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)“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)“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 […]
Read More Sermon: Prayer and the Gospel“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. […]
Read More Life’s Questions and God’s Word“The Greatest Christmas Gift” John 6:37, 39 December 24, 2017 This might be the most extravagant, unexpected gift given this year. Two weeks ago a man walked into the “5 & Diner” restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ for a Saturday morning breakfast. He ordered an ordinary bacon and eggs breakfast with coffee. The bill came to […]
Read More The Greatest Christmas Gift“The Story of Jesus” 1 Timothy 3:16 December 17, 2017 Christmas is full of surprises. But one of the surprises about Christmas in Scripture is the brevity of the NT narrative of Christ’s first advent. For instance, the four gospels tell the story of Jesus Christ, yet two of the four gospels do not mention […]
Read More Sermon: The Story of Jesus“Semper Reformanda: Always Needing Reformation” Romans 12:2 December 10, 2017 On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 theses for theological debate in an effort to transform the Roman Catholic Church. He hardly anticipated when he posted and printed those 95 topics that he was lighting the fuse that would create the dynamic explosion that […]
Read More Sermon: Semper Reformanda“Sola Gratia: a Pillar of the Reformation” Ephesians 2:8-10 November 19, 2017 In late November of 1988, a 19-year-old woman fell asleep while driving shortly after midnight on a Los Angeles freeway. The car went through a guard rail on an overpass. But the left rear wheel got trapped by that guard rail and left […]
Read More Sermon: Sola Gratia“Solus Christus: the Center of the Reformation” Colossians 1:15-20 November 12, 2017 Rowland Taylor was a Reformer living in England who died on February 9, 1555. He was identified as a Protestant, questioned, imprisoned, and then taken from London to his hometown of Hadleigh “where to his great delight [he was] to be burned before […]
Read More Sermon: Solus Christus“Sola Scriptura: the Foundation of the Reformation” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 November 5, 2017 The passage before us this morning is well known to us: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good […]
Read More Sermon: Sola Scriptura“Luther, the Reformation, and You” Selected Scriptures October 29, 2017 You might say that the Reformation began because a church building program went awry. Pope Leo X wanted to paint the church ceiling, but he wanted a man named Michelangelo to paint it, and because of Leo’s other art expenditures, he couldn’t afford the project. […]
Read More Sermon: Luther, the Reformation, and You
Words of Grace 