Sermons from 2021 (Page 2)
Luke 11:1-13
God Doesn’t Read Junk Mail: Parable of the Midnight Caller I remember some of the strangest things about my childhood. One clear recollection has to do with my duty of taking out the trash and burning it in the fifty gallon barrel in the back yard of our home in St. Louis. In those days the garbage man only picked up garbage; everything else was burned. On this particular day as I was emptying a wastebasket ,I noticed four or five unopened letters…
Luke 19:11-27
What Is Your Investment Strategy? The Parable of the Ten Minas We are enjoying a very strong economy right now. Incomes are rising, jobs are generally plentiful, and the stock market is strong. No one knows where it all might go in the coming months, but I can promise you one thing–it won’t last forever. The wise person will be investing his resources now, with a view to an uncertain future. What is your investment strategy? In a powerful and convicting parable–His last before the…
Luke 14:1-24
Table Talk: Parables about Banquet Invitations Suppose you invite a couple hundred guests to a sit-down reception at your daughter’s wedding. In the middle of the meal one of them does something really offensive to everyone else, but instead of apologizing he begins to criticize the other guests, then he turns and rebukes you as the host for not inviting the right kind of guests. And suppose he goes even further and tells a story that implies that you and most of your friends are…
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…
Matthew 21:28-32
A Supper Parable The parable I have chosen today is best known as The Parable of the Two Sons. I’m not thinking of the Prodigal Son and his Elder Brother. That is undoubtedly Jesus’ most famous story; the parable I want to talk about may be His least known. The Prodigal was Jesus’ longest parable; this is one of the shortest. However, the story I want us to examine today also has some striking similarities to the longer and more famous parable. Both brothers in both of…
Hebrews 1:1-3
The Great Communicator I clearly remember the presidential campaign of 1964, the first time I was able to vote. I was in college and very interested in politics. Lyndon Johnson was from my home state of Texas, but to me he was the epitome of the big-spending, big-government liberal. I became an avid supporter of Barry Goldwater. I read his speeches, watched him on TV, attended a huge rally for him at the War Memorial in Kansas City, and even got to shake his hand. Goldwater was a really good communicator. Who will ever…
Hebrews 1:4-14
Seen Any Angels Lately? We launched a new study series last Lord’s Day on the New Testament book of Hebrews, a book whose goal is to urge believers on to maturity and whose theme is the absolute supremacy of Christ. There is an argument going on in the book of Hebrews, and each week builds on what comes before it. If you have to miss a week, I want to encourage you to go to the website and pick up what you…
Hebrews 1:4-2:4
Angels Are Son Worshipers Last Lord’s Day we read Hebrews 1 and learned that the author’s principal point is that “as great as angels are, Jesus Christ is vastly superior.” We also observed that in order to grasp his argument fully we needed to have a truly biblical understanding of angels. So instead of jumping headlong into the argument, we examined all that the Bible teaches about angels–their existence, their nature, their number and organization, their ministry to God, to Jesus Christ,…
Hebrews 2:5-18
What is Mankind? For the past several Sundays we have been studying about angels. Our goal has been to discover how significant angels are to us, not that we might honor the angels but rather that we might honor Jesus Christ, who is so much greater than even the angels. As we come to our text today, we find that the author is not quite through with angels; in fact, they are mentioned four more times in Hebrews 2:5‑18. It is not…
Hebrews 3:1-6
One Greater Than Moses Introduction: Who is the greatest hero among God’s people today? That question is a bit hard to answer, for this is not the age of heroes. In fact, Americans seem to take delight in hero‑bashing. Probably the closest we have had to a bona fide Christian hero in my lifetime is Billy Graham. Others who have that status among certain groups might be Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaffer, or Mother Theresa. But not one of these names or even all…
Hebrews 3:7-4:13
The Tragedy of Unbelief What is the most heinous sin a human being can commit? Is it brutal, premeditated murder? Is it some grossly perverted immoral act? Is it the abuse of an innocent child? Is it the attempted annihilation of an entire race? What is the most heinous sin a human being can commit? Well, I think we can answer that question if we ask and answer another one: What is the only sin that will send a person to Hell, the only one that…
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
One Greater than Aaron: A Priest Who Never Disappoints We began this series on Hebrews with a message whose theme was really, “Jesus is greater than the OT prophets.” The next theme was “Jesus is greater than the angels.” The next sermon was “Jesus is greater than Moses.” The following one could have been entitled, “Jesus is greater than Joshua.” And today I want us to consider that “Jesus is greater than Aaron.” What the author of Hebrews is doing is carrying on a series of…