My 12/18/16AM sermon, Tidings of Comfort using Matthew 1:18-25 as a guide, is now online. My sermon is shorter than I typically preach. It wrapped up the Children’s Christmas Program we had at Crestview in the morning. Our children did an amazing job of centering us on the story of Christmas. My words simply helped bring a conclusion to what they said. Specifically, my message had to do with God coming near to save sinners. I hope it encourages you to look to Christ this Advent season.
This coming Sunday at Crestview, our children will be presenting a musical related to the story of Christmas. They usually begin the prelude (kids play instruments for the prelude on this week) around 10:10. Then, we’ll have some singing and the program will happen. Kids get sacks of candy as they leave this morning, too. It’s one of the funnest days of the year at Crestview.
For my preaching, I’ll start a short series for these final two weeks of Christmas entitled “Christmas: Tidings of Comfort and Joy”. This week will focus largely on the comfort brought by Jesus entering our world. Please join us.
I know this may be obvious for many of you, but Christmas is about Jesus.
He’s named Jesus because He would saved.
He’s named Christ because He would keep God’s promises.
He’s named Emmanuel because He is God with us.
So, take some time today to look to Him, behold Him, praise Him.
A bulk of my year has been spent preaching through the Gospel of John. So, I thought I’d write a post compiling all those sermons in one place:
Introducing the Gospel of John
The Word (John 1:1-18)
John the Baptist’s Witness (John 1:19-34)
Calling Followers (John 1:35-51)
Don’t Disbelieve; Believe (Easter 2016)
Water To Wine (John 2:1-12)
Cleansing The Temple (John 2:13-25)
Eternal Life (John 3:1-21)
Exalting Christ (John 3:22-36)
Savior of the World (John 4:1-42)
Your Son Will Live (John 4:43-54)
Seeking To Kill Jesus (John 5:1-18)
Hearing And Believing (John 5:19-47)
Jesus Is Enough (John 6:1-21)
Bread of Life (John 6:22-40)
Bread from Heaven (John 6:41-71)
Judging Jesus Rightly (John 7:1-24)
Is This The Christ? (John 7:25-52)
Light of the World (John 8:12-59)
Light of Works (John 9:1-41)
Shepherd and Sheep (John 10:1-42)
Resurrection and Life (John 11:1-54)
Haters Gonna Hate (John 11:55-12:19)
Come To This Hour (John 12:20-50)
Love To The End (John 13:1-38)
Trouble Free Hearts (John 14:1-14)
Neither Be Afraid (John 14:15-31)
Abiding (John 15:1-11)
Closing Communications (John 15:12-27)
So Long, Farewell (John 16:1-15)
Sorrow Turned to Joy (John 16:16-33)
Jesus Prays (John 17:1-26)
Betrayed, Tried, Denied (John 18:1-27)
Pilate’s Problems (John 18:28-19:16a)
Jesus’s Death (John 19:16b-42)
Resurrection Realities (John 20:1-18)
Peace Be With You (John 20:19-31)
Following Jesus (John 21:1-25)
I really do hope these sermons help you believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).
Here’s the prayer I included in my opening prayer for Week 3 of Advent on Joy from the Austin Stone Story Team:
O GIVER OF LIFE AND GOD OF INFINITE JOY,
Long ago we hid our faces in pity and fear, terrified at the reach of Your holiness.
Our overburdened hearts lay heavy with despair, aching with the lack of Your presence.
We were bathed in wickedness and shadowed by fear,
A hopeless people, drunk on worldly pride and self-indulgent pleasures.
We sought to gratify our desires with everything but You
Until we had only tears and foolishness as our feeble companions.
And yet,
You wrote a story of joy eternal before we even drew a breath,
That a human baby, born to the world in straw and dust
Would carry the name of salvation and the mantle of triumphant peace.
You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.
And all the lowly and exalted of the earth rejoice together
That a miracle was birthed for us
On a starry night foretold by prophets.
