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#HeStartedIt!

Thursday, April 11th, 2024

Who doesn’t remember the sibling arguments of “He started it!” “No I didn’t. He did!” “Nu-uh. He did!” Yours may have been somewhat different in words (that is if you had a sibling), but the idea is the same. Pointing the finger at who started it.

With Adam we can truly say, “He started it” because..well…he did. Go back to the garden in all its pristine beauty. All its harmony. Unblemished. Sort of hard isn’t it? We have no clue what that would be like since for over however-many-years we have had to deal with imperfection and disease and impurity because of sin.  No longer is our “dream world” possible.

We often talk about the fall of Adam and the curse we all have as a result. But we also have a second Adam who took care of that curse by His death on the cross. We were made in the image of God but sin messed that up. Adam is still our father and all of us have been created in God’s image. We are not random particles. We were not and are not an obscure idea. We were not an afterthought. We are not an accident or a chance. Even before I was a glint in my parent’s eye, God knew me. He knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thanks to sin that is all messed up; thanks to the Savior a fix is available.

My sermon series is Yes, They are Real. I’m taking characters of the Bible for the next three months. This month I’m taking the foundation of it all-God, Adam, Eve, and the Deceiver. This week’s message is on Adam. Please feel free to join us in person or via live stream on either YouTube or our Facebook group (you have to ask to join).  We will spend some time talking about Adam, but most of our time will spent with the second Adam. See you then!

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Jesus, Miscellaneous, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #HeStartedIt!

#JesusIsVictorious

Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Billy Graham was once interviewed by TIME (remember that?) magazine about Christianity. He replied, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection, because that is the heart of Christianity.”  Theologian Peter Kreeft once wrote: “Every sermon preached by every Christian in the NT centers on the Resurrection. The Christian church would have never begun…Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. Once you disprove it, you have disposed Christianity.”

There have been many efforts of people trying to disprove the resurrection. From liberal religion scholars to people like Thomas Jefferson to other truth deniers, they have all tried. AND. ALL. HAVE. FAILED. You know what is interesting? People will not argue the historicity of the crucifixion. They do believe Jesus died on the cross. (It is kind of hard to deny history, although we do have those in our culture who are trying to redefine it). While they believe Jesus died on the cross, they don’t or have trouble believing Jesus rose from the dead.

With this coming Sunday being Resurrection Sunday, it just stands to reason I would preach a sermon on…well…the Resurrection.  I’m going to spend some time in I Cor. 15:12-19 to show what happens if the resurrection didn’t happen and then I am going to reverse that to see what we have because Christ rose.

We did something different this week. We are meeting at Abram Event Venue, which is just south of us, so we can meet together in one service. However, they do not have internet, so live streaming the service, plus the logistics of getting all the equipment there would have been a nightmare makes that a no-go. So we prerecorded the sermon with some Scripture and Pastor Ryan leading communion. I’d like to invite you to watch the video if you are unable to meet in person with us.  Then I’d like to hear from you. If you are able to join us, our service starts at 10:00.

Posted in Church, Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Resurrection, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #JesusIsVictorious

#IncomparableJesus

Thursday, March 14th, 2024

I love the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe. The movie opens with him as a conquering general of the emperor, Marcus Aurelius. When the emperor is killed by his sorry excuse for a son, Commodus, Crowe’s character is banished from the army. He rides home only to find his wife and son have been murdered. As he lays on the ground, he is picked up by slave traders where he is trained to be a Gladiator to fight in the Coliseum. When Gladiator kills the retired undefeated gladiator once known as the greatest of them all, Commodus wants to know who Gladiator is and what is his name. After trying to avoid exposure, he finally removes his helmet and says, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant of the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

Let me ask you a question: Who is Jesus…really? Why are people trying so hard to make Him seem less than He is? My focus this Sunday morning is to answer the question of who Jesus is. I’m going to be talking specifically about His Virgin Birth and why it is vital to a person’s belief in the truth of Christianity.  Two thoughts will pervade: Jesus’ birth is incomparable and Jesus’ life is incomparable.

Interested? Please join us in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45 a.m.  If you watch, please let us know. Drop me a line via email if you like. I will try to get back to you asap.

Posted in Doctrine, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

Jesus is Real

Thursday, February 29th, 2024

A little over two years ago, a local business had a statement on their sign that I must admit rankled me a bit. In fact, if I were to be honest, it ruffled my feathers (and I have none). The sign consisted of three words, words which startled me and I suspect others because fortunately it didn’t stay up very long. I would like to believe it was because of repentance at the blasphemy, but I’m guessing it was more because of blowback.  Those three words were “Jesus was woke.”

The long version definition of “woke” is “a word to describe someone who, whether consciously or unconsciously, has adopted grievances and activism rooted in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory, especially related to the intersectional oppression matrix of race, gender, and sexuality.” WHEW! Did you get that? Let me put that in my language: a bunch of crock centered around race, gender, and sexuality that finds its roots in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory. I could add more but that should suffice. To say Jesus followed Marxism and was concerned about Critical Race Theory is heresy. If you ask me what I think, I will tell you “it comes from the pit of hell and smells like smoke.”

