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Galatians 6:1-10 Paul was a student of human nature. Every servant of Christ must become proficient in understanding human nature if he is to have any success at winning the lost. Not only is it the nature of man to sin, but in most cases it is also natural that he should be unforgiving. This nature…

Tonight we’re going to do something a little different. You may remember last week I preached about the purpose of the church being ministry— to be a community of people who love others as we love ourselves to love your neighbor by caring enough to minister to their needs. Tonight I want to take a closer…

How many of you remember the last love letter you received? For some of you it hasn’t been that long. For others of us love letters are ancient history. I remember a love letter I got from a girl named Polly when we were both in the 8th grade. It simply said, DEAR MICHAEL, I THINK YOU ARE PURTY. WILL…

Does God still heal today? In May, 1983, the Chicago Tribune ran a story of Dustin Gilmore,15-month old son of David Gilmore, who came down with flu-like symptoms in April 1978. The Gilmores took Dustin to their church and the pastor prayed for him. Their church believed faith alone heals any disease,…

Tonight I want to continue discussing the purposes of the church. A couple of weeks ago I talked about the first purpose of the church being worship, being grounded in what Jesus stated as the greatest commandment, found in Luke 10:27a You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your…

Last week I began talking about the purpose of the church, and I suggested a 5 fold purpose for the Church of Jesus Christ based on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission: The Purpose of the Church is: Worship Fellowship Ministry Evangelism Education. Tonight I want to focus on the first purpose…

Discipleship 101 Intro: One of the things that I like about teaching at the school is the flow that it provides for the year. I think of years, not according to the Gregorian calendar, but according to the flow of events that surround the school. August is exciting with in-service, open house and the…

The preacher begins his sermon by announcing his text: 1 Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For the next hour and a half, he thunders condemnation of all the things in the world we must not love. He covers a lot of…

At an old seminary, there was a custom that the president could call on any student on any day for that morning’s chapel sermon. One young man was petrified, and each day he dreaded going to chapel. Sure enough, one day the president looked over the audience, pointed directly at him, and said, “Young…

Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched? You probably are. Yesterday (May 31, 2008) The NY Times newspaper reported about a new plan by some companies to install cameras on billboards to get a better feel for who their target audience is. Cameras already are a common tool in catching illegal…

Tonight I want to talk to you about the Christian virtue of hope. But before I do, I want to warn you that it’s easy to think about, talk about or sing about hope and still miss its reality. Hank Williams is a name synonymous with country music. In his brief, tragic life, he wrote thousands of songs,…

Better Days adapted from a sermon by Steve Shepherd Psalms 34:12-16 How do you recognize when you’re going to have a bad day? You turn on the news to see a map showing emergency routes out of the city. The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard. Your income tax check bounces. You put both contact…

Let’s begin this morning with one of those “stump the preacher” questions: how old will I be when I get to heaven? I know the Bible says all born again believers will be resurrected and given a new body which will live forever. I know it will be a perfect body, a body free from all sin, disease, or pain.…

Tonight I want to share something very dear to my heart as your pastor. This is not so much a sermon as an introduction to a series of sermons which deal with rediscovering the purpose of the church. What are we aiming at? Imagine for a moment that I, as pastor, gave special permission for you to bring…

One of the most outspoken modern critics of Christianity is the cable TV mogul Ted Turner, founder of CNN. “Christianity is a religion of losers,” Turner told the Dallas Morning News. Referring to Christ’s death on the cross, Turner said, “I don’t want anybody to die for me. I’ve had a few drinks and…

It’s usually healthy to follow the doctor’s orders. After giving a woman a full medical examination, the doctor writes out a prescription and gives instructions on the dosage. "Take the green pill with a large glass of water when you get up. Take the blue pill with a large glass of water after lunch.…

Why is it so hard to be good? A young man filled out an application for admission to a university. In a space which asks “List your Personal Strengths,” he wrote, “Sometimes I am trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.” Where the…

Tonight I am going to finish up my series on the purpose of the church. But first, let’s review the first 5 purposes of the church: WORSHIP MINSTRY FELLOWSHIP EVANGELISM EDUCATION Tonight we focus on education. "The Power of Education" A mother mouse and her three children crept out of their hole into…

How many of you have ever heard the old saying, “When it’s your time to go, death will find you.” A widow was preparing for her first airplane flight to go see her son and his family, but she was very nervous about flying. As she shared her concerns with her son over the phone, the son remarked, “Well,…