Taming Troubles
Habakkuk 3:17-19
James 1:2-4
Let’s play a little Trivial Pursuit:
1. Who is known as the Bard of Avon?
William Shakespeare.
2. Which Shakespearean play is most associated with All Hallow’s Eve?
[…]
Objections to Grace
Matthew 20:1-16
Luke 15:25-32
Speaking of sibling rivalries, a twin brother says, “I finally realized my father favored my brother over me. It hit me when they asked me to blow up balloons for his surprise birthday party!”
If this parable were a play and we were sitting in the audience watching it for a second time, knowing the older brother is really upset because his father not only welcomed his younger brother home but threw him a party as well, how would we respond when the older brother appears in this […]
The Father’s Extravagant Love
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 15:11-24
Because it is often easy to get lost in the forest for the trees, I’d like for us to take a step back and take a gander at the big picture.
In Luke 15, Jesus weaves together these three splendid stories so that His listeners will be enabled to comprehend something about who His Father is and what He is like. In contrast to the thinking of the day held by […]
Decisions, Decisions
Luke 15:11-20a
One day, after a man had his annual physical, the doctor came out and said, “You had a great checkup; is there anything that you’d like to discuss?”
“Well,” he said, “I’m trying to decide whether or not to have a vasectomy.”
“That’s a pretty big decision; have you talked it over with your family?”
“Yeah . . . and they’re in favor 15 to 2.”
How many of you would be willing to admit that you do not like to make decisions? That having to […]
Outhouse Rescue!
Psalm 40:1-5
Luke 15:11-24
Romans 3:20-25a
October 1993, Gatlinburg, Tennessee; three construction workers and their boss are in a bar after work discussing bad odors. You know the ones: rotten eggs, skunk scent, what’s your favorite? And the boss says, “The worse odor has got to be an outhouse.”
He was so convinced he was right that offered $1,000 to anyone who would spend an […]
You Matter to God
Luke 7:36-50
Luke 15:1-3, 8
Do you remember the Beatles?
Most of us thought John Lennon had it all; fame, money, girls! We thought he lived a charmed life; a kid from the hicks, Liverpool, nothing good ever came out of Liverpool, makes it big. He lives a glamorous life; instantly recognized all over the world.
And yet despite his fortune and fame, he […]
Heartsick Father
Luke 15:1-32
The following “Dear God” letters indicate kids have the funniest ideas of who God is and what He is like:
Dear God,
Thanks for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Joyce
Dear God,
My mommy told me what You do. Who does it while you’re on vacation? […]
Now Concerning the Collection
Matthew 6:19-24
I Corinthians 15:50-16:4
“Now concerning the collection?”
“Now concerning the collection?” What kind of mumbo jumbo is this; moving from discussing the most astounding news the world has ever heard, the historical resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection of His children to this mundane matter of collecting money?
“Now concerning the collection.” There must be some mistake here. Surely the Apostle […]
Encouragement to Serve
Matthew 25:14-30
I Corinthians 15:51-58
Talk about someone needing a little encouragement! A pastor whose sermons were very long and boring, announced one Sunday that he had been called to another church and that it was Jesus’ will that he leave that week. Whereupon the song leader got everybody up to sing, “What a Friend we have in Jesus.”
Last week, we began a brief […]
Balcony People
I Thessalonians 5:1-11
Speaking of encouragement who is more in need of it in this story; the wife or the husband or the marriage counselor they made an appointment with because they felt their marriage needed a shot in the arm? The wife was hurt and upset and as she began to recount her loveless life, tears filled her eyes and her lips started […]
Let Go and Let God
Romans 12:1-2
An intoxicated guy staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional booth, slowly sits down, but doesn’t say, “Father forgive me for I have sinned” or anything. The Priest, on the other side, conspicuously coughs a few times to get his attention, but the inebriated sot continues to sit in silence. The Priest says, “I’m listening, my son,” but still no response. […]
Blessing From Brokenness
Psalm 51:1-17
Matthew 5:4
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Bible scholars agree that although the word translated ‘mourn’ could be a word used for the ‘mourning of the dead,’ that to understand this beatitude as such limits what Jesus had in mind.
For example, John Stott writes:
