All the Sermons

James 3:13-18 James is talking about two kinds of wisdom here. And the contrast is really stark in the words he uses. But, when you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, does it show up and look that bad on the outside? So, I humorously entitled my message, is it Disney or is it Divine. Because the Disney stories actually exemplify this worldly wisdom. Take for example poor little Ariel, Disney’s Little Mermaid, feeling abused by her father and misunderstood just because she thinks she loves a human from above the waves. She is portrayed sympathetically as someone who ought to be allowed to follow her dreams, it is only her frustration and her determined ambition to get what she wants, no matter what, that has led to the tragic choice of taking advice from a sea witch because her father refused to help or even listen. Everything turns out all right in the end, but not because Ariel truly repents. Rather, she wins the battle against evil once she realizes she has b...

James 3:1-12 We all know that words have power. We all know the little rhyme is false. It says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Well, physical wounds can heal. But, the emotional wounds created by unkind or abusive words can damage a life for years to come and with much less effort than the physical force required to really hurt someone with sticks or stones. In fact, a mere slip of the tongue, taking no effort at all, can do far more damage than we even anticipate. Sometimes our words can harm others, sometimes we do ourselves no favors. I remember once while I was very young, about 20 maybe, and working as a retail clerk at a hardware store in New York. A lady came in and asked me for help. She said, “’Cues me, do you spic span?” I thought I understood her perfectly and lead her to the cleaning products aisle. I confidently handed her an orange box of spic and span. She looked a little flustered and saw that she had to try again. She said, “N...

James 2:14-26 I want to start by telling you a story about my granddaughter. She was talking to her mom about heaven and mom was answering a lot of questions! Then at one point, my little five-year old granddaughter said something significant. “Mom, I don’t think I’m ready to go to heaven. I would miss my friends.” What I am really proud of is that my daughter said back, “Well, if you tell your friends about Jesus and heaven, then they can all be there with you one day.” That’s really a great reason to do evangelism. If your concerned that being a Christian might mean losing some friends who might think Christianity isn’t cool, try to actually lead them to Christ so they will get to be in heaven with you one day! If they become Christians, they will be for your friends forever, literally forever, not just for this brief life. And one more thought, you don’t want your friends to ever have to say anything like, “Why didn’t you tell me I could be saved from sin and forgiven by God’s ...

James 2: 1-13 This is issue is still very much alive today. I know from personal experience of looking for a job or buying a car it makes a difference when you’re in a suit. I’m sure also we have all heard the story of the church that was going to welcome its new pastor but on that particular Sunday there was a homeless man lying on the ground by their front door. He was even asking for money! Almost everybody very carefully avoided him. Only a few were openly disgusted at seeing him there. Then he walked in and went up to the pulpit to be introduced as the new pastor. He let them know how disappointed he was in their lack of compassion. Let me tell you though, when I first looked at this section I thought to myself, how am I going to preach a sermon that you need to hear? You guys all seem to me to be pretty good at this ministry of being loving and accepting of all kinds of people. I don’t see you showing favoritism. I do see you loving everybody really well, at least in here an...