Sermons by Paul Stolwyk
John 19:16-42
SERIES: The Gospel of John SERMON: First Things First SCRIPTURE: John 19:16-42 SPEAKER: Paul Stolwyk DATE: March 27, 1994 Introduction: What is on your mind right now. What has first importance in your thoughts. Is it your children? Is it cleaning up your yard? Getting your taxes done? Getting a new outfit for Easter? Is it getting a project done at work, home, or school? The details of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection form the foundation of the Christian message. The Apostle Paul regarded these facts as “first…
Nehemiah 8:1-18
Spiritual Renewal Begins with You! Introduction: For the past two months as we have been walking through the story of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the process, we have witnessed not only the Israelites returning to Judah after over 40 years in exile. But we’ve also seen the temple rebuilt and worship restored. In the last four weeks we’ve seen the walls around Jerusalem rebuilt in 52 days. In Chapter 7, which I didn’t read, Nehemiah seems to bring a fitting end to the story. He…
Nehemiah 9:1-31
The Importance of Learning from Our Past Note: This message was delivered on the final Sunday that First Free met at Westminster Christian Academy before moving to the new facility at Carman and Weidman. Introduction: After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1985, I decided to attend the Summer Institute of Biblical Studies, sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. In order to attend I needed to raise my own financial support. The Sunday I was to leave, I had $500 of the $1,500…
Romans 8:26-30
God Works! Introduction: Let me begin this morning by presenting a few imaginary scenarios. Unemployed for six months and after a great interview, you receive the “We’ll keep your resume on file” letter for the thirtieth time. You try, you try, and you try, but pregnancy never happens. You finally get the affairs settled on your deceased father’s estate, and your sister-in-law calls and tells you that your brother has just died of a heart attack. The supervisors at your internship may let you go…
Romans 10:11-14
How in the World Can God Use Us? Introduction: As an undergraduate in college, I took a lot of math classes like Calculus, Differential Equations and Statistics. One of the great things about most math books is that the authors often publish the answers in the back of the book. On some occasions, I found it helpful to look at the answer and then work backward to learn how to work the problems I was given. Having the end in sight sometimes helped me…
Romans 13:1-7
Conscientious Christianity Introduction: Before making the move from the marketplace ministry into seminary and the pastoral ministry, my good friend Brad Harper had me speak to the elders. When I met with them, one of the elders asked me what has turned out to be a life-changing question. He asked, “Paul, if the elders would recommend that you not leave the marketplace and pursue theological education, what would you do?” Now I had spent about three years praying, evaluating, and planning to make that…
Romans 15:14-33
The Ministering Mentality Introduction: I grew up in the Roman Catholic church. There are three inevitable things about your life if you grew up as a Catholic boy in St. Louis. The first thing is you went to mass every day. The second is you served mostaccioli at your wedding reception. And third, you played soccer. Until the 1980’s, about the only people playing soccer in America were Catholic school boys in St. Louis. In the summer after fifth grade, I went to a soccer camp…
Luke 1:26-56
Holy Mary, Mother of God? Note: This sermon was preached by my colleague, Paul Stolwyk. As Paul grew up Catholic, I believe he has a unique perspective to address this important issue. Introduction: The cover story to this week’s Life magazine is entitled “The Mystery of Mary.” The byline reads, “Two thousand years after the Nativity, the mother of Jesus is more beloved, powerful and controversial than ever.” I may be adding to the controversy this morning. Before we get started, I would like to know, how many…
Luke 5:33-6:11
Clearing a Path for Grace Introduction: I know something about a good number of you. I know that many of you don’t think you are very good Christians. In your opinion, you don’t pray enough. You don’t tell others about Jesus enough. You don’t have enough quiet times with the Lord. You don’t serve enough or give enough. And if we pressed hard enough, we might find a significant amount of guilt over these matters. I know something else about a good number of you. I know that…
Luke 6:37-49
Moving Past Judgment to Mercy Introduction: When I was skiing in Colorado three years ago, I was waiting in line for the ski lift and not paying attention to what I was doing. All of a sudden, I turned and looked over my shoulder just as the chair lift came around and clobbered me. I cracked a couple of ribs and to my utter embarrassment had to ride the ski lift down to the base of the mountain. If that wasn’t enough, the next…
Luke 8:1-21
Secrets of Spiritual Growth Introduction: Spirituality is in vogue today. There seems to be an awakening to a spiritual side of life. Everyone is talking about it. It is an issue on Oprah. Spirituality is worthy of an article on NPR. Shows like “The X Files” feature the paranormal. Questions about God are finding their way into the lyrics of alternative music performers like Joan Osborne and Counting Crows. It has become a topic at the highest levels of business discussion. Growing spiritually is hot. It is hard…
Luke 8:26-39
Restoring GloriOus Ruins Introduction: As we traveled on vacations as kids, my mom would pay my brother and sister and me a nickel for every antique store we saw. We would stop at many of these antique stores as we traveled throughout Missouri or the Northeast. At one of those antique stores, my dad bought an old rocking chair. You couldn’t tell it was a rocking chair because it was in a box and in pieces. When I looked in the…
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