Sermon Archive
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June 2021
Bitter
Down through the years people had some interesting reasons for changing their names. For example, in 2015 a young man named Adam Armstrong legally changed his name to Adam West because it was cheaper to change his name than to change his flight booking which had been made under the wrong name by his girlfriend’s stepfather.
Fashion designer, Ralph Lauren, was born with the name Ralph Lifshitz, but he changed it because kids used to make fun of him.
A man named Tim Price legally …
The Wrong Well
In today’s day and age the copious amount of information, both secular and Christian alike, inundates the consumer culture that it is born from. Even as Christians we must be in the practice of effectively discerning the truth, as it aligns with the scriptures, within the materials we consume or else we run the risk of falling prey to the agendas of man and not God. And so for the remaining culture around us, the amount of philosophical arguments and ways of life may just about seem endless…
Brought Low
The Great Commission is not just a to-do list item. It is not a command that can be obeyed in the same way as taking out the trash or paying our taxes. It can’t even be done as someone might deliver a letter. We might be tempted to think of it that way.
For example, someone might think, “God wrote this message and I am commanded to deliver its contents to the lost. So in obedience I will go out like a postal worker and deliver this message to them, and in so doing I will have ful…
War of Words
Last message we were introduced to a man whom the Bible identifies as “The Rabshakeh.” He was a trash-talking envoy of the great and terrible King Sennacherib of Assyria. In 701 bc the Assyrian army encircled Jerusalem and the Rabshakeh sidled up to within earshot of Jerusalem’s defenders and fired off the opening volley in a war of words. It was a powerful opening salvo too that shook the hearts of those who heard it. King Hezekiah’s representatives hurried back to Hezekiah in dismay and w…
May 2021
Rabshakeh
In Isaiah 36 we are introduced to a man who is called “the Rabshakeh.” Rabshakeh is probably not the man’s name but rather a title that translates roughly to “field commander.” He has been charged by King Sennacherib of Assyria with overthrowing Jerusalem. As I mentioned in last week’s worship service this Rabshakeh is a grade-A trash talker. However, it can also be said that the Rabshakeh was a man of extraordinary faith. We don’t often think of such a character as being a ma…
Bezalel and Oholiab
In this message we will be getting to know Bezalel and Oholiab who the Bible mentions in Exodus 31, 35 and 36 as the two artists chiefly responsible for creating the tabernacle, its decorations, the ark of the covenant and the garments worn by the priests. In Exodus 31 we are told that God “called them by name,” and that they were “[filled] with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.” Exodus 35 tells us that they were “inspired to t…
Uzziah
In this message we study the life of one of Judah’s lesser known Kings, Uzziah. We find his story in 2 Chronicles 26. In the Old Testament we are given the names of 46 men who were kings over Israel and Judah. Some of these names are famous (like David for example), some of them are infamous (like Ahab!), but most of them are some mix of the two and not really well-known to us. Most folks know that there were a lot of kings, and that some of them were good and others bad, but the details …
Jephthah
Sarah and I have pretty much decided on the name “Oliver” for the newest Tater Tot who is due to arrive in just a matter of weeks. It seems a fitting handle to us because “Oliver” means olive tree and Sarah’s family have been olive growers for generations in Southern California (and in Italy before that). The name also reminds us of Bible verses like Psalm 128:3, “…your children will be like olive shoots around your table,” or Psalm 52:8, “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the ho…
Through Not To
At the far end of our quiet mall there is a small collection of children’s rides. Now, you might not have travelled far enough down the empty corridors to know the specific ones I am talking about, but imagine the rides you used to see outside of a grocery store. The ones you put a quarter in to play a song while they move back and forth for a brief minute. My kids used to love those and would beg for a quarter when we ever went near them. As an adult I didn’t understand the allure of t…
April 2021
The Final End
In this message we will wrap up our mini sermon series on Advent Christian Doctrinal Distinctives by posing the question, “What is the final end of those who do not put their trust in Jesus for salvation?”
At the center of Christianity is the joyous reality of “good news.” The Christian message is, at its core, a happy and hopeful one, however it must be owned that before there can be good news there must first be bad news. The bad news is that all have sinned and fallen shor…
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