Sermon Leftovers

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the world's most popular readings for weddings. These lines are perhaps the most poetic words Paul ever wrote. Here we find a simple and beautiful description of what love is and what love is not. Love is NOT a Feeling Feelings come and go. In a given day, any person may experience hundreds of various and conflicting feelings. Even couples who are deeply in love experience a wide range of feelings toward one another. Paul says love is lasting and eternal. On this matter, at least, Boston got it right. Love is " More Than A Feeling ." Love is Selfless Reading through Paul's description of love, it becomes clear that true love thinks first of others and lastly of self. Jesus said as much in John 15 when He said the greatest love of all is the one who gives his life for the good of others. Paul described this type of love in his Philippians 2 hymn honoring the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. God's love, in John 3:16, was mad

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Last Sunday, I preached on Romans 12:1-2. During my preparation, I always create a personal paraphrase of the passage from which I'm teaching. Here was this week's paraphrase: After everything I’ve said, now I must call you to action. Because of God’s mercy, give your whole self over to Him. Don’t hold anything back and don’t hold on to any old sins. This type of worship is the best way to respond to Him. You’ve been renewed, so let it change the way you think. You shouldn’t look like the world anymore, but your life should mirror God’s will. That’s the best way to live. I never get to preach all the content I discover while preparing. Here are 10 Observations from Romans 12 I made while studying over the past few weeks. Paul’s appeal was based on the truths he had already shared. Primarily, Paul’s appeal is rooted in God’s mercy toward us . We must understand Romans 1-11 as an exposition of God’s mercy. Even Romans 1, which speaks of God’s wrath, is an explanati

I read the first verse of Psalm 31 and sighed deeply. I could tell this wasn’t going to meet me where I was today. “In you O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.” That’s just not my experience in the past several years I thought. I tried to take refuge in God. I tried to do what was right. I tried to rely on Him to come through when the hour got darkest. And He didn’t. I was, in my opinion, put to shame. Verse 2 wasn’t much better. “Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily!” I remember praying those words. I remember begging for a speedy rescue, and then comforting myself that God doesn’t always work on our timeline. He doesn’t always provide a rescue the way we think He should. I didn’t want to read any further. I was content to roll around in the mud of my disappointing past. As often happens, the stream of memories flooded over me… the lies, the betrayals, the agonizing choices all felt as if they were my life today, not the fading past the

Everyone experiences stress and anxiety in their lives, but no one needs to live there. Anxiety Island is a lonely place where we believe the lie that no one else could possibly understand what we are going through. Jesus understands because He has been there. Because He suffered in every way like we do, we know we can look to Him to find the way out of anxiety and into God's peace which is the alternative to anxiety. On the night Jesus had every reason to break down from anxiety, he prayed. Prayer is the alternative to anxiety. Philippians 4:6-7 says: "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Turning our stress over to God allows us to rest in His peace instead of rolling around in our own panic. In the previous verses, Paul recommended constant rejo