Sermon: God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness, Pt. 2

“God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness” Pt. 2 Romans 3:1-8 July 10, 2016 A few weeks ago, a woman took the book Myths and Legends of Maoriland back to her Auckland, New Zealand library. It was a little late and she was concerned about the potential fine. Actually, it was checked out in 1948, making it […]

Sermon: God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness, Pt. 1

“God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness” Pt. 1 Romans 3:1-8 July 3, 2016 Life is filled with perplexing questions — What color is a chameleon on a mirror? Where does weight go when you lose it? Why are Chinese fortune cookies written in English? Why is abbreviated such a long word? Is there another word for […]

Sermon: God, My Portion

“God, My Portion” Psalm 119:57-64 June 26, 2016 Obedience is hard. It’s hard to obey a boss who is tyrannical and unfair. It’s hard to obey a parent that demands his children do what he will not do. It’s hard for a wife to submit to a husband whose leadership is foolish and uncaring. It’s […]

Sermon: Rituals, Religion, and Transformed Hearts

“Rituals, Religion, and Transformed Hearts” Romans 2:25-29 June 12, 2016 A few months ago a sealed leather trunk that had been stored in a museum in the Netherlands was opened and what the researchers found was astounding — 2600 undelivered letters, perfectly preserved from the 17th century. About 600 of those letters were never opened; […]

Sermon: Your Faith…Tested

“Your Faith…Tested” John 6:1-15 June 5, 2016 Tuesday afternoon Raye Jeanne called me and just in the way she responded to my greeting when I answered, I knew something was amiss: “What’s wrong?” I asked. “The house is flooding again.” “I’ll leave in five minutes to come help you.” I did leave in five minutes, […]

Sermon: Remember Your Sin…And Christ’s Work

“Remember Your Sin…And Christ’s Work” Ephesians 2:11-13 May 29, 2016 Many years ago I called a friend and when he answered his cell phone, he was noticeably quiet and subdued. So I asked him, “Are you ok?” “Yeah — I’m in D.C. on a business trip this week and I’m at the Vietnam Memorial, and […]

Sermon: Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy – Why Practicing What You Preach Matters

“Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy: Why Practicing What You Preach Matters” Romans 2:17-24 May 22, 2016 A few years ago, Washington state Representative, Jack Metcalf revealed that the U.S. Forestry Service and a Washington state agency were working together to spend $18,000 to dye rocks on a scenic route to the Cascade Mountains brown and gray. It […]

Sermon: The Conscience – What It Is and How to Help It, Pt. 2

“The Conscience: What It Is and How to Help It” Pt. 2 Selected Scriptures May 15, 2016 Jerry White provides a picture of how most people think about the conscience: Willie, in the comic strip Moon Mullins, is slumped in a chair in front of a TV set, coffee cup resting on his pot belly. […]

Sermon: The Conscience – What It Is and How to Help It

“The Conscience: What It Is and How to Help It” Selected Scriptures May 8, 2016 In 2007, a 44-year-old Frenchman — happily married with two children and a white-collar job — went to a hospital in Marseille complaining of some mild weakness in his left leg. The ailment in his leg was remedied fairly quickly. […]

Sermon: What Christ Has Done

“What Christ Has Done” Colossians 2:11-15 May 1, 2016 Author and publisher Leonard Woolf (husband of Virginia Woolf) lamented near the end of his life, “I see clearly that I have achieved practically nothing. In the world today and the history of the human anthill during the past five to seven years would have been […]

Sermon: Is God Fair? Pt. 2

“Is God Fair?” Pt. 2 Romans 2:12-16 April 17, 2016 When I was in seminary, the professor for an introductory missions class had the same assignment for his students every year. They were to write a short paper answering the question: “will the heathen who have never heard and responded in faith to the gospel […]

Sermon: Is God Fair?

“Is God Fair?” Pt. 1 Romans 2:12-16 April 10, 2016 We love children and we love the things children say and do. Let’s face it — they’re cute and the things they do are cute. Like the little girl, who when she was told by her parents, “I love you,” regularly responded, “I love me, […]

Sermon: A Day of Reckoning, Pt. 2

“A Day of Reckoning” Pt. 2 Romans 2:8-9, 11 April 3, 2016 There are many misconceptions about God, Christ, the Bible, the cross, the resurrection, and many other biblical doctrines. But perhaps the most dangerous truth to misunderstand is the truth about Hell and God’s coming judgment. Inaccuracies and vagueness about Hell are prolific. Consider […]

Sermon: The Victorious, Resurrected Christ

“The Victorious, Resurrected Christ” John 16:25-33 March 27, 2016 Author Sidney Sheldon and Groucho Marx were close friends and neighbors for a number of years. As Groucho got well into his 80s, he started a daily habit of visiting Sidney’s house each afternoon for a snack of an apple and a piece of cheese. “It […]

Sermon: A Day of Reckoning

“A Day of Reckoning” Pt. 1 Romans 2:6-7, 10 March 20, 2016 Annie Dillard, in her book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, writes: “A couple summers ago I was walking along the edge of the island to see what I could see in the water, and mainly to scare frogs.…At the end of the island I […]