From One Degree to Another

My 8/15/21 sermon, Regarding Ministry (1 Corinthians 4:1-5), is now online. In the day and age we live in there is a lot of confusion about what ministry is and what we should make of it. Using Paul’s instruction to the church at Corinth, I try to help us chart a way forward in thinking about these things. I hope it encourages you.

Support systems abound in the world we live in. Whether load-bearing walls, support staff, or calling tech support if we’re stuck, we need support. In this sermon, Supporting the Church (1 Corinthians 3:16-23), I try to show the punchy reminders that Paul gives the church at Corinth, so they can live in a way that glorifies God. I hope it encourages you.

My 8/1/21 sermon, Building God’s Church (1 Corinthians 3:10-15), is now online. The sermon expanded on the idea of 1 Corinthians 3:9, which told us that the people that make up the church are God’s construction. He’s at work to build this church and committed to her. In these verses, Paul gives some instructions on how we build the church, being subcontracted by God for this amazing task. My sermon dug into these thoughts. I hope it encourages you.

At Crestview, I continue to make progress through the book of 1 Corinthians. My sermon from 7/25/21, Godly Growth (1 Corinthians 3:1-9), is now online. The sermon was built on the idea of being a roadblock to the growth God is accomplishing in our midst. I opened with an illustration about the speed bumps at Washington University in St. Louis. Obviously, the Corinthians were notoriously moving away from the foolishness of the cross to exalt personalities and worldly wisdom. This text was another way to illuminate their thinking around what God was doing. I hope it encourages you.

With all the busyness of youth camp (maybe I’ll write up some reflections on that later), I didn’t post links to my sermons on 7/11 and 7/18, so here goes…

On 7/11/21, we continued our series in 1 Corinthians by Assessing Maturity (1 Corinthians 2:6-10). In that particular passage, there is a contrast between human wisdom and godly wisdom. And, this all gets at how the Corinthians were positioning themselves as “mature.” This sermon, then, sought to dig into these ideas so that God’s Word can rightly read us.

On 7/18/21, we wrapped up chapter 2 with a sermon entitled, The Spiritual Person (1 Corinthians 2:11-16). Again, Paul is after the Corinthians and their boasting as “spiritual people.” So, he highlights some of the work of the Holy Spirit and how we must depend on Him, get understanding from Him, so that we may find truth in Jesus.

I hope these sermons encourage you in your walk with Jesus.

My 7/4/21 sermon at Crestview, Boasting in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5), is now online. Continuing our church’s series in 1 Corinthians, this sermon dug into 2 questions for God’s people: will we boast in the Lord? and will we rest in God’s power? The boasting question flows out of the Corinthians to remember their calling and how God worked in their heart. The power question relates to Paul’s view of ministry and how we served the Corinthians.

I think this passage is readily applicable to our lives. I hope it encourages you.

I was able to be back in the pulpit at Crestview on Sunday, June 20 and my sermon, Appeal To Unity (1 Corinthians 1:10-17), is now online. There are so many types of unity we have in the world we live in. By and large, though, we can easily miss the power behind what sustains the unity of God’s people: the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. This sermon sought to unpack this issue in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. I hope it encourages you.

My 6/6/21 sermon at Crestview, Greeting Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:1-3), launched a new series for our church and dug us into the some of the realities of this important letter Paul wrote the church at Corinth. And, what was remarkable at the outset of this letter is that Paul greets them as sanctified saints (1 Corinthians 1:2) in spite of all the issues he will address in this book. I don’t know about you, but that sure encourages someone like me who doesn’t always get it right. I hope the sermon encourages you and provokes a diving into the book of 1 Corinthians.

My 5/10/21 sermon at Crestview, YOUR (Luke 15:8-10), is now online. This is part of the ongoing series of Love Your Neighbor As Yourself, helping people to understand God’s heart for people who don’t have a relationship with Him. And, what’s prompting the parables of Luke 15 are religious people who are grumbling that Jesus is spending too much time with people unlike them. So, I hope this series is helping you and encouraging you to have a heart like Him.

My 5/2/21 sermon at Crestview Bible Church, LOVE (Luke 15:1-7), is now online. The sermon launched a series for our church in the month of May encouraging us to love your neighbor as yourself. The hope is that our people would loving others in both word and deed. And, Luke 15 helps us see that religious people don’t do this well and need help from Jesus Himself to get there. I hope this sermon encourages you.