“Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election” Selected Scriptures October 9, 2016 Wednesday afternoon I was flying home from the ACBC conference in Indianapolis. As I was going through security, the officer at the x-ray machine saw a newspaper with a headline about the previous night’s vice-presidential debate poking out of my computer bag. “Did you […]
Read More Sermon: Essential Attitudes Prior to the Election“Behold the Man!” John 19:1-5 October 2, 2016 Familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. It may not always breed contempt, but very often, it does produce apathy. We are familiar with someone or something so we no longer find the amazement and joy that we did when we were first introduced to that item or […]
Read More Sermon: Behold the Man!“Essential Reminders About Responding to Government” Romans 13:1-7 September 18, 2016 Last week we began talking about “Election Essentials” — understanding what the Bible has to say about politics, the church, and you. We began that series by thinking about the role of government and the authorities in government — what is the role of […]
Read More Sermon: Essential Reminders About Our Responsibility to the Government“Essential Reminders About the Role of Government” Romans 13:1-7 September 11, 2016 Robert Wilson, in his book Character Above All seeks to answer one fundamental question: “What is the relationship between the President’s character and presidential leadership?” He asks the question because it is his observation that as a group, the American people “‘started out […]
Read More Sermon: Essential Reminders About the Role of Government“Accused and Condemned” Romans 3:19-20 August 28, 2016 A number of years ago singer Billy Joel talked about his spiritual life: “I wasn’t raised Catholic, but I used to go to Mass with my friends and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus-pocus. There’s a guy…nailed to a cross and […]
Read More Sermon: Accused and Condemned“The Weightiness of Sin” Pt. 5 Romans 3:18 August 21, 2016 Unless you are a fan of rock climbing, you likely don’t know the name of Alex Honnold. But among a particular group of climbers — solo climbers — those who climb without a rope or any protective equipment of any kind, and often even […]
Read More Sermon: The Weightiness of Sin, Pt. 5“The Weightiness of Sin” Pt. 4 Romans 3:15-17 August 14, 2016 Like many of you, I get news updates on my phone; several times a day I’ll get a notification on my home screen about some breaking news event: it’s hot in Texas; it’s raining everywhere but in Texas; someone won a gold medal at […]
Read More Sermon: The Weightiness of Sin, Pt. 4“The Weightiness of Sin” Pt. 3 Romans 3:13-14 August 7, 2016 A blog that I occasionally read recently published, “50+ Old Fashioned Insults We Should Bring Back.” In the author’s estimation, we have lost the ability to insult others in “clever, nuanced, descriptive, and… amusing” ways. So he made an appeal to reincorporate some older […]
Read More Sermon: The Weightiness of Sin, Pt. 3“You Must Be Born Again” John 3:1-8 July 31, 2016 (Communion Sunday) The book of John is all about belief and faith — John uses the verb “believe” 98x in his gospel. He asks questions like, “how does one come to believe in Christ?” And, “how does a believer in Christ live and act?” The […]
Read More Sermon: “You Must Be Born Again”“The Weightiness of Sin,” Pt. 2 Romans 3:10-12 July 24, 2016 In 1990, our country was embroiled in a nationwide debate over a decision that had been made in Washington D.C. President George (H. W.) Bush made a decision that not everyone appreciated, but it was one that he had been contemplating for many years. […]
Read More Sermon: The Weightiness of Sin, Pt. 2“The Weightiness of Sin” Romans 3:9 July 17, 2016 Every year for the past four years, Zimbabwe has hosted a most unusual pageant. You know there are beauty pageants for women and there are a few for men, but this one in Zimbabwe is quite different. It has been held now for four consecutive years; […]
Read More Sermon: The Weightiness of Sin“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 […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness, Pt. 2“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 […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Judgments and God’s Faithfulness, Pt. 1“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 […]
Read More Sermon: God, My Portion“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; […]
Read More Sermon: Rituals, Religion, and Transformed Hearts
