All the Sermons

Luke 10:1-12 Key Verse: "Yet be sure of this: the Kingdom Of God is near." Luke 10:11-B Jesus is on the last leg of His journey on earth, but there are still so many who need to hear! Jesus can't do it all by Himself as a human on this earth. Earlier, He had only sent out the twelve, (day 133) but sending them two by two would mean that they could only visit six villages at a time. Now, the urgency of the mission has Jesus sending out seventy-two, not just the twelve. This means that thirty-six villages can be reached at a time. Jesus’ ministry is growing, but the message is the same as at first, "the Kingdom of God is near." We know who the twelve are, but who are the other sixty? Well, remember that when Jesus called out the twelve disciples, He was choosing from a much larger group of followers. These twelve were Jesus' chosen men who would stick with Him constantly, but that doesn't mean that the others just fell away as if they had los...

Matthew 8:18-22 , Luke 9:57-62 , James 4:13-17 Key Verse: Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom Of God.” Luke 9:62 It’s an easy game that we play with ourselves. “I’ll get around to it, but first I need to…” We stack so many promises into tomorrow. But I ask you, what if tomorrow never comes? There’s a song from the musical, “Little Orphan Annie,” that says, “tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow, you’re only a day away.” Tomorrow, I will do what I know I should do, after all, “it’s only a day away,” but today is for me. Today I will earn a living and provide for myself. Today, I will do what I want to do. Tomorrow, I will begin the life of sacrifice. Tomorrow, I will live for You, Jesus. Earlier, Jesus had talked about counting the cost and He had lost many of His followers for His truth in advertising. Today’s message is similar, only Jesus is targeting specific people with specific stumbling blocks t...

Isaiah 50:4-9 , Luke 9:51-56 Key Verse: "Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." Isaiah 50:7 These are brave words for someone who knows that His mission is to suffer and die for the sins of the world. The last leg of Jesus’ Journey has begun. He knows what awaits Him at His destination, but out of love for you and me, nothing can distract Him from His purpose. He is a man, no, a God, on a mission to redeem humanity. He will not be deterred. Then, there is James and John, Sons of Thunder, who still want to take the world by storm. We respond so quickly to insults. They just couldn't believe that the people in the village, to which they had been sent for accommodations, wouldn't welcome Jesus, even if they were Samaritans! It was a, "Do you know who I am?" moment if ever there was one for these two disciples, but settling the score between Samari...

Matthew 18:21-35 Key Verse: "This is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother, or sister, from your heart." Matthew 18:35 "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matt. 6:12 & 14-15) Jesus is consistent here on His teaching about forgiveness. It's what He came to make a way to do and He expects no less from His followers. God bless Peter with his inquisitive nature. We learn so much because of his outspokenness. "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?" One has to wonder, was Peter looking for a loop hole here? Was there continuing trouble among the ranks of disciples that Peter was having trouble enduring? We have to think that something happened to prov...

Matthew 18:18-20 , Hebrews 10:24-25 Key Verse: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20 We come to Christ individually. We live for Christ in community. It is not God's plan to create "Lone Ranger," Christians. Too many of us suffer from the disease of individualism. We want to be independent. We want to do it all ourselves. Rather than asking a friend to borrow something, we will just buy our own. We don't need help. We will do it ourselves, thank you! Because most of us can afford to live this way, we miss out on the art of learning how to live together in community. We do not understand the gift of sacrifice for others. Even I must admit that I prefer email because I can read and answer when I have the time. Phone calls can annoy me, especially when they come at dinner time, or when I'm in the middle of something that I don't want to interrupt. Our individualism is eroding the ability...

Matthew 18:15-17 Key Verse: "If your brother, or sister, sins against you, go and show them their fault, just between the two of you. Matthew 18:15 The world says: "If someone sins against you, you have the right to be angry! You have the right to pick up the phone and tell others how you have been offended because you have the right to be comforted!" It also says: "You have a right to bear a grudge until they recognize what they have done and come to you to apologize and ask for forgiveness." Sound familiar? Jesus says: "If someone sins against you, it's your responsibility to try to make things right." How many times have you offended or hurt someone's feelings and you had no clue you had done so. You sensed that the relationship was growing cold, but you honestly had no clue why. Imagine finding out that someone is building a case against you in their minds or among their friends, and you have no clue what you've done. ...

