Tuesday, April 9, 2024
The Spiritually Mature Life: Having the Fruit
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Asking for a Friend: If God is Good, Why does He Allow Evil to Exist?
Everyone has questions. Some questions we can find the answer with a quick search on Google. Other questions are more intimidating. Questions that surround our faith can be scary because we worry about what the answer might be and whether or not those answer will affect our faith. What ends up happening is that we ignore the question, but that question still lingers in the back of our mind.
In Asking for a Friend we want to look at a few of these questions and see if there is a way to provide an answer to them that will not only strengthen our faith, but also help us see the world through a more Christian perspective.
One of the fundamental beliefs in Christianity is that God is good. Most of the time, when we are experiencing the good things of life, this is easy to believe, but it becomes harder to accept when we consider the reality of evil. We imagine that if we were loving and good and all-powerful we wouldn’t let bad things happen. This leads us to the conclusion that God is not good, all-powerful, or even real. This question is a crucial one to answer.
Text: Job 38:1-7
Big Idea: God addresses the problem of evil through Jesus and His faithful people.
Challenge: Resist evil by doing good.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Asking for a Friend: How Much Influence Should the Bible Have on Morality?
Everyone has questions. Some questions we can find the answer with a quick search on Google. Other questions are more intimidating. Questions that surround our faith can be scary because we worry about what the answer might be and whether or not those answer will affect our faith. What ends up happening is that we ignore the question, but that question still lingers in the back of our mind.
In Asking for a Friend we want to look at a few of these questions and see if there is a way to provide an answer to them that will not only strengthen our faith, but also help us see the world through a more Christian perspective.
We are created in the image of God. One of the implications of that reality is that our standard for right and wrong comes from God and His character. To find out about God’s character we need to turn to the Bible, which is God’s revelation to His people. The Bible is essential in forming our morality to help us become the people God created us to be.
Text: Romans 2:13-16
Big Idea: The Bible shapes the beliefs and behaviors of God’s people as we influence the world.
Challenge: Read Ephesians 5:1-21 and (1) Confess sin (2) Think of a way to show love.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Asking for a Friend: Do I Need to Choose Between Faith and Science?
Everyone has questions. Some questions we can find the answer with a quick search on Google. Other questions are more intimidating. Questions that surround our faith can be scary because we worry about what the answer might be and whether or not those answer will affect our faith. What ends up happening is that we ignore the question, but that question still lingers in the back of our mind.
In Asking for a Friend we want to look at a few of these questions and see if there is a way to provide an answer to them that will not only strengthen our faith, but also help us see the world through a more Christian perspective.
Too often our culture makes us believe that science and faith are at odds with one another, and therefore we need to choose between them as we pursue what is true. The reality is that science and faith are not in conflict, rather, they should be viewed as tools we use to arrive at an accurate and true view of our world.
Text: Psalm 19
Big Idea: Science and religion are tools that we use to gain a better understanding of God and the world we live in.
Challenge: Read through Psalm 19 each day this week and ask God to reveal Himself to you through nature and the Bible.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Asking for a Friend: Can I Trust the Bible?
Everyone has questions. Some questions we can find the answer with a quick search on Google. Other questions are more intimidating. Questions that surround our faith can be scary because we worry about what the answer might be and whether or not those answer will affect our faith. What ends up happening is that we ignore the question, but that question still lingers in the back of our mind.
In Asking for a Friend we want to look at a few of these questions and see if there is a way to provide an answer to them that will not only strengthen our faith, but also help us see the world through a more Christian perspective.
In the first sermon we answer the question, “Can I Trust the Bible?”
This is the foundational question that must be answered before looking at any of the other questions. As Christians we want our beliefs to be rooted in Scripture, and if we can’t trust what the Bible has to say then it will be impossible to have a Christian answer to the questions that we have.
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Big Idea: We can trust the Bible to give us the truth we need to live as God’s people.
Challenge: Study Philippians with me at www.paulsponderings.com
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Lo$t: Where Am I?
Money is necessary for life. It is what we use to get the food, clothes, shelter, transportation, and everything else that we need for life. Because of its prevalence in our lives most of us have done something dumb with our money. It is easy to do. The reality is most Americans are lost financially. We have too much debt and too many obligations which lead to experiencing significant financial pressure each month. We need help when it comes to money. The Bible says too much about money for us to be lost financially. God cares about how we use our money, which means that money is a spiritual issue. The first step in getting unlost financially is to discover where we are. We need to understand that everything belongs to God and that we are His stewards managing His resources. When we remember this truth everything else begins to fall into place. Text: Matthew 6:19-21 and Luke 16:10-13 Big Idea: Christians are to be good stewards of their finances. Challenge: Figure out how much money comes into your bank account and where it goes each month.
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Progress Not Perfection
One of the things that I would like to share on the blog are my sermons, since they are the result of a significant amount of pondering each week.
This is the sermon that I preached on January 1, 2023.
A new year brings with it a hope of a new start. All of us have at least one area in our lives that we would like to see changed.The issue we face is that we have failed in the past and we don’t know why now would be any different. Our hope of a new start quickly turns into discouragement.
Thankfully, God isn’t after our perfection, but our progress. Our faithfulness to Jesus is seen in our continual transformation day by day and year by year.
Text: Philippians 3:12-14
Bottom Line: Our faith helps us make progress in our journey to become more like Jesus.
Challenge: Write down one goal for your spiritual formation and think of the step needed to accomplish it.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
The Discipleship Road: Providence
I am preaching a sermon series called The Discipleship Road at Bethlehem Church. The series is loosely based on Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Bottomline: Our Discipleship journey relies on God’s power and help.
Challenge: Daily surrender your discipleship to God.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
The Discipleship Road: Repentance
At Bethlehem Church I have started a new sermon series entitled The Discipleship Road. It is loosely based off Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. The point of the series is to emphasize the importance of being committed to the discipleship process. Being a disciple of Jesus is a journey that is going to take the rest of our lives.
This first sermon looks at repentance. Repentance starts with the realization that we are in a place that we don’t want to be in or that we are not the person that we want to be. That is motivation that gets us started on the journey.
Text: Psalm 120Friday, November 6, 2020
Sermon: A Few Good Men and Women
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Sermon: The Battle Begins
This is the sermon I preached on October 24, 2020 at Bethlehem Church. It is sermon 8 as we go through The Story.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Friday, June 19, 2020
Listen to Jesus: Evaluation
God created us to bear His image in this world. We don't naturally bear His image, we have to be taught how. Jesus came to teach us how to demonstrate God's character in this world.
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Listen to Jesus: Deep Clean
This is the second sermon in the series that focuses on our part in cleaning our hearts.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Listen to Jesus: Teach Us to Pray
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Trust Jesus for Hope
It is different. I would rather speak in front of an audience, but I have to do what I have to do.
This is the conclusion of the sermon series: Trust Jesus. I added this sermon after the Covid-19 pandemic hit because I thought hope is something that we need right now.
Take some time and watch Trust Jesus for Hope.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Trust Jesus for New Life
This is the sermon I preached for Easter Sunday: Trust Jesus for New Life.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Trust Jesus for Transformation
This is the second sermon in the Trust Jesus series.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Trust Jesus for Righteousness
From the Sandbox to the Beach: Embracing God’s Greater Purpose
“We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who w...
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Dear Jesus, I love you. I worship you. I trust you. I want to bear the image of God in this world and I come to you, Jesus, so my connecti...
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One of the fundamental aspects of being human is that we think. Some people may reflect more deeply than others, but all of us, at some po...