Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Bizarro Church (1John 2.12-17)
In last week’s passage, 1John 2.12-17, John addresses three different kinds of Christians that make up the church audience he is writing to. By different kinds, I mean, different stages of spiritual maturity in the Christian life—new believers (children), maturing believers (young men) and seasoned believers (fathers). Every church, our church, must have all of these present all the time. Without new believers, the gospel is either not being preached or new people are not [...]
Controlled and Governed
This is going to be a bit of a ramble... 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2Corinthians 5.14-15 When Jesus saves someone, His Spirit comes to dwell in their heart. As Galatians [...]
Our Obedience…Part 2
This is part 2 of the redo I probably shouldn't do. I write for myself because it is cathartic, I write for you because I hope to be clarifying, and I write for God to glorify him that much more through the one sermon. The reason for saying anything about the second half of this passage is not to retract everything I said, but simply to ensure that the right emphasis is made. 10 Whoever [...]
Our Obedience…more than words
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the [...]
Our Love for the Brothers – 2John
I preached on one of the shortest books in the Bible last week, 2John. For this sermon, I followed up the somewhat innocuous titles of Our Doctrine, Our Sinfulness with the ever-so-creative "Our Love." From the very first verses, we see that John is going emphasize this connection between truth and love. He is writing to the church because he LOVES them IN TRUTH. He says ALL who know the truth LOVE this them also, [...]
More confession, more ___________
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1.9 The Bible doesn’t actually speak about confession of sin as often as one might think. The New Testament speaks regularly about “confessing the gospel” or making the “good confession” of faith. Confession of sin may be indirectly implied in the direct call to repent from sin, but such calls seem to [...]
Not in, never in, and no such thing as darkness (1John 1.5-2.2)
Today's sermon text was 1John 1.5-2.2. An hour long-tirade on confession and sin isn’t the most uplifting of Mother’s Day sermons but, alas, honoring Mom’s is biblical and mother’s day is not. What is biblical and the purpose of gathering as a church is to worship Jesus by preaching the gospel. And if we don’t leave Sunday morning offended by God’s truth, the gospel probably wasn’t preached. The more I study John, the more I [...]
John 1.1-4: Doctrine Matters
This week we began our series titled ASSURANCE, a 14-week traipse through the three letters of John. The letters of John are essentially a basic introduction to New Testament Theology. Unlike a traditional letter, John begins his by establishing his authority to teach as an eyewitness to Jesus. False teaching wolves have infiltrated the flock and are now leading sheep astray and away into new grazing fields. These are the fields are full of ear-tickling [...]
The Resurrected Life Looks Different
Galatians 2.20 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Believing in the Resurrection means living a TRANSFORMED life, not for something different, but through someone different. It is GIVING up, the denial, the death of our [...]
Monday’s Obscure Bible Passage: Leviticus 10.1-3
The Book of Leviticus isn't the first book you'll probably choose to read for personal devotions. Leviticus follows the last verses of Exodus which record the glory of God filling the newly constructed tabernacle. In a very tangible way, a Holy God now "dwells" with His people. Unholy Israel can now approach their Holy God, but only according to the God-ordained rules. The Book of Leviticus is filled with God's instructions for his priests to [...]
Glory for, by, and with
I don't know why I am writing this blog right now. And though I would like to pretend it is an effort to "teach" others, I have a feeling it is in fact intended as a lesson for me. A lesson about what? It's the same lesson I am always learning--sanctification. What is sanctification? A simple definition is, "loving Jesus more and sin less." This simple definition does not explain how exactly this happens, which [...]
The “first” words I wish I spoke
On the journey of planting Damascus Road Church, there have been a lot of "firsts." There was the first set up, first public service, the first worship set, and the first communion. There were the first leaders, the first elders, the first converts, the first members, and the first baptisms. I remember the first "Amen", the first mean email, the first stupid decision, the first confrontation, the first church discipline, even the first people who [...]
