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July 2025 Sermons

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I returned from my study leave in June and began a new series of sermons, which started in July. I wanted to link to them from here, so that the appropriate links are seen.

God’s plan relates to His people being on mission – the Church being on mission.

Here are some sermons that dug into this:

7/6/25 – Building Our Lives on God’s Plan (Ephesians 3:8-10)

7/13/25 – God’s Plan Arrives (Acts 18:18-19:20)

7/20/25 – God’s Plan Provokes (Acts 19:21-20:1)

7/27/25 – God’s Plan Encourages (Acts 20:17-38)

There are more sermons to come in this series, but I wanted to share these here as we continue to make progress.

A Deep Dive on Thinking About Applying a Sermon or Sermon Series

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Over on the Facebook, I posted three different posts recently all around a different kind of Sunday morning experience. Crestview was wrapping up an 8 week series on the Upper Room Discourse and how that related to our practice. When John is recounting Jesus in the Upper Room, he’s providing readers some unique information compared to the other Gospel writers and helping them see what kind of life they would be characterized by. Themes like loving one another, abiding in Jesus and what He was teaching, the Spirit teaching them and bringing to mind what Jesus taught, as well as the glorifying of Jesus were some of the big themes that came out of this section.

My first post related toward applying God’s Word related to Cal Newport’s work, Deep Work. Michael Vos summarized a part of Newport’s research in this way:

Unfortunately, Deep Work is consistently elusive in the world we’re in…but there is hope (based on what Newport is finding), you can train your brain to focus (or set up blockers on your phone). The appeal I made at Crestview on that Sunday related to more “deep work” as we consider what God is saying in His Word, but there are applications galore for those of us seeking to give thought to serious things. I eneded asking, “How do you pursue deep work in the things you most deeply care about?” If we really believe that Jesus Himself is shaping us as His people, for me, this requires a commitment to engage my mind fully to not only achieve understanding of what He’s saying, but also to put implement that into life.

Post two related to Bloom’s taxonomy, which is consistently found in the fields of education.

On this particular Sunday morning, I pointed out that most of what we aim for a Sunday morning in typical church gatherings is the bottom two parts of this triange. We’d be shooting for the moon if someone actually applied what we said and used that information in their lives. And, what I’m dreaming of is that I would be so affected by the truth of God’s Wod that I would be able to move to those top rungs of Bloom’s taxonomy. The content is not recalled or understood, but I’m making connections between what else I’ve seen to what new moves need to be made for lasting life-change.

Finally, I connected to Scripture itself. As I mentioned that morning, Jesus encouraged us to follow Deuteronomy 6 and love the Lord our God with all our heart, MIND, soul, and strength (I’m emphasizing mind for these purposes). Romans 12:1-2 fleshes out the idea of lives distinct from the world that are given to worship, including people like us, who are “being transformed by the renewal of our mind, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” And, on study leave, my friend Randy challenged me with 1 Peter 4:1, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking…” We know the mind of Christ leads us to live differently. This word, translated as “same way of thinking,” captures a complex state of mind, intention, or purpose (see my screenshot of the word study below). And, like we saw with Deep Work or the Taxonomy, we are being invited to have our minds shaped to live in very distinct ways. So, how is your mind growing to live in light of the things you would give the highest value to?

I take all this to be pointing me to understand that our problem is doing what the Bible is teaching isn’t that we need more information or that we’re mentally incompetent. The issue seems to be around taking time to consider what this means in the deepest parts of our lives. There’s often a disconnect between who I am in church gatherings and who I am out there. And, for me at least, I want to lead by shortening that gap, with the life-changing truths of the Bible affecting everything that I am.

How do you think about Biblical application? What might it look like for you to more deeply consider God’s truth so that your life is changed?

The Word of Victory

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This weekend, I continued Crestview’s series on Jesus’s seven sayings on the cross by focusing on The Word of Victory (John 19:30). I love this word of victory that Jesus announced when He said, “It is finished.” So many ramifications for our lives emerge from this, and I tried to tease some out in the sermon. I hope you are encouraged by this message. Have a great Holy Week.

