All the Sermons

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (for a pretty good dramatization of this text:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB9lIPCssos Before we get to the actual text for today’s message, I want to let you in on the fact that today I am beginning a new sermon series on the work of evangelism, to include some practical ideas that encourage us all to do this work. You know that I am studying for the ordination exams this fall and I was delighted to find in your denomination’s documents something about the reason why a congregation should even exist. And here it is: “The church's first duty is to evangelize, and the fruit of faith will be ministry to those in need.” In spite of the urgency and priority placed on evangelism by the denomination, I think it safe to say that evangelism is not everybody’s favorite pass time. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The work of an evangelist is really the most exciting part about what it means to be a Christian! In evangelistic work, we are partnering with God t...

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:24-34 Last week I mentioned that there are over 500 verses about work in the Bible. Today we’re talking about money and finances. Guess how many verses in Scripture mention that? Over 3000! Would it comfort you to know that I’m not going to be bringing them all into this sermon? I used google search to verify that there are 31,102 verses in the Bible. So, I find it interesting that the verses about money take up about 10% of the Bible, same as a tithe! A few weeks ago, I had the message about living sacrifices and said, did you notice I haven’t said much about money? That’s because I believe you will do the right thing with money when your heart is in the right place with God. You won’t have to be convinced to “be generous because you can’t out give God.” You will just want to be as generous as you can. You will not want to be limited to merely tithing ten percent, because you will want to be as generous as you can with everything you care for as the s...

Scripture Reading:   Colossians 3:22-24 Two women were shopping at a department store, and a well-dressed man walks down the aisle and notices piece of trash on the floor, so he picks it up to throw it away later. One woman says to the other, "That was kind of him to do." The other woman says, "Oh, he only does that because he's the manager." Just as they were speaking, the actual manager turns the corner and says, "Ladies, that man does not even work at this store, he's the manager of a restaurant down the street. He doesn't pick up trash because he's a manager; he's a manager because he picks up trash." (THAT should be a Christian's work ethic! -- Seeing what needs to be done, and doing it.)  Today we talk about work. It is Labor Day weekend after all! Work is one of the big rocks, one of the important priorities in our lives. For most of us, work is an unavoidable, no choice big rock. We gotta pay the bills! And since it’s a ...