preach-itSermon Archive

Click on the sermon title for access to “Sermon Notes”

 

July 2021

Exalted Humility

Pride and humility both have the same motto, “Look out for #1.” The difference is that pride and humility have different ideas about who precisely is numero uno. So in a sense both Orpah and Ruth were looking out for #1 when they made their respective decisions in the first chapter of Ruth. In the second chapter we are treated to another display of amazing humility as Ruth heads out to glean among the workers in the barley harvest. That Ruth would set out to glean indicates the extreme



Steely Resolve

Verses 16-17 of the first chapter of Ruth are undoubtedly the most famous lines of the entire book. They contain Ruth’s determined vow to remain with her mother-in-law no matter what forces tried to separate them. She said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more



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





 
PPL_G_006