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Easter Sermon: Running on Empty (John 20:1-31)

April 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

Jesus’ empty tomb sends people running on that first Easter Sunday. Everyone is dashing through the cemetery, but why? They’re running to find answers to their questions and help with their confusion. They don’t know why Jesus’ body is not where they had put it the day before.

If I were to go to the gravesite of my parents at the Berks County Memorial Gardens in Reading, Pennsylvania, and I saw nothing but a big hole in the ground with no vaults or caskets, I’d be asking questions, too.

So the disciples are running around confused. And most of them are slow to believe in the resurrection—despite the fact that Jesus had said repeatedly it would happen. But here’s the good news: every time the risen Christ meets people after the resurrection, he helps them to believe in him.

Radiate, Part 6: Crossing Borders (Mark 7:24-37)

February 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

Christians have never been called to be hostile or obnoxious in society. We’ve been called to be a people of hope, filled with a sweetness of spirit and a gentleness of demeanor. As it says in Titus 2:10: we are to “make the teachings of Christ our Savior attractive.”

Or, to put it another way, the church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be a cranky little subculture, but a dynamic and joy-filled counterculture—one in which the surprising grace and spontaneous love of God is made known to our neighbors in real and tangible ways.

In Sermons Blind, Deaf, Demonization, Gospel, Grace, Great Commandment, Healing, Love, Mark, Mute, Neighbor, Racism, Radiate Sermon Series

Radiate, Part 5: Hospitality & Grace (Hebrews 13:1-14)

February 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Genuine hospitality is one of the tools in our gospel neighboring toolbox. Unfortunately, when we hear the word “hospitality,” we often think of Martha Stewart, the Cake Boss, or Better Homes & Garden. But those things are distortions of what the New Testament means by hospitality.

The command to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2) literally means to show love to people who are different from you. Sadly, in our culture, many people sit around mocking people who are different from them. But that is not to be the case among the followers of Christ. Quite the opposite.

In Sermons Gospel, Grace, Great Commandment, Hebrews, Hospitality, Love, Neighbor, Radiate Sermon Series

Radiate, Part 4: The Man at the Well (John 4:1-42)

February 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

We’ve seen in this series that messaging the gospel without neighboring the gospel undercuts the credibility of the gospel. In the famous story of “The Woman at the Well” (John 4:1-42), Jesus does both—messaging and neighboring—and the results are eternally significant, both for this woman and for many in her hometown.

By looking at Jesus—the man at the well—believers can learn what messaging the gospel and neighboring the gospel look like in action. For starters, Jesus overcomes a racial barrier, a gender barrier, and a moral barrier.

In Sermons Evangelism, Gospel, Great Commandment, John, Love, Neighbor, Racism, Radiate Sermon Series, Woman at the Well

Radiate, Part 3: My Neighbor, the Weakest Among Us (Micah 6:6-8)

January 28, 2013 — Leave a comment

Jesus tells us in the Great Commandment that next to loving God, loving our neighbor is the greatest thing we can do (Matt 22:37-40).

Unfortunately, people today still try to find loopholes in that mandate, raising the cynical question, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29).

In this message, Pastor Tim argues from Scripture that the orphans and the unborn are our neighbors, too. They are therefore worthy of the believer’s protection and care—even in an age of throw-away children and abortion-on-demand.

In Sermons Abortion, Adoption, Carl Valentino, Cherie Valentino, Children's Aid Society of Philadelphia, Daphne Lang, Diana Kelly, Foster Care, Gospel, Great Commandment, Micah, Neighbor, Orphans, Radiate Sermon Series, Roe v Wade, Valentino Family

Radiate, Part 2: Honor Everyone (1 Peter 2:9-17)

January 14, 2013 — 3 Comments

How are believers supposed to function in a society where our Christian beliefs are increasingly mocked and marginalized by prominent voices in the media and other positions of authority?

In short, we live as good neighbors and practice spiritual hospice care, regardless of what people think of us and our faith.

