No Room For Jesus

A sermon from Luke 2:1-7 Two thousand years ago, the most powerful man in the world was Caesar Augustus and Caesar made a decree that everyone within the Roman Empire had to be registered. In order to register, however, you had to return to your hometown. Joseph, the man engaged to Mary, lived in the […]

What the Word of God Does

When the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, good things happen. The Bible tells us, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). So […]

The Pastor and Study

In three separate spots around my office, I have Nehemiah 6:3 posted: “And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” Why post such a verse, you ask? Well, it is a […]

The Minister as a Shining Light

Jonathan Edwards: A minister is set to be a light to men’s souls, by teaching, or doctrine. And if he be a shining light in this respect, the light of his doctrine must be bright and full; it must be pure without mixtures of darkness; and therefore he must be sound in the faith, not […]

What People Believe About Hell

According to a recent poll (June 6, 2013), “56 percent of Americans surveyed believe in the devil, 53 percent believe in hell and 43 percent believe in hell as “a place of suffering and punishment where people go after they die”. Some might think these numbers are low, but it is quite remarkable that more […]

Teaching and Modeling in Ministry

In 2 Timothy 3:10-11, the apostle Paul reminds Timothy, “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and suffering that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra – which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord […]

An Invitation to Study the Prophets

For several months now, our adult Sunday school class has been working through the book of Isaiah. One of our elders, John Sensenig, has been our tour guide through this grand Old Testament book. Currently, we are in chapter 32, which means we are almost midway through (a total of 66 chapters). In addition, our […]

A Warning For Teachers

James 3:1 tells us, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Teaching in the church is not open to the masses. Only those who have a clear calling from God should venture down this path. James’ reasoning is simple – […]

Pastoral Envy

The tenth commandment reads as follows: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17). This is simple enough to understand – don’t envy your neighbor for what […]

Consecutive Expository Preaching

Over the past several months, I have preached from several different genres of Scripture – Gospels, Epistles, and Prophets. I typically pick a portion of Scripture and then work through it verse by verse, emphasizing the authors intended meaning. This is called expository preaching. For the most part, however, I have not preached consecutively through […]