Sermons from February 2026 (Page 2)
Exodus 20:16
SERIES: Ten Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Lives Failing to Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: It’s time for a pop quiz. We haven’t had one of those in a long time. If you were going to make a list of the sins you really hate, the ones that really turn your stomach, the sinners you find nearly impossible to forgive, what would your list look like? Not names of people, but…
Exodus 20:17
SERIES: Ten Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Lives Looking for Life in All the Wrong Places SPEAKER: Dick High SERIES: Ten Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Lives Note: This sermon was prepared by Pastor Andrus but was delivered by Pastor Dick High because of Mike’s illness that Sunday. Introduction: This summer we have been examining the Ten commandments, and today our focus will be on the last one. But that will not be the end of…
Exodus 19; 20:18-20
SERIES: Ten Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Lives The God of the Ten Commandments: Our Awesome Friend SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Dostoevsky, the existential literary genius, was absolutely right when he wrote, “Without God, everything is permitted.”[i] If there were no God, there could be no moral absolutes, and therefore we could do anything we wanted. Dostoevsky, of course, was an atheist and what he meant by his statement is that since there is no God, everything is permitted. We, of course, do not accept…
Exodus 33
SERIES: Ten Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Lives A Heart Not Satisfied SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Have you had a good argument with God lately? Maybe you think the question is impertinent and out of order, but the fact is, many great biblical characters took God on. Some won, some lost. Job lost. Haggai lost. But Moses is one who came out ahead. I believe many of us are far too passive in our relationship with God. We assume that it’s God’s job…
Exodus 20:22-23:33
SERIES: Exodus: Revelation and Redemption The Rest of the Law SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Note: This sermon was preached at First Free in Wichita within a series on Exodus. It followed a single sermon by Josh Black on the Ten Commandments and speaks to the place of the Ten within the broad context of the Mosaic Law. Introduction: The Ten Commandments were the subject of our study last week from Exodus 20. Josh made it clear that these timeless and universal principles of moral…
James 4:1-10
SERIES: Great Church Fights Understanding Conflict SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: A father heard a commotion in his yard and looked outside to see his daughter and several playmates in a heated quarrel. When he reprimanded her, his daughter responded, “We’re just playing church!” Unfortunately, that’s not too hard a scenario to believe when you think about all the conflict that plagues the average church. I consider myself extremely blessed by the fact that the two churches I have pastored over the past…
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
SERIES: Great Church Fights Divisive Politics in the Church SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: The old proverb says, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” The meaning, of course, is that when people find themselves without proper supervision, they often conduct themselves without proper decorum. This is exactly what was happening in the church at Corinth. The Apostle Paul founded the church there while on his second of three missionary journeys, and he remained their pastor for approximately 18 months. But other cities needed…
Galatians 2:11-14
SERIES: Great Church Fights Heavyweight Bout Over Doctrine and Practice SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Two weeks ago, we learned that there are three major kinds of conflict in the church: positive, negative, and neutral. Then last Sunday we examined a case of negative conflict–one stirred up by divisive politics in the Church. Today we turn our attention to a case of positive conflict—one in which the motive of the person who stirred it up was good, his method of tackling the problem was correct, and…
Acts 15:36-41; Phil. 4:2-3
SERIES: Great Church Fights When Personality and Perspective Clash SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Is there anyone here this morning who likes everyone you work with, everyone at school, and everyone in your neighborhood? I didn’t think so. If anyone did raise his hand, I would be inclined to ask, “Do you lie about other things, too?” I don’t think it’s possible to like everybody. Some people have personalities so different from ours that it takes a yeoman’s effort just to be pleasant to them,…
Nehemiah 6:1-19
SERIES: Great Church Fights Operation Intimidation: Dealing with the Hard-Core Antagonist SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: A stunning article appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch several years ago, following up on the story of 15-year-old Kip Kinkel, a young man in Springfield, Oregon. Kinkel killed both of his parents and then shot up his school cafeteria, killing two students and wounding 22 others. The 4-column headline read, “‘Evil exists,’ experts say of school shootings.” As if he had just made a startling discovery but could…
Gal. 4:12-20
SERIES: Great Church Fights When Pastor and Parishioner Clash SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: I’m not sure there’s any more conflict in the average church than in the average business or political party or social organization, but it certainly gets more publicity. When a pastor is fired, or a church splits wide open, or a church member sues the Elder Board, it usually gets front page coverage. We all know how the news media thrived on the conflict between Jim Bakker and Jerry Falwell, the…
James 3:13-18
SERIES: Great Church Fights Are We Willing to Become a Peacemaking Church? SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: For the past two and a half months we have been studying conflict and peacemaking here at First Free. We have examined negative conflicts, positive conflicts, and neutral conflicts. We have carefully studied more than a half dozen conflicts described in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. We have gleaned all the principles we could find about the sources of conflict, the kinds of conflict, and,…