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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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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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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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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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Why is Jesus Called “Only Begotten Son” and “Lord”? (HC:LD13)
The question we’ve been answering for the past few weeks is “Who is Jesus?” We’re going through the Heidelberg Catechism, which, at this point, is taking us through a line-by-line, word-by-word study of the Apostles Creed, the oldest and most reliable summary of Christian beliefs we have. It goes all the way back…
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Why is Jesus Called “Christ”? (HC:LD12)
Turn with me to Mark 8:27-33. This scripture occurs in the final year of Jesus’ earthly ministry as His focus has grown more steadily towards His journey to Jerusalem and the cross. He has already gathered His disciples and they have been with Him for a couple years. He has already done much travelling…
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Advent Sermon: Jesus as Tabernacle (by Pastor Al) (Carnivore Theology: Ep. 104)
Advent is a special time of year when Christians remember the incarnation of the Son of God at Christmas and prepare our hearts for the time when Jesus will come again. As we’ve done each year, Carnivore Theology is taking a break from our usual schedule of hot topics and interviews to share some…
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EPIC: How Christians View History
Audio: Text: This morning, in the light of Palms Sunday, I want to talk about the history of the world — from the beginning to the end — the story of God and humanity. Chapter 1: The Beginning Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the start…
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Spiritual Journaling Using Scripture as your Guide
Podcast Audio: Last week I gave you a brief introduction to Spiritual Journaling using Scripture as your Guide. (If you haven’t read that yet, I suggest you start there.) I said that the system I’m teaching isn’t the only way to meet with God, but it is one way that has worked for me…
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Jesus Died
Podcast Audio: As the sun gets warmer and the trees start to bloom, I find myself looking forward to summer vacation. I’ve heard of one place that sounds nice… but I’m not sure that I’d ever go there for a holiday. I think you’ll understand why once I tell you about it. A Not…
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Why You Should Study, Memorize and Meditate on the Bible
Podcast Audio: I’m so proud of our Sunday school kids, and the teachers, for taking the time to memorize the Romans Road to Salvation over the past few months. Memorizing of scripture takes time, concentration, and energy – and it is a way to worship God. That time is never wasted and these kids will…
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The Cathedral of Your Heart – Preparing for Easter by Looking Inward
Podcast Audio: Let’s start with a couple of short stories: I remember, a while back, going to a fancy restaurant on my parent’s 25th anniversary. We had a great meal, and my brother had bought a bottle of Dom Pérignon, which was pretty good too. After the appetizer we were served a small bowl…
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Christian Integrity: Keep Your Vows
Here’s the Audio for this sermon: For the past while we’ve been studying the characteristics of a person and a Christian of integrity. We’re asking the question, “what does it mean to look and act like a Christian, and a Christian church?” It all starts with the first verse, the question that is asked…
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A Deep Desire for Peace
(I used this prayer by Pastor Scotty Smith this week.) I don’t know where you are at today, and I don’t pretend to know what is going on in your heart – only God knows that. I can say with absolute certainty that there is something you desire very much, that you have worked…
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Advent Week 2 – Celebrating How Much God Loves You
Before you start, I encourage you to read the Christmas Story from Luke 2:1-20. A Special Time of Year Last week I invited you last week to take one of these books, called “The Purpose of Christmas” by Rick Warren. The reason that I did this was so that we could spend time together,…
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Pastoral Prayer: Inspire Us to Worship
You are the life-giving God. Inspire us and give us the energy to call upon Your name, for our minds are not enough to understand, our thoughts are wayward and we are easily distracted. We love the world too much and within our heart is still the struggle with unbelief and doubt. It is…
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Jesus Loves Mr. Spock
The Freudian Trio This probably won’t come as a shock to many of you, but I’m a Star Trek fan. One of my favourite parts of the show is the interplay between Captain Kirk, the Vulcan First Spock and Doctor McCoy. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, made a genius decision when he…
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Jesus Doesn’t Ask For Volunteers (Intro to Mini-Biographies of the Apostles)
There are lots of pictures of the apostles. Probably the most famous picture with all the disciples is Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, but many artists over time have tried to put together a rendering of what they looked like. Over the next couple weeks, since I’m not much of an artist, I want…
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Pastoral Prayer: Of Commitment
We shout for joy to You, God, joining the praises of all believers across the earth. We sing to the glory of Your name! We give to You our praise! How awesome are Your deeds, O God! We are in awe of Your power. So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before…
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Fasting (Mark 2:18-20)
Jesus and the Mob Boss We’re going to talk about Mark 2:18-22, but let me set the context first. Jesus is sitting at the table of Levi, also called Matthew, who has just left his Tax Collectors booth and has followed Jesus. They went to his home where Jesus sat down to…
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A Prayer to Exalt the Lord at All Times
We will exalt the Lord at all times. Your praise will always be on our lips. Our souls will boast in You.
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EPIC: The Story of God & Humanity
(Click here for the sermon video.) God has been writing a story since the beginning of time and it is EPIC. What follows is a brief history of the universe written to help you see how it all hangs together and introduce you to the main character of the story: Jesus Christ. Chapter 1:…
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The Five Solas: Sola Gratia
(This is a follow-up post to The Foundations: The True Gospel) The Second is Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone, was the overarching theme of the Reformationists, not because the Roman Catholic Church was teaching that salvation isn’t from the Grace of God found in Jesus, but because they teach that other things must to be done as well.…
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The Foundations: An Introduction to Intentional Discipleship
A Daunting Task I have a deep and abiding passion for discipleship, which is probably why this series is has been hard to write – because I want to get it right. I don’t want to leave out anything important. I want to give you everything you need to be forgiven, know God, and…
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My Boys' Testimonies and Baptisms
On October 14th I had the amazing privilege of baptising my sons Ethan and Edison. It was such a wonderful day, and my wife and I are so proud of them. I’ve finally uploaded their testimony and baptism video to youtube and want to share it with you. The audio isn’t that great, so here’s a…
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Review of "Thirty Days in the Land with Jesus" by Charles H. Dyer
Thirty Days in the Land with Jesus A Holy Land Devotional* by Charles H. Dyer Moody Press Summary Charles H. Dyer invites us to take a guided tour of the life, ministry and homeland of Jesus Christ. His passion for making scripture come alive by contextualizing the events in the life of Christ gives…
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Why I am Reformed
The above video spurred me to write this entry. It touched me deeply and reminded me of who God is creating me to be, where I have come from, and why I do what I do the way I do it. It is beautifully shot, and powerfully narrated by John Calvin. I encourage you…
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Own Your "Why?" – How to Make Wise Decisions
I preached this sermon on Sunday, October 31 2010 as a way to help the congregation process Halloween, but it grew into something much bigger. It became a sermon about how to make all kinds of decisions. I repeat it here in hopes it will encourage you to make wiser choices, release you from…