Sermon Series (Page 6)
The Gospel and the Sexual Identity Crisis
Last week, I began a series of teachings wrapped up in the subject of the gospel and our culture. The plan is to address on Sunday mornings a few issues with which we all seem to be faced, and about which we are often confused. The intent is to deal with a few specific topics this August, and from time to time pick this theme back up and deal with a few more. This Sunday, July 31, I am addressing the gospel…
The Gospel and Our Culture
When the Church (Ekklesia) was being planted in Gentile territories in the 1st century, they quickly realized they were having to deal with issues that had long since been settled in the Jewish world of Israel—prostitution worship, emperor worship, allegiance to the government, paying taxes, polytheism, animism, child sacrifice, and many, many, many more issues. The issues today are not all the same, of course, but amazingly, most the core concerns of the historical church are the same core concerns…
The Moment We’ve Been Waiting For
At the beginning of my message series on Ecclesiastes, I said that the Book of Ecclesiastes was a hard book. Along with Proverbs, Job and Song of Solomon, we know that the Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the Wisdom Books in our Bibles, but God sure didn’t make it easy for us to extract wisdom out of Ecclesiastes. Much of the book is complex and enigmatic to me. It takes a lot of work for me just to understand…
At World’s End
Did you know that from polls done in 2012, some 14% of the population of the world believed that the world would end sometime during their lifetime? The lowest percentage was 6% in France. Can you guess in which country the percentage was the highest? You guessed it. America tied with Turkey at 22%. Does that say something about Americans? Anything? Fascination with the end of the world has always been a people’s topic of discussion. If you are as…
Wisdom About Wisdom
How can you tell if a person is a wise person? All things being equal, how can you tell a wise person from an unwise person? If you asked some people what are some of the things they look for when they set out to find a wise person, most people would probably say it has something to do with the ability to ask good questions, gain knowledge, analyze complex situations, apply common sense, recall past experiences, consider sensible options,…
It’s Not Fair!
One day when I was a teenager, my father bought a book from a local bookstore, handed it to me, and asked me to read it. Back in those days, I didn’t particularly like to read. I still don’t really like to read today. But the title of the book intrigued me: When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I remember I was excited to read and see what the author had to say about the topic. By the time children…
Promises, Promises
Since the beginning of the human race, making a promise to one another is one of the most serious things we do in life. We make a vow or pledge to each other we will take an action or give an assurance that something will happen. And yet, how many times do we make a promise to someone, perhaps a friend, and we don’t follow through? A promise not kept causes frustration to that someone, especially if he or she…
An Appointed Time
For those of you who are a little older (than the rest of us), do you remember as a young boy or girl, your parents woke you up in the middle of the night because they thought it was important for you to watch a nationally televised broadcast of a NASA rocket launch? Either you were glad and your eyes were glued to the television screen, or you were cranky because someone had just rudely interrupted your sleep. But have…
Introducing Ecclesiastes
You did it! We did it! For this past year, we learned together what are the four walls of Christ’s church and the critical importance of building our church with those four walls in balance. And now we are off to take the final exam Billy gave us, pass it (or for you high achievers, ace it), and the whole summer is ours. Good luck! But just because the LifeWay academic year unofficially ended last Sunday, and the school bell…
Finals Week
“It’s Finals Week! Time to take the test!“ Those words struck terror for me in college and seminary. The pressure was on to go back and try to remember all that had been taught, all that I’d read, and then to articulate it on an exam. As a Religion major, most of my classes were the kind that required an essay of explanation in the old blue book, as opposed to math problems and equations. With every spring came final…
Guarding the Flock
What do church leaders do for the church? Guard the flock! Acts 20:28-31Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! In 1978,…
The Goal and the Role
As you know already, there are altogether six chapters in the Letter to the Ephesians. When I consider Ephesians, I like to visualize the letter in two parts: Ephesians 1–3 and Ephesians 4–6. Ephesians 1–3 is packed with doctrines of the Christian faith, and I mean packed. After the Apostle Paul wrote sentence after sentence of Christian treasure, he became overwhelmed by God’s glory from his own writing, so much so that he went right into doxology even though he…
Rome or Bust!
