To Know Christ And To Make Him Known Acts 1:15-26 Maybe I can get away with this joke. I mean, after all, I’ve been here for several years now and you haven’t run me off yet. So maybe I’ll take a chance... It’s the story of a little boy who was pulling a wagon along...
Assessing my priorities
Songs of Faith – Sermons of Grace #1: The Leadership Style Of Jesus
The Leadership Style Of Jesus Jesus Is Coming Soon-Look Busy! You Can Fail And Still Not Be A Failure The Cross: Stumbling Block Or Stepping Stone? Carpe Diem-Not A Fancy Name For A Fish Dish! Stop Stewing And Start Cooking Getting Back On Top When Life Gets You Down...
Mary: A Faith Too Important Not To Share
Mary: A Faith Too Important Not To Share Luke 1:26-35Once in a while, there are lines in television commercials which I can’t seem to get out of my mind…Once in a while, there are lines in television commercials which I can’t seem to get out of my mind… For example,...
Innkeeper: When God Knocks, How Will You Answer?
Innkeeper: When God Knocks, How Will You Answer? Luke 3:1-7 The inn at Bethlehem has become the most famous of all inns—not because of what happened there, but because of something that might have happened, but didn’t. How does the Bible say it? You know the words by...
Do Something That Will Be Here After You’re Gone
Do Something That Will Be Here After You're Gone II Timothy 4:1-8 I want to ask you a very personal question: When your days on this earth are done, how will you be remembered? Of course, most of the time people are kind, gracious, and thoughtful in their remembering...
Cross Words #6: A Dying Word And A Living Faith
You Can't Step In The Same River Twice Thirsty Lips and A Thirsty Heart The Very First Christian God's Light In Dark Times A Staircase To Heaven A Dying Word And A Living Faith Cross Words: A Dying Word And A Living Faith Luke 23:44-49During these weeks leading up to...
Ten For Our Time #1: When God Is God
When God Is God When Tolerance Creates Trouble When Profanity Takes Precedence When The Sabbath Is Kept Wholly When Family Comes First When Pro-Life Becomes Principle When Marriage Is A Many-Splintered Thing When Robbery Seems Respectable When Honesty Takes A Holiday...
Ten For Our Time #4: When The Sabbath Is Kept Wholly
When God Is God When Tolerance Creates Trouble When Profanity Takes Precedence When The Sabbath Is Kept Wholly When Family Comes First When Pro-Life Becomes Principle When Marriage Is A Many-Splintered Thing When Robbery Seems Respectable When Honesty Takes A Holiday...
Confessing Church #3: A Holy Life
Jesus Christ The Bible A Holy Life Confessing Church: A Holy Life A Holy LifeLook with me at what happened on the Monday before the crucifixion of Jesus... Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem, and what He saw there caused Him to explode in anger. He was angered by...
Confessing Church #1: Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ The Bible A Holy Life Confessing Church: Jesus Christ John 14:1-7When I first heard it, I was rather shocked… A Presbyterian minister speaking at a Presbyterian peacemaking conference, uttered words which have set off a firestorm in the Presbyterian...
The MTC Club
The MTC Club Psalm 118:19-24Tonight I want to tell you the story of Orville Kelly. Orville Kelly was a newspaper man up in the state of Iowa. When he was 43 years of age, he was diagnosed with an unusual and incurable form of lymphatic cancer. Like many cancer...
Any Connection Between Sunday Worship And Monday Work?
Any Connection Between Sunday Worship And Monday Work? Matthew 25:14-30As Adam and Eve were being driven out of the Garden of Eden, God said to them: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you have returned to the ground.” Right there began the view that...
Vision For The New Millennium #4: Celebrating The Church
Our Vision For The New Millennium Civilizing The City Confronting The Culture Celebrating The Church Capturing The Children Concentrating On The Content Vision For The New Millenium: Celebrating The Church Hebrews 10:19-25They say that timing is everything. Sam...
Christ Was Born For This
Christ Was Born For This Luke 2:1-20In the Golden Days of the settling of the American West, an old prospector was exploring new territory looking for gold. As he pulled his mule along behind him, he trudged over a rise and suddenly came to an abrupt halt at the very...
The Greed-House Effect
The Greed-House Effect Zechariah 7:1-10 No sense beating around the bush. Today I am going to preach about money. I don’t do that too often, but I am going to do it today. You see, we do have to have money to keep the marvelous ministry of this great church going and...
