Sermons by Michael Andrus (Page 47)
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
In Search of Excellence in Worship People come to church for many different reasons. Some of us are probably here this morning out of sheer habit. Church is where we’ve always been on Sunday morning, and habits are easier to continue than to break. Some may be here to avoid guilt, i.e., the guilty conscience we know we’d have if we went to the golf course instead. Some us are here out of obligation. Our parents have told us to come or God’s Word has instructed us not to forsake the assembling of…
Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12
Satisfaction Sold Separately I’m not guilty of divulging any state secrets when I suggest that many Americans live as though their life verse were Ecclesiastes 10:19, where we read these rather startling words, “Money is the answer for everything.” That attitude is not only common in our culture; it is even common among Christians. Now it’s not my purpose this morning to wrestle with the interpretation of Eccl. 10:19, because Solomon’s actual view of riches, as revealed here in chapters 5 & 6, is far different. And that is…
Ecclesiastes 7:1-20
The Test of Adversity Is Easier than the Test of Prosperity A well-known Hollywood actress once said, “I know what it’s like to be poor. And I know what it’s like to be rich. And let me tell you, rich is better.”[i] But Solomon would disagree. I don’t know whether he was ever poor, but he certainly was rich, and his personal testimony in chapter 5 and 6 of Ecclesiastes is that wealth is not all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, prosperity in general does not live up to its billing.…
Ecclesiastes 7-11
Sharp Goads and Hard Nails Note: This sermon is a summary of Ecclesiastes 7-11. Please turn in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 12. I want us to begin reading at verse 9: Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like…
Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14
Live It Up Without Messing Up! The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer? “The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever.” But you wouldn’t know it by looking around. It seems to me that many Christians just endure life rather than really enjoy it. There is relatively little laughter in their lives, only occasional excitement, and almost no ecstasy. It doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and might have…
Esther 1
When Chauvinism Confronts the Domino Theory Today we are beginning a new series on a much-neglected book of the Bible, the Book of Esther. There are reasons why it has been neglected (which I will enumerate in a few moments), but no excuses. Many evangelical preachers and commentators never touch it. I regret to admit that during my 40 years of preaching and teaching, this is the first time I have tackled Esther with any thoroughness. I think I did…
Esther 2
Introducing the Hero and the Heroine Introduction: Last Lord’s Day we launched a summer series on the book of Esther. It’s rare that I urge you to go to our website to read sermons, but if you missed last week’s, I hope you will go back and read it (or listen to it) because we offered a lot of background information that is important in order to put the rest of the story in context. In the first chapter…
Esther 5-6
The Tables Are Turned Introduction: Scripture tells us the same truth in countless ways: “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7); “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18); “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Nowhere can one find a clearer illustration of these truths than in the life of Haman, the Agagite–one of the key characters in the OT Book of Esther. Jeremy…
Esther 9-10
A Day to Remember So soon we have come to the end of our summer series on the OT Book of Esther! I have thoroughly enjoyed this excursion through one of the great short stories in the Bible, and I hope you have as well. I told you when I began this series that in forty years of Bible teaching and preaching I had never seriously tackled this book, and I shared with you some of the factors that made…
Ruth 1
Behind a Frowning Providence It’s good to be back with you today. It probably wasn’t the most appropriate thing to have a sermon on Islam on Mother’s Day. But I’m going to try to make up for that by spending the next month preaching from Ruth, who as an ancestress of Jesus was one of the most important mothers of the Bible. Ruth comes right after the Book of Judges, to which it was actually attached in the Hebrew Bible. …
Ruth 2
We Intend; God Superintends Southern Baptist preacher Jess Moody once said, “May the dear Lord teach me that the more candles on my birthday cake, the more like Jesus I am supposed to become.” Would that we all had such a goal and attitude! Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of Christians who feel that getting saved is the sum total of the Christian’s experience. Once they make a profession of faith in Christ (and perhaps get baptized), they…
Ruth 3
Strategic Righteousness We come this morning to the 3rd chapter of the Book of Ruth, where the romance between Ruth and Boaz develops into full bloom. For the sake of those who haven’t been with us the past few weeks, this Old Testament narrative tells the story of an Arab girl from Moab who married a Jewish boy from Bethlehem. His parents, Elimelech and Naomi, had left Israel and traveled to Moab because of a famine. After Elimelech died, both…