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Jesus Calls His Witnesses – John 5:30-47 (Sunday Study: Ep. 3)
Script: We’re back in our study of the gospel of John this week looking at the last section of chapter 5, from verse 30-47, entitled in the ESV, “Witnesses to Jesus” Remember the context here. The Jewish leadership, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the rest of the Sanhedrin, are all upset because Jesus healed a…
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My Motto, Evaporating Empathy, History,& Wounds (“Of Interest” Ep. 12)
This week, I talk about my weird personal motto, share an interesting article about the evaporation of empathy, an interesting resource to teach you a little bit about church history, and then we’ll be continuing our interesting study of John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrims Progress by exploring how Bunyan’s suffering taught him that being a…
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How the Devil Tricks People Into Sinning – Romans 6:22-23 (“Sunday Study” Ep. 2)
This week we’re going to do something a little different. Yes, I’m aware that I’ve only done this once and that last week I told you that we’d be going through the gospel of John, but that was before I came across this amazing clip from a John Piper sermon that I really want…
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New “Sunday Study” Podcast! – John 5:19-29 – “Jesus Declares Himself to be Equal with God”
If you weren’t following along when these were being released as sermon podcasts – or with the YouTube videos of the services – or for that matter, have just completely forgotten since I haven’t been in the Gospel of John since the end of August – then maybe you might want to go back…
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Fake Greetings, Hell, the ESV, & Fruitful Suffering (“Of Interest” Podcast Ep. 10)
This week, I’m sharing an interesting article about Hell, an interesting resource for getting a free study bible, and then we’ll be continuing our interesting study of John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrims Progress. Interesting Links: Article: www.crossway.org/articles/5-myths-about-hell/ Resource: www.esv.org Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress Support Link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7XJFMCJKESBEG&source=url Al’s 3D Printer: www.als3dprinter.ca
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Character, Career, Cool, & Conscience (“Of Interest” Ep.9)
This week, I’m going talking about career vs character, sharing an interesting resource for finding out a ton of cool things, and then we’ll be continuing our interesting study of John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrims Progress. Interesting Links: Article: Character Vs Career by Al Resource: https://99percentinvisible.org/ Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress Support Link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7XJFMCJKESBEG&source=url Al’s 3D Printer: www.als3dprinter.ca
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Craving Controversy – “Of Interest” Ep. 7
This week I share an interesting article about controversy, an interesting resource for answering tough questions, and continue our interesting study of John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrims Progress. Interesting Links: Article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/unhealthy-people-crave-controversy/ Resource: https://www.gotquestions.org/ Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress Support Link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7XJFMCJKESBEG&source=url Al’s 3D Printer:On Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/als3dprinter/On Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/Als3DPrinter/Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Als3DPrinterWebsite: http://www.als3dprinter.ca/
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A Personal Update – “Of Interest” Episode 6
This week’s episode is something a bit different. It’s an update on the interesting things that have been going on in my life. Thanks for your support! Support Links: Support Link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7XJFMCJKESBEG&source=url Al’s 3D Printer: On Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/als3dprinter/ On Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/Als3DPrinter/ Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Als3DPrinter Website: http://www.als3dprinter.ca/
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We’ve Been Here Before – “Of Interest” Podcast Episode 5
The 5th Episode of “Of Interest” talks about the Spanish Flu vs Today , an amazing blogger named Tim Challies, and how John Bunyan’s Suffering led to Pilgrim’s Progress Interesting Links: Article: https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/weve_been_here_before_lessons_from_the_churchs_responses_to_the_spanish_flu Resource: https://www.challies.com/ Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress
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What Does The Healing of the Man at the Pool Tell Us About Jesus? (Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 5:1-18 and let’s read it together: “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame,…
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Jesus & The Centurion: Humility & Trust (Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 4:46–54: “[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to…
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Fear or Fear? – “Of Interest” Podcast Episode 4
New episode of my “Of Interest” Podcast where I share an interesting article, an interesting resource, and we do an interesting study on Pilgrim’s Progress! Interesting Links: Article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/forgiveness-fear/ Resource: https://www.desiringgod.org/labs Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress
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We are ALL the Woman at the Well (Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 4, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, and let’s read it together: “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again…
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Sipping Poison – “Of Interest” Podcast Episode 3
This week, I’m going to share an interesting article about Why Sipping Poison is a dumb idea, an interesting resource for getting answers to bible questions, and then we’ll be continuing our interesting study of John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrims Progress. Interesting Article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/sipping-poison/ Interesting Resource: https://ask.ligonier.org/ Interesting Study: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress
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He Must Increase, I Must Decrease (Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 3:22-36. We’re back into the Gospel of John series we started a while back. Life is ever-so-slowly starting to look a little bit more normal – and I think it’s good to get back into the regular exposition of God’s Word as we were doing before. Review I think,…
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A New Podcast! “Of Interest”: Episode 1
I’m super excited to announce the launch of my newest podcast: “Of Interest”. There are three parts: An Interesting Article, An Interesting Resource, and An Interesting Study. I know that sounds “educational”, but it’s actually personal, fun, interesting, helpful and short! Please consider giving it a listen and letting me know what you think…
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Same Gospel, Different Responses (The Parable of the Sower)
Please open up to Luke 8:4-15, the Parable of the Sower. I figure that this is the last of the “Building Faith during Difficult Times Series” that I started at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown and it’s time to get back into the expositional study of the Gospel of John that we were…
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Would You Consider Supporting My Work Through Patreon?
Hi everyone, This is going to be a little bit different of a post, so thank you for taking the time to read. As you know, I’ve been a full-time pastor since 2005 and have been putting my sermon texts and podcasts and books on ArtoftheChristianNinja.com for about 7 years ago. My greatest passion is helping…
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Where the Rubber Meets the Road (The Sermon on the Plain)
Please turn to Luke 6:17 where we read about Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain”. We’re used to hearing about the “Sermon on the Mount”, but Jesus obviously preached the same message more than once to different audiences. So, this is the “Sermon on the Plain” and you’re going to see lots of parallels to…
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Bridging the Great Divide: The Gospel and the “isms” of Our Day
Service Video: Podcast Audio: Sermon Text: A lot of things sort-of collided this week. First, of course, we’ve got this pandemic looming over us with all that entails – including the enforced social distancing rules that are making daily life increasingly stressful and depressing. Next, I had a few people texting me and asking…
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Withdraw to Desolate Places (Caring For Your Heart, Soul, Mind & Body in Difficult Times)
Service Video: Podcast Audio: Sermon Text: Please open up to Luke 5:16. We’re going to concentrate our efforts on one verse today and use it as a jumping-off point for something that I believe is important for us during this difficult time. Luke 5:16, “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”…
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Stay in the Word (God Speaks to You Personally Through the Bible)
Service Video: Podcast Audio: A Living and Active Word Most of you know the passages I read at the beginning of service – the Call to Worship and the weekly Scripture Reading – are chosen long before I read them on Sunday mornings. Around the beginning of December each year I usually take…
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The Persistent Love of God (A Mother’s Day Sermon)
Podcast Audio: “Before I was a Mom” By Suzana Haertzen Before I was a Mom…I made and ate hot meals. I had unstained clothing. I had quiet conversations on the phone. Before I was a Mom… I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into…
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Revealing & Refining Fire (How Tough Times Help You Grow)
Podcast Audio: To say it’s a strange time is an understatement. As this pandemic looms, and the lockdown enters its second month, it’s very interesting to see how people are reacting. While some sit at home bored, others, like front-line and emergency workers, are being run off their feet. The educated professionals that are…
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How Have You Been? (Radical Honesty During Difficult Times)
Podcast Audio: How have you been this week? I know asking that right now is weird. I’m standing alone in a room full of empty pews, addressing myself to an iPhone strapped to a camera – you’re sitting at home in front of a laptop or tablet or tv watching this. You can’t…
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Fear, Worry & The God Who Raises the Dead
Service Video: Podcast Audio: Please open up to 2 Corinthians 1:3-10 and let’s read it together. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who…
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EPIC: The Story of God & Humanity
It’s been sort of my tradition to take time on Palm Sunday to tell the story of the history of the world, the story of salvation, from beginning to end, because I think it’s important – maybe especially during times like these – that we remember that the moment we are living…
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Fear Leaves Scars (How to Fight Fear)
Service Livestream: Sermon Audio: The song I played earlier is called “The Voice of Truth” and it’s by a Christian band called “Casting Crowns”. It’s a song that has meant a lot to me over the years – especially in my first years of being a pastor. You see, when I was…
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Why Did Jesus Suffer? (Lent 2020)
During the season of Lent is the time when we fast and contemplate the sufferings of Jesus, what they teach us about Him, and what they mean to us. Please open up to Mark 8:27-38: “And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked…
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Your Soul is Starving (Lent 2020)
We’re headed into the Easter season. This week we celebrated Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday as it’s sometimes called, followed by Ash Wednesday, the official start of the season of Lent, something Christians have been observing for hundreds of years, dating back before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Traditionally, this has been…
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Drag Your Sin Into the Light (Gospel of John Series)
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered…
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Stumbling Over the Simplicity of the Gospel (Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 3:1–21. “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless…
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The Greater Meanings of Jesus Turning Water to Wine (Gospel of John Series)
Please turn to John 2:1–12 and let’s read it together. “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no…
