Total Sermons: 127
God's Word Creates
Most of the poetry written three thousand years ago is never given a second thought in our day, but the Psalms remain relevant because they were inspired by God and are therefore able to help us understand who God is and how to walk with Him, and the vivid language and rhythmic writing help convey the same timeless truths to us that they brought to their original audience. Psalm 1 is a poetic reminder that God’s Word is a creative force, not a restrictive force, and is given to us to nourish our spiritual growth as we grow closer to God.
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Defining True Worship
Worship is often defined as a type of music sung as a part of church services but this is only a small part of what worship really is. Worship is giving praise, honor, and devotion to something or someone. This makes us all worshipers because we can’t help but give ourselves up and worship something; the only question is what will be the object of our worship. The apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans of all of the mercy and love that God has extended to us through His Son Jesus Christ, and because of this it is fitting for us respond to His mercy in worship, not merely with our singing once a week, but with our whole lives throughout the week as do everything with the goal that God’s greatness would be displayed by the way that we treat people and the decisions that we make.
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Repenting and Following God
After Jonah is spit back up on the beach by the fish God sent to rescue him, God again tells Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites. This time Jonah obeys, and after Jonah proclaims God’s impending judgment all of the Ninevites from the king on down repent of their evil ways and hope for mercy from God. God relents from destroying Nineveh because mercy and compassion are a part of His very nature. Jonah understood this, and his anger at the prospect of the Ninevites avoiding judgment and receiving grace is what led him to run away to Tarshish in the first place. God sent a vine and then a worm and a scorching wind to expose Jonah’s sinful heart and reveal his self-righteousness and how he loves his own comfort more than other people. We are just like Jonah in that we often think we deserve God’s kindness more than other people and we love our own comfort more than our calling to be like Jonah and be ambassador’s of God’s grace to warn people of their impending judgment and urge them to repent and turn to Jesus Christ.
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Running from God as Fast as I Can
God has a plan to bring repentance to the citizens of Nineveh, and has tells the prophet Jonah to go there and warn them that God is going to judge the city soon. Jonah wants nothing to do with God’s plan so he boards a ship headed in the opposite direction to run away. There’s nowhere that you can get away from God and He sends a violent storm against the ship. The sailors throw Jonah overboard to try to quell God’s anger and the storm. God has mercy on Jonah and sends a large fish to swallow Jonah to keep him from drowning, and then miraculously keeps him alive for three days inside the fish. While in the fish Jonah repents of his running from God and gives God glory for saving him. In our own ways we all foolishly run from God and run instead to our own hobbies, addictions, careers, and distractions, and we all need to examine our own lives to see how we run from God and then repent of our sin and turn back to Him.
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Trusting Jesus and Elders During Difficult Times
People often aspire to positions of leadership because it can bring them fame, power, and comfort, and those who seek power for such reasons will often use the people they lead to achieve these goals. The Apostle Peter speaks to the leaders of the churches and reminds them that they are not to act like this but instead they should lovingly care for the people entrusted to their care, leading by example and not by being domineering, shepherding their flock in the example of their Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The rest of the people in the church should humbly accept the authority of their pastors, knowing that God has appointed their leaders to help guide them and care for them.
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Trusting Jesus During Difficult Times
We spend a lot of time, money and effort to try to make our lives more comfortable and avoid suffering. When suffering does come into our lives we often complain and wonder why God didn’t do something to prevent it. The Apostle Peter wrote to a group of Christians who were undergoing persecution because they followed Jesus and he told them that they shouldn’t be surprised by times of suffering but instead understand that Jesus suffered on our behalf while He was here and we should endure suffering for His sake with the same attitude that He had. We should be willing to share the Gospel with people regardless of how they will treat us afterward, knowing that we are blessed when we are mocked for our faith.
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Easter 2008 - Unexpected Hope
Nearly two thousand years ago the scared and dejected followers of Jesus were told on a Sunday morning that their beloved leader, who had been brutally executed three days before, had risen from the dead. They were all incredulous and did not believe the account until Jesus came to them, and they saw his scars and felt his wounds. The reality of the resurrected Christ changed these followers from timid men who were mainly concerned with their own status into people who would boldly proclaim the greatness of Christ to all regardless of what it cost them. They could do this because the same God who rose up out of His grave promised them that if they believed in Him He would bring them up out of their graves to spend eternity with Him. This great promise is extended to everyone in the world and we too can rise and be with Christ forever if we trust in Him.
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Genuine Faith Meditates on the End
People will often speculate about how close we are to the end times and how many prophecies have been fulfilled and how many are left to go. Sometimes this speculation can go too far and cause people to get so wrapped up in when Jesus is coming back that they lose sight of Jesus Himself. The thought that Jesus will come back soon also tends to lead people to withdraw from the world and stop caring about its condition. Peter reminds his readers that the end of all things is at hand and exhorts them to do the exact opposite. He urges us to be self-controlled and hospitable, to serve one another with the gifts that God has given us, and to love each earnestly, because earnest love covers over sins.
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How Genuine Faith Redeems Fellowship
Christian community should be marked by mutual love and understanding but far too often it rife with bitterness, gossip, and harsh words between members. This is often caused because people do not forgive each other when they are sinned against but instead harbor a self-righteous attitude and think that they are above committing the kind of sin in question. Peter reminds us that we are all to be united because we have all been forgiven by God because Christ died for our sins, and just as God did not repay us evil for our evil towards Him but instead gave us forgiveness and grace we too are to bless and forgive those that sin against us.
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How Genuine Faith Redeems Family
God’s roles for men and women in marriage have been offensive in varying ways in each of the cultures that the Gospel has met. Some people are offended that women are asked to submit, and some are offended that the man is called to honor his wife and treat her as an equal. God has set up His plan for marriage in such a way that it enables each other to stop jockeying for power in the marriage and love each other sacrificially. The husband is to step up, take responsibility for the family. He is to lead by example and with sacrificial love, not by intimidation, domination, or abuse. The wife is to willingly submit to this sacrificial leadership and not nag, boss around, or emotionally manipulate her husband. When both people do this according to God’s good plan it is a beautiful picture of how Jesus Christ loves the church as His beloved bride.
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