”For he that is dead is freed from sin.” –Romans 6:7The comedian Ray Stevens didn’t like to sit up with the dead because sometimes “the dead start sittin’ up too.” In reality, a dead body cannot respond to any kind of stimuli whatsoever. You can speak to it, command it, coax it, or con it but it …
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Are You Dead Yet?
December 10, 2005 Leave a Comment
Are You Sad?
December 9, 2005 Leave a Comment
”Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” –Psalm 42:5Did you know that almost one out of every ten Americans will enter into a mild form of depression this holiday season? It has in part to do …
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A New Counterculture
December 8, 2005 Leave a Comment
”And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” –Acts 17:2-3In the 1970’s, America saw a …
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Common Grace
December 7, 2005 Leave a Comment
”(God) in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” –Acts 14:17This passage speaks of what is referred to as God’s …
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Everywhere
December 6, 2005 Leave a Comment
“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” –Acts 8:4Sometimes one little word in Scripture can speak volumes to our hungering hearts. Notice the word “everywhere.” We are quick to complain about the moral state of modern society, yet we are so slow to carry Christ …
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Blessed Persecution
December 5, 2005 Leave a Comment
”And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad… Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” –Acts 8:1, 4
At the close of Jesus’ ministry, just after His resurrection, He instructed the …
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No Turning Back
December 4, 2005 Leave a Comment
”This is that Moses… To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt.” –Acts 7:39Egypt has always symbolized the world, not in the physical sense, but in the sense of a false, humanistic, hedonistic philosophy which runs counter to the …
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Qualities of a Growing Church: LEADERSHIP
December 4, 2005 2 Comments
Did you know that the Bible is the greatest book on leadership ever written? Jesus was the greatest leader of all time, of course, but there are also many other examples of great leadership in Scripture. Joseph was an excellent leader among his brethren but he had to learn some lessons early on. Nehemiah was …
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Sermon Brief: Prepare to Be God’s Instrument
December 4, 2005 Leave a Comment
God’s Message to Mary: Prepare to Be God’s Instrument
Sermon Series: God's Christmas Messages to You
Based on Luke 1:26-38, 46-56
A couple of years ago I attended a men’s retreat in Richwoods, Missouri and decided to go horseback riding. I got on a horse that had a mind of its own (and it was my …
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I Just Can’t Help It
December 3, 2005 Leave a Comment
”For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” –Acts 4:20One of the greatest excuses in life is “I can’t help it.” I’m guilty of saying it often. We overeat, we overreact, we overdo it and we say, “well, I just can’t help it, that’s just how I am.” Even worse, we’ll …
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