Category: Sermons

Pressing On

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This week finds us between sermon series. We just finished one last week and will start a new one next week (on how to study the Bible, so don’t miss that!). That means this week was a freebie. Well, given that last week was Easter, and given our great tendency to settle back into our old ruts after we make it past a major spiritual milestone like that, this week we’re talking about what to do when Easter has come and gone. With the help of the author of Hebrews, we are talking about pressing on when things get long. Come for the encouragement, stay for the challenges at the end which although specific to my church, can probably be adapted and applied to every church. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Pressing On

Do we have any runners in here? Do we have anyone who used to be a runner? How about anyone who once entertained the notion of being a runner (just before settling in for another doughnut while laughing hysterically at the idea)? Although I dare not claim that title any longer, there was a time when I was a runner. I was okay; not great. But I did enjoy it. I think what I enjoyed most was not the actual team cross country practices, but the weeks I spent running on my own after school once the season ended—especially when it was cold. Those were the days I felt like I could run forever without getting tired. I remember the summer I put in 500 miles so I could get a patch on my letterman jacket. Eight miles was typically about the most I ever ran. I did a few longer runs of eleven miles, but that was about it. 

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Restored by the Resurrection

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The day has finally arrived. For the first time in three years, yesterday we gathered together in person to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. It was quite a day. We also wrapped up our series, Plugged In. Getting and living plugged in to Jesus is a great thing. But it’s not a thing we can do on our own. The resurrection is what makes it possible. Let’s talk about it. Happy Easter! (P.S. It’s Spring Break week for us. I’ll be back with you next Monday. Have a great week!)

Restored by the Resurrection

When was the last time you failed? It could be a small failure. It could be a big failure. It could be an actual failure. It could be merely a perceived failure. Whatever form it happened to take, though, failing isn’t any fun. In fact, it’s a terrible feeling to have. And if there were just one feeling associated with it, that wouldn’t be good, but failure comes with a whole mixed bag of feelings and emotions. We feel like we’ve let down someone; maybe a number of someones. We feel like we’ve lost a bit of our purpose as people. We’re angry. We’re embarrassed. We’re ashamed. We want to hide—especially if the failure is the result of sin of some kind. Failure is just kind of a mess. Nobody wants to feel that. And yet, the truth about living in a world broken by sin is that sometimes…we do. 

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Good Friday 2022

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Today is Good Friday, a day set aside to focus our attention on the cross of Christ. While Easter is rightly the highlight of our year as followers of Jesus, Easter and the empty tomb came by the road of the cross. Without dying, Jesus couldn’t have risen from the grave. Today is the day we remember the weight and cost of our sin. It is also the day we remember the incredible grace and mercy of our God. Each year, we have a special service here at First Baptist Oakboro to reflect on all of this together. Tonight will be no exception. Here’s what I’m going to share with my congregation this evening. May it be a blessing to you as you prepare for celebrating our risen Lord this Sunday.

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Standing in His Shadow

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This week is the penultimate stop in our series, Plugged In. Last week, we started a conversation about what it looks like for us to get staying plugged in to Jesus right. It wasn’t all that encouraging. In fact, it was a bit of a downer. If we live our lives plugged in to Jesus, the world is going to make us pay for it. But that’s not the end of the story. The beginning of the rest comes here. The world may be coming after us for following Jesus, but He has already overcome. What this means for us is what I want to talk about. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Standing in His Shadow

All degree programs have certain courses that everyone has to take. More than that, most colleges and universities have certain classes that they want all their students to take regardless of their degree program. For my undergrad, it was a JINS class—Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar. Being an officially liberal arts university, they wanted students to take a course that touched on two different academic disciplines so we were well-rounded. Apparently one course is enough to hit the mark. There were a variety of JINS courses as most professors had to teach one. I took one called The Ethical Implications of the Human Genome Project with Dr. Ryan who also happened to be my Calc 3 professor. I loved the course, but then, I’m a huge nerd, so of course I would. 

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Reading the Fine Print

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So far in our journey over the last few weeks, we have talked about how and why to stay plugged in to Jesus. This week we’re shifting gears a bit to talk about what it looks like when we get it right. As it turns out, along their walk from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told the disciples one thing it would look like. The picture He painted, though, wasn’t pretty. Yet this picture has formed the reality for a great many of His followers over the centuries. Let’s talk today about the sometimes tough reality of what staying plugged in to Jesus looks like when we get it right.

Reading the Fine Print

What would you do if your faith was put to the test? I’m not talking about some kind of a pen and paper test. I’m talking about the kind of test where you are challenged to live and act in a manner consistent with your faith with the full knowledge that doing so is going to bring trouble into your life as well as the lives of the people around you. Over the past fifteen years, our culture has seen several Christian individuals put to just this kind of test. They have been approached by one person or another and asked to provide a service or involve themselves in an action which their core Christian convictions informs them is morally impermissible for followers of Jesus to take part in. In several of the most high profile of these cases, the believer courteously refused to participate in whatever it was. You can perhaps guess what was the response of the world. To put it mildly, it wasn’t good. 

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