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Simeon & Waiting (Advent 2015)
Welcome to the Season of Advent. Over the past years I’ve really appreciated the this season-before-the-season because I think it’s a wonderful tool and jumping off point for what Christmas is all about. I appreciate the Advent wreath that has one candle lit each week – and having to wait seven days to see…
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What is a “Good Church”? (Part 4 – Spirit-Led Evangelism)
This is the last sermon of our mini-series-within-a-series where we’re answering the question “What is a Good Church?”. This series is inside of the “Burning Questions” series which came about after I asked you all to submit some questions that you’ve had that I could answer. I hope that this series has been helpful…
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What is a “Good Church”? (Part 3 – Inspired Worship)
We’re currently in the middle of a mini-series-within-a-series called “What is a Good Church?” – which is inside the “Burning Questions Series”. Now you know what happens when I give myself a few bumper-weeks in my sermon planning – we get series-within-series. I hope that isn’t confusing, because my intention is neither to confuse…
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Sharing Our Faith Can be Scary (Kid’s Sermon)
We just had Halloween a couple weeks ago, and of course that strange season is one where people talk about scary things like ghosts and vampires and zombies. Who here went trick-or-treating? Did you see anything scary? Well, I went digging around on the internet to learn about some different things that people are…
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What is “A Good Church”? Part 2 (Burning Questions Series)
Last week I spoke what amounted to an extended introduction about answering the question, “What is ‘A Good Church’?” (We also did a Carnivore Theology episode on it!) We talked a lot about the huge variety of options and opinions that we have access to in our churches, and how that can give us…
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What is “A Good Church”? (Burning Questions Series)
A while back, before it was interrupted by Thanksgiving, Children’s and Friendship Sunday, we were going through a “Burning Questions” series that was based on questions submitted by people here in the congregation. We’ve already covered a bunch of questions and I want to get back into it and finish it off over the…
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God and The Great Pumpkin
You’ve probably heard of Charles Shultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip and cartoon series. Many people know and love his Christmas special, but another classic is the Halloween one called “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. The Charlie Brown Christmas was extremely popular and the CBS Company was more than happy to air…
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Love Does (AWANA Kid’s Talk)
When I was asked to speak here this evening, I grabbed onto a theme that I’d already spoke to another group about. They’re going through a book called “Love Does” and discussing what it means to love people in a real, hands-on, practical, concrete, expressive, applied way. I really appreciate that theme and was…
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The POWER of Thanksgiving
Kickstarter Update: The Kickstarter has stalled at $2400 and it’s been a few days since it has seen any new hits or pledges. The goal is $3000 and there are 9 days left. Please consider pledging towards the goal so I can make this new book a reality. If you can’t pledge, or have already, would you…
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How Do I Deal with Discouragement? (Reading the Beatitudes Forwards, Backwards & Inside-Out) (Burning Questions Series #3)
Don’t forget to take a look at the Kickstarter for my new book! Click here to check it out! This World is Getting Worse (And There’s Nothing We Can Do About It) Last week we said that this world is not our home. Has anyone felt that they just want to get off this planet and…
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How Can Christians be “IN” the World but Not “OF” it? (Burning Questions Series #2)
Don’t forget to take a look at the Kickstarter for my new book! Click here to check it out! We’re continuing our Burning Questions series today and today’s question is one that is a wonderful, perennial, perpetual, question that believers have been asking themselves since time immemorial. It is simply stated: “How can Christians live in…
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You Are Not An Animal! (Youth Camp Talk)
The Elephant Man Have you ever heard of the movie The Elephant Man? It’s a pretty famous movie from 1980 – which I know is a long time ago, but bear with me. It won lots of awards and was quite popular at the time. It’s based on the true story of man who…
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If God Wore a Superhero Suit, What Would it Look Like? (Burning Questions Series)
Our Hills Of Difficulty I’ve been reading through The Pilgrim’s Progress – again – (a book I highly recommend) and was reminded how often the Christian life is described as a journey. The Pilgrim’s Progress (click for a free copy!) is the story of Christian’s journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. To go…
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Get Your Theology and Morality Right OR ELSE (Jude Part 2: Summer Shorts Series)
Last week we said that there were two main sins that the false teachers were leading the churches that Jude was writing to towards.The first was them teaching wrong things about who Jesus is and what He did. Theologians call this: Christology — the study of Christ. The second problem was that the false…
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How To Corrupt a Church in Four Easy Steps (Jude: Summer Shorts Series)
Same Truth, Different Problems Today, again, for the third week in a row, we are going to be talking about the need for Christians to study, understand and fight for the truth. When I decided to preach the shortest books in the New Testament back to back, I didn’t realize how pervasive this theme…
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The Importance of Choosing the Right Teachers, Leaders & Friends (3rd John: Summer Shorts Series)
