Sermons on Pain
Acts 22:30-24:27
Caught in the Crucible Note: This sermon was preached at First Free in Wichita in 2019. Introduction: I’ve entitled my sermon, Caught in the Crucible. When a craftsman wants to make a piece of gold jewelry from a mold, he first melts a bar of gold and burns all the impurities out of it. To do this he uses a crucible, which is a vessel for melting substances that require a high degree of heat. The term crucible has symbolically come to refer to a severe…
Luke 13:1-5
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People (and Good Things to Bad People)? One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” This week, and in fact for most of this summer, I want us to reason together, to have a dialogue about some of…
Luke 12:54-13:5
What Do You Do When the Good Guys Don’t Win? The Parable of the Weatherman One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Last Lord’s Day I preached to you; today I want to reason with you. Last week we explored the events of 9/11/01 from the perspective…
Hebrews 12:1-13
The Absolute Supremacy of Jesus Christ Many word pictures are used in the Bible to describe the adventure that is the Christian life. It is spoken of in agricultural terms (planting and harvesting), military terms (fighting the good fight), stewardship terms (faithful management), and even slavery terms (we are bond slaves to God), but no word picture is used more frequently or effectively than that of the athlete, and particularly the runner. The author of Hebrews follows up his brilliant exhibition…