Category: Sermons

Love Flows Out

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Yesterday morning in our journey through 1 John we finally got to the point of defining love.  What is love and what are the five implications for getting it right in our lives that John outlines?  Keep reading to find out.

 

Love Flows Out

Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus looked at the crowd gathered around Him and said this: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Read the rest…

Empowered Servants

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This past Sunday we had the pleasure of ordaining two new deacons, installing them along with two others, and ordaining a veteran minister out of a sister tradition into our own.  In other words, it was a great Sunday.  At the end of the morning, I took a few minutes to tell the story of where this all came from and to point the way forward to where we’re headed as a church.  Keep reading to see what I said.

Empowered Servants

Hasn’t this been a good morning?  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love being a part of the church being the church.  Seeing a group of Jesus followers come together to do the basic things we were called, equipped, and empowered by our Lord to do is really exciting to me and I hope it is to you.  Frankly, it’s hard for it not to be at least a bit exciting.  Whether you are part of a group or not, there’s something exciting about seeing one fulfill its purpose.  We are naturally drawn to purpose ourselves and so when we see one being fulfilled we root for it. Read the rest…

Test Every Spirit

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In this past Sunday’s installment of A Word on Reality, we paused with John to be reminded once again how we can know what’s true and what’s not.  In a world that is awash in different voices claiming to have the corner of the truth market, how do we figure out which voices are worth heeding and which are to be tossed out with the garbage?  Keep reading to find out…

 

Test Every Spirit

If I were to ask you what the fastest growing religious affiliation in this country is according to recent survey data, what would you guess it to be?  Let’s take a look at the broad categories starting with the group “religious, Christian.”  From 1990-2008 the number of adults identifying themselves as part of a mainline Christian denomination (most Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopals, Lutherans, and the like) in the U.S. shrank by about 10%, or a total loss of 3.5 million members.  The number of Baptists grew by about 6% or a little over two million people.  Folks identifying themselves as either Pentecostals or simply nondenominational of some sort grew by 40% and 25%, respectively.  And, just to round things out, the number of Catholics grew about 25%, although most of that was from immigration, not conversion.   Read the rest…

A Call to Action

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As we continue in our series, A Word on Reality, this past Sunday morning we looked at John’s call to make loving one another something that goes beyond being merely a slogan we claim, to an essential part of our identity in Christ.  Read on for more…

A Call to Action

Have you ever seen or worn a t-shirt with a slogan on it?  I suspect you have.  I had one in high school that my folks recently dug up in one of their closets and mailed to me that read: “The football team will be performing before and after tonight’s featured performance of the marching band halftime show.”  It featured a picture of a trombone slide piercing a football.  Now, if you’re a football fan or player you may be rolling your eyes, but I’m comfortable admitting that I was a huge band nerd in high school.  Also, our football team was awful.  And with over 200 kids in the marching band, for most home games our parents easily made up the biggest percentage of the crowd.  So yes, the crowd really was mostly coming to the game just to see the band.  Read the rest…

Good Little Children

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This past Sunday as we continued our journey in 1 John, A Word on Reality, we looked at both the blessings and the expectations of being called the children of God.  The blessings are incredible beyond our ability to comprehend, but we are at the same time called to live up to a standard consonant with our confession.  What is this standard?  Keep reading to find out.   Read the Rest…