A Famine Not of Bread

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

"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...

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 ...

  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 ti...

"Joseph Dwelleth in Egypt" by James Tissot   Click here to listen to this sermon.  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them ( Genesis 50:15...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Let’s have a show of hands. How many of you enjoy confrontation? No hands. That’s what I was expecting to see. Most people, unless they’re a sociopath, do not like to confront others. People who enjoy confrontation should be disqualified from doing so. They will never do it in the right spirit of love. Nevertheless, somewhere along the line it may become necessary to talk to others about their shortcomings. Although we should be willing to overlook minor offenses, there are some problems that will only grow worse if they are not dealt with properly in a straightforward way as Jesus urges us to do in our text. The following story illustrates this truth in a more personal way. Larry irritated almost every person in ...