Written by cycleguy on August 10th, 2023
Richard Bewes, in his book The Lamb Wins, tells of an incident in his life that happened when preaching in the heart of Africa. Before the start of meeting #27 (they were holding 30+ meetings), he and others with him were approached by two soldiers armed to the teeth with machine guns. They approached Richard and said, “Please, can we talk with you?” They answered, “Yes, how can we help?”
Now…I’m not sure what you are thinking but I do know what I was thinking.
They looked at Richard and said, “We want to follow Jesus.” Richard said it was a moving experience to talk, and then to pray with the two men under the trees, in the middle of one of Africa’s scarred, pot-holed cities.
In a land which has been staggered from crisis to crisis (and still is), the church still rises. It’s easy to think the church is doomed. We look around at the wokeness which has entered our culture and then see it has infiltrated the church as well. It is easy to allow despair to creep in and make us feel like we aren’t making any headway. But we must continue believing that “the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.”
Sunday’s sermon is entitled Crushed and Persecuted but NOT DEAD! I hope you will join us at 9:00 or 10:45 in person or via live stream.
Posted in Christian living, Church, Opinion, Persecution, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #Crushed#Persecuted#NotDead
Written by cycleguy on August 3rd, 2023
Picture yourself on April 12, 1910. You have paid the fare on the maiden voyage of the unsinkable ship. Your evening is rudely interrupted by someone knocking on your cabin door telling you to put on your life vest and come to the bridge. Little do you know that the unsinkable ship had struck an iceberg and would soon make its grave at the bottom of the icy Atlantic. One passenger left his cabin for the last time, leaving behind some 300,000 dollars in stocks and bonds and took with him 3 oranges.
Life throws us curves. We all know that. Big and small, those curves will awaken us from our complacency. It might be a coronary, a cancer diagnosis, unemployment, or hundreds of other scenarios. We might suddenly find ourselves floundering and in some cases, searching for answers.
Chapter 8 of Revelation is like that. It is a chapter of upheavals. One after another of a different nature. And they are there as warnings, much like a fire alarm or smoke alarm might do. I’ve titled my sermon Sunday Heads Up! in light of the multiple warnings in Revelation 8. Please join us in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45.
Posted in Prophecy, Revelation, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #HeadsUp!
Written by cycleguy on July 27th, 2023
This Sunday is Move Up Sunday for our young people. K kids move up to Early Elementary; 3rd graders move up to Late Elementary; and 6th graders move up to “Big Church.” I see eye rolls when I speak of “Big Church.” But at OVCF we offer a children’s program from Nursery through 6th grade on Sunday morning. They meet to learn at their age and learning level while the adults are meeting (and hopefully learning at their age level. The maturity of the pastor may have something to do with that! 🙂 )
Normally we do the program in the youth addition for the young people. With Pastor Ryan gone on sabbatical, a different approach is being taken. Since this is a 5th Sunday, and since we normally have the young people (except for Nursery and Pre-K) join the adults, it was decided to make it a whole church celebration. We will honoring the teachers and helpers and volunteers in the youth program as well as the ones who will be moving from Late Elementary into “Big Church.”
Given the special meaning of the day, I decided to divert for one week from my series on Revelation (can you imagine the young people as they hear about trumpets and judgment? Talk about PTSD?) So I decided to write a sermon geared specifically for youth this week. I’ve called it Enjoy Life and the Scripture will be Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14. I wrote it from the perspective of a 70 year old pastor who wants to leave some words of wisdom to his young charges.
One caveat: the first sermon will have the sermon in its totality. The second service will only have the second part since the program for the young people will take a good chunk of time. So if you watch online, you will hear the whole sermon at 9:00 and an abbreviated version at 10:45. Either way I hope you will join me in person or online.
Posted in Christian living, Faith, Family, Preaching, Scripture look, Sermon Series/Topic, Youth | Comments Off on #EnjoyLIfe!
Written by cycleguy on July 20th, 2023
Perhaps you have seen it. I can’t say I have heard it since I turn off commercials. One I saw recently and can only guess what it said 🙂 was one for an insurance company. It began to hail and while others were lamenting the state of their cars, this particular man was driving through the hailstorm under the covering of a roof. The point was obvious, even from a silent screen: “Get our insurance and you are covered.”
