Your life is rooted in story and those stories have shaped you to become the person you are today. Your life is surrounded by images that remind you of those stories. A birth certificate. A T-ball trophy. A tassle. A wedding ring. A scar. But our story does not begin with our birth and delivery…
Month: May 2010
Characteristics of Compassion
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus taught his disciples about his return and the subsequent judgment to follow. In the previous section, Jesus had given the parable of the talents, in which the disciples were challenged to remember that at the return of Christ people will be judged for their faithful obedience and how they have used…
The 90 Day New Testament Challenge
June 1st I’m challenging our congregation to take on the 90 Day New Testament Challenge. This is largely due to our need to reconnect with our spiritual roots as the people of God. The challenge will require a person to read roughly three chapters per day, but I believe that it is an investment well…
Binding and Loosing
Last weekend I preached a passage that I have preached as frequently as any I have preached in my ministry, Matthew 16:13-19. It is very familiar, and my guess is that anyone who has attended church for any length of time at all has heard a sermon from this text. The great thing about the…
How Much is Enough? (Part 3)
In Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, the author offers 10 Principles for Fleshing out Simplicity for today. They are listed as follows: 1. Buy things for their usefulness, not their status.2. Reject anything that produces control (obsessions, addictions) over your life.3. Develop the habit of giving things away.4. Be skeptical of the promise of…
Simple Life
One of the resources I used for the weekend series I recently concluded was Simple Life by Thom and Art Rainer. Simple Life is a companion piece to the book Simple Church, utilizing the same concepts except focusing them on one’s personal life. Based on a research sample of 1,077 people, team Rainer conducted surveys…
How Much is Enough? (part 2)
Jesus devoted much of the Sermon on the Mount to a discussion about wealth and riches.Matthew 6:19-33. In this lengthy text, Jesus advocated favoring heavenly treasures over earthly treasures. He gives three supporting reasons for his argument.1. The world is an uncertain place (Matthew 6:19-20). Stuff will deteriorate, if it is not stolen by thieves…
How to Conduct a Church Mission Trip
Last week I spent two days onsite at Crow Creek Reservation in Ft. Thompson, South Dakota, with four members of our congregation. It was about the 12th time I’ve been there in the last three years. Our congregation has worked very hard to make a difference in this community, named the poorest county in America…
How Much is Enough?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19,…
The Impact of Blessings: Psalm 128 (Part 3)
By way of quick review, Psalm 128 begins with a word of instruction on how to become a blessed and happy person. It all hinges on having the fear of the Lord at the center of your life and the Word of God at the circumference of your life. When the center and the circumference…