Encouraged to Encourage
I love our church. When I say that, I don't mean that I simply love our name, building, music, or whatever parts you might consider make up the "church" and its "steeple." What I love are the hearts of our people, and the love they have for one another. Though I have been a part of many churches, this is the first time that I have experienced the church as a genuine family of families [...]
A Paradoxical Tension
I have found that whenever I preach a sermon that calls people to actively "repent", or "obey", I am expected by many to explain exactly what I "don't mean", namely, self-righteousness. My hope is that we live and preach the gospel so regularly that it can be assumed that we always fight FROM our righteousness and not FOR it. The truth is that we will always fall short in our obedience. We we never [...]
Church Planting Lesson #29: Train Wreck Sermons
Church Planting Lesson #29: Train Wrecks are sometimes unavoidable. There is a lot of pressure preaching every week. It feels like everyone is waiting for the preacher to either "feed" them something they consider good enough to come back for another meal, or give something to will justify their reasons for leaving. It's rather disturbing to watch and hear the "feeding" of the flock play out on a given Sunday. I have seen it all, [...]
The “Danger” in Teaching your Kids Scripture
Deuteronomy 6 records, among other things, some important commandments to parents in raising children. These sacred verses are not the "how to's" of perfect parenting as much as they are a charges from a Father committed to preserving the Word of God as central to the identity of His people. Moses writes: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and [...]
Weak Excuses Reveal the Heart
By Pastor Jim F This week at Damascus Road Church we tackled two chapters, Joshua 16 and 17. These two chapters lay out the portion of land given to the people of Joseph, the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. They are not content with their portion. As a matter of fact, their discontentment leads them to voicing a complaint with Joshua, and ultimately with God. The root of their complaint is being more comfortable with [...]
God-made vs. Man-Made Boundaries
I haven't found too many sermon series based on the entire book of Joshua. That could be because, after Joshua 10, most of the narrative reads like 2,500 year old land survey recording the dividing and distribution of the promised land (not the most invigorating of devotional content). Joshua 15 is no exception. Joshua 15 describes the boundaries surrounding the inheritance allotted to Judah. Within the first 12 verses, the word "boundary" is used 19 [...]
Without promise, without guarantee (Josh. 14)
Caleb is one of the studliest men in Scripture. There is not a ton dedicated to Caleb, but the short narratives in Numbers 13/14 and Joshua 14 provide a convicting picture of faith for any Christian. If Joshua is the example of a faithful General and leader, Caleb provides us an example of a faithful soldier and disciple. SOME OF US will be called to be Joshua’s, but ALL OF US are called to be Caleb's. [...]
When God Holds His Breath
I recently preached on Joshua 11. Tucked into the last chapter detailing the violent warfare in Joshua, is an obscure couple of verses describing God's sovereignty. In describing why the Canaanite armies fought against Joshua, the Bible says: 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in [...]
Communion Church Online
The first church plant from Damascus Road Church has a web presence. This blog will allow Pastor Jim to post updates and all kinds of information about this new church. Check it out here.
Jesus would play Halo
I got an X-Box for Christmas from my in-laws. My bride despises video games because it seems to have the power to bring out the worst in my two boys. There is some truth to this. When we got a Wii a few years go, our oldest son quickly became known as the "Wii-wolf" because of the darkness of his video game playing persona. So despite my bride's protests and my son's history of outbursts, [...]
Sin silent isn’t sin conquered
I recently preached the second half of Joshua 10. The text is one of those that preachers might be tempted to ignore and hearers tempted to dismiss. On the surface, these verses amount to little more than a war report. Personally, I don't believe that God waste words and whether it is obscure laws about donkeys, war reports, or genealogy, all Scripture was breathed out by God to strengthen our faith in God (2Tim [...]
How to pray or not…
I preached Joshua 9 last week about how Israel was deceived by the Gibeonites into signing a treaty. Joshua and his leaders asked all the right questions, but they failed to ask the right person. Verse 14 identifies their mistake not as a failure to test, but a failure to pray: 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. I often forget to pray. It seems [...]