"You will not want for yourself your neighbor’s house; you will not want for yourself your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s." Exodus 20:17 With this Commandment we come to the end of the "Words" that God spoke to his people at Sinai. The warning that he gave that we should not long to have for ourselves that which belongs to our neighbors serves to cap off, and bring to a conclusion, this handful of directions for living. We ...
Are most people going to heaven? Well, most people think they are. According to researcher, George Barna, 98% of Americans believe they are going to heaven. When read the statement, "When you die you will not go to heaven," only two out of a hundred agreed.1 The Lord Jesus disagreed. He said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there ...
Big Idea: Paul anticipates here in verses 21–26 Martin Luther's famous question, “How can I, a sinner, stand before a holy God?” The apostle's answer is that at the cross of Jesus Christ, the judging righteousness of God (his holiness) is reconciled to God's saving righteousness (his mercy) such that God is at once both just and the justifier of him whose faith is in Jesus. Understanding the Text Romans 1:17–18 signaled two aspects of divine righteousness: saving righteousness and judging righteousness. ...
Psalm 14:1-7, 1 Timothy 1:12-20, Jeremiah 4:5-31, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
Recovering The Lost Most of us have experienced loss. It may be money or something else of value. It may be a pet or an animal we were raising. It may be a person who rebelled against the family or cut all ties with church and community. Loss always results in sadness. If the loss is due to our carelessness or our actions, we probably have a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomach. It is a combination of guilt and sadness at the same time. Even if the loss may not be of great value, we may spend hours ...
And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43) Have you ever thought about how lonely Jesus was as He made His way to Calviary’s hill and hung on its cross to die? Someone has compared it to the feeling you get in the hospital as you are being wheeled into the operating room. You feel radically alone as you wave good-bye to your family and friends, because they can’t undergo your surgery for you! You have to do it yourself. You are surrounded by people - the ...
The story escalated towards its climax as viewers sat breathlessly riveted to their seats. The beautiful young woman stands in the doorway, tears cascading down her cheeks as she pans the green rolling hills of her 100-acre estate, looking for Joel. The camera follows her eyes, peering towards the large iron gate fronting her palatial abode. Then suddenly appearing is the faint figure of a dashing young man, clad in resplendent blue military decor, red scarf flowing in the wind, with high black saddle ...
Greg Anderson, in Living Life on Purpose tells a story about a man whose wife had left him. He was completely depressed. He had lost faith in himself, in other people, in God--he found no joy in living. One rainy morning this man went to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. Although several people were at the diner, no one was speaking to anyone else. Our miserable friend hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee with a spoon. In one of the small booths along the window was a young mother ...
The Bible admonishes us to love God, but it also embellishes on the point. It admonishes us to love God with all the heart that we have, all the soul that we have and all the mind that we have. Our intent in these pages is to land on the third dimension of our love for God, our willingness to love God with our minds. That may strike some as a bit unusual - loving someone with our mind (we usually love with our hearts), but then loving God is a different matter than loving our spouses or our children. ...
I am thrilled to see a powerful airplane cut a straight path across the sky, above the mountains and the rivers, homing in on some distant destination. I am much moved when I watch a huge ocean liner disengage from the dock, slowly make its way out to the harbor’s edge, and then swing about, point its stately prow toward an oceanside city 3,000 miles away, and open all engines to full power. And I am inspired when I see a man who moves through life as though he is going somewhere and knows where he is ...
One of my favorite musical forms is the spiritual. For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite spirituals has been “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.” I don’t know why, exactly. I like the melody. I like some of the images it calls to mind. It stirs up some deep feelings within me. I don’t know, I just like it. But recently, some of the words have been troubling me. All throughout the song there is the recurring phrase, “We didn’t know who you was,” or, “We didn’t know ‘twas you.” One typical verse says, “The ...
Contrary to what you might think, "Out with the old in with the new" is not the title of an Elizabeth Taylor Seminar on marriage. But it is the title of my message as we leave an old year and enter a new year. I was interested to learn that the month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was a god that had two faces. One face looked back to the old year; the other face looked forward to the new year. On the last day of any year, I think we all have two faces. One face looks backward to a year ...
If I asked you this morning to name the most significant doctrines of Protestant Christianity, the two that would come to your mind immediately and would probably be named most frequently are: Justification by Grace through Faith, and the Priesthood of All Believers. This year we are celebrating the 500th birthday of Martin Luther, the fellow started the conflagration of religious revival and reformation that swept throughout the world and there has hardly been a time since that reformation started when ...
If I have ever done a series of messages in my life that struck home, hit a nerve, scratched an itch or met a real felt need it is the series that we are concluding today that we have called “Lost Baggage.” As we have said repeatedly, everybody has baggage. Even if you grew up in what you would consider a perfect environment, that environment itself may have loaded you with baggage. What kind of baggage do people carry? Many times it’s relationships baggage. Maybe a failed marriage in your past. Maybe you ...