A Journey With God #2: A Tale Of Two Sisters
That’s What Friends Are For A Tale Of Two Sisters Love Means Saying "I'm Sorry" Cross Prayers The Gift You Won't Want To Return A Journey With God: A Tale Of Two Sisters Luke 10:38-42Have you ever noticed how often the New Testament sets two personalities in contrast...
Songs of Faith – Sermons of Grace #8: What’s Worth Living For And Dying For?
The Leadership Style Of Jesus Jesus Is Coming Soon-Look Busy! You Can Fail And Still Not Be A Failure The Cross: Stumbling Block Or Stepping Stone? Carpe Diem-Not A Fancy Name For A Fish Dish! Stop Stewing And Start Cooking Getting Back On Top When Life Gets You Down...
Tales With a Twist #8: God Threw A Party But Nobody Came!
Eyes Too Busy To See A Forgiving God In An Unforgiving World It's The Little Things That Count The Cost Of Not Loving Is Too Great To Pay Who Said Life Is Fair? Jesus And The Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day God Threw A Party But Nobody Came! E Unum Pluribus...
A New Year’s Revolution
A New Year's Revolution John 14:18-23I was reading through one of those retrospective pieces in the newspaper the other day. It was a review of the significant events of the year 1995. Listed among those events was the death of the great baseball player Mickey Mantle....
Dreaming Of A Right Christmas
Dreaming Of A Right Christmas Luke 1:26-38A friend of mine who is a psychologist told me recently that he has found the perfect formula for getting through Christmas. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, he said: "You just put your mind in neutral and go where you are...
So Near, Yet So Far
So Near, Yet So Far Mark 10:17-22True story. A few years ago, a young Roman Catholic priest finished his seminary training and was appointed to serve a church in Loveland, Colorado. With a building sense of excitement on his first Sunday there, he looked out of the...
Keeping The Sabbath Wholly
Keeping The Sabbath Wholly Exodus 20.8-11; Mark 2:23-28Mark Twain—he's always good for a laugh! A businessman notorious for his ruthlessness, announced to Mark Twain: "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten...
Don’t Be So Heavenly-Minded That You’re No Earthly Good!
Don't Be So Heavenly-Minded That You’Re No Earthly Good!February 4, 1996 | First Presbyterian Church Orlando | I Corinthians 12:27-31If you have ever turned an eye toward the "Peanuts" comic strip, you know that Lucy is madly in love with Schroeder, the musician, but...
The Power Of… #3: The Power Of Your Influence And The Influence Of Your Power
The Power of Spiritual Adrenaline The Power of the Master's Name The Power Of Your Influence And The Influence Of Your Power The Power Of Your Influence And The Influence Of Your Power Matthew 5:14-16He was, by any standard of measurement, one of the most dominant and...
Bigger Barns Can Mean Smaller Souls
Bigger Barns Can Mean Smaller Souls Luke 12:15-21Not long ago, the Associated Press carried a story about a woman who tried to hold up a bank. The weapon? She said it was a remote control device set to trigger a bomb in her car which was parked in front of the bank....
The Transforming Touch #2: O.J. Simpson, Jesus Christ, And Us
Taking People Where They Are And Loving Them Into Life O.J. Simpson, Jesus Christ, And Us Nobody's Born A Bigot! Chained By A String What Jesus Wrote In The Sand, He Also Wrote In Blood The Heart Inflamed The Transforming Touch: O.J. Simpson, Jesus Christ, And Us John...
We’re Here For Life #3: A Call To Compassion
A Call To Continuity A Call To Confidence A Call To Compassion A Call To Commitment We're Here For Life: A Call To Compassion John 12:1-8Paul Sherer wrote: "Love is a spendthrift; it leaves its arithmetic at home. It is always in the red. And God is love." The truth...
We’re Here For Life #1: A Call To Continuity
A Call To Continuity A Call To Confidence A Call To Compassion A Call To Commitment We're Here For Life: A Call To Continuity I Chronicles 29:10-19, 26-28Build me a church, said GodBuild me a church, said GodOut of your fairest dreams,Heaven must be its dome,Lighted...
You Make a Difference #2: Promises To Keep
Total Commitment Promises To Keep Priming The Pump You Make a Difference: Promises To KeepNovember 1, 1992 | First Presbyterian Church Orlando | I Corinthians 15:51-16:3True story. Some years ago, Edward Spencer was a theological student at a seminary in Chicago. One...
A Tip Or A Tithe?
A Tip Or A Tithe?October 26, 1986 | First Presbyterian Church Orlando | I Corinthians 15:51-16:4There are always those people who suggest in one way or another that the mention of money in church is somehow indecent and inappropriate. Such persons are obviously...