John 14:15-21
Ephesians 2:8-18

From Reader’s Digest, Life in These United States, Ann Spivack writes, “While our friends from India traveled to California on business, they left their 11-year-old daughter with us. Curious about my going to church one Sunday morning, she decided to come along. When we returned home, my husband asked her what she thought of the service. “I don’t understand […]

Acts 2:1-24, 36-41
John 14:1-11
Have you ever read the Book of Acts and wondered why we don’t see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the church today like it was in those early days of the church?

Have you ever read the Book of Acts and wondered why we don’t see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the […]

Genesis 1:1-5, 26-31
Acts 1:1-5, 2:1-21

Today we begin a new series focusing on the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit, how do we receive the Spirit and what is the role of the Spirit in our lives? Along the way, we’ll be discussing what it means to be baptized in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, sealed with the […]

Luke 24:36-53
Acts 1:1-11

You don’t have to look too far to see that there’s a lot of hopelessness and therefore, sadness in this old world today! Rather than me reciting hundreds of articles and newsfeeds, allow me to show you a few quotes I found:

‘Sometimes all you can do is lie in bed and hope to fall asleep before you fall apart.’
‘To live […]

Mark 16:1-7
John 21:1-17

In the various accounts of the resurrection of Jesus that appear in the four gospels, I believe the most personal, the most touching, the most poignant words can be found in the first gospel we read, the gospel of Mark. The phrase is so short that we easily gloss over it without realizing the tremendous significance that it had on that […]

Matthew 5:13-16
Acts 1:1-8

This past week, Gail and I spent 5 days in Sarasota, Florida with her son, Brett, who moved there after Christmas. Sarasota is a wonderful place to visit as there are so many things to do, not the least of which is to hang out on Siesta Keys Beach; voted the # 1 beach in America.

John 11:1-53, I Corinthians 15:12-22

A pastor’s son and his friends were playing in the backyard when they found a dead robin. They decided that the bird should be given a proper burial, so they put him in a Kleenex box, dug a hole and solemnly placed their feathered friend in the ground. Naturally, the minister’s son was chosen to say something appropriate. Remembering what […]

John 13:31-14:1-6
Colossians 1:15-22
We must not consider today’s ‘I am’ saying – ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ found in John 14:6 apart from its context set for us in the previous chapter. For the beginning of chapter 13 marks a solemn divide in John’s plot. Whereas the first twelve chapters picture the public ministry of Jesus; chapters 13 through […]

John 15:1-17

John 15 is a very deep passage of scripture. An entire sermon series could be preached on this passage, answering questions that I am not going to touch on today, including:

• If we are bearing fruit, why do we have to be pruned? Sounds painful to me.
• What does it mean to be pruned?
• How does the pruning process help us bear more fruit?
• Who […]
  

John 10:11-30

A shepherd was looking after his sheep one day on the side of a deserted road, when suddenly a brand new Porsche screeches to a halt. The driver, a man dressed in an Armani suit, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Rolex wrist-watch, and a Pierre Cardin tie, gets out and asks the shepherd: “If I can tell you how many sheep you have, will you give […]

John 8:12, 31-59; 9:1-7

In Mark Twain’s story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom and Becky Thatcher join some classmates for a game of hide and seek in a cave. But when Tom and Becky wander off the marked path, they get lost. They stumble around in that dark dungeon for several days and slowly lose hope as their flickering candle finally goes out, leaving […]