Sermons and Biblical Studies

Topics: Glory; Inheritance; Persecution; Rewards References: Romans 8:17; Revelation 3:21 The documents of surrender officially ending World War II were signed by the Japanese and designated representatives of allied nations on September 2, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur, officiating the ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, was the last to sign on behalf of the United States. … Continue reading “SHARING
THE GLORY”

Topics: Convictions; Faith; Temptation; Testing Reference: James 2:14–26 You don’t have convictions unless you have been tested. —Crawford W. Loritts Jr., in a message at the Institute for Biblical Preaching (March 10, 1999)

Topics: Church; Comfort; Community; Death; Mourning; Suffering References: 2 Corinthians 1:3–11; 1 Peter 4:13; 5:9 Recently I experienced, for the first time, a profound sense of biblical community. For the past seven years, my wife and I have participated in a small group, which included five couples. This past year our group celebrated a couple’s … Continue reading “GROWING
TOGETHER IN PAIN”

Topics: Cross; Loneliness; Mysteries; Pain; Questions; Resentment References: Job 7:20–21; Psalm 10:1; Habakkuk 1:1–4; Mark 15:34 It is always best to go first for our answers to Jesus himself. He cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was a human cry, a cry of desperation, springing from … Continue reading “ASKING
GOD WHY”

Topics: Brokenness; Cross; Grace; Prayer References: Romans 5:12–21; Ephesians 2:1–10 I had stacked some rocks out at this little place in the woods, a place I had gone to pray, desperate for God to do something, to show up, or to have some sort of breakthrough. As I was praying, I remember smelling cedar so … Continue reading “FRAGRANCE
OF THE BROKEN”

Topics: Fear; God as Father; God’s Faithfulness; Loneliness; Presence of God; Protection; Trials References: Deuteronomy 31:6; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5 A tribe of Native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he … Continue reading “SENSING
GOD IN THE FOREST”

Topics: Adversity; Affliction; Courage References: Matthew 5:11; 10:39; Acts 5:41; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 4:11 It is good to learn early enough that suffering and God are not a contradiction but rather a unity, for the idea that God himself is suffering is one that has always been one of the most convincing teachings of … Continue reading “BEING
ONE WITH GOD IN SUFFERING”

Topics: God’s Sovereignty; Imitation of Christ; Motivation; Obedience; Sacrifice; Surrender References: Matthew 11:29–30; John 20:21; Philippians 2:5–11, 17; Hebrews 10:5–7 God can never make me wine if I object to the fingers he uses to crush me. If God would only crush me with his own fingers and say, “Now, my son, I am going … Continue reading “ACCEPTING
GOD’S CRUSHING”

Topics: Faith; God’s Sovereignty; Loss; Missions; Trials; Trust Reference: Psalm 46:10 William Carey, called the father of modern missions, went to India in 1793 and worked there for forty years, never once returning to his native England. He translated portions of Scripture into more than a dozen Indian languages. One afternoon, after twenty years of … Continue reading “CAREY’S
EXTREME LOSS”

Topics: Death; Ethics; Euthanasia; Evil; Murder; Suicide Reference: Exodus 20:13 Jack Kevorkian preyed on the vulnerable, says a study of the sixty-nine suicides Kevorkian assisted in Oakland County, Michigan. Seventy-five percent of those people would have lived for at least another six months. The vast majority—67 percent—were divorced, widowed, or never married, suggesting they had … Continue reading “PREYING
ON THE VULNERABLE”