The Word of Suffering

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I was back in the pulpit after an eventful few weeks dealing with some medical needs. I’m grateful for those gifted to teach our body and keep us moving forward. My sermon was on Jesus saying, “I thirst,” from John 19:28-29. I tried to connect these words to our worship and adoration of Jesus as we continue to explore Jesus’s final words leading up to Easter. I hope the sermon encouraged you.

The Word of Affection

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After some time in the hospital, recovery, and more time off, I was happy to be back preaching at Crestview on March 16, 2025. This sermon continued in a series of sermons we’re giving during the season of Lent so that all our focus as a church is on Jesus. This series considers the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross. My sermon, The Word of Affection, looked at Jesus speaking to His mother and the disciple He loved in John 19. This call to love draws us from ourselves into the kind of living and power only Jesus can give. I hope this sermon encourages you.

Confidence in Suffering?

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My 2/23/25 sermon at Crestview, God Builds Confidence through Suffering (Haggai 2:1-23), wrapped up a short series on our experience of suffering. Now, I would venture to guess that universally, it is true that confidence usually isn’t our experience in suffering. Whether an athlete wonders if she’ll be able to return to form after a recent setback or simply a challenging sickness that has thrown us off our game, suffering brings unsettledness.

But God. God steps into people’s lives (like He did in Haggai 2) to reassure us. Specifically, in Haggai, God worked to deal with many things that throw us off our game, and at the center of His confidence-building activity is Jesus, the Messiah.

I hope this sermon helps you move forward in confidence.

Cutting Through the Fog of Suffering

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My 2/16/25 sermon at Crestview, “Cutting Through the Fog of Suffering” (Haggai 1), is now live. This sermon continues a series I’ve given to start the year and to encourage those in our congregation who are facing suffering. The context of Haggai proved important in showing what these people were going through. You can imagine what it would be like to lose everything you held dear and be conquered by enemies, to see all the essential things to your practice of religion not only destroyed but defiled, only to watch God restore you to this land years later. No wonder they were shell-shocked. But God. Our God is ever gracious and faithful and comes near to draw sufferers back to Himself. I hope the sermon encourages you while suffering.

Seeing Jesus In Our Suffering

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I’ve been preaching our experiences of suffering since the start of the year. Each of the sermons has zeroed in on a Gospel account of Jesus in the boat with His disciples. Yesterday’s sermon, Seeing Jesus in our Suffering, took us to John 6:16-21, where Jesus came near the disciples walking on water. The outline related to Jesus’s “bigness” coming near (as Jesus said, “It is I, don’t be afraid). I hope the sermon is an encouragement.

I also tried to wrap up those four sermons with some particular applications at the end. We all want to be helpful to others when they’re hurting. Unfortunately, the church sometimes doesn’t do well in caring for others. I hope my applications prove insightful as we try to navigate this well.

Jesus Calms The Storms

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I’ve been preaching a short series at Crestview based on the narratives of Jesus calming the storm to encourage those who are facing suffering. I haven’t updated this site in a couple of weeks, but here are the links to the past two weeks:

1/26/25 – Following Jesus in the Storm (Matthew 8:23-27) – The context of Matthew’s Gospel combined with this narrative emphasizes following Jesus and how this informs suffering.

2/2/25 – Hearing Jesus and the Danger of Suffering (Luke 8:22-25) – Luke makes a big deal about hearing Jesus, so they do it when Jesus tells His disciples to get in the boat. This sermon connected this reality to the suffering we face.

Obviously, there is so much more that could be said about our experience of suffering, but I hope this helps move people closer to Jesus.

Weekend Recap – God’s Care for Sufferers

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My 1/19/25 sermon, Questioning God’s Care (Mark 4:35-41), kicked off a new series at Crestview. Like every week, you can find a transcript, audio, video, and notes on that link. This series will be a series of sermons on Jesus calming the storm with His disciples. We began with Mark’s narrative. It was striking to me that this comes on the heels of many teachings from Jesus about the effectiveness of His Word. So, the fact that questions pop up should be very encouraging for people like us who find themselves suffering. I hope this sermon encourages you.