My 3/15/20 sermon, The King’s Return (2 Samuel 19), is now online. This sermon was preached for the live stream of Crestview. David is returning to Jerusalem after Absalom rebelled. And, we slow down to see all kinds of people that David deals with as he returns. It really dug into the idea of conflict and questions that emerge as we deal with conflict. On top of all this, we got to see how God has been kind to us through Jesus. I hope it’s helpful for you.
My 3/8/2020 sermon at Crestview Bible Church, The Lord’s Deliverance (2 Samuel 18), is now online. This sermon dug into the narrative surrounding Absalom’s death and the fall out from this. The messengers consistently brought David news that the Lord had delivered him from his enemies. This sermon was me trying to unfold that text and see how it might relate to our lives. I hope you enjoy it.
My 3/1/20 sermon at Crestview, God’s Sovereign Care (2 Samuel 17), is now online. This sermon got at how God was working behind the scenes to care for David. I also mentioned Psalm 63, which came in a context when David was in the wilderness. There was lots of action and the passage delivered a lot of help and good news. I hope it encourages you.
My 2/23/2020 sermon at Crestview is now online: Divine Tension (2 Samuel 16). While continuing the story of David and Absalom, this passage, in particular, slowed to let us see an interaction between 4 kinds of people and the main characters. I tried to apply these to our lives while not losing sight of the unique situation David and Absalom were in. Specifically, we deal with problem people by having a deep understanding of who we are in our relationship with God.
My 2/16/2020 sermon at Crestview, Recovering Balance (2 Samuel 15), is now online. This sermon continued to dig into the story of Absalom and his coup of David’s attempt. I made attempts to apply these principles to our lives while keeping sight of the overarching Biblical storyline in view. I hope this sermon could bring you some encouragement and help you live what you believe. This would be especially helpful if you are going through struggles and need encouragement.
My 2/9/2020 AM sermon at Crestview, Deceptive Schemes (2 Samuel 14), is now online. Chapter 14 is really a transition out of 13 into 15 (obviously). The challenge related to what could be applied and what related to David’s story (and the building of Absalom’s character). In the end, I dug into the schemes and deception that Joab and Absalom engaged in to get their respective ways. I hope it encourages you.
My 2/2/2020 AM sermon at Crestview entitled Consequences of Sin (2 Samuel 13) is now online. This might be one of the most difficult passages I’ve had to handle in my years of ministry. I handled it because we are committed to God’s Word and the assurance we have that all of Scripture is profitable. In particular, this passage helped unfold some consequences of David’s sin with Bathsheba. Being able to consider what this means for our lives, while at the same helping see how this section fits with the overall story of David and the Bible is how I tried to proceed. I hope there’s something here for your encouragement.
My 1/26/2020 AM sermon at Crestview, Restoring Grace (2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51), is now online. This sermon dug into how God brought David back to Himself after the sin of 2 Samuel 11. Specifically, God’s grace expresses His displeasure of sin, causes us to own our sin, restores us to service, and provokes honest worship. I hope there’s some encouragement for you in these words.
My 1/19/20 AM sermon at Crestview Bible Church entitled Displeasing the Lord (2 Samuel 11) is now online. This sermon dug into the famous narrative of David and Bathsheba. Some call this David’s great sin. In this sermon, I tried to show how the downward spiral into sin happens. So, this was a heavy sermon (since we all sin). I hope this sermon provides some grace for you.
Like I mentioned last week, at Crestview, one of the helpful rhythms we have relates to starting the year with a Week of Prayer. On the heels of this week highlighting how we speak to God, we typically follow up with a sermon on how God speaks to us or the importance of the Bible. This is meant to rekindle joy and that some will engage in Bible intake with more regularity.
This year, my friend Kole Farney gave these two messages and they were so helpful. Yesterday, January 12, 2020, Kole’s sermon was entitled Red Letters Everywhere: Bible Reading As Listening to Jesus. He made the case from John’s Gospel that anytime we open up our Bibles and read, we are reading Jesus’ words. What a blessing to be able to start the year in this way. I hope you’ll engage with Kole’s sermon and find grace as you live this year.
Some resources Kole mentioned were:
The Dwell Bible App (the audio Bible app many use)
I love some Bible reading plans, too: