A Worship Service God Hates?

Introduction

(Read Amos 5:21-6:7)

Imagine that you move out of state. In that new place, you must find a new church, which can be challenging. Finally, ...

The Robbing ‘Hood

Introduction

(Read Amos 5:4-15)

A week ago, I was coming home from Midway Airport, and I asked my Lyft driver, “Do you also drive for Uber?” ...

The Cleansing God

Introduction

Phones are a huge blessing in the realm of communication. We can talk to someone who lives thousands of miles away and it is like they are ...

Worthy of Worship

Introduction

How many of us have had the thought that if we had this one particular thing, then our life would be better than it is now? I can remember ...

A God-Centered Vision of Politics

Introduction

(Read Matthew 22:15-22)

"Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" (Matt. 22:21). This is certainly one of the most famous ...

R-Rated: Sacrificing Our Children to the Gods of this World

Introduction

We see in Romans 13 that the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself." The reason it says ...

Keep yourself from idols

Introduction

I want to direct your attention to one particular verse of Scripture this morning—the final verse of the First Letter of John to the ...

The Invitation

Introduction

We're starting a new series today called The Heart of Christ. Let's begin by looking at Psalm 96. Psalms are actually songs, and Psalm 96 ...

Getting Out

Introduction

I want us to look at the account of the crossing of the Red Sea. You might call it the climax or epitome of Exodus. It's hard to overstate ...

The Right God, the Wrong Way

Introduction

Last week we began a series on the Ten Commandments. We saw that the Ten Commandments weren't given as a requirement for salvation, but rather ...

God Only

Introduction

This morning we're beginning a series on the Ten Commandments. These are familiar to just about everybody. Well, sort of. I heard about a ...

Right on the Money

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." That thought from Psalm 24:1 captures the core of our thinking on ...

Modern Golden Calves

Moses had delayed coming down the mountain. The Bible tells us in Exodus that it had been forty days and forty nights since Moses left the people to go ...

A Christian View of Work

The voice of God comes out of the burning bush, and says, "I've heard the cries of my people in slavery, and I'm going to liberate them. And guess who's ...

A Heartbeat from Disaster

Introduction

In this particular passage of Scripture, the nation of Israel, to the north, has fallen so far from God's desire and purpose that he has ...

The Wise Men Cry Glory

From the editor:

Here's a great sermon from one of our featured preachers—Mark Buchanan—that explores the story of the Magi and Herod through ...

Pragmatism

Introduction

We have built in us the desire to see things work, and we are an inventive people. That's in part a by-product of living in our American culture. ...

Happiness

Introduction

Peggy Noonan currently writes for the Wall Street Journal. She was at one time the speechwriter for Dan Rather for his radio program, as well ...

Affluenza

Introduction

The next time you get a chance to go to the public library, check out the book A Material World. A photographer went around the world and ...

Consumerism

Introduction

Paul Anka penned a song back in 1968 that was made famous by Frank Sinatra: "I'll Do It My Way." It became his signature song and rose as ...

Relativism

Introduction

Lately, I've been monitoring the gas pump—carefully. I know how many gallons will fit in my tank, so when I go to fill it up at $3 and ...

At Ease in Athens

Introduction

I was reading an article from Newsweek recently: "In Search of the Spiritual." Apparently, the religious website Beliefnet sends out more ...

Lent: Preparing Our Garden for Growth

From the editor

Despite its rich history in the church, many of us don't observe Lent. Maybe it's time to reconsider. As Skye points out in his ...

Focus

Introduction

There's good news and bad news about our gospel passage. First the bad news: this is one of the most difficult, disturbing, and surprising ...

What Child Is This Who Came Not to Bring Peace?

From the editor

One of the more popular texts in the Advent and Christmas season is Isaiah 9:1–7. Preachers love to explore the beauty of our having ...

Big God/Little God

Introduction

When our first child was quite small, we used to ask her, "Laura, how big are you?" She wasn't even a year old—couldn't even hardly ...

Solomon's Wish

Introduction

If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be? Some people wish they had different abilities. Others wish for a change in ...

The House of Worship

Introduction

Where is the best place to live? Every year, the UN asks this question about countries, and every year they release their recommendations ...

It's About the People

Introduction

Recently our church softball thoroughly trounced our opponents. The game ended with what's called the mercy rule: when one team is ahead ...

It's Not How You Start; It's How You Finish

Introduction

I once read an article that listed some of the greatest comebacks in sports history. The list included the 2004 American League Championship ...

A Man Like Us and a God Who Lives

Introduction

Elijah is one of the Bible's most dramatic characters, because he experienced the light of God's presence even when everything around him ...

The Shadow of Jesus

Introduction

Well over a hundred years ago, Robert Robinson wrote a hymn that resonates with many of us. One line reads like this: "Prone to wander, ...

When to Flee: No One Is Impervious to Sin

Text: Colossians 3:5-10
Topic: What to do when you encounter temptation.

In Focus on the Family we have a crisis number for pastors and Christian leaders. ...

Happiness Is Not the Goal

Introduction:

We're in the second of a series of messages on the Ten Commandments. We started last Sunday with a look at what is, in the Hebrew mindset, ...

Kids Rule

If you were to read the Bible from cover to cover and list all the times children are talked about, you would have a long list. The Bible is clear that ...

Fourth Man in the Furnace

Illustration: Last August, you might remember 118 crewmen dying when a series of explosions caused the Russian submarine Kursk to sink. Twenty-three of ...