I also read about a boy who was bullied by an older kid on the bus. This older boy grabbed the boy’s papers and notebook and wrote some vile things on them. That evening at supper his dad asked for his papers and he hesitated. When his father pressed the issue, he brought his papers and watched his father’s facial features change. When his father wanted to know more and who wrote those words, the boy told his dad everything. His father quietly got up from the table and told his son to get in the car and drove to the other boy’s home. He purposely left the window down, knocked on the door and told the boy’s father that if that ever happened again he would be coming after him. The man wilted under that father’s strength. As they drove away, they heard the boy’s father making sure it would never happen again. It never did. That boy knew his father had his back and he was under his protection.
Revelation 7:1-17 shows us that without question we are under God’s protection, His umbrella. To borrow a phrase from the chapter, we are under His seal. What exactly does that mean and what does it tell us about God? Tune in this Sunday in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45 to find the answer.
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, God, Revelation, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #HereComestheUmbrella!
Written by cycleguy on July 13th, 2023
Persecution is nothing new. Jesus promised it and that promise has never failed to come true. (Despite what the health/wealth hucksters say, trouble is to be expected. We were never promised a soft bed. We might say we were promised a bed of roses because every rose has its thorns). Life is certainly not like a box of chocolates. 🙂
Question: In the 16th and 17th centuries what was the most popular and widely read book among Christians in the English-speaking world, besides the Bible? The answer is a book called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It contained the stories of Christians who had been killed for their testimony throughout the centuries of Christian history. John Foxe was born before Martin Luther nailed his #95 Theses” to the Wittenburg Church door. Foxe studied in Oxford, fled England when Queen Mary took the throne, and, while abroad, began his great study which has become known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It was a massive book and immediate success. It went through 4 editions in his lifetime, and its impact continued for generations.
That may not make any sense to you and what it has to do with Sunday’s sermon. But given that this week’s sermon is dealing with persecution, it has a ton of relevancy. My Scripture for this Sunday is Revelation 6:9-17 and deals with the persecution talked about in those verses. It is a follow-up to the previous week’s sermon on 6:1-8. I hope you will join me in person or via live stream.
Posted in Christian living, Church, Persecution, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #HereComesTrouble!
Written by cycleguy on July 6th, 2023
Welcome back! I feel like I ought to be singing that song from “Welcome Back Kotter” by John Sebastian. After a two month hiatus, I am back to my series on Revelation. I don’t regret the side detour though. It was something I felt God was leading me to do and over the two months I had it confirmed multiple times. But I’m back to Revelation and will be starting at Chapter 6.
I’ve titled this sermon Here Come the Horses! for an obvious reason. Let me just state the obvious as you read this chapter: white, red, black, and pale. There are several different interpretations for the appearance of these horses and I plan to bring them out. I have my personal belief but that ruins it if I tell you ahead of time. 🙂
We all have expectations. Every sermon I prepare I have an expectation that a life will be touched, maybe changed or rearranged. What type of expectations do you have concerning the Christian life? Is it what you expected it to be? We all wonder about the future. Truth is: none of us knows what the future holds, but there are some expectations we can count on. I plan to probe that in this sermon as we talk about the horses and what they mean.
I hope you will join me in person or via live stream. If not, then please pray for me. Honestly, it is a struggle getting back to Revelation after the series on Anxiety and Worry and Fear and Depression. I feel like it helped some people and wonder about this series on The Lamb Wins!
Posted in Doctrine, Faith, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Prophecy, Revelation, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on HereCometheHorses!
Written by cycleguy on June 29th, 2023
There is always a sense of satisfaction when a project is completed. Well…at least there is supposed to be. I think the key word is “completed.” What do you feel when you come to the end of a project (or sermon series) and you know there is more to say so that completed feeling is vague?
That is how I feel. This week is my final sermon in the series Faith Over Fear. I know there is more to say. I also know there are people who are hurting and what I have said is just “touching the hem of the garment” for them and their healing. I actually extended the series one week in order to try to answer the question: What now? I gave it the title of Be Free! because of the 4th of July weekend. But, in all honesty, I am praying for freedom for some folks from anxiety, worry, fear, and yes, even depression. But how do I conclude this series? That was my question and I decided to highlight the main thought from each Sunday and then conclude with some possible answers to “What Now?” Here is what I have come up with:
Highlight #1: Mark 4:35-42 shows us that Jesus is always on the job…even when He appears to be asleep.
