"Featured" Tagged Sermons (Page 14)
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Do you love me more than these?
Our 2018 theme is “Love God. Love People. Change the World,” and this Sunday we’re going to continue this emphasis by studying Jesus’ post-resurrection interaction with Peter. Just a few weeks earlier Peter had infamously denied any connection to Jesus and had almost certainly been dealing with overwhelming guilt and regret since then. Corresponding to Peter’s denial of Jesus three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him three times. We’re going to focus primarily on the first question: “Do…
He Was Raised
Today is Easter and millions of people around the world commemorated the resurrection of Christ. Of all the events in Jesus’ life, none is more significant or more life-changing than the empty tomb. He died on Friday, but that death would have been meaningless had his tomb remained occupied early Sunday morning. When the apostles preached, they emphasized the resurrection more than anything else. We studied 1 Corinthians 15, probably the earliest account of the resurrection in the New Testament.…
Trust Changes Everything
The more I read the Bible and try to follow Jesus, the more I realize that the basis of our relationship with God—at least on our part—is learning to trust him completely and unreservedly. Most of us struggle at times with doubt, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. We don’t obey God as fully or consistently as we should. Sometimes (often?) we make choices based on what WE think is best rather than trusting that God’s way is best. Why is that?…
Atonement: Covered by the Cross
Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?): This was the last sermon in a four-part series on biblical words/themes that help us understand the overall Story of Scripture. The first three were Glory, Holiness, and Covenant, and Sunday’s sermon was on Atonement. “Atonement” is based on a Hebrew word group that has “cover” as one of its root meanings — you can see how this might be related to sin with the idea that God “covers” (atones for) our…
Love God. Love People. But How?
As you know, our theme for 2018 is Love God. Love People. Change the World. That’s easy enough to say, and it’s so obviously taught in Scripture that none of us would argue against its importance. But still, this question remains: we want to do it, but where do we find the motivation? We want to love God, but how do we? We want to love people, but sometimes that’s really hard, so how can we? In other words, how…
God’s Covenant With You
At the end of 2017, I preached two sermons on key concepts that help us see the Bible’s storyline more clearly. The first focused on holiness and the second on glory. In this sermon, we will study a third idea: covenant. In one sense, a covenant is easy to understand—it’s similar to a contract that two parties make with each other, each agreeing to fulfill his side of the agreement. In biblical contexts, though, it’s different, and significantly more important.…
Love God. Love People. Change the World.
Every organization must constantly reexamine its reasons for existing, why it “does business,” so to speak. If it doesn’t, it’ll wake up one morning engaged in frenetic activity that has little to do with its purpose. A company that provides products or services may find itself on the wrong side of changes in the market and may be left behind its competitors. Sales fall off, revenue decreases, and the company goes out of business. A similar problem faces churches. We’re…
Your Identity in Christ
There’s a tendency for us as Christians to hide the things we’re struggling with, especially the sins that are often considered to be particularly “bad.” In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul mentions many “bad” sins that these Christians had formerly practiced: sexual immorality, idolatry, homosexual practices, theft, drunkenness, etc. Many of these are considered taboo . . . more so than other sins. We often handle these sorts of sins differently than other sins, so it becomes okay to struggle with…
Immanuel: God With Us
Text: Matthew 1:18-25 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,…
The Glory of God
Brief thoughts about the text/sermon: “Glory, hallelujah!!!” “Lord, just help us to bring you glory.” “We all sin and fall short of your glory.” “When the Lord comes in all his glory . . .” “Glory” is a word that’s all over Scripture—and it’s a word we use fairly often, especially in church—but its meaning is a bit nebulous and confusing. When God’s “glory” appears, what does that look like? If we bring him “glory,” what does that mean? What…