Sermon Notes

While every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, this last Sunday we celebrated the very day when Christ rose from the grave. In Sunday's sermon from 1 Timothy 3:16 we consider the full impact of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. In six compact statements Paul outlines the major turning points associated with Christ's resurrection. Truly, the church is bui...

On Sunday we focused on the death and resurrection of Christ. While Psalm Sunday directs us to Christ's triumphal entrance to Jerusalem, we focused on Paul's message of the cross in 1 Timothy 2:57. As 1 Timothy 23 spend time on Christ's death and resurrection, we considered how his one death ransomed people from every nation. Indeed, speaking into the divided context of E...

When you hear the words "church" and "drama," what comes to mind? At best, church drama conjures up images of Christmas Cantatas or Passion plays. At worst, church drama brings up painful memories of infighting and relational strife in church meetings. Too often, drama in the church carries a negative connotation, one that always threatens the church. In response to this...

In our sermon this Sunday we considered 1 Timothy 3:1416. In many respects it provides the highpoint of 1 Timothy. Paul provides his purpose for writing and gives the context for the instructions that he has written to Timothy and the church in this epistle. He provides the instructions for how we ought to conduct ourselves in the household of God, the church of the living...

Who do you say you are? And what importance does your family play in defining your answer? On Sunday we completed part 2 of a message looking at the household of God in 1 Timothy 2:815. We also considered just how much our culture's individualism works against our understanding of the Bible, especially this passage. Throughout Scripture, God's work of salvation is always...

Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." On Sunday we had a good chance to apply that passage, as we saw how 1 Timothy 2:915 is profitable for all God's people. Unfortunately, Paul's words a...

Politics, prayer, and people. Those three things make for a volatile mix. Corporate prayer in itself can be a difficult skill for the people of God to master. Both those who vocalize prayers and those who participate have challenges, including -- but not limited to -- boredom, aimlessness, and even sermonizing during prayer. As we continue our journey through Paul's first ...

On Sunday we saw how Paul shares the story of his salvation and what God's grace in his life teaches us about the gospel. Amazingly, God's grace does not come in response to Paul's repentance and faith. Rather, God's grace is the source and start of Paul's faith. The same is true for you and I. And the more we see the source of our faith as God alone, the more God's grace...

This Sunday we considered 1 Timothy 1:811 and the good news of God's law. If there is anything in church history that has puzzled and divided Christians it is the relationship between the law and the gospel. Yet, in this passage we are given a clear understanding of how Paul read the Law of Moses. With application for today, Sunday's sermon sought to show how Paul read th...

All the Scriptures, butespecially the Pastoral Epistles, talk a lot about false teaching. This shouldn't surprise us. If the gospel is the priceless message of salvation inChrist, then false teaching and false teachers are the gospel's greatest threat. Yet, false teaching is not just what we may find on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), it is found in our own hearts and...