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Choose a Purpose
(Sermon) Isaiah’s vision of God challenges an unstated presumption of the Declaration of Independence and calls us to revisit our purpose in life.
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You Have Saved Me
(Sermon) The suffering metaphors of Psalm 22 are still relevant today as is the promise of God’s relief. One Hebrew word, ‘ă·nî·ṯā·nî, translated “you have saved me” connects metaphor and promise and is explored as it applies today.
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Made for a Time Such as This
(Personal reflection/Sermon) Perhaps finding your grand purpose includes “a time such as this”. A reflection on the book of Esther.
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The Behavior of Love
(Sermon) John tells believers to love as Jesus did and feels no need to define the word beyond that. His approach is considerably more powerful and convicting than any secular definition of love.
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The Angelic Message
(Sermon) The angel at the tomb of Jesus gave a two-part divine message that no human could conceive.
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The Mindset of Christ Jesus
(Sermon) St. Paul describes the mindset of Christ Jesus and the pathway that leads us from our own fallen mindset to that of the living Savior.
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Prioritizing Concerns
(Sermon) When Peter is rebuked for believing nothing bad can happen to Jesus, Christ reveals a remedy for our human condition that is both paradoxical and beautiful.
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Servants and the Law
(Sermon) Luke describes how Mary and Joseph complied with Jewish law for their son. The impact of abiding by the law on our service to God is explored.
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The Proverbial Man
(Sermon) A lovely story of Biblical truth in one man’s life.
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Christmas Presents from God
(Sermon) Isaiah predicts a fabulous Christmas present from God that never loses its ability to inspire.
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When You are a False Prophet
(Sermon) It is hard to be Christ’s representative when your family and friends believe God’s principles are false. Jeremiah walked this path as a prophet and shows us the journey we can expect and how best to complete it.
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Community, Conformity and the Great Commission
(Sermon) Paul warns against the hazards of false apostles (unbelievers) within a Christian community. How his warning intersects with the great commission and the reality of the world is explored in the context of psychological realities about human behavior.
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The University of the Canaanite Mother
(Sermon) When a Canaanite mother comes to Jesus for help, she encounters a harsh reply. Her response is a wonderful exposition on grace from which all sinners can learn.
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Miracles that Testify
(Sermon) When God told Abraham and Sarah that she would bear a son at 90, they laughed. The reasons why might keep today’s believers from seeing divine miracles in their lives. Miracles that testify to the presence of God and once noted should be passed on as a testimony to the pervasive presence of God.
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Sober Judgement and the Power of Service
(Sermon) Paul believes that the body of Christ has many members and, like our own bodies, each is important for healthy function. This post explores the truth of his wisdom from the unusual perspective of the life of a man with no faith.
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Go in Peace and Serve the Lord
(Sermon) A confrontation between the Sanhedrin and the apostles reveals four lessons for how any Spirit led Christian can serve God at peace in a world where opposition to the Word abounds. Remarkably, the lessons create peace within the believer and minimize conflict with those who may oppose our faith and its teachings.
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Easter, Empathy and the Death of Fear
(Sermon) Fear is the first thing encountered after the heading Jesus Has Risen in Matthew’s gospel. Maybe the reason is because our empathetic Savior is the death of fear.
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A Healing Faith
(Sermon) A passage from John reveals that comprehensive faith in God and Christ is challenging, but healing.
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Tell me ‘Bout the Good Old Days
(Sermon) Seeing God’s principles at work in the good old days makes us long for them to return or for ill-advised progress to at least stop. Peter had a similar response to the Transfiguration of Jesus. His experience instructs us how best to use the past and see the power of God in the world…
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Remembering the Infinite Holiness of God
(Sermon) When Isaiah and Simon meet God face-to-face they are overwhelmed with God’s holiness and their own sinfulness. God’s response to their honest, repentant hearts reveals that remembering the infinite holiness of God is the first and perhaps most important step in serving the Lord.
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Loved, Redeemed and Summoned by Name
(Sermon) Isaiah predicts judgment and redemption for the Jewish people. His words are applicable for us today. They convey that you and I are loved, redeemed and summoned by name to uniquely serve. That service may be surprisingly simple, wonderfully important, and personally gratifying.
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Sing with the Angels Everyone, It’s Christmas
(Sermon) A Christmas reminder of the joy God had in announcing his son. May we all feel the same joy this year.
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The Armor of God
(Sermon) Paul describes the devil’s schemes to destroy the unity of the church as an individual assault on each of its members. He then describes the armor needed to defend against it. Here the armor is discussed in the context of a single person’s life lived defenseless and defended.
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Refresh the Hearts of the Lord’s People
(Sermons) Paul writes a lovely, warm letter to Philemon, and in it are lessons for us about how to refresh the hearts of God’s people with love.
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Thankfulness and the Plumb Line of God
(Sermon) God compares prospering Israel and Judah against His plumb line of right and true in the book of Amos and finds them lacking. Are we? Paul describes overflowing thankfulness as the way home.
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Mercy, Justice and Love: Absolutes of God
(Sermon) If God is absolutely just, how can He show mercy? If God is absolutely merciful, how can He be just? Yet God is both and only love can explain it.
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Wandering in a Wilderness of Deceit
(Sermon) As Christians we often spend time trying not to sin, but sin is enticing. So we lie to ourselves and spin that lie out to the world to make the sin okay. In a confrontation between Jesus and Judas, Jesus confronts just such a lie and teaches us about our nature and how to…
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Give your Life to Save it
(Sermon) Every day, strive to love Christ exponentially more than anything in this life. Only when we give up our lives for this will we find life as the people we were intended to be.
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To Fulfill All Righteousness: Hope for the Sinner
(Sermon) Satan’s temptation of Jesus was unsuccessful. In the Lord’s response is everything we need to know to resist as well. An inspiring story of resistance from today reveals the truth of the Lord’s teaching.
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The Priestly Blessing
(Sermon) What does it mean to have the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you? It could mean you will be blessed with material things. Philippians has an entirely different interpretation that is a real blessing.
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Pause, Question and Be Still
(Sermon) When you or I are separated from God, God is the last place we think to turn to settle our troubled souls. The sons of Korah counsel us not to continue down this pathway to despondency. Instead, be still and know the He is God.
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Wanted: Real Teachers for Christ
(Sermon) Real teachers for Christ are everywhere around us, but so are Pharisees. Jesus says the difference is humility, pride and proper motivation.
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Suffering and the God of no Excuses
(Sermon) Suffering is difficult for those who believe in a good God. Several theological responses are addressed here in the context of Job, the biblical book directly addressing the topic.
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God’s Justice and Mercy by Grace Through Faith
(Sermon) God’s justice and mercy by grace leaves believers wondering how justice and mercy can coexist. They do, and at the center is belief in grace, a complicated concept explored in this post.