A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “As you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you also excel in this act of grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “This act of grace”… now that’s an interesting phrase. For many a person sitting in the church pew, few things stir up as much emotional friction as the word “stewardship” or talking about tithing and giving offerings. When church leaders begin asking for financial commitments to help set the next year’s budget, you can be sure there will be hearts that whisper, “What’s mine is mine,” and voices that declare, “All the church ever talks about is money. How come the church is never interested in me unless it needs money?” Perhaps there have been times when some of those accusations have had some validity. Often, they’re just a smokescreen for selfishness or an immature faith or a misunderstanding of b...

"Christ and the Storm" by Giorgio de Chirico Click here to listen to this sermon. "And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?’” (Mark 4:41). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Put yourself in the disciples’ sandals for a moment. It’s still early in Jesus’ ministry. They have not yet been away from the region of Galilee where Jesus called the first of them. But they’ve already seen a lot! They have been astonished by His teaching. Amazed by His casting out of the evil spirits. They’ve seen Jesus heal multitudes, including Simon’s own mother-in-law. They’ve watched Jesus heal a paralytic and forgive sins. They’ve heard Jesus skillfully answer the questions about fasting and keeping the Sabbath. They’ve been sent out by Jesus to preach and given authority over demons. They’ve had Jesus explain the meaning of His parables about the kingdom of God. That’s a lot to...

"Parable of the Sower" by Pieter Bruegel Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus] said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And He said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own disciples He explained everything (Ma...

"The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man" by Jan Brueghel Click here to listen to this sermon.  "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8-9).l Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “Where are you?” the Lord God asks. Not that He needs to ask. The Lord God sees everything, knows everything. No, He isn’t asking for His own sake, but for the sake of the man and the woman He had created in His image and then given stewardship over all of creation. It is they who don’t realize where they are, what a serious situation they have gotten into, how they have just brought in sin and death into their lives and all of creation with their one rebellious act. They have sinned. They have broken the one and only commandment ...