Fraternal Twins 2nd and 3rd John are like fraternal twins: similar, but different. They have similar language and concerns, but have their own uniqueness that makes them important for the church today. Those who were here last week remember that 2nd John primarily focused on how we should be treating missionaries and Bible teachers…
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Athiest Pastors & 2nd John: The Importance of Truth (Summer Shorts Series)
Facebook and other social media websites are a double edged sword. On one hand you can connect with friends, share funny pictures and personal events, and learn about and engage in discussions on a wide range of interesting topics. On the other hand, it’s also a place that can be filled with gossip, falsehood,…
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Philemon: Forgiveness & Reconciliation (Summer Shorts Series)
We just finished going through the Gospel of Mark together, and it took 43 weeks, so for this series I want to do the opposite – I want to do four books in four weeks. Today I want to start a four-week series that I’m calling “summer shorts”, where we are going to go…
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How to React to THE END OF THE WORLD (Mark 13)
This is our last sermon in the Gospel of Mark and we’re going to end with a bang, covering the entirety of chapter 13. Let’s begin by reading it together: And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”…
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What Are You Holding Back from God? (The Widow’s Offering – Mark 12:38-44)
The Joy of Bible Study When I do Bible study (and perhaps this happens to you), I often have one of three experiences –each flowing from one to the next. I usually start out by feeling like a hunter, an archaeologist, or a prospector… wandering about, fairly sure that there’s something good there, but…
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Answering Life’s Biggest Questions: Love, Purpose, & Priorities (Mark 12:28-34)
Our current mini-series has been covering the questions that Jesus was asked as He entered the Temple the day after He cleared the Temple courts by driving people out, overturning tables and releasing the animals. As He came up the stairs he was confronted by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, who had some…
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Homosexuality and The Bible: Exploring Important and Controversial Passages
Anyone else surprised by all the rainbows on their Facebook feed? Anyone surprised where they came from? It’s no surprise when Hollywood actors, companies, and Silicon Valley icons jump on the rainbow train, but I’m guessing that it was a bit surprising to see your friends and family members covered in a rainbow hue.…
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Five Important Examples of Mutual Submission (Mark 10:32-45)
In the previous sermon we spent time going through Mark 10:32-45 and talking about God’s view of how the world works, and how it flies in the face of our individualistic mindset. We are told all the time that we need to “stand up for our rights”, “assert ourselves”, “show our independence”, “be our own highest…
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Crop Top Day, Individualism, and Submission to Authority (Mark 10:32-45)
“And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son…
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5 Commitments to Prevent Divorce in Your Marriage and Promote Unity in Your Relationships (Mark 10:1-12)
“And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them,…
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What Does it Mean to “Deny Ourselves” and “Take Up Our Cross”? (Mark 8:34-9:1)
The Bali Nine This week in Indonesia, a group of eight convicted drug traffickers who were caught, arrested, and tried, finally met their end at their execution. I can’t imagine there is much sympathy out there for a group of drug smugglers, and there aren’t too many people in the world who would have…
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How to Deal with Doubts and Unbelief (Mark 7:31-8:33)
Today we’re going to study Mark 7:31-8:33. At first these stories are going to seem disconnected, but as we read them, hopefully you will see a theme developing. I also want you to listen for similar phrases and events. It’s set up as a sort of sandwich where we see a couple of similar events,…
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The Reluctant Doctor (Mark 7:24-30)
The Story of the Reluctant Doctor Once upon a time there was a doctor of medicine. This doctor was somewhat controversial, in that, though his patients were cured, he used extremely unconventional, even odd ways to cure them – he also had a bit of a mouth on him. He tended to…
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A Warning Against Hypocrisy in Our Religious Activity (Mark 7:1-23)
“Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of…
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Passion Week: The Grande Finale! (that wasn’t so final…)
Today marks the last day of the 46-day season of Lent, a time that begins with Ash Wednesday and goes until Easter Sunday. Hundreds of years ago, the ancient Christian church fathers set aside this time to give believers season to purposefully remember and prepare themselves for the high-holy days of Good Friday and Easter…
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Passion Week Series: Good Friday (Arrest & Crucifixion)
[Due to technical difficulties, there is no podcast audio of this sermon. Sorry.] We’re in the last days of our Passion Week series, the days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, and it’s been a harrowing week. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem fulfilling many prophecies and declaring Himself to be the King…
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Passion Week Series: Wednesday & Thursday (Last Supper, Judas’ Betrayal, Jesus Prays)
We’re continuing a series on the final week of Jesus’ life. We’ve already covered the events of Palm Sunday, and Monday where He cursed the fig tree, cleansed the temple. Last week we talked about Tuesday, a day where Jesus was attacked on all sides by every group in Jerusalem who wanted to trap…
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Passion Week Series: Tuesday (Attacked on All Sides)
A couple weeks ago we started a series going through the final week of Jesus life His resurrection on Easter Sunday. We’ve already covered the events of Palm Sunday and Monday where we saw the Triumphal Entry, the Cursing of the Fig Tree and The Cleansing of the Temple. Today we will talk about…
