Sermons on God (Page 7)
That Other Side of Jesus: He Talks About Fiery Furnaces
Three weeks ago I introduced a short sermon series (click here to view) about the importance of seeing Jesus as he is portrayed in the Bible, and not just in the way that makes us most comfortable. We all like to think about the Jesus who held babies and forgave sinners and ate dinner at tax collectors’ houses. We may not be as comfortable with “that other side of Jesus”: the one who turns over tables, talks about “weeping and…
Dead Bones that Live
Judah was in a truly desperate situation—exiled in Babylon with no hope of ever getting home (from a human perspective, at least). To illustrate their situation, God takes Ezekiel and by the Spirit puts him in a valley of dry bones. There was no sign of life in them, representing Judah’s hopeless existence. But then God breathed new life into them, and he told Ezekiel what this vision meant. God would breathe new life into his people and restore them…
From Calm to Chaos
What should we do when life goes from calm to chaos in an instant? The answer and point of the lesson is this: In our darkest hour we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence knowing that we will be received not with judgment, but with sympathy and mercy. Why should we expect such a reception? In Hebrews 2:14-18 we learn that (see also Hebrews 4:14-16): He was made exactly like us: fully human in every way. This qualified…
The Tree of Life
One of the most amazing things about the Bible is its beautiful unity and cohesiveness . . . It tells one over-arching story about what God is doing in the world. One remarkable symbol of that is the Tree of Life, which is mentioned first in the creation narrative of Genesis 1-2. Then, after the Fall, God casts humanity out of the Garden of Eden and away from the Tree. But it’s interesting that we find subtle references to the Tree…
Learning to Trust God: He is “for us”
Last Sunday we studied the importance of trusting God: it changes everything about us, from the way we face tragedies to the consistency with which we obey. All of us want to trust God more, but how do we? That’s the point of the message this Sunday. Romans 8 is one of the most beautiful and most-loved chapters in the whole Bible. In the culminating paragraph at the end, Paul encourages the Christians at Rome to know that nothing can…
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…
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,…