Sermons from 2023 (Page 12)
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
How to Handle a Scandal Introduction: I doubt if there has ever been a time since the Middle Ages when scandal has been more public, more common, or more devastating to the Church of Jesus Christ than during the past several decades. High profile individuals, like Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton, David Hocking, Gordon MacDonald, Henry Lyons, Mike Trout, and many others have succumbed, and those are all professing evangelicals. If you add in the scores of Catholic priests, Mormon leaders, and…
1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11
Restoring Fallen Brothers and Sisters Introduction: Last week I preached a hard-hitting message on sin in the church and the need for the church to discipline its members. I am going to speak with equal vigor today about the need for forgiveness and restoration for those who have fallen once they have repented. I want to begin today with a question: What would you say is the most representative symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ? Would you suggest a cross? If so, you’re no doubt in the majority. But what about a fish,…
1 Corinthians 5:9‑13, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Biblical Separation SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 5:9‑13, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Introduction: As we start a new year, I want to return today to our study of the biblical book of 1 Corinthians–a challenging treatise about a church in crisis. In the opening verses of chapter 5 we encountered a tragic incident in which the church was tolerating a man among its membership who was apparently having an affair with his stepmother. Paul, of course, rebuked the church for its moral laxness, and later he…
1 Cor. 6:1‑8
Suits that Don’t Fit Introduction: What is justice, true justice? We don’t see a lot of it in our society, do we? I have a saying I often laid on my sons as they were growing up, but teenagers aren’t the only ones who need to hear it: “Life isn’t fair.” And the fact that we have one of the most advanced judicial systems in the world today doesn’t change that. I wonder how many people in the audience here this morning have been involved in a lawsuit…
1 Cor. 6:9‑11
Your Past Doesn’t Define You Introduction: Have you known people who were prisoners of their past? Either they have done something that society or family will not let them forget, or they have done something they won’t let themselves forget, or they have suffered some trauma they keep reliving. Our mental hospitals are full of people whose inability to deal with the past has resulted in a near total loss of contact with reality. Many suicides can be traced directly to the fact that…
1 Cor. 6:12-20
Six Reasons Why Sex Outside Marriage Is Wrong SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 6:12-20 Introduction: I read recently of a wife who went to lunch with eleven other women who were taking a French course together, since their children were all in school. One rather bold woman asked the rest, “How many of you have been faithful throughout your marriage?” Only one raised her hand. That evening when the woman of our story related the incident to her husband and admitted she was not the one who had…
1 Cor. 6:18, Genesis 39
Epitaph of a man of God: “He fled.” SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 6:18, Genesis 39 Introduction: I groped sleepily for the phone, wondering why the hospital would be calling my husband Bob back to work when he had just returned at midnight from a 36-hour shift. “Aunt Ann,” my teen-age niece sobbed hysterically into the phone, “tell Uncle Bob to come right now. Daddy has hung himself–and I can’t get him down.” “Oh, no! Hold on, honey–he’ll be there in five minutes.” Bob…
1 Corinthians 6, 2 Samuel 11-12
Sin Will Take You Further Than You Want to Go SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 6, 2 Samuel 11-12 Introduction: A Southern Gospel song I heard only once in my life, but remember clearly, goes like this: “Sin will take you further than you want to go, Slowly but wholly taking control. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.” That is the message I want to share with you today. Several weeks…
1 Cor. 7:1-7
We Missed the “R”! SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 7:1-7 Note: This sermon was preached at East Evangelical Free Church in Wichita in 2012. Introduction: Do you remember how we talked about the pendulum as a sad, but common, symbol of the Christian church? We used it in chapter 5 to illustrate how the church at Corinth went to the extreme of refusing to discipline one of its sinning members. But then after Paul excoriated them for their failure, they went to the opposite extreme by refusing to forgive the sinning member…
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
Sex is Good! SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 DATE: February 25, 2001 Introduction: This week we return to our regularly scheduled study of 1 Corinthians. We will be looking at chapter 7, verses 1 through 9. Last week Pastor Mike took us through a study of David’s life and mentioned that my sermon title was apparently a cheap attempt to cash in on the momentum of our recent study on sexual morality. Frankly, I just thought the research would be more interesting.…
1 Cor. 7:10-17
For Better or Worse, Unless … SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 7:10-17 Introduction: The best-known futurist of our generation, Alvin Toffler, has described contemporary America as the “throw-away society.” Whereas Americans once held on to their possessions as long as possible, now the abundance of goods and rapidly changing fashions mean that things like clothes, kitchens, and cars have a built-in obsolescence, to say nothing of electronics. Things are kept only a short time and then thrown away. This attitude has even extended to personal relationships,…
1 Cor. 7:17-40
Stay Where You Are! SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 7:17-40 Introduction: Nearly all of you are familiar with 2 Cor. 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” This verse tells us that old habits, attitudes, priorities, and relationships become new, or at least should, when a person meets Christ and receives the new birth. In fact, so crucial is this concept that Christian theology has always questioned whether a genuine conversion has even…