It is not only one of the most famous broadcasting calls in sports history, it is probably the only one that asked a theological question and for sure the only one that gave the correct theological answer, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” To be honest, that unbelievable upset of the United States beating Russia for the Gold Medal in Hockey in 1980 was as close to a miracle in the sports world as you might ever get. But it really wasn’t a miracle. Anybody that knows anything about sports knows that ...
The Law of the Temple – Intro to Ezek. 40–48: The book of Ezekiel ends as it began: with a vision of the Glory of the Lord. Like all four visions in the book, this one begins with Ezekiel’s favorite expression for entry into the visionary state, “the hand of the LORD was upon me” (40:1; see the discussion of 1:3, and compare 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1). However, chapters 40–48 are linked particularly with chapters 1–3 and 8–11, the other two visions of the Lord’s Glory. Not only theme, but also structure join ...
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. (Genesis 2:18) Ask a chauvinist where a woman's place is and he or she will say, "A woman's place is in the home," or, "A woman's place is subordinate to the man's." Ask a feminist where a woman's place is and she or he will say, "A woman's place is wherever she chooses to be," or, "A woman's place is anywhere a man's place is." Ask a chauvinist and a feminist what the Bible says about a woman's place and chances are that ...
Not long ago I was driving down the interstate. I saw standing by the road a young man, not very impressive in appearance, who seemed to have all he owned in two bags. As I went by he held up a sign with one word on it: "Home." I wanted to stop and help him get home and yet because of the way things are today I did not even slow down. But I have often wondered where home was - and if he got there and what happened when he arrived. Immediately after his baptism and his time in the wilderness the first thing ...
Another of the apostles of Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, was selected by our congregation as one of the favorite men of the Bible: John, often called "the beloved disciple." Like Simon Peter, he too was one of the "inner three" - the three disciples whom Jesus seemed to choose to be with him on special occasions. Jesus had a large group of followers; of those, he selected twelve. Of the twelve, he seemed partial to the "inner three." And if we go one step farther, John was probably even closer to Jesus ...
I've told you this story before, but it's been a long time. And even if it had not been, it's the most appropriate story I know to introduce our theme for today. It's the story of one of my most meaningful experiences. I have a friend who is a Benedictine monk. The way we live out our lives is vastly different, but I feel a real kinship, a oneness of spirit with Brother Sam. One of the most meaningful memories, to which I return often in my mind, is an evening he and I spent together alone, sharing our ...
If you haven't yet seen the trilogy of movies called, The Lord Of The Rings you really need to see it. It is not only clean, but it is extremely thought provoking. The author of the work upon which those movies are based was a man named J. R. R. Tolkien. A little known fact about Tolkien is he was the man that was instrumental in bringing C.S. Lewis to faith in Jesus Christ. He spent much of his early life as an agnostic and then an atheist, but through a meeting one night with Tolkien, he became a ...
At the center of Ezekiel 40–48 in its final form is a law code. It is the only body of law in the Hebrew Bible that is not ascribed to Moses. This material falls into three parts: an introduction (43:10–27), the main body of the law code (44:1–46:18), and an appendix dealing with the temple kitchens (46:19–24). The law code itself deals broadly with access to the divine presence by right priesthood and right liturgy. These chapters also describe a secular leader (called the nasiʾ, the term generally used ...
The temple discourse begins anew with a notice that Jesus cried out. This second announcement (vv. 28–29), like the first (vv. 16–19), initiates an encounter with the crowd, yet itself comes as a response to something already expressed. As verses 16–19 addressed the question that perplexed the religious authorities in verse 15, so verses 28–29 address the debate among the people of Jerusalem in verses 25–27. Specifically, they address the objection that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because everyone knows ...
Prop: dusty bowl This bowl hasn’t been used in a long time. You can tell, because it’s covered in dust. It hasn’t been touched, cleaned, moved, because it’s been here in this church on this shelf a very long time. [You could also refer to something in a glass case or anything that has sat around for a while.] It’s not being used in ministry or worship. It isn’t something that is used in healing people or baptizing them. It’s here on the shelf, gathering dust. This is perhaps one of the best metaphors we ...
If we cannot relate to Joseph and appreciate his situation, then our lives are simple, easy lives indeed. Now, by relating to Joseph or understanding what he endured, I don't mean to suggest that we all either have been engaged or married to someone impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Even in our frantic search for ways to explain how such a thing might have happened, we probably didn't think of blaming the Holy Spirit! We relate to Joseph and appreciate his struggle in a different way, a much more practical ...
Ever hear of a baby born wearing diapers? Of course not! Ever hear of a person being born again wearing nothing but a cross? This happened to St. Francis of Assisi. When Francis decided to be a priest; his father disinherited him and brought him to trial before a bishop. Peter Bernardone demanded that his son give back all the money he took from him for the church and the poor. Francis threw a bag of money at his father's feet. Francis shuddered when he saw how his father clung to the money. Francis called ...