Sermons

How do we go about making good decisions and discerning God's will?

Sermons on 2 Timothy

Some people, things, and situations can drive us crazy. But God can use them in beneficial ways, if we approach them and God with the right mindset.

The Apostles' Creed provides the basics of our faith in a concise statement. Legend has it that the Apostles themselves wrote it, even assigning specific articles to specific Apostles, but during the Reformation that notion was generally lost. A better way to view this creed is as Apostolic teaching. This series explores the deep truths contained in these short statements.

Genuine community and fellowship in Christ: we all want it. Do we know how-and are we willing-to cultivate it? Scripture guides us with many "one another" commands: love one another, encourage one another, speak truth in love to one another, etc. How might these commands deepen your relationship with God and with others?

A lot of us suffer of arrhythmia in life. We succumb to the tyranny of the urgent, which pushes the important aside. Instead of resolving to crowd more things into your life in 2015, resolve to

restore more rhythm, making room for important spiritual practices.

Transition to the new year offers a chance for reflection, looking both backwards and forwards.

Advent is a season of waiting and expectation. What are we waiting for, other than Christmas presents?

We are often tempted to practice "light" faith, ignoring the call to do things that are difficult and sacrificial.

Jesus is Lord of all things, not just some things. Remembering this can help us keep life's struggles in perspective. As Dutch theologian Abraham Kyper put it, "There is not one inch of the world that Christ does not claim, saying, 'That is mine.'"

Church and faith provide the tie that connects us to God and to each other.

Suffering for the Christian faith, in various forms, is inevitable. Persecution happens because of who people are, not what they do, so even though Christians may sometimes act stupidly, we don't "have it coming" because of the actions of some. Jesus warns us that, just as he was persecuted, we will be persecuted for our faith, even in a comparatively protected country like the U.S.