During the month of March I am going to try to tackle some of the more radical ideas about Jesus. This week’s sermon is entitled Jesus is Real. To put it another way: what is it we believe about Jesus? If you care to read ahead, spend some time in I Corinthians 15:1-9. You will find all you need to know about Sunday’s sermon in that passage.

I invite you to join us if you able to in person. If you would like to but find yourself unable to physically join us, please join us online on the church’s FB page or via YouTube. We would love to have you. And make sure to let us know if you watch!

Posted in Church, Doctrine, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on Jesus is Real

Jesus Is Honored

Thursday, January 18th, 2024

Over 100 years ago the famous World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago. D.L. Moody saw it as a great chance for evangelism. He used churches and rented theaters, even a circus tent for various “preaching posts.” His friends wanted him to attack the “Parliament of Religions,” but he refused, saying, “I am going to make Jesus Christ so attractive that men will turn to Him.” He knew that preaching Christ preeminent would do the job. It did. The “Chicago Campaign” is considered to be the greatest evangelistic work of his life, and thousands came to Christ.

How different 100+ years makes! Other than someone like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie, if it doesn’t have a dog and pony show with it, people think it is not successful or won’t draw people. Sadly, churches can get into that same mindset. Instead of solid preaching and lifting up Christ, too many have settled for hype, light shows, and “sermon lite” preaching.

This Sunday’s message-as you can see by the title-is all about Jesus. Colossians 1:15-20 is all about lifting up Jesus and honoring Him.  I’ve got three main thoughts:

Jesus is the Lord of Creation

Jesus is the Head of the Church

Jesus is the Savior of the Cross

Please join us in person or online at 9:00 and 10:45. I pray you have a blessed weekend and find yourself worshiping the King of kings this weekend.

Posted in Church, Doctrine, Jesus, Opinion, Sermon Series/Topic, Worship | Comments Off on Jesus Is Honored

This Is It!

Thursday, December 28th, 2023

How many times did you hear or find yourself saying over the past month: “I can’t believe it is already December.” “I can’t believe it is already Christmas. It seems like we just celebrated it.”  We use the well-worn phrase, “My, my, how time flies.” And it certainly applies to the calendar.

The phrase fits many aspects of our lives. EXCEPT when it comes to the return of Christ. Then…  It seems like to the question should be, “How long can you wait?” I mean, it has been over 2000+ years since Jesus said He was returning and here we are in 2023 (almost 2024) and still waiting.

Over the next few days there will be plenty of people talking about the new year and what lies ahead. Or maybe I ought to say, “Will be wondering what lies ahead.” Of course, no one knows. Only God, the Father, does. And He ain’t tellin’! 🙂  One assurance we do have though is carved in stone: Jesus will come back. The only caveat to that is no one knows when. Except, you guessed it, the Father in heaven. It never ceases to amaze me how people can “prophesy” about the date or the time or the year that Jesus will return when Jesus Himself did not know. WOW!

This Sunday, I will be talking about two vital truths followers of Christ can pound a nail through: 1) He is with us.  The whole Christmas story taught us that.  That was the whole meaning behind the name Emmanuel (God with us). And 2) He is coming again. The old song said, “May be morning/may be noon/may be evening and may be soon.” I firmly believe that. But I also firmly believe that NO ONE knows when. Cults have been formed and still thrive based on the crazy belief that they know.  I will take a simple stand: Galatians 4:4 tells us Jesus came the first time when the time was right. He will come the second time when the time is right.

I’d like to ask you to join us via live stream on the church FB page or via YouTube. You can go to the church’s website to connect with us in that way if you prefer. If you live around Spencer, please feel free to join us in person. I would love to meet you.

 

Posted in Christmas, Church, Doctrine, Jesus, Opinion, Second Coming, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

Don’t Miss It!

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

If I was a betting man I would put all I had on one fact: somewhere, sometime, somehow you have heard about missing the meaning of Christmas.

I think we all have our favorite Christmas movies. Mine are It’s a Wonderful Life and The Santa Clause. I know others have their favorites as well. Die Hard. Is that really a Christmas movie? I don’t think so even though it takes place around Christmas. 🙂  One of the ones I enjoy seeing from time to time (not necessarily on a regular basis but from time to time) is Polar Express.  As you watch the movie, you see the progression from the “person” of Christmas being, of course, Santa Claus, to more of the idea that the spirit of Christmas is found in the heart.  The Santa Clause stars Tim Allen as Scott Calvin (SC) who puts on the Santa suit and transforms into Santa Claus. I have to admit that I like Tim Allen and this is one funny romp I have never grown tired of.