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What Do You Seek? (Gospel of John Series)
“The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And…
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Anger, Personality, Gifts, Limitations, Gossip & an Apology
I’ve been encouraged by the Church Board, the Leadership Team, to take some time to clear the air and confront an issue that has been percolating in the background of the church for some time now. It’s a difficult issue to pin down though, which makes it difficult to address. The Board, for the…
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Why Loneliness Hurts So Much
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light…
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A Firm Foundation for the New Year
There seems to be a feeling of flux right now in the world. I’m sure you’ve felt it. A feeling of instability in our hearts, community, country, and world. There are people going through relationship transitions as the dynamics of their marriage, friendships, partnerships and workplace change around them. Some are facing personal transitions…
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The Importance of Knowing Who You Are and Why You’re Here (The Gospel of John Series)
Please open up to John 1:19-34. But before we get into the reading, just a quick reminder about the context. The Apostle John is writing his gospel to introduce his readers to who Jesus really is. The rest of the gospels had already been written and circulated for about 30 years by the…
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When Jesus God Speaks (Gospel of John Series)
I think it’s appropriate that we start off the Christmas season with the very beginning of the Gospel of John today. We’ve been working on “context and structure” for about a month now and I feel like we could keep talking about it for another few weeks. The structure of John is absolutely fascinating!…
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Multidimensional Meaning (Gospel of John Series)
The Art of John’s Gospel “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John…
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The Thread of Light (Gospel of John Series)
John’s Purpose A few weeks ago I told you that the gospel of John is all about explaining who Jesus really is. If you recall, I said that by the time the Gospel of John was written, the gospels and letters of the New Testament had already been written and been circulating individually for…
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When Should a Christian Leave their Church or Denomination? (Post-CLRA Meeting Report with Q&A)
Update on CLRA Meeting I thought it important to start with a quick update on the meeting Jason and I went to this week. I don’t want to take up the whole sermon time with it, but it’s important, and you are all invested in what is happening so I want to make…
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Context, CLRA & the CBOQ
We’re just beginning a new series on the Gospel of John. Last week we did a bit of an overview of who John was, and his audience was, how John’s gospel fits in with the other three, and that the major theme is introducing and defending who Jesus really is. He’s writing decades after…
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As One Beggar to Another (Introduction to the Gospel of John Series)
An Introduction to the Gospel of John Please open up to John 20:30-21, but before we jump in and read it, we need a little context. We are starting a series on the Gospel of John today, but I don’t’ want to jump straight into verse one. In fact, we’re going to start near…
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Elijah: A Nature Like Ours – Burnout, Depression & The Let-Down Effect
Turn with me to 1 Kings 18:1–40 and I want to read two stories about the prophet Elijah today, but we need to read a large section so we can get the whole story. A lot has already happened up to this point, but you’ll figure out how things are going as we…
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Why Jesus, Only Jesus? (Does Roman Catholic Doctrine Lead to Salvation?)
Turn with me to Hebrews 1 and we’re going to read some scriptures there about the supremacy of Jesus. The whole message of Hebrews is an argument about how Jesus is better than anything and anyone. The people who first heard this message were Jewish Christians who were under a lot of growing…
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How Do I Experience The Power of God? (HC:LD18c)
Imagine following in the footsteps of Moses – how huge a task that would be. Moses is probably the most important person in the Old Testament. It was through Moses that the nation of Israel was delivered from Egypt. It was Moses that led and judged the people for decades. It was Moses…
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The Gift of the Holy Spirit (HC:LD18b)
Turn with me to Luke 24:50-53 and then we’ll be headed into Acts 1. Luke and Acts are actually two parts of the same work, both written in about 60-70AD by Luke, a gentile, Christian doctor who travelled with the Apostle Paul and was commissioned by someone named Theophilus to write a history of…
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Why Did Jesus Leave? (HC:LD18a)
A Farewell Address in the Upper Room On the night before Jesus went to the cross, He had a lot of things to say to His disciples in the Upper Room. Matthew, Mark and Luke give some of the story like what Jesus said and did, but it is the Gospel of John,…