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Lifestyle of a Disciple

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On Sunday, February 15, 2026, I preached on the lifestyle of a disciple from Romans 14:1-23. While much could be said about this chapter, I tried to direct the room’s attention to the call to figure this chapter out, so that we can live in a way that accentuates Jesus. It’s so easy to think differently when we come together with others. But Paul is bent on helping us see that Jesus is the thought that centers us. Further, the 2nd person plural commands directed us to take heed accordingly. The application focused on defining our Christian lifestyle philosophy. All these things are easier said than done. But, taking time to figure out how we live in light of the first principles is a good work. I hope it encourages you.

First Principles Recap

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These past two weeks, I’ve been preaching on the First Principles of Christ and how we incorporate those into our lives. Here are the two sermons:
2/1/26 – The First Principles (Colossians 2:6-10)
2/8/26 – Renewing Our Mind (Romans 12:1-2)

The big idea is that on the heels of trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and identifying with Him and His people through baptism, we step into this way of living that goes with following Christ. Of course this means that there are new truths to learn, but there are also new ways to behave, new allegiances, a new philosophy to live by. In short, believing in Christ means all things have become new.

I hope these sermons help you as believers to have firm footing as you live for Jesus.

Baptism – The Next Step

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Baptism

My 1/25/26 sermon at Crestview was on this snowy weekend in Hutch. Many churches canceled and we even cancelled everything except for the Sunday Morning gathering. The sermon, Baptism–The Next Step (Matthew 28:16-20), dug into how baptism grounds disciples who have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Our end goal is for disciples to continue following Jesus. The link above has questions for small groups and sermon notes, as well as a transcript of the sermon. I hope it proves helpful in helping you as a follower of Jesus.

Into 2026 We Go

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I’m a little shocked that I haven’t posted since the middle of October, but there is an explanation. Since my last post, my life has changed somewhat dramatically. I was preparing to preach on the weekend of October 28 when I was dealing with shortness of breath and a racing heartbeat. My doctor wanted to do a heart cath and when that was run, blockage was found and so I ended up with a stent and a new course in life. I began cardiac rehab pretty aggressively and have been trying to adjust rhythms (and there were some holidays in November and December :).)

I’ve preached pretty consistently through all of this, so you can find audio/video on the church’s website. I usually begin each year with a sermon on the importance of prayer, then follow up with one on the importance of the Bible. Then, this year, we are beginning a series on elementary principles of our faith. So, that brings things up to the here and now.

The sermon that launched our Week of Prayer was from Acts 13-14. On the heels of an update from some of our international partners, I concluded with a call to prayer and fasting. The church worked through prayers of Ephesians 1 and 3 during our Week of Prayer devotional.

Then, the sermon on the importance of God’s Word was a topical sermon that explored a few texts to bring everyone together around the basics of what the Bible encourages: how ordered learning from God’s Word, grounded in elementary principles, leads to maturity for our church family.

Finally, yesterday, I preached the first of the elementary principles on the Gospel message. If you’d like to go deeper, one of our elders developed a worksheet to examine Gospel proclamation in the book of Acts:

Gospel in ActsDownload

So, I hope this helps you drill down with clarity and move with progression into 2026.

Wrapping Up Colossians

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I haven’t updated here in a few weeks, so I thought it would be helpful to post a couple of content pieces on wrapping up Colossians.

On October 5, I preached on Living the First Principles Together from the book of Philemon. It’s really fascinating what Paul is doing in writing this short letter to Philemon. Many traditions view it as all forgiveness and might miss what Paul is doing in the context of the Colossian correspondence. We know that Philemon had a church in his house, and, according to Colossians, Paul is writing for a very specific purpose. Having outlined the world’s first principles and the first principles of Christ, Philemon and his relationship with Onesimus offer a very practical way to see what it looks like for people to live these principles together.

On October 12, I returned to Colossians to wrap up all that Paul is doing at the end of the book. He’s hoping to help them Move Forward Together. Bringing Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon together reminds us that Paul is a very coherent thinker, trying to mobilize the churches in Ephesus and the Lycus Valley to avoid losing sight of the mission God has for them. I hope these sermons help encourage you in the way of Jesus and His apostles.

Weekend Recap – The World’s First Principles

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My 9/22/25 sermon at Crestview, The World’s First Principles (Colossians 2:1-3:4, 9-11), is now online. There are so many things that came out of this sermon for me personally. The notion that the world system offers reasonable arguments, philosophies, traditions, and elementary principles that may drag us away from Christ provokes actions that center us in Christ. The calling to put on our new selves in Christ and not give in to the religious, political, and cultural ways that culture influences us matter.

I hope this sermon helped guide you into a deeper love and desire to make your life all about Jesus.

Middle Letters Continue: Into Colossians

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Our 2025 series on Paul’s Middle Letters (at Crestview), turned the corner from Ephesians to Colossians this past Sunday. I preached Colossians 1:1-2:5 in my sermon “Walking in God’s Plan.” Not only did this sermon serve to introduce us to the book, but it’s an amazing section of Scripture demanding that we give our lives wholly to Jesus. Ironically, the timing of this sermon came as I was reading “plausible arguments” online about what this past Sunday should emphasize. I think most of us walked away encouraged by centering our morning and attempting to reposition our lives on Jesus. I hope it encourages you.

No Cruise Control

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In my sermon today (8/31), I had a part where I spoke of the need to apply truths to our lives. I suggested that there is no cruise control in the Christian life. We love cruise because we can relax and not focus like we might when we are more engaged. But in a passage like I had this morning, telling us to fight against evil forces of wickedness in this world, dress ourselves in the truths of God’s plan, and pray/unite for the sake of the mission. We would prefer an easy option but being a part of God’s plan positions us to do difficult things. A quote I’ve been enjoying from Taylor Bauman lately is “It’s simple, but it’s not easy.” Living for Christ has this flavor to it.

After the service, someone said it reminded them of the “Handle Hard Better” speech from Kara Lawson:

At any rate, I hope all of this encourages you to step into God’s plan. It’s totally worth it.

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.