Highlight #2: Jesus spoke to worry and anxiety in Matthew 6.
Highlight #3: There are three essentials you must believe- You are not crazy. You are not alone. This will end.
Highlight #4: Slaying the giant of worry requires we do two things: 1) Pray and 2) Change your perspective.
Highlight #5: Understand the battle ground is not flesh and blood, but according to Paul in Ephesians 6, the battle is where we cannot see.
SO…WHAT NOW?
From Anxiety-Knowing God’s Peace a 31 day devotional by Paul Tautges comes the answer:
#1: Remember the Certainty of God’s Promises
#2: Remember the Grace of Salvation
#3: Remember the Care of Your Heavenly Father
#4: Remember your Dependency on Prayer
I’ll spend more time on those this Sunday (obviously). 🙂 I hope you will join me in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45. Go here to find out how to connect.
Posted in Anxiety, Christian living, Fear, Freedom, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on BeFree!
Written by cycleguy on June 22nd, 2023
I have been preaching on anxiety, worry, fear, and depression (mention only) for the past two months. I have two sermons left in this series. This week’s sermon is titled Drive a Nail Through These Truths. If we are going to win the war over fear, anxiety and worry, there are certain truths we must believe. It is because we must believe them that I have called this sermon what I have.
There are three unshakeable truths we must believe and get a handle on.
#1: God is with you…even if you can’t feel it.
#2: God is working…even if you can’t see it.
#3: God has a plan…even if you can’t understand it.
I’ll be using the example of and words to Joshua in 1:9, 3:15, and then using the story of Jericho falling as the basis for this week’s sermon. Please feel free to join us in person or via live stream. You can find the links to the live stream at the church’s website here.
I look forward to sharing with you.
Posted in Anxiety, Christian living, Faith, Fear, Health, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »
Written by cycleguy on June 8th, 2023
TV shows are inundated with commercials hawking this-or-that (purpose of them to begin with) telling us our life will be better if we do this or take this supplement. You get the idea. “I was once where you were but since I started using (____) my life is changed.” They want to let us know that our life will improve drastically.
Don’t you wish getting control of fear and anxiety were that easy? “Here, take this magic pill or do this simple thing and all your anxiety will disappear.” While no commercial can promise a 100% success rate, neither can I claim to solve the issue of fear and anxiety with a simple formula. As I said in last week’s message, the solution to worry is not a plan, but a Person.
The 4:8 Principle (Philippians 4:8) will work well, but we still have to remember the Person behind it all. There is another verse that plays into this: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion…and take every thought captive to obey Christ.“ The Bible reminds us that we choose what we focus on. We can focus on our problems or we can focus on Jesus who will help us deal with those problems. The key is remembering all the amazing things God has already done in our lives. Remembering what God has done for us is a massive weapon for defeating anxiety and depression.
Joshua is the poster child for this scenario. Remember what God has brought you through and remember what God has promised you. Go back to go forward. That is my sermon this Sunday. Please join us in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45.
Posted in Anxiety, Christian living, Fear, Health, Sermon Series/Topic, Story | Comments Off on #GoBacktoGoForward
Written by cycleguy on June 1st, 2023
“Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” Arthur Somers Roche (Quoted in Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio)
If there is one common denominator among people-believer and unbeliever alike-it is the fact that worry is so prevalent. Worry is like a barnacle that attaches itself to a boat. A barnacle is a crustacean that attaches itself to another surface (the most familiar is one that attaches itself to a boat). They need to be removed because as they build they cause a drag. Some will actually attach themselves to the inside of sea life and grow, changing its “personality,” if you will. Anxiety is like that. It attaches itself to a host (us) and causes a drag on our forward motion. As it stays, it grows, and get harder and harder to get rid of.
Worry is a giant we need to slay. That is my desire for Sunday’s message I have entitled “Bringing the Giant to its Knees.” There is no doubt we live in an “anxiety-ridden” society. Life seems to assault us from all angles. What can we do? My prayer is to answer that question this week. I look forward to seeing you in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45.
Posted in Anxiety, Faith, Freedom, Health, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #GiantSlain!
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