From One Degree to Another

My 12/3/23 sermon at Crestview, to kick off the first Sunday of Advent, was entitled Good News, Good Effects from Luke 1:57-80. This narrative includes the birth of John the Baptist and Zechariah’s Benedictus. My sermon dug into the effects of God’s promises breaking into our world and what we can expect when He moves in this way. I hope the sermon encourages you.

It was a fantastic day at our gathering. We enjoyed communion together, thinking about what it looks like to rejoice in Christ for what He’s done. People were hopping with energy after the big snowstorm the previous weekend. So, I hope you were encouraged. Have a great week.

I intentionally messed up the spelling so I could all “S”s in my title. We had a fantastic weekend in South Central Kansas. Saturday brought Hutchinson 9.5 inches of snow. It was lovely as a cold weather lover, with Winter as my favorite season and Christmas as my favorite holiday. I recognize it’s not enjoyable for many, so I will stop with my verbal excitement. I know you’ve all seen snow before, but here’s how it piled up on my back deck around 4:45 PM.

The church I pastor has a policy that we rarely cancel (like if it was overly icy or the power was out, we might) so snow didn’t keep us from gathering to worship. We encourage people nervous about getting out or needing to stay in to enjoy our livestream. We began our service with three teenagers sharing their testimony of coming to faith in Jesus and publicly announcing their allegiance to Jesus through baptism. We were “selebrating” with them. Here’s a pic we put on our church website as our students were bouncing after the service.

Finally, on top of this, I began a new sermon series on the Gospel of Luke. My first sermon dug into Luke’s purpose in compiling this Gospel account and contrasting two different responses we see in the opening narratives. The sermon, Responding to God’s Certainty (Luke 1:1-56), is now online. I hope you enjoy it. And, if you follow the link, baptisms were at the start of the service.

I hope you have a great week.

My 11/19/23 sermon, The Gospel Works (2 Corinthians 13:11-15), is online. The sermon not only wrapped up our 19-sermon series in 2 Corinthians, but it also helped propel us into Thanksgiving week. The idea behind the sermon was that the Gospel works; that is, when it moves into someone’s life, it affects change. So, we teased out how this was seen in the final benediction of the book. I hope it encourages you.

In the evening, our church enjoyed its annual Thanksgiving dinner together, where we eat, talk, and have a share time where people can share what they are thankful for. Luke and I recorded a Flipside podcast on this very thing, so I’d love for you to engage in that, as well: On Giving Thanks 2023.

I hope you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving week.

My 10/22/23 sermon, Gospel Centering (2 Corinthians 12:1-13), is online. My main point was to show that no matter what Paul faced in life, the good news packed a wallop that made a difference. This centered or balanced life calibrated Paul when his opponents attacked him. And, in the midst of this, I think the sermon encouraged all of us no matter where we’re found in life. I hope it inspires you.

My 10/15/23 sermon at Crestview Bible Church was entitled The Gospel and Church Life from 2 Corinthians 11:1-33. This chapter is complicated because it serves as a defense for Paul’s ministry among the Corinthians. He roots this defense in the content and power of the Gospel, which is at work in him and working out in the lives of all the people it affects. So, this serves as a way to engage the difficulties at play in church life with the good news. I hope you enjoy it.

My 10/8/23 sermon, Working Together In Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1-18), is online. The passage in view is maybe the entire point of the book of 2 Corinthians, where Paul is trying to deal with opponents and how the Corinthian church has received them. What happens in chapter 10 is an all-out appeal to center in Christ. So, this sermon was my attempt to give voice to the Good Shepherd as He invites us into life together in the body. I hope it encourages you.

My 9/17/23 sermon at Crestview, Overwhelmed with Grace (2 Corinthians 9:6-15), is online. The text’s main idea is Paul wrapping up an appeal for the Corinthians to be generous. So, I connected a calling to live generously and how it provokes thanksgiving and makes Jesus shine to how God overwhelms us with grace to invite us into this. I hope it encourages you to bear the fruit of good works.

I was happy to return to the pulpit for a full day at Crestview on September 10, 2023. We had baby dedications, which was both a joyous and sobering day. Joyous recognizing the gift of life that God has given families in our church body. It is sobering to realize the responsibility God has blessed our church family to help little ones know Jesus.

I preached on Gospel Priorities from 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5. Chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians explore the Corinthian church’s generous heart related to the gift they were collecting for others. In this middle section, Paul seems to clarify some Gospel priorities that help them live out this generous lifestyle. He’s centered this all on Jesus. So, it made sense that I also centered the appeal on Jesus. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 8/27/23 sermon at Crestview, When You Walk By The Way (Deuteronomy 6:4-13), wrapped up a short 2-sermon series on Family Discipleship. This series aimed to bring the people of Crestview up close and personal with the reminder that the home is where the work of making disciples begins. I’ve spent much time post-2020 thinking about the mission and what we will give ourselves to do. On Sundays, we’ve done a series in the book of Acts, the Jesus Project, and even how God’s power is displayed in our weakness. This seemed like the right move to remind our body that our zeal to make disciples begins with those around us in the home. I hope this sermon encourages you.

On August 20, 2023, at Crestview, I preached the first installment of a short series on Family Discipleship. The sermon was That the Next Generation Might Know Him (Psalm 78:5-8). This notion of knowing Jesus and making Him known isn’t merely the church’s work (although I wish churches were known as the place where they could know Jesus). Knowing Jesus is part of God’s heart and will for your family. This sermon was my attempt to encourage everyone to move out in grace toward this goal. I hope it encourages you.

If you interact with the video, many students were laughing at a couple of things I did in this sermon like these two snippets: