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:

We all talk about getting to this or that matter of importance “someday.” In this sermon, I tried to show that Jesus’s work of salvation in us is a matter of now, today, or right now. And, the spheres we looked at related to our lives, loves, and our holiness. I hope this sermon, Salvation Is Now (2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1), encourages you.

My 7/30/23 sermon at Crestview, The Art of Persuasion (Not Us, But Him) – 2 Corinthians 5:11- 21, is now online. The big idea was to invite people to believe the fantastic good news found in Jesus. This isn’t just about being a religious zealot or jamming this down people’s throats. God is so rich in mercy that it is unbelievable when people first learn it. So, God has all that needs to be done to make a life lived in relationship to Him possible. I hope the sermon encourages you.

So, my sermon from 7/23/23 is online. Always of Good Courage (2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

One intriguing part of the sermon dug into the tension between groaning, yes groaning, and always being of good courage, yes always of good courage. This tension is real life. We feel this consistently. I dig into this tension and then chart a way toward Jesus, where being always of good courage is found.

My hunch is that many can’t always be of good courage, let alone grab moments of it. I hope this sermon encourages you. Enjoy!

I opened my sermon on 7/16/23 with this quote from Dustin Nickerson (a great comedian). I’m not a runner. I love that there are energized people in our church running 5Ks or marathons; it’s not me. But, there is a calling on the lives of believers to endure. We press on in God because He is at work, bringing salvation complete in us.

We Do Not Lose Heart (2 Corinthians 4:7-18); this sermon dug into how we can endure. The sermon was all about Jesus and how He changes everything for His followers. I hope it encourages you.

My 7/9/23 sermon, Unveiled Glory (2 Corinthians 3:7-4:6), is now online. This sermon had to reckon with an Old Testament story of Moses’s coming down from Mt. Sinai with the tablets and having to wear a veil. You can read about that in Exodus 34:29-35. And Paul’s point in this passage, which I tried to point to, relates to the centrality of seeing Jesus. Once we encounter Him, we have a different way of living, including boldness, freedom, and speaking about Jesus to others. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 6/25/23 sermon, A Life-Giving Pathway (2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6), is online. I tried to get curious about what impact you have when you walk into a room and how spiritual realities can inform the effect you have. I’m tempted to ask, “What’s the smell left when you leave the room,” but you’d have to listen to this sermon for it to make sense. Jesus triumphs. This changes things. Does it impact real life for you?