"In the Beginning": Echoes of Lies (Genesis 3:1-6)

Why do we keep doing the things we don't want to do? Why do we keep doing those things INSTEAD of the things we want to do and know we ought to do? The answer is, whether the "moment" is long or short, there is a point where we give in to... temptation. Genesis 3 records the first time this ever happened. And the lies the serpent told Eve still echo back in our own inner thoughts and voices. Recognizing those lies is one step to freedom.

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In the Beginning: God Speaks

People often turn to Genesis to ask questions the text was not really meant to answer. So what questions do the first two chapters of the Bible answer? Only the most basic questions of life: "Who is God?" "Who am I?" and "Is there any hope or purpose to life?"

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Back to the Basics: 'Family Meeting' 2014

Every year near the beginning of January, I give a "family meeting" type of message to outline our goals and hopes for the coming year.  This year, the focus of the message is getting "back to the basics" and focusing on the one thing that makes any local church worth preserving.  What is that one thing?  You'll have to listen to find out!

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Everyday Sanctification

This week's sermon was a take on New Year's resolutions, which tend to be sort of a celebration of self-will. Of course, human self-will is fatally flawed, as New Year's resolutions demonstrate every year. If you've been in church long enough, you've heard someone say something to the effect of "You've got to stop doing everything by your own power and let God do it." But what does that look like?

This week, we tried to answer that question by looking at the promise of 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 and the text of Romans 5:1-5. The first part of the message was cut off, but the text from the above paragraph more or less covers it (without the benefit of my wonderful wit from the pulpit). So presented here is the "meat" of the message...

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A Christmas Blessing

I forgot to post the pre-Christmas sermon before we left, so I am posting it now.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

-- 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Christmas is a story of a promise kept.  And the promise of these verses extends to us today.  We all long for the day when we are completely free of sin and it consequences in our lives.  Christ's first coming gave us hope and peace with God.  When all is fulfilled, we will receive our full inheritance as co-heirs with Christ.

Christmas reminds us that God is faithful.  So as you enter into a new year with hope that it will bring a "better you" than the year before, take comfort in the sure hope that we celebrated at Christmas.  The God we serve is faithful, and He keeps His promises!

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Welcoming the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:20)

It's been a busy week preparing for our "Christmas in the Real World" program this Sunday, so I've been late posting the sermon.
Living by the Spirit everyday as God's church ought to be the "norm" in Christian life, but sadly, we--both as individuals and as local churches--often operate in the dark by our own power.
How can we learn to hear and obey the Spirit?  It begins with believing that God still speaks...

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Let the Fire Burn (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

I think most people would like a close relationship with God.  It's just that they are not sure how to get there or even if they are really invited.  Most of us who would say we have a relationship with God are not really sure how to hear when he speaks to us.

The missing element here is to understand God's gift of the Holy Spirit.  The reason Jesus came, died, rose, and ascended was to reconcile us to God and to give us this relationship we can enjoy through the Spirit.  How do we take hold of this gift?  Paul writes, "Don't put out the Spirit's fire" (or "Do not quench the Spirit.")  This week, we talked about three "fires" to protect if we want the Spirit burning brightly in our lives.

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