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Passion Week Series: Palm Sunday & Monday (Cursing the Fig Tree, Cleansing the Temple)
Over the past couple years, going back all the way to September 2012, we have been working our way through the Gospel of Mark – and have made it all the way to Mark 7. My resolution this year, even though it is going to feel like lightspeed (to me), is to finish the…
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Love People, Use Things (Not the Other Way Around)
What is Lent? We are currently in the traditional season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday and goes until Easter Sunday. Most Protestants, Baptists included, don’t really celebrate much of the liturgical calendar, but the Lenten season has been celebrated by many Christians around the world since the third century. Evangelicals usually avoid…
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The Parameters of Love
The Right Way vs The Bosses Way I remember listening to an old southern Baptist preacher that told the story of a time his daddy was driving him to his first job at the age of 7 years old. His father gave him this advice: “Son, there are three ways to do things in…
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Pornography, the Rape Myth and 50 Shades of Grey
I don’t really want to talk about this and I’m fairly sure that there are some who don’t want to hear it, but we must address the evil, insidious, and deceptive sin of pornography. This week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, a movie called 50 Shades of Grey will be released. This movie…
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From Superbowl to Suicide
I don’t follow the NFL, but I do enjoy watching the spectacle of the Superbowl each year. Unfortunately, in my mind, the fun and excitement that comes with the word Superbowl, will always be attached to a much more ominous word: suicide. I can’t remember where I heard it, but at some point in…
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From Saul to Paul: A Conversion Story
Saul: Enemy of the Church Paul has an amazing testimony, and it’s broken up into two very different parts. The part he is most famous for is where He is Paul, the great missionary and theologian of the Christian church. But he wasn’t always the Apostle Paul – for the beginning of his life he…
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How to Go Through Hard Times (Christian Suffering and Lamentations)
The book of Lamentations is only five chapters long, but contains some incredibly powerful, emotional language. We often sing the words of Lamentations on Sunday mornings. Lamentations contains exactly what you’d expect – laments. It is a series of five sad and beautiful poems, like funeral songs, portraying the capture, fall and destruction of…
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Ground Yourself (The Parable of the Two Builders)
I’ve started a, sort of, impromptu series that I’m unofficially calling “Kick Off the New Year Right” or “How to Prepare for 2015”… or something like that. The series title doesn’t matter. What matters is that I want to spend a little while going over a few things that we need to make sure…
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“Forgive Them”
The sinless One and judge of mankind was arrested in the middle of the night, dragged into a mockery of a trial where he was falsely accused publicly humiliated. The King of Kings was and brought before the foolish and wicked Herod Antipas, who had beheaded his cousin John the Baptist and wanted…
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Scrutinizing Our Path as the New Year Approaches
Podcast Audio: Ant City “For Christmas one year we bought our children what was called, ‘Ant City.’ This consisted of clear plastic plates on either side, filled with sand and ants. From our vantage point outside and above, we could see what these busy little creatures were doing underground. We watched as they tunneled…
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Jesus of the Advent Candles
Podcast Audio: Over the past month many churches around the world have celebrated Advent using a special wreath of candles. It is a simple and beautiful way to remind us that the meaning of Christmas. Each week we light a different candle, read a special scripture, and are reminded of another meaning of what…
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Totally Depraved Shepherds (Why “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves” is WRONG WRONG WRONG!)
Podcast Audio: The Christmas story has been told so many times that, to some, it can lose its potency. We all think we know it so well… Mary, Joseph, Manger, Wise Men, Shepherds, Herod, etc., etc. I want to ask you to try to listen again for the first time and thentake a look…
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An imPerfect Christmas
Podcast Audio: Christmas is a big deal. So much so that many feel quite pressured to have a “perfect Christmas”? The tree decorated just right, the right food and desserts, the proper music playing in the background, the vacation plans laid out, the cards sent, matching bow and wrapping on the gifts, the best…
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An Inexplicable God
Podcast Audio: Insatiable Curiosity Today, we want to have an explanation of everything. We want to know how everything works, where it came from, what it’s doing, why it does it, and what it’s going to do next. Our society has an insatiable appetite for knowledge. Sociologists study people so they can learn how…
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Getaway: Jesus Kidnaps His Disciples
Podcast Audio: We’re back into the Gospel of Mark. So far in Chapter 6 we’ve talked a lot about what happens to people who are faithful about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. First we saw Jesus rejected and almost stoned to death in his hometown. Then as Jesus sends out the twelve to…
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Remembrance Day: Poppies, Martyrs, Suffering & Certainty
Podcast Audio: John McCrae and Flanders Fields The poppy has long been, in Canada and around the world, a memorial symbol of fallen soldiers. It has come to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by those who have died defending and preserving the rights and freedoms of others. It was a Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel…