Why Jesus? Less than Half News came out this week that, per Gallup, fewer than half of Americans belong to a congregation (and that's not just counting Christian churches). Only 47% do. Now, it can be claimed that one can be "spiritual" without being "religious" and "spiritual" and/or "religious" without attending church. However, I would…
Category: Sermon Notes
Collateral Damage
Punishing the Class I’m going to assume two things of everyone here. First, that during school you were (or are) perfect angels. Never the troublemakers. Always the innocent, well-behaved bystanders. Second, that you’ll relate to this experience… You are just there, doing what the teacher wants, as white as snow…but the other kids in class…
Be Like Daniel
Be Like Daniel Daniel Duda We didn’t have church last weekend, because I was in Redlands, California visiting a non-profit I volunteer for. It was a recording weekend for them, and the speaker/facilitator was Daniel Duda. Now, even though this sermon is titled “Be Like Daniel” and I think Daniel Duda would generally be a good…
Short and Sweet
Power of Three I’ve mentioned before that if you are doing a presentation, there is a power of three. For instance, on a page supporting a given idea, only have three bullets. Not two, not five, but three. This sermon is titled “Short and Sweet.” you might say three concise bullets are exactly that, “short…
The Price of Fame
Megachurches Has anyone else here attended a megachurch? Wikipedia says… A megachurch is defined by the Hartford Institute as any Protestant Christian church having 2,000 or more people in average weekend attendance.[1][2][3][4] The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term, first documented in 1984, as a church with an unusually large membership, especially one preaching a…
Don’t Judge Mephibosheth Too Quickly
Don’t Judge Mephibosheth Too Quickly Pronouncing Names Am I the only person, when they run into a hard name in the Bible, basically reads past it? And there are a lot of names like that in Scripture, eh? 🙂 However, before we try to pronounce the name of the main biblical character in today’s message,…
A Tale of Two Watches
My Samsung Galaxy Watch Okay, I’ll admit it. I like to have the latest and greatest toys when it comes to technology. Latest smartphone. Latest tablet. Latest watch. And, sure enough, I am wearing the Galaxy Watch…Samsung’s latest wearable offering if you don’t count the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. (But, I am not sure Active…
Want to Be a Spy?
Bad Spies This is going to be a short sermon with one basic point…so let’s jump right into Scripture, specifically Numbers 13:1-3: 13 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send…
Everything Old Is New Again
Old Testament or New Testament Let’s pretend that right now I said, “Instead of a sermon, we are going to read the Bible for an hour.” Would you want to spend that hour reading the Old Testament or the New Testament? [Wait for answers. ] Why? [Wait for answers.] I think in a crowd of…
There Can Be Only One
In Search of Connor MacLeod Who is Connor MacLeod? No…he’s not a real person…but a movie character. Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. Who is he? He’s the fictional hero in the sci-fi film, “The Highlander.” Beyond having one of the most awesome movie soundtracks of all time thanks to Queen, it has an interesting…
I’m Only Human, After All
Carl’s Jr in Bennett, Colorado During our weekly Saturday morning breakfast excursion, a song came on overhead at the Carl’s Junior in Bennett. It was catchy, and I thought it was a new release by Aloe Blacc…but when I looked it up on my Samsung Galaxy Note9, it was actually by a guy called Rag’n’Bone Man…a…
Forgiveness in a Social Media World
Kevin Hart Anyone familiar with Kevin Hart and the Oscars? Short version is that the comedian, Kevin Hart, was chosen to host the Oscars this year. Some folks looked through his Twitter history and found some old jokes that could be taken negatively against homosexuals. Tweets from back from 2009 to 2011. He apologized. Do you…
This Generation
Being Held Accountable Let’s hop directly into Scripture today, turning Ezekiel 18:19-20: 19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall…
Yankee Swap
Your All Time Favorite Christmas Gift Christmas is how many days away kids? Part of today, all of tomorrow…so just two days! Everyone…what is your favorite Christmas gift ever? One that causes you to smile whenever you think back about it? Growing up, there was a period where everything I wanted was G.I. Joe related…but…
Anthony’s Sermon on the Two Witnesses
Knowing How You Are Going to Die Let’s all pretend that we are alone and God asks us a question… “Alan, do you want to know when and how you are going to die?” How would you answer? Yes? No? Let’s just assume you answer yes…and God tells you something like… When a blood-red moon…