Text Sermons
Freed for Newness of Life (Romans 6: 1-5)
Whenever we behold someone emerging from the baptismal waters, we hear the Biblical formula gleaned from Romans 6 pronounced over that new believer: “Buried with Christ in baptism; raised to walk in newness of life.” To watch someone emerge from the baptismal waters...
Choices That Define Our Cross (Matthew 16: 24-26)
The Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what does it profit a man, if he gains the...
The Freedom of Surrender (Pslams 55: 1-8; 22)
We think of the term “psychological breakdown” as thoroughly modern. But do not the opening words of this psalm describe a man on the verge of a physical, emotional and spiritual collapse? He cries out, “I am overcome by my trouble; I am distraught because of the...
From One Extreme to the Other (Matthew 26: 30-35; Acts 9: 1-6)
The late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who was so elegantly eulogized this week, once held the NBA record for the most three-pointers made in one game, twelve -- including nine in a row. What the record books will not record is that on the night before he set...
The Illusion of Choice (Genesis 25: 7-11; Revelation 1: 8)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the God who is and was and is to come, the Almighty.” Keep that verse in mind as you ponder the fate of a young British soccer fan named Tony Bland, who, in 1989, was caught amidst a thronging mob at a big game and...