Ezekiel 34:1-10 , Matthew 18:12-14 , Luke 15:1-7 Key Verse: "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep." I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:6B-7 It's probably the case that the account Matthew has given took place at a different time and location than the account in Luke. In Matthew, Jesus was continuing His concern for children and His audience may have been mostly made up of His disciples and followers. In Luke, while it is true that His disciples and other followers were present, Jesus is targeting His critics, the religious crowd who were always around, looking for an excuse to find fault. I thought, however, that I could combine these two narratives because the message is the same. There is rejoicing in heaven when just one sinner repents and turns to Him for salvation. I think that it is so easy for us who a...

Matthew 18:6-9 , Mark 9:42-50 Key Verse: "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through who they come!"    Matthew 18:7 Jesus is issuing stern warnings here as He takes this opportunity to talk about hell. Interestingly, Jesus talks about hell a lot! His words seem so extreme to our modern, politically correct ears. If you lead a child astray, it would be better to have a mill stone hung around your neck so that you drown? If your eye or hand or foot causes you to sin, cut them off? How could a loving Jesus be so drastic? And, if you aren't that radical you'll end up in hell? Can that be right? Leave it to sinners to not grasp how serious our sin is. We've come to minimize our sins with phrases like, "little white lie," or, "mistake," but God can't be so nonchalant. When we excuse ourselves this way we show that we don't understand what holy means and we ...

Mark 9:38-41 , Luke 9:49-50 Key Verse: "Whoever is not against us is for us." Mark 9:40 This is actually a continuation of the discussion about who is the greatest. Jesus had not approved of the disciples arguing among themselves, just as parents don't enjoy arguments that take place among their children. John must have thought, however, surely, Jesus would agree with us here. We're like a family. We've got to stick together and defend our leader and His purpose! The disciples were thinking the way the world thinks, with an "us versus them" mentality. They had the corner on the market! They had Jesus! Jesus had picked them and enabled them to do all the miracles. So, as the world thinks, it was only natural that they would try to shut down what they saw as "the competition." Jesus, however, had not come to be exclusive. He had come to spread grace. "The Kingdom of God truly was at hand," and available to all who woul...

Exodus 30:11-16 , Matthew 17:24-27 , Rom.13:1-7 , Philippians 4:19 Key Verse: “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 Isn’t it depressing to learn that even Jesus was cursed with taxes while He lived on this earth? In this case, however, the tax we are talking about isn’t a Roman tax, but a temple tax, required from the time of Moses for maintaining the tabernacle. Each year, every man over the age of 20, would pay this tax as part of the Jewish census. This was not the same as the tithe, which is given to demonstrate trust in the Lord's provision as part of repentance and cleansing. This tax was above the tithe, given to maintain the temple and, I suppose the local synagogue as well. It’s unclear what the attitude of the person is here who asks if Jesus pays His temple tax. Was it an attempt to once again accuse, or was the questioner sincere? Peter was probably the one asked, however, because he must h...

Matthew 18:1-5 , Mark 9:33-37 , Luke 9:46-48 Key Verse: "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:4 Jesus loves children! That is obvious from the accounts that we read today. Can you imagine being the child that Jesus took into His arms as He talked with His disciples? What must that have felt like for that child? What would it be like to have a physical, close, hands on hug from God Himself? Just thinking about it fills me with awe and longing. Jesus was honoring this child in response to the childish behavior of His grown disciples. What a silly argument; "Who is the greatest?" Perhaps the argument was brought on by the fact that Jesus had appeared to play favorites with Peter, James and John. Perhaps there was some childish behavior such as jealousy or bragging going on between them. Notice, they were leaving Jesus out of the discussion, as we often do when we are sinning. Childish beh...