And now, through Him, You have made a way for all Your children
To fall headlong into the grace You freely supplied.
O God of our Salvation, Your love flows unabated and all-consuming.
Your love never fails and forever mends our hearts,
To swell with the fullness of joy.
His kingdom is of everlasting joy, founded on unshakeable truth.
All His ways are peace, and there is no shame in them.
All His ways are joy, and we are enriched by His promises.
He is the Rock upon which we are built; and He will not be moved.
He is mighty, and He is gentle; He is power, and He is joy!
You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.
Amen.
My 12/11/16AM sermon, Following Jesus from John 21:1-25, is now online, including Small Group Questions. This sermon wrapped up my 37 sermons in the Gospel of John. It’s been an amazing year walking with Jesus in this book. This sermon pressed us to be followers of Him as we see who He is, He deals with our past, and focuses us on Him. I hope it encourages you.
Isaiah 9:6 told of a child being born on whom we could bank all of our hopes, who had the authority to do something about it, and would give us more that we would ever dream…
…and, those realities are all found in Jesus. He’s the One to whom all praise is due.
So, today, praise God for sending His Son for us.
This coming Sunday at Crestview, I finish the Gospel of John with a message on John 21:1-25 entitled Follow Me. 2016 began with me wrapping up 1, 2, 3 John and I quickly got after the Gospel. Now, this will sermon #37 in this book. It’s been an amazing journey. And, fittingly, it ends with the Risen Christ going after His disciples and drawing them to the priority of following Him. I hope this sermon encourages you and I’d love to see you there this coming Sunday.
It’s also Crestview’s Annual Member’s Meeting. I’m looking forward to a great day.
This past Sunday, I read the following prayer from the Austin Stone Story team related to Advent and the theme of love:
O GOD OF LOVE,
Stir our affections to the most radiant wonder in all of the world: the advent, the giving life and work in the person of your beloved Son, Christ Jesus.
He, the perfection of our eternal hope secured.
He, the glorious manifestation of exquisite, flawless, and transcendent love.
He, our Redeemer King.
When all creation groaned in plight, affliction, and death,
You gave us this holy night–
a newborn King,
a Prince of Peace, a heritage of hope.
When we feel unable to rise, too sluggish to respond, too content with the world’s shadows of satisfaction,
Steady our gaze on the cross,
Where Your inexhaustible, indestructible, all-consuming love is displayed,
Where Your perfect sacrifice paid the debt our sin accrued,
Where the light of Your love absorbed all darkness in us.
You have shown us love
from the beginning of time, through the ages, and for eternity forevermore.
We are saved, sealed, and satisfied
by Your love, through Your love, and for Your love.
O God, You are Love!
You are light and life, our greatest prize!
Your steadfast love is our eternal refuge.
You are our reason to worship.
Unabashedly, adoringly, with full voice and fervor we sing:
Praise be, to our God and King,
Our beloved, our fortress,
Our love and hope forevermore!
Amen.
This past weekend, I went to Kearney, NE to take part in a Saturate Everyday conference. Led by Jeff Vanderstelt, it was a deep dive in to the Gospel and how that shapes communities that are serious about reaching out in mission to their communities. Jeff is not only someone who has thought a lot about these things. He’s also someone who lives it. His book, Saturate, and forthcoming Gospel Fluency, are good words on what it looks like to be Jesus’s disciple on mission. I returned late Saturday night to preach on Sunday.
Elder’s Retreat
Then, at 1PM Sunday afternoon, I left to go to Kansas City with our Elders. We’re pictured here enjoying some KC barbecue. Why do we get away? Because while we pray each elder’s meeting, it often feels rushed. Retreat allows us to take our time and pray through many issues. Also, there are some things in church life that require longer discussions. The month to month, week by week we do keeps us busy and often free from being able to think about bigger vision for ministry. So, we try to get away regularly. We got back yesterday in time for the Women’s Ministry Event at Crestview.
So, this was my weekend…how was yours?
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