my team was a good friend from seminary. As we were headed back […]

Sermon: Thankful Hearts Giving Thanks

Thankful Hearts Giving Thanks Colossians 3:15-17 November 22, 2020 Rudyard Kipling is one of the most well-known British writers from the 19th and 20th centuries. He penned many poems and such classic stories as How the Leopard Got His Spots and The Jungle Book. His writing made him famous and wealthy. A newspaper reporter approached […]

Sermon: When You are Hated, Pt. 2

When You are Hated…, Part 2 Romans 12:17-21 November 15, 2020 We all have expectations for relationships. We have desires for how they will work and what we will receive through those relationships. However, we live in a fallen world, so… Our relationships will never work completely according to our plan Our relationships will never […]

Sermon: When You are Hated

When You are Hated… Romans 12:14-16 November 8, 2020 Like you, I’ve had relationships where I’ve known the other person didn’t like me. Those are hard relationships. You know that and have experienced that. But I don’t know that I’ve had anyone ever really hate me — hate me to the point of working against […]

Sermon: When Life is Hard

When Life is Hard… Romans 12:12-13 November 1, 2020 I am what you might call a “fair-weather exerciser.” I prefer to get my exercise outdoors, but I prefer to get it within certain parameters. I don’t like it (and generally won’t go) when it’s over 80° and I definitely won’t go when it’s below 40° […]