Whether you are irreligious or religious—you must respond to Jesus. To paraphrase John Stott, you cannot have a moderate response to Jesus. In the Bible no one ever had a so so…”Hmmphh”…response to Jesus. If after today you understand the WHOLE story, who Jesus is and what He did, you better hate Him, hide from Him, or run to Him. And don’t stop short in the story… Those who are IRRELIGIOUS stop on FRIDAY with JESUS DEAD. Whether Jesus was who He said He was who knows; but you’d be a fool not to AGREE that the death of Jesus of Nazareth was a horrible unjust tragedy. A 30 year old carpenter name Jesus, who did nothing but serve and love people, is accused falsely, tried illegally, and murdered brutally. If nothing else, this tragedy proves that there is something wrong with the world and you know it. But the [...]

RE:sermon is an effort to share the best thoughts from the most recent sermons.  Too often, some of the "nuggets" of truth get lost in the noise and length of the sermon.  Some of these need to be forgotten while others need to be repeated.  As Doug Wilson once told me, "If it is good enough to say once, it is good enough to say twice."  With that in view, the following quotes were taken from two sermons preached in early March 2015.  Both sermons come from our series in the Gospel of Matthew (Book 3).  One sermon is titled WHO JESUS RECEIVES and the other is titled WHO JESUS REJECTS. If we are going to love children, then we they must be SOUGHT for, BROUGHT to, and TAUGHT about Jesus. We have a responsibility to care for our family, our church, and the world...We all have a tendency to focus on [...]

I found this in an old sermon back from 2008. It made me laugh. I thought I'd post it for kicks... One Hula Dancing Boy The other day, my oldest son Fischer came home with a special flyer from this school. Apparently, a local group was offering Hula Dancing Lessons to boys and girls. For $120, my son, my one day going to be a man son, could experience 8 weeks of grass skirt hip gyrating exercise that would be the envy of manly Dad’s everywhere. Not Karate or Kung Fun, not hammering nails or building forts, not skateboards or video games…no, hula dancing. It took me all of three seconds to decide that my son would not be doing it, although Caylin had said he was really excited about it. So I had to tell him… ME:   “Fischer, you will not be doing hula lessons.” FISCHER: “Ohhhh…why?” ME:  “Hula dancing, [...]

Taken from Mystery of the Mind of Christ Your fight against sin begins with believing there is a fight to be had. Sin will either tempt you to not fight, to fight the wrong things, or to fight the wrong way. I've heard it said, 'Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. You can get very good at fighting the wrong thing the wrong way. Here is the right way: 1. Fight honorably – the fight for the glory of God (Right motivation) 2. Fight intentionally- the fight is strategic (Right battle plan) 3. Fight ruthlessly – the fight is painful. (Right and Radical Sacrifice) 4. Fight relentlessly – the fight is never over (Right disposition) 5. Fight skillfully – the fight is biblical (Right weapon) 6. Fight communally- the fight is together (Right Community) 7. Fight faithfully – the fight is Christ-centered (Right means) Our fight is not just [...]

The first time I preach a sermon, I always wish I could preach it second time.  The second time I preach a sermon, I always wish I could preach a third time.  I always feel there is more or less to be said, or much to be changed.  Such is the case with my last sermon titled JESUS IS SCARY  GENEROUS from Matthew 7.15-23.  "Scary" is probably not the most popular adjective to describe Jesus.  The truth is, Jesus said some scary things. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; [...]

Below are excerpts taken from sermon Jesus is Narrow (Text but not recording available).  In essence, the following 10 statements encapsulate all that I hoped to say in twitter-sized chunks.The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best description of a Christian. Sadly, because none of us live this description perfectly, few of us take it seriously.Jesus is not calling people to consider or admire Him; He is calling people to follow Him. There is no standing still, you will either walk the way of Jesus or walk away from Jesus. There is a third way to live that is neither self-indulgent or self-righteous.  The third way comes through belief in the gospel; it is the way of self-denial.  This is what Jesus calls the narrow way—it is the way of Jesus.  And, if Jesus life is any example, the way of Jesus is different, hard, but ultimately life-giving. Faith in Christ is [...]