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Showing posts from October, 2023

Parables and Possessions: Begin with the End in Mind

Click here to listen to this sermon. This sermon is adapted from as stewardship sermon series written by Reed Lessing, "Parables and Possessions."

First Comes the Rehearsal

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"The Wedding Feast" by Eugene Burnand Click here to listen to this sermon. Our text for today is our Gospel, Matthew 22:1-14. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In Come In, We Are Closed , Tyrel Bramwell tells the following story. The waitress led me to my seat. As I sat down, I noticed the man at the next booth looking at me. We acknowledged each other with a couple of quick nods. After some small talk, he invited me to join him for some coffee. He said his friends call him Shep, a nickname that goes back to his days as a pastor. “I’m glad that I bumped into you, Shep,” I said. “Since you were a pastor, do you mind if I ask you a church question?” “Not at all.” “All right, so, what do you know about churches that don’t let some people take Communion?” “Did you have a bad experience with closed Communion?” he asked. “It that what it’s called?” “It is.” “I wouldn’t call it bad . It’s just not very inviting, you know? I ass

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ

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Click here to listen to this sermon. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The Judaizers were a faction of Jewish Christians who regarded the Levitical laws of the Old Testament as still binding on all Christians. They were strenuously opposed and criticized for their behavior by the Apostle Paul, who used many of his epistles, including our text for today, to

Let Each One of You Look to the Interests of Others

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  Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Easier said than done, right? Consider these scenarios. Grandpa takes his two grandchildren, ages three and four, to the park. They just love the playground equipment! It starts out well. There are so many different swings and slides to try that they stay out of each other’s way. Having evaluated all the equipment, Kendra decides that the airplane is her favorite and she heads back to it, intent on spending the rest of the afternoon in the pilot’s seat. That’s when the trouble begins. Jake decides that the airplane is so superior to all the other swings and slides that he’s willing to scream and holler to get his turn immediately. Having witnessed this scene countless times with different casts of characters, Grandpa decides it’s time to go home. It’s lunch time a