Love Conquers Envy

Preacher’s Intro:

This sermon on how love conquers envy was part of a sermon series on how grace covers our shame.

The remarkable response to Brené ...

A Song of Contentment

Introduction

One of my favorite films of all time is Chariots of Fire. Chariots of Fire is based on the true story of two runners named Harold ...

Practicing Grateful Rest

Introduction

As we come to the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we often think about what we are thankful for. We think about how the year has gone ...

Reasons to Be Thankful

Introduction

As a little boy I recall thumbing through an old church hymnal. I came across a piece that has become one of my favorite Thanksgiving songs. ...

Greed and Envy: The Twin Terrors

Introduction

Let's begin with a story I read in The New York Times. It's a story told by a young Wall Street trader who found himself addicted to money—not ...

Becoming a 'Thanksgiver' at Thanksgiving

Introduction

"Don't forget to say 'thank you.'" If you are like me, then you probably heard this phrase often when you were a child. If you are a parent, ...

The Love Reaction

Introduction

(Read 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10)

A single mother struggles to pay for a college education for her only child. She hates her job but knows she ...

A Thankful Life

Introduction

We're going to be thinking about Thanksgiving Day today. You may be thinking to yourselves, Why? Because Thanksgiving Day is important. ...

A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Introduction

Psalm 100 reads:

A psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence ...

The Great Gratitude Experiment

Introduction

There's a theme in the Bible that appears in several different places. Paul says to the church in Thessalonica, "Rejoice always, pray continually, ...

Punctuating Our Lives with Thanksgiving

Introduction

We recently looked together through the lens of the story of Job at the great question marks that fill our lives: Why do bad things ...

The Good Life

Introduction

People may not sing it much anymore, but the following Herb Magidson song was popular in its day:

You're gonna take that ocean trip, no matter, ...

The Joy You've Always Wanted

The topic today is joy. And the chief question is: how do we get it? How do we have more joy more often? How can we be happy?

We are looking at Paul's ...

Lessons from Lepers

Introduction

We often look at thanksgiving backwards. We think of thanksgiving as thanking God for something that has happened to us already. The real ...

Giving Thanks for God's Enduring Love

Introduction

I want you to imagine a special, highly festive event. Psalm 118 was written for such an occasion. It began with a blare of trumpets, the ...

An Attitude of Gratitude

Introduction

Not long ago, as I was talking with one of my teenage sons, he recounted an experience he had on a commuter train outside of New York City. ...

When You Feel Under Appreciated--Mother's Day

Introduction

I’ve noticed that sometimes children enjoy looking at photo albums. Both of our girls, for some reason, really enjoy getting out all the family ...

Something's Missing

Try to imagine this conversation between a husband and wife.

She says: Honey...

He says nothing. He just keeps reading the paper.

She says: Honey... Hey ...

What Do I Have To Be Thankful For?

Do you know what I like about Thanksgiving? It's the least commercialized of all the national holidays. The stores cash in on Halloween, Christmas, ...

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

Introduction

The story is told of a man who visited a cemetery to leave flowers at the grave of his dearly departed mother. He couldn't help but notice ...

Only the Grateful Believe

Thankfulness is difficult for most of us. An elementary school teacher was trying to teach thankfulness to her students, so she asked them to write down ...

A Contrast of Thanksgiving

Introduction

It seems to me that appreciation is often related to contrasts. We are told the beauty of art is not just in color, but it's in contrast. ...

Thinking Right (Gratitude)

Monday afternoon I went to a Veteran's Day assembly at the high school (My daughter had won first place in a speech contest, and was asked to deliver ...

Living Expectantly

I'm sure that you hear it sometimes on the elevator. At other times if you're waiting in a doctor's office, you hear it. If you're shopping in the mall, ...

Down the Up Staircase

Retelling the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

The man owed a whole lot of money. Surely he wasn't surprised when he was summoned to the inner chambers ...

What to Do While Your Life Is Happening

People in California were going about their lives this week, and then the earthquake came. It just happened. Just as men went to work this week and were ...

Thanksgiving and Faith

In a yard near us, a sign recently appeared with these words on it: MOM ON STRIKE. Michelle had "moved" into her children's tree house and vowed she wasn't ...

The Contrast of Thanksgiving

Introduction

It seems to me that appreciation is often related to contrasts. We are told the beauty of art is not just in color, but it's in contrast. ...