Preaching

We Proclaim Him

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Our son Dylan graduated from high school last June, and one of his final projects was to dissect an animal for biology class. This is something that none of us were exactly looking forward to. But finally the time came, and we couldn’t put it off any longer. Since we’re a homeschool family, we ordered the dissection kit, and the postal carrier delivered a box with a vacuum sealed cricket, worm, and frog inside. That box sat in our house for several months, just waiting for us, mocking us, reminding us every day that dissection day was coming. Finally, on Dylan’s last week of high school, we could put it off no longer.

Natalie graciously went through the process with Dylan, figured out all the instructions, and helped Dylan dissect the worm and the frog. When I came home for lunch that afternoon, Natalie was happy to report that by God’s grace, the dissection went really well overall, and that Dylan could show me what he learned.

So, Dylan took his little scalpel and pick, and showed me different parts of the frog. There was the liver. And down there the digestive system. Dylan pointed out how the eyeballs kind of go inside the body and help the frog to swallow its food. Dylan also showed me the heart, and even the different valves. It was not only a relief to have this project finished, but it was another amazing reminder of God’s intricate design in creation.

When you look at something and begin peel back its layers, you get to see it in a different light. It helps to go beneath the surface. In Colossians 1:24-29, Paul essentially “peels back the layers” of his heart to help us see what makes him tick. As it turns out, what drives and motivates him above all else as an apostle is to see people conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus.

Paul says in Colossians 1:28, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” That statement has become a kind of theme verse for my ministry over the years. I preached this passage several months ago at Calvary Church, and together we learned:

  • Why we can rejoice in times of suffering
  • What’s the difference between teaching and preaching?
  • Simple ways we can serve the Lord
  • The role of admonishing in our spiritual growth 

You can listen to the message or watch using the links below:

Sermon audio:

Youtube link:

Thanks for listening! For a complete list of sermons and Bible studies, please visit the Sermon Page on my blog.

Other links:
Calvary Church Youtube channel
Calvary Church sermon podcast
Calvary Church website
Feed My Sheep podcast

Christian Living

Peace is Possible

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Conflict is a fact of life. The question is not if you’ll be mistreated, but when you’ll be mistreated, how often, and to what extent. How are you handling trauma right now in your own life?

From Genesis 3 to Revelation 20, the Bible reminds us this present world is a broken place, full of hurt and hostility, injury and injustice. In the Old Testament, Cain murders Abel. Jacob swindles brother Esau. Rachel envies Leah. Israel rebels against Moses. David covets and commits adultery. Job suffers and is mocked by friends.

This pattern continues into the New Testament. Peter betrays Jesus. The Corinthians file lawsuits. Euodia and Synteche can’t get along . John Mark quits halfway through a missions trip. Alexander the Coppersmith does Paul great harm. Diotrephes loves to put himself first. Demas abandons his team of friends.

As you read the Bible and then look around, you discover the world is full of broken, dysfunctional people living in broken, dysfunctional relationships. Not everything is doom and gloom, but let’s be honest, a lot of people are hurting and a lot of relationships are strained in this world.

Just as conflict is inevitable, peace is possible too. How can you become a more peaceful person? If you want to love others and establish more peaceful relationships, you’ll need to start by loving God and letting his love pour into your heart. Then, out of your love and affection for him, you will grow in your love for your neighbor and even, amazingly, for your enemies.

This change doesn’t typically happen overnight. We are a work in progress, like a road construction zone. It gets messy at times. But the end result is worth it, and the work will finally be finished when Jesus returns.

In Colossians 1:23, Paul urges the church to not to give up, but to keep pressing on, to keep pushing through this process of being made holy and purified and living in light of the reconciliation that is ours through Jeus Christ. He says you will be “holy and blameless and above reproach, if indeed you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard and which Paul says he himself preached.”

I preached this passage several months ago at Calvary Church. You can listen or watch using the link below. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Audio link:

Youtube link:

For a complete list of my sermons and Bible studies, please visit the Sermon Page on my blog.

Other links:
Calvary Church Youtube channel
Calvary Church sermon podcast
Calvary Church website
Feed My Sheep podcast

Suffering

Death’s Hard to Take

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Last Friday, I officiated a memorial service for one of our members, Joe Brown, as well as an interment service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. During the memorial service, Joe’s sister-in-law Rhonda shared a beautiful poem that she has written. After the service, I asked if I could get a copy, and she gave me not only the poem, but a copy of an entire poetry book she has written! She said she belongs to a local poetry club and often gets to share Christian themes in an otherwise secular setting. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did…

Whether it comes in sudden pounce
Or makes a long and visible approach,
Death’s hard to take.
It stuns us, breaks our hearts,
Leaves us bereft of body’s sweet tangibility,
Drives laughter and smiles out of reach.

But we are marked for saving,
Who look to the Lamb,
Who paint his blood on the doorposts
of our hearts.
Death seizes our feeble flesh,
But our souls are safe.

Here in the mercy of God we hide,
Sheltered and kept secure,
Passed over when judgement comes.

Messiah, Messiah,
I cling to your cross
While the angel of death roars by!

Church

The Church’s One Foundation

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As a kid, I rode my bike a lot. I loved the independence it gave me and how it could get me to the beach, to the store, or a friend’s house. When our kids were old enough, we got them bikes too. First I took them out to the driveway and showed them how to balance, steer, and brake. As they got comfortable, we moved out to the street and the nearby cul de sac.

My kids also needed to learn to wear a helmet. Why is a helmet so important? Because it protects the head, which is very important – particularly the brain. The brain is essential to survival, sending billions of signals to your body every minute of the day. What a marvel of creation!

Dr. Joseph Pituri writes, “The brain is the centre of a complex computer system more wonderful than the greatest one ever built by man. The body’s computer system computes and sends throughout the body billions of bits of information, information that controls every action, right down to the flicker of an eyelid. In most computer systems, the information is carried by wires and electronic parts. In the body, nerves are the wires that carry the information back and forth from the central nervous system. And in just one human brain there is probably more wiring, more electrical circuitry, than in all the computer systems of the world put together.”

In a similar way, Jesus is head of the body. He’s the control center and central nervous system that guides us. As it says in Colossians 1:17–18, He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

We may be tempted to elevate certain people to that head position. Maybe a mega church pastor, a favorite Bible teacher, or a gifted conference speaker. Certainly it’s appropriate to learn from spiritual leaders who have been filled with the Holy Spirit and used by God. I too want to be the kind of leader who can say with the Apostle Paul, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1). But I don’t want anyone idolizing me or any other human being.

Only one person gets to be head, and that’s Jesus, who had revealed himself in the Bible. When the Word of God speaks, Christ speaks. When we read the Word of God, we’re submitting ourselves to his headship over our lives and over our church. We’re not free to do church our own way, however we want to. Our responsibility is to say, “Jesus, you are the head. How do you want us to live? What do you want your church to look like?”

Several months ago, I preached at Calvary Church on Colossians 1:15-20. We looked together at this subject. You can listen to the message here:

Or you can watch online using this link:

For a complete list of my sermons and Bible studies, please visit the Sermon Page on my blog.

Other links:
Calvary Church Youtube channel
Calvary Church sermon podcast
Calvary Church website
Feed My Sheep podcast

Thoughts on Life and Leadership