Tag: Sermons

Differences Don’t Have to Divide

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This week we are kicking off a brand-new teaching series called, Stormy Waters. For the next few weeks, we are going to be talking about how to navigate family conflict without losing our minds. Family conflict is hard. It can be some of the messiest conflict we ever have to face. Thankfully, the Scriptures give us some helping wisdom on how to make it through without losing ourselves or our relationships. In this first part of our journey, we are starting where so many of our conflicts start: with differences. You’re not like the other people in your family, and occasionally that leads to conflict. Let’s talk about how to navigate it.

Differences Don’t Have to Divide

I love my sister. But we are not the same. For starters, she’s my sister. That fact sets us apart pretty well by itself. But the differences run much deeper than that. We didn’t like or excel at the same sports or activities growing up. We didn’t share the same tastes in music. Her friends sometimes made me want to move out when they visited. My friends and I once snuck into her room after a sleepover when there were like four of them on her big bed, and lifted up one side of the mattress so they all slid off the other side, one after the next on top of each other. That is to say, my friends drove her crazy too. We watched different TV shows. We had different interests. She would occasionally try to do things that I did before her (probably because I was her big brother and she wanted to be like me), but I would give her such a hard time about not doing whatever it was like I did that she didn’t tend to stick with those things very long. She quickly found her own things, and I don’t blame her. 

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So Much Winning

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This week we had the joyful opportunity to celebrate baptisms as a church. That’s always a major highlight for us (it’s kind of in the name as a Baptist church). So, rather than starting a new teaching series, I decided to explore just why the Gospel these folks have publicly embraced is so good. With a look at Paul’s celebration of the glory and majesty of God’s love for us in Christ, we talked about how great it is that His love for us doesn’t ever quit. May these words be an encouragement and blessing to you.

So Much Winning

Have you ever quit something because it was hard? I mean, I know that’s not something we generally want to admit in polite company, but I suspect most of us have at least one story. When I used to play NBA Jam on my Sega Genesis, I had a perfect record. That’s because anytime it looked like I was going to lose, I just hit that power button and started over. Perhaps a bit more significantly than that, I used to play the trumpet. I played for about a year. I was actually doing okay with it, and was having fun…but then I got braces. Let me tell you: Trumpets and braces are not a very good combination. I still remember how much that hurt. I put up with it for a few weeks, but then the school year came to an end, and I was able to pick a new instrument for the next year. I quit the trumpet and went with drums. It didn’t look like it would hurt as much as the trumpet. Plus, I had seen how much fun the drummers were having in the back of the band. It was way more fun than we were having in the trumpet row. Also, it didn’t hurt. Did I mention that?  

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Putting Others First

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This week we wrap up our series, Who Do You Want to Be, by talking one more time about the kind of lifestyle we need to live if we are going to be ready for Jesus’ return and the transition of this world to the next. Because that kingdom is defined by the character of our God, reflecting His character is going to be key to our living in it. And one of the things that is absolutely central to God’s character is His constantly putting others first. Living ready for His kingdom means doing the same in our own lives. One of the best calls to this kind of a lifestyle came in a conversation Jesus had with the disciples. Let’s explore this together.

Putting Others First

One of my favorite cartoons from my high school days was Disney’s Recess. It ran for an impressive 10 seasons and even had a couple of feature-length movies to its name. The thing that made Recess so magical was how it captured the innocence, optimism, hope, and wonder of that special time in every elementary kid’s life. It may have only lasted for 20 minutes out of an entire day, but it was pretty unfailingly…well…magical. Do you remember playing on the playground at school when you were growing up? I think what I remember most about that time was playing kickball. All the boys would gather in the corner of the playground with a ball, split up into teams, and then argue for the next 15 minutes about the rules before we finally got a little bit of playtime in. 

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Getting Priorities in Order

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This week we are taking another step forward in our journey through understanding more fully the kind of people we want to be if Jesus really is coming back one day. We’ve talked about being better for the world. This week we are turning things around a bit to talk about being better for God’s kingdom. If we really are citizens first of the kingdom of God as follower of Jesus, then the priorities of that kingdom need to define how we pursue life in our present kingdoms. Not only is this right on its face, it brings some added benefits that are pretty handy. Let’s talk about how all of this works and why in part four of Who Do You Want to Be.

Getting Priorities in Order

One of my favorite observations about how much time we have in our lives is also one of the most challenging and uncomfortable I’ve ever heard. Are you ready for this? Are you sure? You might want to tuck your toes in just in case. Here goes: You have time to do everything you most want to do. Whenever you hear someone complain about how little time they have to do this or that, if you really want to get under their skin, gently offer this observation back to them. Then take a step back because they might take a swing at you. Better yet, the next time you start to complain about how little time you have to do this or that, bring this observation to mind. Trust me: You won’t like it. But that doesn’t make it any less true. 

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A Proper Patriotism

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We are in the midst of another intensely partisan election season where one side regularly derides the other as hating America while the other side accuses the one of being a threat to our democracy. Both sides claim to love the country while insisting the other obviously does not. This raises an interesting question for us to consider as followers of Jesus: What does it look like to properly love our country? What does it look like for a follower of Jesus to properly love whatever country he happens to call home? As we continue in our series, Who Do You Want to Be, this week, examining what it looks like for believers to live like Jesus is coming back someday, let’s take a look at this question through the lens of the Gospel.

A Proper Patriotism

What does it look like to properly love your country? That’s a trickier question to answer than it might appear at first glance. I suspect most of you immediately called to mind all kinds of patriotic images. We’re not quite a month past the Fourth of July. Gathering as families and communities while we eat good food and watch other people blow stuff up seems to be a pretty good way to love our country. But can you love your country too much? Is that a thing? Can you make an idol out of it? What if you love it to the point that you are willing to overlook or otherwise justify obvious and real faults? No country has a history that is totally spotless from any sort of failing of morality. Does a proper love of country allow for honest conversations about those? At the same time, though, can you give those kinds of things too much attention? I mean, no country is perfect, sure, but none of them are all bad either. Every country has noble and redeeming qualities if you are willing to search for them. Yeah, maybe you have to search a little harder in some places than others, but they’re there. It seems that a proper love of country is going to avoid both of these extremes and fall in this messy middle ground of loving without idolizing, and being honest without becoming cynical. What has me thinking about all of this today is that as we continue in our teaching series, Who Do You Want to Be, we are going to be taking a look at our duty to be good citizens wherever we happen to live. 

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