Matthew 17:22-23 , Mark 9:30-32 , Luke 9:43-45 Key Verse: He said to them, "The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise." Mark 9:31B As a father, I think that I may have a little understanding of what is going on here. Kathy and I often found it helpful when our children were young, to prepare them in advance for upcoming events, especially if that event means an unwelcome change in their present activity or situation. "We will be leaving in ten minutes." Or, "Bedtime is in fifteen minutes so begin to prepare." Often, we would give a second warning closer to the actual time mentioned to reinforce our original warning. Most importantly, we would follow through and do what we had prepared them for. A few days ago, Jesus first began talking to His disciples about what would happen in His future. Peter was shocked and told Jesus that He was wrong; a statement that earned Jesus...

Matthew 17:14-21 , Mark 9:14-29 , & Luke 9:37-43 Key Verse: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 Kathy can identify a little with the plight of the Father. When she was in junior high, one of her classmates suffered from severe epilepsy. One never knew when a seizure would strike. It could be that the fact that his body was changing made it even harder to medicate him properly. Junior high is tough enough without the added problems that epilepsy created. He suffered from grand mal seizures. He would fall to the floor, become rigid, convulse for several minutes and then, when it was over, he was moved to a quiet place where he would sleep for many hours. For Kathy, who was unfamiliar with the condition, it was scary. For those who had been trained, including his close friends, calm and patience mad...

Matthew 17:1-13 , Mark 9:2-13 , Luke 9:28-36 & 2 Peter 1:12-18 Key Verse: Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!" Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:34 Jesus is not an equal to Moses and Elijah. Jesus is not a prophet. Jesus is the Son Of God and there is no human equal to Him! What the Father God pronounced over Jesus at His baptism is now reaffirmed here for the benefit of Peter, James & John. Why were Peter, James and John given such a privilege as this? Surely, God had His reasons. They would certainly need this extra boost of confidence for the tasks set before them after Pentecost. Why Moses and Elijah? Moses and Elijah were the most revered prophets in the history of Israel. Moses had met with God face to face and received God's law, the Ten Commandments, from His hand. When he died, he died alone and his body was never found. Elijah represented the hope in God. ...

John 6:60-71 Key Verse: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." John 6:63 When we covered the early part of this passage, (John 6:29-59), we discussed how Jesus made following Him an exclusive calling. God chooses us and we choose Him. As a result, God has certain expectations on us as followers, and partakers of His son. All of this has to do with the "Cost of Discipleship." We don't cover this topic as much as, perhaps, we should as Christians. Too many of us believe that all that is required of us is to pray the sinners' prayer and then it's a done deal. However, have you ever thought about the fact that the "sinner's prayer," or the prayer that leads to salvation is not in Scripture? It is a series of phrases that have been strung together by people, to cover the bases so that you can surrender to Jesus and begin your walk with Him.  The true, main...

Matthew 16:24-28 , Mark 8:34-9:1 , Luke 9:23-27 & 14:25-35 Key Verse: Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after Me, He must deny himself and take up his cross "daily" and follow Me." Luke 9:23 This is a sobering follow up to Jesus' warnings about Himself yesterday. He is laying out the plain truth. There are no frills here. Jesus is not holding out the promise of an easy life. Yesterday, Jesus warned His disciples that rough times were ahead for Him. Today, Jesus is letting them know that following Him won't be easy for them either. Why does He do this? He could have been so popular! He is too loving and honest for that. He wants His followers to count the cost. He isn't about to lure in unsuspecting victims that come just for the free food and blessings. That's not what following Jesus is all about. Like the man who builds the tower or the king with an army, a decision to follow Christ needs to be a thoughtful one....

Mark 8:31-33 , Matthew 16:21-23 , Luke 9:21-22 Key Verse: Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:23 What a shock this rebuke must have been to Peter. What a shock Jesus’ whole warning must have been to His disciples. They must have wondered, "How are we still not getting it? What is Jesus saying here?  This isn't what we've been taught. How can this make sense?" Peter may have been the bold, outspoken person who received the rebuke, but the sting must have been felt by all. What a contrast to the praise Jesus gave in yesterday’s text. Jesus had just admitted to being their long awaited hero. He was supposed to be the victor, not the victim. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matt. 16:23b) As with the disciples in this situation, that is usually our problem as well. We are guil...