Sermon Video INTRODUCTION: We need to begin with the obvious, which is that Scripture teaches that our words affect how we are doing, not to mention those all around us. But this “obvious” truth ...
CHEERFUL HEARTS AND GOOD WORDS
Our Ebenezer Stone/State of the Church 2020
Introduction: The Lord has been blessing our congregation in many striking ways. We have been growing in remarkable ways, and an essential part of this growth entails the inevitable growing pains. Quite a few of you just moved to our community just within the last year, and it may seem to you that you have …
A Theology of Christmas Presents (4)
Introduction: In the light of all the foregoing, we should therefore not be surprised when we find that we must affirm the goodness of the material world. This should be obvious, but tragically ...
A Theology of Christmas Presents (3)
Introduction: As we continue our consideration of the whole question of gift-giving at Christmas, we have been studying the background. What does the Bible teach about giving and receiving generally, and how can we apply these general principles to specific situations—like our Christmas shopping and our presents? So we started with the ultimate gift of …
A Sermon for Americans
A Brief Explanation: The form of this sermon is unusual, and so I need to give a brief word of explanation before presenting the message. We have four gospels that contain many examples of our ...
Love in 1 John
Introduction: So this is the fifth in a series of topical messages from 1 John. The words we have been considering were lust, lies, life, light, and this week, love. Remember that the lust of the eyes, ...
REFUGEES AND APOSTLES
INTRODUCTION: As we seek to live our lives as faithful Christians, informed by the Word of God, we soon discover that it is not a simple process. It is not as though the Spirit gave us a rule book, in outline form, fully indexed. Rather, He gave us laws, histories, principles, stories, poems, and parables, …
Two Coal Fires
Introduction: The presence of the Lord Jesus, alive just as He had promised He would be, transforms everything. We can see this very clearly in the fall and restoration of the apostle Peter after the resurrection. The account of Christ’s care for Peter is given to us so that we might understand more of His …
Mechanics of Forgiveness
Introduction: : Every time we say the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. This is reasonable we might think—isn’t forgiveness of sin the entire point? “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Yes, it is the entire point, but it is also part of the point …
Christ Hidden in Your Calling
Introduction: First we must begin with a statement of our problem. Many glorious truths were recovered in the Reformation, and one of them was the doctrine of vocation. Unfortunately, this is part of our Protestant heritage that we have shamefully neglected, and have almost lost. One of the principal indications that we have lost this …