Believe (in) Me | This Week's Sermon

Sure, you believe in Jesus. But do you believe Jesus?

Matthew 17:14-23, “Believe (in) Me” (4/29/2018)   

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to download the MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

The Love of Christ and The Exorcist

So I've started pairing a picture with each of my sermons on our church website, because I find it gets more people to notice/click on the link and also because I find it fun. This week, my sermon was on 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 and called “Worthy of His Love.” Oh, and the picture I chose was from The Exorcist.

I wasn't necessarily trying to produce a click-bait effect, nor was I sloppily announcing the return of my Supernatural Movie Reviews (which I will be bringing back soon, promoting Playing Saint: All Souls' Day). So what does this floating demoniac have to do with a sermon on the love of Christ?

You'll have to listen. You won't believe point #3! (Just kidding. But if you have 25 minutes to spare, you can click here to listen.)



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The Golden Rule (This Week's Sermon)

My sermon from New Year’s Day.

Matthew 7:12, “Golden” 

To download mp3 file, right click here and choose Save.

The Other Nine (A Thanksgiving Sermon)

Happy Thanksgiving! I pray you have a restful and enjoyable day with family and friends, and return thanks to our God, the giver of all good gifts.


“The Other Nine,”  
A Thanksgiving Sermon



(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)



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Why Baptists Should Use the S-Word (This Week's Sermon)

To many, it’s a dirty word. But when we understand it correctly, even we Baptists may start using it. This week’s sermon was delivered on a joyous day when we observed both Baptism and Holy Communion and is about what both sacraments mean to us as Christians and as a church.


“Living Pictures,”  
A Sermon on the Sacraments


(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

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You Mad Bro? (This Week's Sermons)

Gideon’s 300 now attack the enemy and route them by God’s mighty power. And yet, instead of celebrating and praising the Lord, some Israelites are angry, jealous, and bitter, wanting to start trouble within God’s chosen people. In this week's sermons, we talk about being used by God for great things, giving him alone the glory, and how to deal with difficult people who are intent on making trouble and discord.

Sermon on Judges 7:15-25,
“Role Reversal”
(Click here to download this sermon as an MP3.)
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Sermon on Judges 8:1-3,
“You Mad, Bro?” 


(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

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Chop 'em DOWN! (This Week's Sermons)

Gideon is about to undertake a great act of faith with international ramifications! But first, he has to start by purging his own home of idolatry and his own heart of pride. In our eagerness for revival, do we often skip the most important steps?

Sermon on Judges 6:25-32,
“Cleaning House”
(Click here to download this sermon as an MP3.)
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Sermon on Judges 7:1-14,
“Soli Deo Gloria” 


(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

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That Old Story Again? (This Week's Sermons)

As the story of Gideon begins, we find a frightened man, part of a defeated and oppressed people, struggling to survive. Gideon does not want to hear the same old stories of the same old miracles rehashed yet again. Instead, he wants new signs, new wonders, and new information. How does this inform how we think of God’s will in our lives today?

Sermon on Judges 6:1-14, “That Again”
(Click here to download this sermon as an MP3.)
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Sermon on Judges 6:11-24; 33-40, “Fleeced” 


(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

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John Owen, John Piper, John Kreese (This Week's Sermons)

The story of Deborah and Barak (which really kind of folds into the story of Jael and Sisera) is one of the most bizarrely brutal accounts in all of Scripture. It's also super-awesome. But what can a 21st-Century Christian take away from this? In these two sermons, we look first at the account itself, and then Deborah's Song recounting the victory, and find words of encouragement, wisdom, and conviction. With a little Kobra Kai action thrown in for good measure.

Sermon on Judges 4, “Deborah”
(Click here to download this sermon as an MP3.)
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Sermon on Judges 5, “Life-Song” 


(Click here to download this one as an MP3. As always, you can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

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The Judge and the Double-Edged Sword (This Week's Sermon)

If Quentin Tarantino made a Bible movie, the story of Ehud from Judges 3 would be his best bet. An ultraviolent dark comedy-slash-revenge story with irony, awesome dialogue, and scatological humor. There's also some spiritual stuff, which is where I focus in this sermon.


(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Othniel: The First Judge (This Week's Sermon)

This past Lord's Day, we looked at Othniel, the first judge. Unlike the two judges on the docket for this week (Ehud and Shamgar), there are no unusual weapons or insane tactics employed. But there's still plenty for us to learn from this first ride on the ol' rebel-repent-get delievered-rebel again ride.

Note: I didn't post last week's sermon on the blog, but you can listen to it by clicking here.



(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

A Lose-Luz Situation (This Week's Sermon)

We continue our Lenten messages from the book of Judges by looking at a seeming victory that was, sadly, laced with defeat. Christians must be on guard for the Enemy's number one tactic: deal-making. Once an inroad is made to a place in your heart, defeat usually follows quickly.

(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Ash Wednesday (This Week's Sermon, 2)

Did you miss the imposition of ashes yesterday?  Don't let that kill Your Lent!

I can't impose ashes on you through the computer, but the internal repentance is far more important than the outward sign.

Here's my Ash Wednesday service, complete with my next sermon on Judges. The text was providentially perfect for the occasion.

God bless you, and remember, there is no sin Christ cannot pay for, no habit he cannot put to death in you.

(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

On the Rise (This Week's Sermon, 1)

There are some passages of Scripture so full of names and places and facts and figures that we are tempted to sort of tune them out. But can we learn something from them? And, more importantly, can they change us and make us more into the image of Jesus Christ?

(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Thumbs Down! (This Week's Sermon)

What do we make of the bizarre and macabre passages of Scripture? Do we spiritualize them? Ignore them? Idealize them? We’ve already looked a bit at this question in my introduction to Judges, but now we give it a go, as the very first passage of Judges involves cutting off a guy’s thumbs and big toes. This is totally going to be part of the PG-13 Flannelgraph set I'm planning to make some day.

(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Who Will Go First? (This Week's Sermon)

The book of Judges is filled with murder, intrigue, battles, lust, power, and all sorts of other stuff. It's the story of a downward spiral into idolatry and disunity. And yet, the book is often preached as a collection of stories about heroes who should be emulated. In the coming weeks, we will be looking at what God has to say to us through this troubling book about troubling times, when each man did what was “right in his own eyes” and what it can mean for the Church today, living in our own troubling times when, again, everyone is doing what is right in his or her own eyes. And yet, we will find that with God, things are never hopeless.

(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Dem Bones (This Week's Sermon)

This week, I preached on Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. In it, we find great hope for ourselves, our churches, and the Church Universal. When things look dead, all is not lost. Our God is an Awesome God and Resurrections are kind of his thing.


(Click here to download MP3. You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

A Peasant Girl and Three Kings (This Week's Sermons)

Two sermons for you this week: my final Advent sermon of 2014, about Mary's Song, The Magnificat...

...and my Christmas Eve message about the Magi who came from the East to worship Jesus.



(You can access and download many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

The Annunciation (This Week's Sermon)

As we continue our study of Advent, we looked at the Archangel Gabriel's unexpected announcement to Mary: that this young, half-married woman would miraculously bear a child, who would be the son of God.

Here Mary serves as a model for how we should receive God's special grace. I pray it blesses you.



(You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)

Advent Begins (This Week's Sermon)

This past Lord's Day marked the beginning of Advent. In this sermon, we begin looking at the lead-up to our Lord's birth and how it can help us to prepare the way for the Lord in our own lives.

I pray this sermon profits you, challenges you, and reminds you of our God's amazing grace.



(You can access many more of my sermons on the church website, www.churchlansing.com)