Sermon for 5/14/2011 Text: Acts 2:42-47 Five years ago, I had a rock band called the Junior Varsity Superheroes that was going to make it big. We had recorded a CD and got some reviews. We were gearing up for a CD release party in April of 2006. But in the midst of this excitement, we had some conflict. I wanted us to go all in, sending our press kit out to venues and festivals all over the country, with... Read more
Sermon for 5/7/2011 Text: Acts 2:22-24, 36-41 How many of y’all like the band Bon Jovi? I know that some of you were probably in college when the song “Shot through the heart” came out. I was in third grade and I remember driving around with my uncle blaring his Bon Jovi tape through his neighborhood in south Texas. I could actually hit the high notes then. “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame; darling you give love a... Read more
Sermon for Holy Saturday, 4/23/2011 Text: Romans 8:18-28 How many of you know the musical “Bye Bye Birdie”? We performed it in middle school. One of the songs is called “Put on a happy face.” I used to sing it to my son Matthew as my personal coping mechanism whenever he used to cry as a toddler: “Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face; brush off the clouds and cheer up, put on a happy face.... Read more
Sermon for Palm Sunday, 4/16/2011 Text: Matthew 21:1-11 So what kind of a king rides into his royal city on a donkey? A donkey is not exactly the most elegant of creatures. It’s hard to wrap our head around this reality because donkeys make us think petting zoos and petting zoos make us think “cute.” So here’s a picture. Now if Jesus was riding a donkey back then, what kind of a ride do you think he would he have... Read more
Walking in the Valley Lenten Series #4, 4/3/2011 Text: Psalm 22 When I was young and stupid, I used to argue with my wife about whether or not it was okay to leave my son in the car and run into a gas station to use the restroom. My wife would say this constitutes abandoning your child, even if the kid is taking a nap, even if you need to go to the bathroom really bad, even though there are... Read more
Walking in the Valley Lenten Series #3, 3/26/2011 Text: Mark 14:1-11 During my sophomore year at UVA, I betrayed my school. Some of you may remember Steve Wojciechowski, the most hated point guard in Duke basketball history. In Wojo’s senior year, the Blue Devils came to play at UVA and I went to the game wearing a Duke sweatshirt. UVA was up by 1 with less than two seconds remaining. Wojo got the ball and dribbled it quickly down the... Read more
Walking in the Valley Lenten Series #2, 3/19/2011 Text: Mark 14:32-42 One of my favorite books is Where the Wild Things Are. How many of you read that book when you were little? I remember my dad telling me after reading it that if I had scary monsters in my dreams, I should ask them to play with me and it really worked. Sometimes fears have simple solutions, but that isn’t always true. So what are you afraid of? How... Read more
Walking in the Valley Lenten Series #1, 3/12/2011 Text: Psalm 42 Last week, we talked about being on the mountaintop with Jesus. Now, during Lent, we will be walking with Him through the valley to the cross. There are many aspects to the journey that Christ took to the place called Calvary where he was crucified – he dealt with pain, fear, betrayal, saying goodbye to loved ones, feeling like His own Father had abandoned Him. This first week, we... Read more
Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday, 3/5/2011 Text: Matthew 17:1-13 How many of y’all have ever climbed a mountain? Raise your hand if it was higher than 5000 feet. Raise your hand if it was higher than 10,000 feet. Raise your hand if it was higher than 15,000 feet. The highest mountain I’ve ever been up was Pikes Peak in Colorado which is 14,000 feet, and we cheated because we drove to the top. Well, you wanna know how high the mountain... Read more
Sermon for 2/27/2011 Text: Matthew 6:25-34 Not to make anyone jealous, but last weekend my family went to Florida. I was actually on the beach as I was looking at the sermon text for this week on not worrying. And it made sense, down there where the temperature is so perfect that you can leave your windows open at night. Nobody is in too great a hurry or too big a worry. Except for one thing! If there’s perfect weather... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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