The Threefold Cord
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts… A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12) A few years ago, I was challenged to “sum up” New Life Church. Like most organizations, we have a vision statement, a mission statement, and a purpose statement. But […]
The Company We Keep
“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT). For the last two weeks, we’ve been discussing the church. I’ve locked onto Peter’s description of the church: God is in the process of building this spiritual temple, and we are the building blocks. The church isn’t just […]
Another Pandemic
“My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the House of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the […]
Better Together
“And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25) William Blake famously said, “A bird, a nest; the spider, a web; […]
Living Stones
“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT) We live in a world of 7.9 billion people; yet we’ve never been lonelier. We’ve never felt so […]
Do You Want to Get Well?
“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (John 5:5–6) Over the past few weeks, we’ve diligently studied the Scriptures together in order to […]
Where is He?
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2) That’s the question the magi asked King Herod following their 900 mile trip from Persia to Bethlehem. Here’s the thing. Every one of us knows that things aren’t […]
Am I in the Place of God?
“When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ Jacob became angry with her and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?’” (Genesis 30:1-2) Essentially, Jacob came to […]
Where is the Lamb?
“Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, ‘My father.’ And he replied, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Isaac said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’” (Genesis 22:7) That haunting question was asked atop Mount Moriah 4,000 years ago. Little did ten-year-old Isaac know […]
Where Are You?
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8–9) In my sermon […]
Searching
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say…?’” (Genesis 3:1) We live in a strange age, don’t we? You have in your pocket a smart phone that is one million times more powerful that the Apollo 11 […]
The Forgotten Man of Christmas
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1:24) We’ve spent the last three weeks talking about God conceiving and delivering the miraculous in us, and Mary has been our example. But what about Joseph’s miracle? God worked in a […]