Back to my original thought. We often talk about the spirit of Christmas and how so many fail to see what Christmas is all about. We make statements like “It’s Christmas not Xmas” or “Keep Christ in Christmas.”  Sadly, it is a real possibility that will happen though. Our culture is trying its best to avoid any reference to Christ. A city in Iowa had a display of Satan among the Christmas displays in their courthouse. So it is safe to say there will always be people who miss Christmas.

Even with the spectacular event of Jesus’ birth right in front of them, there were those who missed it.  I hope you won’t and that is my point this Sunday. I hope to see you on Sunday at 10:00 or Christmas Eve at 5:00 (different service completely). I look forward to seeing you in person or online.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas History, Jesus, Joy, Opinion, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on Don’t Miss It!

WhatAHeritage!

Thursday, December 7th, 2023

We are rapidly coming to the close of 2023, but before that happens the focus must be on Christ and what Christmas means. One of my favorite subjects to talk about is GRACE and the lineage of Jesus is GRACE IN SPADES. My sermon Sunday is from Matthew 1.  You know…that boring lineage you, me, and thousands of others pass over. Let me rephrase that: USED TO PASS OVER until I studied it in depth and realized that it is filled with phenomenal people. All of them are important, obviously, but there are a few who stand out. Before I tell you who, I thought I would give you a fun fact: My original sermon title but5 Women and a Man. I received word that might not be a too appropriate of a title. So…being the humble man I am (AHEM) I changed it to the title you will see at the end of this post.

Now…back to the originally scheduled post.  Five Women and a Man. Here they are:

Tamar- a Gentile who dressed as a prostitute to seduce her father-in-law Judah.

Rahab- a Gentile from Jericho who saved two spies but then was saved from Jericho’s destruction. She married Salmon and they had Boaz.

Ruth- a Moabitess (mortal enemies of the Israelites) who followed her widowed mother-in-law back to her hometown. Ruth met and married Boaz.

Bathsheba- described as the “wife of Uriah” in the lineage. Committed adultery with David (she may have not had a choice).

Mary- a teenager (probably) engaged to be married to Joseph, pregnant out of wedlock. It was sort of like the scarlet letter.  But WOW! The mother of Jesus impregnated by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph- a godly man who was going to do the “right thing” by silently divorcing Mary to avoid scandal for her.  But his heart is seen in his decision to stay with Mary and being the earthly father to Jesus.

That is the sermon. I’ve entitled it What a Heritage! I hope to see you Sunday at 9:00 or 10:45 in person or listen via live stream.

 

Posted in Christmas, Jesus, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Story, Uncategorized | 2 Responses »

#ALIVE!!

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

 

RESURRECTION SUNDAY!

Can there be any better day? I’m inclined to think not.

Antony Flew, the atheist and professor of philosophy, once said, “If Jesus rose, you have an intellectually feasible argument that everything Jesus said could be true. If He didn’t, all of Christianity falls.” He also said, “The defining and distinguishing characteristic of true Christianity is accepting the Resurrection did literally happen.”

He is most definitely correct.

The tragedy of it all is stated well by Christian writer, Sam Allberry: “Many Christians, while believing in the resurrection and rehearsing that belief every Easter Sunday, effectively stick it back in the drawer for the rest of the year because they are at a loss of what to do with it.”

The Easter story provides what we so desperately need…HOPE.  I’d like to invite you to hear about that hope we have, either in person or via live stream at 9:00 or 10:45.  If you attend elsewhere, may you hear and know the Truth of the Resurrection.

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Resurrection, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | Comments Off on #ALIVE!!

#ItIsFinished!

Thursday, March 30th, 2023

I suspect all of us from time to time have heard or even used the expression, “Famous last words.” We use them to sorta say, “Yeah. So you say.”  “I’ll clean my room” or “I’ll take out the garbage” or “I’ll clean the garage.” And we say? “Yeah, yeah, yeah, famous last words.  As I prepared for this message and was thinking about Jesus’ last words, I decided to do a little research, aka Google it, on famous last words.  🙂 I found some irreverent ones. I found some thoughtful ones. I found some ironic ones. And I found some sad ones.  (I would encourage you to look them up yourself).  I’m actually going to give some examples during the introduction part of my sermon.

Jesus’ words “It is Finished” are loaded with meaning, often misconstrued. Each of Jesus’ last words tell a story, a truth, to know and remember. My desire this Sunday is to explain what that phrase means and why it is so important for us to get it right.

I just want to say this: In His dying moments, the mind of Jesus was filled, not with hopeless despair, but with a sense of accomplishment. His imminent death was not something inflicted upon Him by others, but something He Himself had achieved! That is why He could say, “It is Finished.”

Please tune in if possible. In person or via live stream.  Our services are at 9:00 and 10:45. They are live streamed on the church’s FB page and also YouTube. You can find those links at the church’s website.  I’m looking forward to preaching on these last words of Jesus.

 

Posted in Death, Doctrine, Easter, hope, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic, Story, The Cross | Comments Off on #ItIsFinished!

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