Willow Park Church (Hwy 33 Campus) Sermons
Web Site: Willow Park Church (Hwy 33 Campus)
Total Sermons: 156
Total Amens: 99
Find out how to link to Willow Park Church (Hwy 33 Campus)'s sermons from your website or blog
Only Mostly Dead!
What happens in the life of an individual or a church family that causes them to "slip slowly into slumber?" The church at Sardis gets the harshest words of all 7 - you are on the brink of death - watch out! Revivals throughout history have always come when the people of God have grown hungry enough, and discontent enough with their lives. Unless there is a passionate crying out to God and a willingness to do "whatever it takes" then revival remains illusive....you cannot be "partially committed!" The two words "dead - church" really should never be put together... But unfortunately we all know that it happens. How about us? How about you? Key Passage: Revelation 2:18-29
0 Amens
Death by Degree
The gift of sexuality is one of the most powerful forces in our lives for both pleasure and pain. Like fire, sexuality, in its proper place, is both powerful and beneficial. But out of control, it can also become a destructive force. Satan is able to use sexual sin in a devastating "one-two" punch in our lives. First, we are tempted to move away from God's ideal, into sin. After we sin, Satan then turns the mirror on us to condemn and ridicule us. As your pastor, my hope and prayer for you is that you would step into the fullness of sexual healing and fulfillment. That your desire to walk with Jesus Christ, and to be used by Him, would not be compromised because of hidden sin in your life.
1 Amens
Trojan Horses
"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it."
0 Amens
Faithful Under Fire
The second church on John's postal route would have been the church at Smyrna. This city competed with Ephesus as the "key" city of Asia Minor and was steeped in deep patriotism and fierce loyalty to Rome. Into this environment steps a marginalized group of Christ-followers declaring that Jesus (not Caesar) was Lord! ...and all hell begins to break loose. As Thomas Torrence says: "The church cannot be the church, without causing trouble!" The key to understanding and embracing this text and this teaching comes in the first phrase: I am the First and the Last, who died and came to life again! Embedded in that statement is the hope these people needed....AND the hope WE need! Key Passage: Revelation 2:8-11
0 Amens
Light the Fire Again!
Revelation is a letter, a prophecy, and an apocalypse. In the first case, it is a letter addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor. The churches are commended for their positive traits, and challenged to make changes where they are falling short. Together, we might entitle this section, "Faithful Under Fire" as we see these early churches standing in a culture of persecution and all the temptations to spiritual compromise that went with it. The first church on the postal route, is the seaport city of Ephesus. We know more about this congregation than perhaps any other in the New Testament. The challenge they faced is one that is very real for us today as well. To prime the pump; give some thought to how you might rate your "spiritual passion." If you had to choose a number from 1 to 10 (1 being cold and 10 being white-hot) where would you place your passion level? Was there a day when it burned brighter? Key Passage: Rev 2:1-7
0 Amens
Pulling Back the Curtain
At the start of a New Year, maybe nothing could be more important than gaining a fresh vision of Jesus! On-going military conflict and the recent global economic turmoil has heightened our awareness to the fragile nature of life. John offers his readers much more than an end-times road map, he offers a rocksolid confidence that the same Jesus who began the work of reconciling us to God - will one day bring it to an incredible conclusion! In the meanwhile, we stand in awe and in worship! More than anything else, I pray that this study will give us a clear vision of the powerful, exalted, and victorious Christ we serve - and that from that confidence - our lives will be different! Key Passage: Revelation 1:1-20
1 Amens
Behind Enemy Lines
"Incognito, under the cover of darkness, the king of kings stole into town; disguised as an infant..." - Philip Yancey. "It is John's Spirit-appointed task to supplement the work of Matthew and Luke so that the nativity can not be sentimentalized into coziness, nor domesticated into drabness, nor commercialized into worldliness....this is not the nativity story we grew up with, but it is the nativity story all the same. Jesus' birth excited more than wonder, it excites evil...." - Eugene Peterson. "Open war is upon you...whether you would risk it or not" - Aragon (Lord of the Rings)
1 Amens
Divine
Psalm 8 says: "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
1 Amens
Serving like Jesus
As followers of Jesus we are called to emulate the life and practice of Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark (10.45) Jesus tells us that he came not to be served but to serve; One of the greatest examples left for us of Jesus' servant heart is found in John 13 when we read that he got down on his knees and washed his disciples feet. If that doesn't turn our understanding of leadership on its head what will? As Jesus' apprentices the question is not if we will serve but where! We are all called to take up the towel and serve. Richard Foster, in his book, Celebration of Disciple, says that if the cross is a sign of submission then the towel is the sign of service. We are all called, says Foster, to the ministry of the towel.
1 Amens