A Strange Résumé

Introduction

It's the most dreaded question of the job interview, and when the time comes, you can't seem to push the words out of your mouth. "Tell me," ...

Facing Off Without Falling Apart

Introduction

In Acts 4 we witness an epic battle between a David-like underdog and a behemoth giant. In one corner you have two unschooled, unimpressive ...

Warriors on Their Couches

Introduction

The account of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 begins this way:

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David ...

Where's the "Gift Return" Receipt?

Introduction

Let's suppose there's a small town on the edge of Iraq, near the Saudi border. Let's call the town Mosel. It's a small community with no other ...

The Blazing Fastball That Gives Us Confidence

Introduction

On July 15, 1986, Roger Clemens came to bat in his first Major League Baseball All-Star game. Roger was the sizzling right-handed pitcher ...

Costly, Messy, Beautiful Obedience

Introduction

The key word in the title of this message is "obedience." When I did a Google search on obedience, the most popular sites fell into two categories: ...

The Glory and the Muck

Introduction

A few months ago, I officiated my father-in-law's funeral. We arrived in Fresno and prepared for the first official gathering—the viewing. ...

The First Extreme: Conformity

Introduction

We have already met Jonah, a scowling, spiteful little man in a chronic state of bellyache. The meaning of his name—"dove"—just ...

What God Wants from You More Than Anything Else

Introduction

What does God want from you? What does he expect? Do you know?

That's a question that every person has to answer. Because if there is a God—and ...

Get off the Fence

Introduction

Of all the people admired in the world today, Jesus of Nazareth continually ranks at the top of the list. Even those who don't call themselves ...

My Favorite Heroes: Nehemiah

Introduction

The hero that we are going to look at today is a man named Nehemiah. I want to say just a couple of things as we get ready to walk into his ...

Getting Into the Habit of Success

A few years ago Stephen Covey wrote the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It became a bestseller because it presented a practical, easy-to-follow ...

Wisdom for Faithful Living Today

Introduction:

The new movie, The Titanic, is well on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie of all time. There seems to be an enduring fascination ...

The Most Unlikely One

Introduction:

An organization advertised for climbers interested in setting new records for climbing the highest point in each of the fifty United States ...

When You Feel Like Dancing

Introduction:

One day an expert in time management spoke to a group of business students. He said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, ...

Courageous Obedience

The second half of the first chapter of Matthew is the story of Mary and Joseph. This is an important story in the life of Jesus, even though he hasn't ...

What It Means to Take Jesus Seriously

This is the second week of the series in Matthew called "The Master's Guide to Greatness." From a human standpoint, you can say that Jesus achieved ...

Become the Person God Made You to Be

As we continue our series in the "Greatest Stories Ever Told," we come to another of Jesus' parables that is quite easy to interpret, because Jesus ...

Digging Deeper in the Spiritual Life

There is a recurring theme throughout the Gospel of Matthew—there is a difference between being religious and spiritual. We spent 12 weeks in the ...

How God Supplies Your Needs (Pt 2)

Today we're taking a look at one of the most popular events in the life of Jesus: the feeding of the 5,000. (Actually, it was 5,000 men, not including ...

Confronting Discipleship

In nearly every case, joining a church is a simple process. You walk the aisle, fill out a card, maybe answer a couple of questions, and you're in. ...

Welcome Jesus Into Your Life

Matthew 21 begins the final act in the drama of Jesus' life. It is Passover time—which corresponds with Easter—and this was a particularly ...

Getting Out of Matthew 27

Last time, as we looked at the first half of Matthew 27, I told you about a painting that was the subject of William Barrett's novel, The Shape Of Illusion. ...

How to Love God More

A friend of mine was preparing to go to college and placed his application—after persistent urging from his parents—with a strict, fundamentalist ...

Salt and Light

Alienation was originally a Marxist word and Karl Marx meant by it the alienation of the worker from the product of his labors. When what he produces ...

The Meaning of Discipleship

In those days all kinds of people had disciples, and two of the Greek words that were in common use at that time were didaskalos, which means teacher, ...

The Reality of a Trusting Heart

Charles Bridges, that great Puritan, said of this text that it's the polar star of every Christian life. You and I can't live the Christian life without ...