All the Sermons

No More politics (or Potholes) Jeremiah 23: 5-8 Listen link: www.lecpc.org then look for “sermons” tab How would you like to live in a country where you don’t get to vote for anything, not your leaders, not the laws, and not your taxes? How would like to live in a country where you are legally obligated to do whatever the King asks of you, when he asks it, regardless of what you thought you wanted to do? That may not sound very appealing to an American. We love our freedom and independence. We fought a revolutionary war to win our freedom and get out from under the rule of a monarchy. We like democracy and have no desire to give it up, right? If you’re feeling that, how do you react to this news: “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” When that happens, will you accept it? Can you be prepared for that by this thought: the only reason we don’t like a

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab

Scripture: Philippians 4:10 – 23 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. We have just finished reading the book of Philippians. We took ten Sundays to do it. Now at the very end, Paul really is wrapping things up and getting ready to say good-bye. I said at the beginning that Paul wrote this letter largely in the form of a thank you letter from a missionary being supported by this church at Philippi. In the first few verses of this last section we see it clearly, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.” He means when Epaphroditus showed up with some gifts for supporting Paul in his work. And Paul apparently excuses them for what was probably a long time between Epaphroditus’ arrival and the gift they gave him before that. He said he understands that they wanted to but couldn’t when he said, “Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” Paul also wanted to reassure them that God had also supplied, and h

Scripture: Philippians 4:2-9 Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. How would you like to have someone else air your dirty laundry in public? You’re all familiar with that phrase, right? It means to bring out into the open some actions or attitudes that make you look bad, or at least a little less than the congenial impression you hope to make in social settings. It’s embarrassing. I remember one time when I was a very new Christian, going to night school to make up some credits and demonstrate my readiness to return to college. I was in a class that was all about conflict management. We had an assignment to talk about a real conflict that we had experienced or were experiencing. As it happened, this was shortly after a class project that involved having us work together in small groups and I had experienced a little conflict with one of my classmates that I felt was unresolved. I’m sure I had read the gospel teaching about being a peacemaker. I wanted to re

Scripture: Philippians 3:15-4:1 Listen Link: Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. Are you living a life worth copying? Are you living a great life that people would admire? Are you living a great life? I know, humble people find it hard to answer these questions in the affirmative. We are aware of our faults and sins. So, we do not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. But if “more highly than you ought” is what you are not supposed to do, doesn’t that mean that you are supposed to think of yourself as highly as you ought to as highly as you realistically can? I think you are supposed to think of yourself as highly as is correct. And for most of you, you are underestimating your value in the kingdom of God. In clothing, one spot on the front of your shirt that you just can’t wash out can ruin that shirt for public appearances. And we tend to treat ourselves like that. One bad spot on your record and you tend to think you’re good for nothing. But th

Scripture:   Philippians 3:1-14 Listen Link: Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. Don’t you love to hear a good personal testimony? For many of us our favorite day is when Teen Challenge comes. We appreciate hearing the stories of how the power of God is able to dramatically change a wasted life into a purposeful one through salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. We are amazed by how God can pick someone up out of the gutter and show them how to walk the straight and narrow path of righteousness. But here, we just read Paul’s testimony, that he was fine upstanding citizen, from a good lineage and doing everything right, went to the best school and graduated with honors. He was a religious man, raised in church, so to speak. He was a success according to the world’s way of looking at things. Then he met Jesus! On the road to Damascus he may have been literally lying in the gutter when he fell before the risen Lord. And that is when he realized that his own life

Scripture:   Philippians 2:19-30 Listen Link: Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. Earlier this week I read this amazing story of devotion to the ministry. Spending the night alone in a canoe on the ocean would be daunting for just one night. But would you do that for five months, even though you can’t swim? One pastor did — for the sake of the Gospel. As reported by Mission Network News, Pastor Vedasto “Veds” Subiaga felt a burden for people on a group of small, isolated islands in the Philippines to know Jesus. He set out for the islands in a canoe. But when he got there, the villagers wouldn’t let him stay on the island overnight. He could visit during the day, but at night he had to sleep in his little canoe. Rather than go home, Pastor Veds lived on his boat offshore for five long months and built relationships. Bill Passons with AMG International says, “The interesting fact about that is the fact that he can’t swim, which is a crazy thing! I recently v

Scripture: Philippians 2:12-18 Listen Link: Listen link:  www.lcepc.org  then look for “sermons” tab. What’s happening in our world today? You read the news, right? Is the church losing its voice? Is the culture around us rejecting the Church as a source of gospel truth? Do they have any good reasons to? Well, it’s complicated. On the one hand, there is a spiritual battle and sometimes the forces of evil seem to win the upper hand for a while. On the other hand, the church does bear some responsibility for failing to live the way Paul calls us to in this text, until revival comes when things get so bad that we realize we really need God’s help. That’s the way it happened in the Old Testament. We see it especially clearly in the book of Judges.  It is even pointed out for us in Judges 2:18-19 ‘Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groa