Category: Sermons

Live Like It’s True

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Have you ever had someone be really unkind to you and then expect you to listen to what they had to say? I suspect you weren’t quite as interested at that point as they wanted you to be. There’s a lesson here when it comes to sharing our faith. As we continue in our series, Tell Someone, instead of turning to tips and tricks for effective evangelism, we’re taking a pause to talk about something we have to have in place before we start doing it (and I’m not talking about prayer). What is this thing? Read on to find out.

Live Like It’s True

In a headline that grabbed not a little attention a couple of weeks ago, the Gallup polling organization released a survey on religious participation in the United States. They found that for the first time since the organization began tracking this particular bit of data in 1937, church membership had fallen below 50% of the population. In other words, for the first time…perhaps in our entire history…less than half of the country reports being a member of a church. The problem runs deeper than just that, though. These folks who are leaving behind their church membership are overwhelmingly not just leaving that behind, they are abandoning the Christian faith entirely.

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Beautiful Simplicity

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For the last couple of weeks we have been talking about our call as followers of Jesus to tell someone else about our faith in Jesus. We’ve talked about the what (connect people to Jesus) and where to start (with prayer). This week, we’re talking about what the actual message we are to share is. We have a tendency to imagine sharing the Gospel is something incredibly complex, because we think of the Gospel itself as complex. The truth is just the opposite. The Gospel is simple and so is our message about it. Let’s talk about just what this simple message is together.

Beautiful Simplicity

One of the life lessons I had set before me fairly often when I was growing up is best summed up by the acronym K.I.S.S. Anyone know what that stands for? Keep it simple…well…you fill in whatever S-word you heard put there. The idea, of course, is that it is better to keep things simple than leave them complex. Simple things are…well…simple. They’re easier to manage. They’re a lighter burden to bear. Simple is just better. Complex never made anybody’s life better.

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The Secret Sauce

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As we continue in our conversation about what we should do with what we believe, Tell Someone, this week we are talking about the most essential ingredient in sharing our faith with another person. There are many things that might be considered to be the most important thing, but what we’ll talk about today really lies at the heart of the matter. Keep reading to find out what it is.

The Secret Sauce

Think for a minute with me this morning about your favorite recipe. I’m talking about the thing that if this was going to be your last meal on earth, this is what you want to have on the menu. What is the most essential ingredient in that recipe? My wife is a really good cook. Like, really good. If I was going to eat a final meal, as long as she was cooking it, I really couldn’t go wrong. There are several things she makes that would land on my list of favorites, but right near the top of that list right now is this chicken and Bisquik biscuit dish that is just amazing. She first made it several years ago, but pulled it back out a couple of months ago and it was like being reintroduced to a long, lost friend. I could have eaten that stuff until I exploded. The essential ingredient in that dish is the chicken. But not just any chicken. You really need thigh meat for it to have the flavor it needs. Better yet, when she does it with one of those whole roaster chickens you get from the deli section at the store…wow. Just, wow. How about you? What are some of the most essential ingredients in your favorite dishes?

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Making Connections

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For the last few weeks we have been talking about what we believe as followers of Jesus. We haven’t covered everything in detail, but we’ve covered a lot of ground all the same. If you’ve been tracking with us, you hopefully have a better understanding of what you believe than you did before. That’s all well and good, but knowledge for its own sake isn’t particularly helpful. What are we supposed to do with all of that? Today we kick off a new teaching series in which we are going to offer an answer to that very question. In this new series, Tell Someone, we’ll be talking about how to share what you know with another person in hopes of leading them into a relationship with Jesus. This should be a fun ride.

Making Connections

A couple of weeks ago, Nate asked you an important question: What’s next? In his conversation with you, he set your sights on the Holy Spirit. I want to ask you the same question this morning, but with a little bigger a perspective in mind. For the last seven weeks we have been talking about what we believe as followers of Jesus. While we didn’t cover every possible detail by any stretch of the imagination, we covered some of the biggest and most important theological concepts. Knowing all of that, though, is one thing. The question I hope you found yourself asking as we finished up last week was this: Now what? What’s next? What are we supposed to do now that we know all of that? For the next few weeks, I want to talk with you about an answer to that question.

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Signs of the Times

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As we wrap up our series, You Believe What? this week, we are talking at the end about what followers of Jesus should believe about the end of the world. So often our thinking and questions about this huge topic are focused on timing. When you survey the Scriptures, though, something else rises to the top as the most pressing issue. This is the one that should shape our thinking. And like we’ve seen along the way of this entire journey, it’s a whole lot simpler than we make it out to be. Let’s talk about it.

Signs of the Times

 I thought I would give you a little test this morning. I hope you studied. Actually, this is one that most of you should technically be able to pass by virtue of the fact that you drove here this morning. Yes, that’s right, we are going to do a little road sign recognition exam. I’m going to put some different signs up on the screen and you are going to tell me what they are. And just because I played a dirty trick on you last time I did something like this doesn’t mean I’m going to now. There are not going to be any trick questions this time.

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