Sermons on Love
Philippians 1:1-11
SERIES: Philippians: Cheerful Sounds from a Jail Cell A Joyful Servant of Christ SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: For a number of months now I have been using a New International Version called The Student Bible. I have enjoyed the pithy notes and comments by Phil Yancey and Tim Stafford, the editors; they are quite different from the notes found in most study Bibles. I have borrowed their title for Philippians as the title for this summer series: “Cheerful Sounds from a Jail Cell.” I like…
Philippians 2:1-11
SERIES: Philippians: Cheerful Sounds from a Jail Cell The Great Exchange Applied SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Wasn’t it Charlie Brown who said, “I love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand”? I think so. He put his finger on a problem for a lot of us, didn’t he? There are some other versions of his profound insight that we might want to consider: “I love the family; it’s my wife and kids I can’t stand.” “I love the Church; it’s the pastor, the elders and the other…
John 12:1-11
SERIES: The Gospel of John Unbounded Love SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: One of America’s finest short stories, written by one of the great masters of the art, O Henry, was a moving story called, “The Gift of the Magi.” A young couple, Della and Jim, were very poor, but very much in love. Each had one unique possession. Della’s was her hair, which served almost as a robe when she let it down. Jim, on the other hand, had a pocket watch, given…
John 15:9-16:4
SERIES: The Gospel of John No Greater Love; No Greater Hate SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: I don’t know how long it has been since you purchased a diamond. For me it was over 29 years ago. But I remember well how the jeweler sold me on it. He pulled it out of a box, flipped it up in the air and slapped it on his wrist, saying, “How do you like that baby!” No, you know better. He did what every jeweler does. He picked it…
Romans 12:9-21
Love Without Wax Introduction: Ray Stedman shares the story of a man who was passing a used bookstore when he spotted a volume in the window which caught his attention. The book was entitled, How to Hug. Feeling kind of lonely, he stepped inside to purchase the book. To his chagrin he discovered that it was Vol. 13 of a set of encyclopedias and covered the alphabet from H-O-W to H-U-G, “How to Hug.”[i] Could it be there’s an analogy to the Church in that…
Romans 13:8-14
The Unpayable Debt Introduction: Our national debt stands right at five trillion dollars—about $17,500 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. To grasp just how much money this is, if you spent $5,000 every minute, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you would have had to start when Jesus Christ lived on earth to spend $5 trillion by the end of this millennium. (Note added in 2022: our debt just surpassed $30 trillion!) Some economists and some politicians are…
Romans 14:13-23
Liberty Limited by Love Introduction: Let’s begin this morning by reading our Scripture text, Romans 14:13-23. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. {14} As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. {15} If your brother is…
1 Peter 1:13-2:3
Cultural Advice for Aliens Whenever you go to a foreign country it is wise to read up on its customs and culture. A number of years ago I took a trip to Russia, unwisely in January! I discovered some very interesting things about Russian culture–some before I went and others after I arrived. Russians always remove their shoes when they come into a house or an apartment. Usually there is a basket of slippers to choose from; if not, you just walk around in your…
1 John 2:3-11
Something Old, Something New Introduction: I have an immense amount of respect for this Apostle who was willing to call it like he saw it—not mincing words, not worrying about whether others agree with him, refusing to compromise his black and white stand on the Gospel. Perhaps he could speak boldly as he does because he was in his 90’s. There’s something about growing old that helps you realize you have nothing to lose. We have been looking at the three tests…
1 John 2:7-14
Something Old, Something New Introduction: A strange thing is happening. I’m becoming fascinated with I John. As I mentioned a few weeks ago I entered upon this study with some fear and trepidation, and I haven’t lost that. But at the same time I am in the process of gaining an immense amount of respect for this Apostle who was willing to call it like he saw it—not mincing words, not worrying about whether others are going to agree with him, refusing to compromise…
1 John 3:11-24
The Mark of the Christian Introduction: Someone has likened the First Epistle of John to a spiral staircase in that the Apostle keeps returning to the same three topics—love, obedience, and truth—only each time he picks up one of those themes he takes it to a higher level. In our last message the moral test of the believer’s faith (are we obedient?) was predominant, but it ended with a transition to the social test in verse 10: “Anyone who does not do what…
1 John 4:7-21
The Love Connection: God’s Love and Ours Introduction: A strange story hit our newspapers about two weeks ago involving two ten-year-old girls and their parents. One of the girls, Arlena Twigg, had a congenital heart defect, and when the doctors ordered some genetic testing to aid in her treatment, it produced a surprising result: her parents weren’t her parents. Regina and Ernest Twigg didn’t tell her the news because of her critical condition, and shortly thereafter, in August, 1988, she died. The Twiggs hired private…
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