Sermon: “If Jesus Had Been Here…”

“If Jesus Had Been Here…” John 11:17-46 April 6, 2014 I was 15 the first time I remember looking into a casket and standing at a graveside. It was my grandfather and he died suddenly and without warning and I didn’t understand the implications then of what happened. It was my first funeral and I […]

Sermon: The Gifts of the Spirit, Pt. 2

The Gifts of the Spirit, Pt. 2 Romans 12:3-8 March 30, 2014 There are many characteristics of Christianity that set it apart from all the religions of the world: Only Christianity recognizes the extent of man’s sinfulness and inability to do good to save himself from the judgment of God. Only the God of Christianity […]

Sermon: The Gifts of the Spirit

The Gifts of the Spirit, Pt. 1 Romans 12:3-8 March 23, 2014 Gifts are funny things — sometimes what we think would be a nice gift for someone is hardly noticed or received well; other times something we think is insignificant or even inappropriate is the favorite gift of all. Many years ago — back […]

Sermon: The Fruit of the Spirit

The Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:16-26 March 16, 2014 It’s about the size of a bowling ball, covered with sharp, stiff, spiny points, and grows on trees throughout southeast Asia, most predominantly in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The business end of a durian, which is the inside, is mucuslike in consistency, and the unique […]

Sermon: The Filling of the Holy Spirit

The Filling of the Holy Spirit Ephesians 5:18-21 March 2, 2014 One day last April, a couple in northern California that owns a few acres went for a walk on their property. It seemed innocuous enough. After walking for a while they stopped by a particular tree and noticed something that made them dig around […]

Sermon: What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

What Does the Holy Spirit Do? Selected Scriptures February 23, 2014 Once the calendar annually turns to December and the family Christmas tree is erected, there is generally a daily trek to that tree by the children in the family to determine what new gifts were placed under the tree. “Can we touch them?” they […]

Sermon: Who is the Holy Spirit?

Who is the Holy Spirit? Selected Scriptures February 16, 2014 It seems that we live in a time when theological error is particularly thriving. There have always been false teachers. They just seem to abound today: There is confusion about the church and unity — should we embrace every entity that calls itself a church […]

Sermon: Love One Another (Pt. 3)

Love One Another, Pt. 3 1 John 3:19-24 February 9, 2014 Many people struggle with the question of whether or not one is saved. John Piper gets to the central issue about assurance when he writes: The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the objective facts of […]

Sermon: Love One Another (Pt. 2)

Love One Another, Pt. 2 1 John 3:15-18 February 2, 2014 The story, an open secret in the crowded nylon city of Mount Everest base camp, trickled out from the high Himalayas: A British mountaineer desperate for oxygen had collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling […]

Sermon: Love One Another (Pt. 1)

Love One Another, Pt. 1 1 John 3:11-24 January 26, 2014 It’s a story I’ve told before, but it’s a good one… Paul Tripp has written of himself — “When I got married, I did what every other groom does. I repeated vows to my wife that said I would love her sacrificially all the […]

Sermon: Essential Truths for Assurance

Essential Truths for Assurance Selected Scriptures from 1 John 1-3 January 19, 2014 One essential for learning is repetition. Few of us memorize a Bible verse the first time we see it. We go over it again and again. We write it down, read it in our Bibles, review it on notecards, look it up […]

Sermon: “Teach Me, Lord”

“Teach Me, Lord:” A Prayer for God’s Word to Do Its Work Psalm 119:33-40 January 12, 2014 I have been using some kind of “read through the Bible in a year” plan for longer than I can remember. I’ve read through the Bible chronologically (like we’re doing this year); I’ve used the Navigator “Book-at-a-time” plan […]

Sermon: What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name Selected Scriptures from Mt. 1-2; Luke 1-2 December 22, 2013 When Raye Jeanne was pregnant with the girls, we spent many hours reading names back and forth to one another, trying to come up with something that we thought sounded right and would be fitting for our unknown child. At the […]

Sermon: Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer (Pt. 2)

Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer (Pt. 2) 1 John 3:4-10 December 15, 2013 The story is told about Calvin Coolidge — nicknamed “Silent Cal” for his reticence to talk — that after returning to the White House from attending worship one Sunday morning he was asked by his wife Grace about the sermon. “It was […]

Sermon: Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer, Pt 1

Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer, Pt. 1 1 John 3:4-10 November 17, 2013 I was in college the first time I remember reading 1 John seriously. I’m sure I read the book before my college years; but it was in my freshman year that I really began to grow in Christ in a significant way. […]