Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7 God Promises a Son to Abraham & Sarah

Waiting is hard. Ask just about any child, and they will tell you the wait for Christmas morning to see what's under the tree is killing them. When we grow up, we look forward to seeing the reaction on their faces as they open presents. For the most part, though, adults aren't much better at waiting, are we?

When we're older, the stakes are higher, and the mental toll becomes extreme. Waiting for the mortgage to be paid off. Waiting to see what the insurance company is going to cover us or not. Waiting for a diagnosis. It's a paradox, we wait impatiently yet dread finding out for sure. You begin to think you shouldn't pursue a dream. You wonder if it is too late for you. When you believe God has forgotten about you, remember the story of Maxcy Filer.

Maxcy had a dream and a passion of becoming an attorney and helping the little guy obtain justice. Maxcy took the bar and failed. A lot. He eventually passed - you'll have to listen to hear the whole story. When asked, he said he couldn't give up, he believed this was God's plan for him. He also believed God never gave up on him, so how could Maxcy?

It is hard to imagine waiting and working so hard for twenty-five years to reach a goal.

Advent is all about this type of waiting. Abraham waited for God's promise of a son to come true. The children of Israel waited for the promised Messiah. We wait for Christ's return. Much of the life of a Christian is one of waiting, remaining faithful, and looking forward in hope for that which is yet to come.

But we all know that waiting in daily life can be discouraging. It may even lead us to despair at times. We begin to have doubts like Sarah.

Sermon For Thanksgiving Eve

Returning Thanks

Text: Luke 17:11-19 Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

Listen to the language of the proclamation published in the Chronicle of Freedom on November 5th, 1782, before the first observance of our national holiday of Thanksgiving (from Wikipedia):
"By the United States in Congress assembled, Proclamation: It being the indispensable duty of all nations, not only to offer up their supplications to Almighty God, the giver of all good, for His gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner, to give Him praise for His goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of His Providence in their behalf; therefore... the observation of Thursday... next as a day of SOLEMN THANKSGIVING to GOD for all His mercies; and they do further recommend to all ranks to testify their gratitude to God for His goodness by a cheerful obedience to His laws and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness."
How times have changed! If most of us pay any attention to Thanksgiving, it is as no more than a day off work, or the day before we go steadfastly into battle on Black Friday to sooth our covetousness and greed. Many look at it as a lot of work to prepare a meal for many guests that, after a day or days of preparation, is consumed in twenty minutes and forgotten as we slip into a football and turkey coma. For the majority of Americans, even Christians, Thanksgiving is no more than a pause or a quick table prayer with family and friends. Most of us certainly don't think of it as a "national day of prayer, humiliation, and thanksgiving."
All of us are guilty at some point or another of being caught up in the bad habits and sins of our culture. Most of us have a solid prayer life. But when was the last time we returned thanks to the Lord? We pray for a lot of things. God provides them richly and abundantly - even the ones we forget to pray for. But how often do we stop and return to the source to thank Him after receiving his abundant mercies?

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Paradise Restored

Text: Genesis 1:24-31 The Creation of Man

God spoke the universe into being. Until the time came to make man. Then He formed man with His own hands in His image and likeness and breathed the breath of life into him. He gave us an entire universe to rule and to care for. How long do you think it was until we screwed that up? God made us holy and capable of sacrificial love. That's what being made in His image means. We lost that image. To gain it back, God had to remake Himself in the image of His created creature. This is the story of Jesus Christ sent to regain Paradise for you.

Sermon for the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Are You Ready If He Comes Right Now?

Text: Malachi 4 The Great Day of the Lord

Do we have a joyful anticipation of that day? Are we ready? If Jesus returned right this minute, would you be prepared to go? It isn't easy, that's for sure. There are so many things that turn us around and pull back from God. Sunday sports. Hectic schedules that leave Sunday morning as the only day many people ever have to sleep in a little, if they don't get up to go to church. One thousand channels take our attention and turn our brains into tapioca instead of studying the Bible and receiving spiritual nourishment. There will be time for all that later. When things settle down, we'll find time for God. But that time never seems to come. Even when we do mend our ways, we return to our "bad habits," our sins.

When the Sun of Righteousness dawns, will we be ready? It's easy to give God the brush-off and make everything, but our spiritual care a priority. We certainly are not eagerly anticipating Judgment Day. What did God think about the faithfulness of Israel? What will Jesus think of us when He returns? The good news is that Jesus will see us on that last day the same as He sees us on any other day. Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. (John 14:2–4 ESV).”

The way to where Jesus said He was going was the cross. By His death and resurrection, He forgives all your sins. He is the one that makes all things ready for you when He returns. Every day now, we should be joyful for this gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation. When Jesus comes again, we don't have anything to prepare because Jesus has arranged all the details and kept every jot and tittle of the law on your behalf.

Sermon for the Twenty-third Sunday After Pentecost

Who Am I And Why AM I Here?

Text: Exodus 3:1-15 Moses and the Burning Bush

One of the rites of passage all human beings go through at some point in their lives is pondering a deep philosophical and existential question: Who am I? What am I doing here? And, for believers: What is God’s plan for me? What is God’s plan for this congregation? Why are we here? What makes an individual as good person, a good Christian?

Before we can answer that, we need to understand, as much as we can, who God is. We discover that it really isn’t about us at all, nor our abilities, but rather understand God’s nature, trust in Him, and in what He does in us and through us. What makes an individual or a congregation great is a foundation build upon God’s free gift of grace.

So the question we should be asking is: Who is God? It doesn’t matter who you are. The only thing that matters is who God is. When Moses or we default back to “who am I?” God turns it around, so we ask, “Who are you?” And He tells us. He tells us He is the Great I AM. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8).”

He is God of our Fathers. God of Moses, Lord of all. He it is that will go with Moses back into Egypt. He will use Moses as His holy instrument. He will protect and bless him. He promises the same for us. He sent His son to redeem us. He gave His Son as the sacrifice for the sins of the world and the champion over death. He reveals Himself to us through His son.

Now we can ask the correct question about ourselves. Who are we because of Christ? Christ in you has changed you. We used to be individuals concerned only with ourselves. Christ has gathered us into one body of mutual support built atop the love shared between the Father and the Son. Now we can serve selflessly.