Thankful The Present Is Purposeful

Hebrews 10:11-25 These three Sundays leading to Thanksgiving have focused on the work of Christ at the cross to forgive and cleanse us of sin and obtain our eternal redemption. Many would say, using a movie title from a few years ago, "Heaven Can Wait." Christians have been acc

Thankful The Future Is Secured

Hebrews 9:24-28 A car accident occurred in the small town where I was a pastor. A mother and three children from out-of-town were injured and taken to the emergency room. I was called to the hospital and asked to wait with the nine-year-old daughter. I tried to calm her and give assurance

Thankful The Past Is Forgiven

Hebrews 9:11-14 In November our thoughts turn toward Thanksgiving and the celebration of our many blessings. We tend to express thanksgiving for blessings that we can taste or touch, exalting the temporal rather than the eternal. The problem is ancient, reflected in the book of Hebrews in the c

Sing Praise To God’s Glory

Ephesians 1:3-14 In the desire to relate to the contemporary world some churches have adjusted their music. The transition away from hymns often results in a "worship war." In the search for relevant music the church must not lose the opportunity to communicate truth through mus

The Equation Of Love

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 John Nash won the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics, a remarkable achievement for a life often in turmoil by listening to the voices of a troubled past. At the Nobel presentation, Nash described his journey through the "physical, metaphysical, delusional and back.

A Ministry That Is Not in Vain

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Possibly someone shook their head in doubt when you surrendered to the ministry. Did they wonder about your future? Like the English teacher in 1894 that noted on a teenager's report card: "a conspicuous lack of success." That teenager was Winston Churchill. Or the poetry editor of the...

I Have a Dream

Matthew 27:11-54 What's it like to be a governor's wife? Pilate's wife might say it depends on the assignment and the governor. Judea certainly wasn't the plum assignment for a civil servant of Rome. The rocky hills and dusty roads were remote from the flurry of parti

It’s A Matter of Life and Death

John 11:1-45 In the hospital my father-in-law went into a coma; medical technology indicated no brain activity. My godly mother-in-law made the decision to disconnect the respirator and trust her husband to the hands of the Great Physician. Like many other families a difficult decision was fa

Send the Light

John 9: 1-41 (NKJV) [A proclamation suggestion: This message could be delivered in a segmented format with the congregation singing a verse of Send the Light (Charles H. Gabriel, 1856-1932) between the divisions. In a nighttime worship setting, consider doing the introduction with lights out.