Acts 23:11 (NIV)“Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” “California or Bust!” In the 1930s, there were two great disasters that affected thousands of American families. On the great plains of the USA, a huge drought led to what is called in history the Dust Bowl days, affecting farmers from Texas to South Dakota. These farmers were left with unproductive dirt and unmanageable debt. At the same time the stock market…
Keys to the Kingdom
Have you ever been given the keys to something of great value? The day I got my driving license was on my actual 16th birthday. I will never forget it. It was a landmark day for me, as it is for all of us when that important new chapter in our life comes. I could now get in the driver’s seat, take a drive and be alone behind the wheel of this wonderful invention we call an automobile! I had…
Cinderella Sports Stories
2 Corinthians 12:8-10Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. We just recently completed the month of March, which,…
What Can Happen in Only One Day?
2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV) Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. Almost every morning, I have a routine. With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I get out a couple of the bibles that I use for my quiet-time scripture reading. Then, after my scripture time, I spend time in prayer in a patterned way. I highlight this to give you an insight into how my prayer begins (I have this written down): “Thank you…
Ministers of Reconciliation
As commissioned members of Christ’s Body (the Church), we are ministers of reconciliation! Focus verses for this Sunday: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 In preparation for this Sunday, read all of 2 Corinthians 5 (it’s only 21 verses long, but it is a loaded chapter!). I have family members who were commissioned into the army as officers. I attended the commissioning ceremonies where they received their stripes and a new title, and they pledged themselves to the commissioned duty to defend our…
The Greatest Treasure Held in Jars of Clay
Have you ever bought a super-valuable diamond ring and then thrown it in a brown paper grocery sack? Why would you do that? Normally, you would put that ring in a special box and make sure that it was kept in the most secure of locations. Years ago, a couple of us raised a lot of money to help purchase a piece of property that would be transformed into Christian campground in a nation that desperately needed it. The problem…
Mapping Out My Life
Have you ever mapped out your life—where you’ve been, what you’ve done, what has disappointed you, what has surprised you? Recently our pastoral team has been going through the exercise of putting our lives in identifiable chapters. Each chapter is marked with highs and lows of events, people marked as special, and accomplishments during that time period. One thing that became clear to me when I did this exercise was that when we dedicate ourselves to Christ, God doesn’t waste…
The Commission Wall
What we are called to and where we go This coming Sunday morning, March 13, I will launch us into the 4th and final wall of our diagram of understanding how to Build His Church in this world. We are calling this wall the Commission Wall. Here are some basic instructions on how to prepare yourself for this study. Let’s review: 1st wall: the Kingdom (“Basalea”) Wall This first wall reminded us that we are now citizens of, and buying…
The Resurrection Gospel
Resurrection. Gospel. We hear these terms a lot in gospel churches, and rightfully so. But do you really understand the full impact of both of those words—resurrection and gospel? One is an event that happened at Easter, and the other is a message we have. We are coming to the end of our third Wall (the Ekklesia—the set-apart and called-out ones) of theological understanding on how we are BUILDING HIS CHURCH. Let’s remind ourselves again: what is the Church? The…
Watching Out for the Wolves
READ AHEAD: Acts 20:13-38 As you prepare for this coming Sunday, read the above Acts passage ahead of time as your homework. In this narrative, you will find that the Apostle Paul gets very personal. It reads like a love letter written from someone on a distant battlefield, writing heartfelt words home to loved ones. You see here how much Paul had poured his soul into these people and how much love he had for the people in the churches—the…
Mind Wars
1 Corinthians 10:12-13So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. I remember clearly the day I heard 1 Corinthians 10:13. I was a junior in high school, and I had gone to my youth director for advice…
Yes, That Unholy Behavior
Three years ago, I bought my wife a Christmas present: an unlimited car wash membership. We had just bought one of the few new vehicles that we had ever purchased, and she had always wanted an efficient way to keep a brand-new vehicle as new as possible for as long as possible. With this unlimited membership, not only she could go through the exterior wash as often as she wanted, but she could then have the interior vacuumed as often…
Crossing the Line
What bad behavior will send me to hell? Where’s the line in the sand? Wow…what a blunt question. But this is a fairly common question in church family circles. It’s actually something that was brought up when I was in youth group back in the ’70s. It comes up in youth group now, too! Some things never change. We all want to know where the line in the sand is drawn regarding “unholy” behavior. What can we do and not do in…