Category: Sermons

Family Stories

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We all love telling old family stories. Well, as we continue in our series, All Planned Out, we are going to look at the family story of Jesus. Let me tell you right here and now: It’s a doozy. But if we’ll pay close attention, there’s something to learn here about just how committed God was–and is–to seeing His plans for us come to pass. So, lean in and listen with me to some really good stories.

Family Stories

When my grandma was 16, my grandpa snuck in the window of a dance she was at because he saw her in there. Within a few months they were married when she was still just 17. They went to an amusement park called Fairyland in Kansas City for their honeymoon. Her older sister, Peg, who was 15 years older, already married and living in Kansas City, chaperoned them, and wouldn’t let my grandma ride the Ferris Wheel at the park. That’s just one of a ton of stories I heard growing up. I don’t know that I can say any of them in particular shaped the direction I’ve taken in my life, but there was just something about knowing the stories of my past that helped me know who I was.

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Always the Plan

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This morning we kick off a brand-new teaching series with the Advent season fully in view. When we are celebrating Advent, we are celebrating the season of preparing for the arrival of Jesus. But understanding that just got me thinking: How did God Himself prepare for Jesus’ arrival and what exactly does it mean that He prepared for it? Starting this morning, in this series we’ll explore God’s plans and how they worked themselves out over the course of human history all with our salvation in mind. To get you thinking about complicated plans and to have a little fun together, check out this YouTube video and then read on.

Always the Plan

So, wasn’t that cool earlier? Can you imagine how much work went into just setting that up? I’ve got to admit: If I took the amount of time involved in setting up that contraption—I mean, it spanned something like four different rooms of that house and then went outside—I’d have a lot of trouble pulling the trigger to start it. It kind of makes you wonder just how many times he got it started and then had to start over because something didn’t quite work; or how many times everything worked except the final ball didn’t make it into the cup. Yikes! Talk about monumentally frustrating.

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Rest in Jesus

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This morning we are wrapping up our short series, I’m Fine. The truth is that in many times of our lives, we aren’t fine. We might profess to the contrary, but we know what’s going on inside and we don’t like it. We can put in place good habits to help keep some of those hard emotions at bay, but sometimes not even that seems to do the trick. In this last part or our conversation we’re talking about the ultimate solution to being not fine. Read on to find out what it is.

Rest in Jesus

There are some tasks you can’t accomplish on your own. This is not necessarily an easy-to-accept reality in our culture. The stories we have long celebrated most are the stories of individuals overcoming incredible odds to accomplish monumental tasks on their own. But this doesn’t make it any less true.

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Good Habits

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Last week we confronted the uncomfortable reality that we are often not fine in this life. This week we start to explore a solution. How can we keep the hard emotions that so often bring us down at bay before they have a chance to do their dirty work? We learn the secret from something Paul wrote when he was in some pretty dark times himself. Check this out with me.

Good Habits

I am a man of habits. It’s just part of my personality. I operate best in conditions that are customary and repetitive. Maybe you’re the same, maybe you’re different, but that’s simply my personality type. And when it comes to personality types, there’s no one type that’s particularly right or particularly wrong. At least…that’s what I keep telling myself. No, each personality type comes with advantages and disadvantages. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, when something is a habit, I’m dependable. Now, I’m sometimes forgetful, but once something is locked into a habit, you can count on my doing it. On the other hand, I can be boring; especially if you have the kind of personality that prefers a bit more variety.

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We’re Not Fine

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This morning we’re kicking off a brand-new teaching series. As we go through our lives, our culture tells us to pretend like everything is fine even when it’s not. And if we’re honest, it’s often not. Pretending we’re fine when we’re not, though, is no way to live. Fortunately, the Gospel has something to say about this. The Gospel offers us a way out of it. For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to talk about what this solution is together. Today, though, we’re going to start with a dose of reality. Let’s dive in together.

We’re Not Fine

So, how are you doing this morning? Now, wait just a second before you answer that. First, let me ask a second question by way of survey—and be honest now. For how many of you, by a show of hands, if I caught you on the street and asked how you were doing would respond with some version of, “I’m fine”? Most of us would, right? And if we’re being really honest, it doesn’t matter much what else might be going on in our lives in that moment. Our knee-jerk response to the standard American greeting of “how are you doing” is “I’m fine.”

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