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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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)

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)