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This sermon is to honor the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday 2020. It examines the work of the Holy Spirit in light of the teaching of Jesus. It seeks to bring three convictions through the Spirit to the listener: a conviction concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
In this story called The Prodigal Son, Jesus puts the heart into the heart of the gospel. He does more than say that we are welcome to the Father in his name. He describes it. Listen in to this sermon as it makes clear what the gospel really is.
Easter didn't quite do it for John. It didn't quite top him off emotionally. That's an interesting and amazing concept for Christians because Christians know that the main point of Christianity is inner joy - joy that we can have even now - and John, Jesus' own apostle, is saying here that he didn't yet have in full measure what Jesus rose to give him. What was missing for John? People. This is a sermon that attempts to show how a Christian can have complete joy through having "real" people in their lives even now. Listen in.
When you look around your life, it sure can look like it's lacking God's love. Especially when things aren't going right. In fact, it can really look like your worst fears are being confirmed - like God's out to get you. That's the person John writes to and the person Jesus speaks to. Both Jesus and John are both intent that you look around your life and you see the love of God undeniably towering above everything else in your life. It's time to see that. So you believe...
Counterintuitively there is a torture that heals. Counterintuitively there is a death that brings life. Counterintuitively there is a losing of yourself that can leading to a true finding of yourself. This is a sermon about that very real paradox - the paradox that Jesus, the master teacher, lays out for us in this monster of a Scripture. Listen in for a truly transformation word from Jesus.
There is a great irony when it comes to Mark's account of Jesus' temptation. The same time he talks about temptation, he creates one. You can see people falling under the weight of that temptation everywhere if you look carefully for it. What temptation is that? The temptation to believe that because Mark's message is short it's also small - to rush right past what he says. This sermon fights back against that temptation. It seeks to reveal the heart and core of Mark's short, but major message on Jesus' temptation.