7 Reasons God Deserves My Praise October 25, 2016 Year C Psalm 65:1-13 During an awards ceremony, when a person wins a prize or an award, they are praised for their accomplishments and achievements. The person who introduces the winner will spend time telling you why the person who receives the award or prize is deserving of it. In Psalm 65, we see David introducing God as the nominee for the Praise award. David gives a speech in the form... Read more
Revelation 16:1-16 The Final Warnings to Come to Christ When you know that someone will soon be in danger, you take the time warn them about that danger. Here, we see that God knows that there are people who don’t know Jesus Christ. The last people who have made a decision for Jesus under the time of Tribulation are getting ready to experience the greatest set of warnings to remind them of their need for God. In this case, the... Read more
5 Prayers To Protect Me Everyday October 19, 2016 Year C Psalm 57:1-11 Just like David, sometimes we look for protection against the dangers in life. In the case of David, he was a fugitive. King Saul sent out people to try to kill David. Yet, no matter what the danger may be, we can feel just as insecure as David perhaps felt. In this prayer, David calls out to pray for protection. He begs God to help him during... Read more
Worshiping an Unknown God October 13, 2016 Year C Acts 17:22-34 People say they believe in God, but they don’t know Him or worship Him. People say they are religious, but they don’t go to church. People like to enjoy the latest fad, but they don’t want to make commitments. We live in very similar times as the people of Athens in this passage. We live in a world where people are worshiping an unknown God. They worshiped God in... Read more
Psalm 66:1-20 Praising God’s Work In My Life Most commentators believe that Psalm 66 was penned by Hezekiah, king of Judah, after the Lord delivered the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the attack of the Assyrian army. Although the city was surrounded by 185,000 Assyrians, Isaiah had prophesied that not a single arrow from an Assyrian bow would make its way into Jerusalem (37:33). Indeed, that night, an angel of the Lord came and slaughtered the entire army (2 Kings). It... Read more
Top Ten Lectionary Websites Here are my top ten places to go when I use the lectionary. Many pastors use the lectionary in their preaching. From time to time, I will use the lectionary for a Bible study or a sermon. I find it helpful to address the same scriptures and themes that many churches around the world are engaging. As a result, I go to these websites to help enrich my sermon preparation. Some of these websites contain links to... Read more
Hearing God in Conversation by Samuel C. Williamson Hearing God in Conversation by Samuel C. Williamson is a book that was written to help the reader “recognize God’s voice everywhere.” Williamson begins with the premise that God does speak and that He wants to talk with us (40-41) (John 10:3, Jeremiah 33:3, Revelation 3:20, John 16:13, Isaiah 30:21, John 8:47, Psalm 32:8.) In Chapter 1, Williamson illustrates how God speaks in multiple methods and moments (44-54). In Chapter 2, Williamson... Read more
Psalm 85:1-13 The Four Stanzas of Revival In the middle of this month, our church will host a revival. The music group The Texans will come to lead serves for four days. In order to prepare for this time, I wanted to share with you from God’s Word today about revival. Let me first say something about the nature of revival. D.A. Carson makes an interesting comment about the modern-day revival: First, the word “revival” embedded in these questions is... Read more
Psalm 67:1-7 God’s Blessings That He Gives Me Psalm 67:1-7 God’s Blessings That He Gives Me Are For God’s Glory Why does God bless you? Why does He give you what He has given you? Is it for your own pleasure? Is it to satisfy your own desires? Is it to make you happy? No. The purpose of God’s blessing on us is for His glory. God uses us and what He gives us to point people to Him.1 “May... Read more
7 Characteristics of the Celebration of God’s People Two simultaneous scenes are played out there in Revelation. In the first scene (Revelation 15:1) , we are introduced to the players of the last set of judgments, the angels. In the second scene (Revelation 15:2-4), we see the celebration of God’s people in worship. Finally, we return to the first scene in Revelation 15:5-8, we see the angels leave the sanctuary to perform the task of pouring the bowls of... Read more
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