In Sermons 1 Peter, Gospel, Great Commandment, Great Commission, Honor, Love, Miroslav Volf, Neighbor, Radiate Sermon Series

Radiate, Part 1: Gospel Neighboring (Luke 10:25-37)

January 7, 2013 — 1 Comment

Those who follow in the footsteps of Christ will align themselves with the mission of Christ. There are two wings on this “bird,” and both are necessary if it’s going to fly right:

1. The followers of Christ will practice gospel messaging.
2. The followers of Christ will practice gospel neighboring.

What do we mean by the gospel? The gospel is an announcement that a new emperor has taken the throne (Luke 2:8-14; Philippians 2:9-11). It is the declaration of what God has freely done for us in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-10a).

In his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death, and those who believe on him (i.e., receive him by faith, trust in his name) have their sins forgiven, and they receive a brand new life—not by righteous things they have done, but because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

In other words, salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Genuine believers become part of the church of Jesus Christ and one day will live in the eternal kingdom at the renewal of all things.

That’s the gospel, the good news. And sharing that good news—or gospel messaging—is part of the believer’s mission.

But gospel neighboring is the other side of the mission, and it is vitally important. In fact, messaging the gospel without neighboring the gospel undercuts the credibility of the gospel (James 2:14-17). Empty words. Hollow blathering. We become resounding gongs and clanging symbols.

In Sermons Dave Runyon, Good Samaritan, Gospel, Great Commandment, Great Commission, Jay Pathak, Love, Luke, Neighbor, Radiate Sermon Series, The Art of Neighboring

The Dark Side of Christmas (Matthew 2:1-20)

December 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

herod.great.massacre

Matthew 2:1-20 records King Herod’s cold-blooded murder of the young boys in Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Jesus. It’s a disgusting event that has come to be known as “the Massacre of the Innocents.”

The Christmas story would be absolutely beautiful if it weren’t for this episode. We certainly never see it depicted on Christmas cards. Yet perhaps every Nativity scene should feature a set of Herod’s soldiers lurking behind the magi—knives drawn, ready to thrust. That’s how the first Christmas went down.

In Sermons Addictions, Christmas, Evil, Herod the Great, Jesus Christ, Massacre of the Innocents, Matthew, Newtown Shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Suffering

Christmas Eve Sermon: I’ll Be Home for Christmas (Luke 15:11-24)

December 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

Some of our failures are funny. They make us laugh out loud. “Pinterest Fails” fall into that category, and this sermon gives us a few examples.

But other failures aren’t so amusing. In fact, they’re downright painful, or embarrassing, or disillusioning. They take a toll on the soul, and they hollow us out. They make us cry out loud.

In Sermons Christmas, Christmas Eve, Failure, I'll Be Home for Christmas Sermon, Jesus Christ, Lost Coin, Lost Sheep, Lost Son, Luke, Pinterest, Prodigal Son

God’s New Society, Part 8: The Church As the Pillar & Foundation of the Truth (1 Timothy 3:14-16)

June 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

There once was a church that was totally centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Above the entrance to their meeting place hung a sign that read:

“We Preach Christ Crucified.”

Everyone in that church knew what their purpose was in this world. But over the years, some ivy began to grow up around the entrance, and it obscured the last word of the sign. And soon, the sign simply read:

“We Preach Christ.”

The members of the church never really noticed that, because the sign accurately reflected what was going on inside. Rather than preaching the crucified Savior as they had in the past, they were now just preaching Jesus as a loving man—an example of how to live—but no cross. As the years passed, the ivy continued crawling over the sign, which now read:

“We Preach.”

In Sermons 1 Timothy, Apologetics, Church, Doctrine, Ecclesiology, God's New Society Series, Jesus Christ, Truth

Archives For Sermons

Easter Sermon: Running on Empty (John 20:1-31)

Radiate, Part 6: Crossing Borders (Mark 7:24-37)

Radiate, Part 5: Hospitality & Grace (Hebrews 13:1-14)

Radiate, Part 4: The Man at the Well (John 4:1-42)

Radiate, Part 3: My Neighbor, the Weakest Among Us (Micah 6:6-8)

Radiate, Part 2: Honor Everyone (1 Peter 2:9-17)

Radiate, Part 1: Gospel Neighboring (Luke 10:25-37)

The Dark Side of Christmas (Matthew 2:1-20)

Christmas Eve Sermon: I’ll Be Home for Christmas (Luke 15:11-24)

God’s New Society, Part 8: The Church As the Pillar & Foundation of the Truth (1 Timothy 3:14-16)

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