Beyond Betrayal

"Hosea and Gomer" by Cody Miller. Hosea 3:1-5 1 The Lord said to me, “Go, love your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen …

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We Make Promises, (And Promises Make Us)

In Mark 14: 66 - 72 Peter denies Jesus, and breaks a promise made to Jesus made earlier in the chapter. Peter had boldly proclaimed that he loved Jesus more than any of these other disciples and Jesus replied that before dawn he would deny that he even knew Him. Our identities are formed by …

Crucifying Each Other

First let's review; the gospel is: Jesus was born, lived a sinless life and died in order to satisfy the wrath of God for my sin, and to remove it once and for all. 1 John 2:2; 4:10 By absorbing the punishment for my sin Jesus has preserved God's honour as being truly just and …

A Wedding Sermon

Marriage is a Covenant, and a Confession that was designed by God from the beginning of time. God invented marriage at the very beginning of the Bible. In Genesis chapter 2 God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper.” It's important to note that God …

That's Not Funny!

I do like Rick Warren and normally I hate to pick on him but something he wrote a couple of years ago is a good example of missinterpreting Scripture. In an article entitled “Learning to Laugh” he writes, One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 2:4, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” …

Divorce and the Heart of Jesus

Divorce is unfortunately a common experience in congregations today and in the past, churches of all denominations have done a poor job of communicating Biblical teaching on Divorce to their members. Here are some guidelines for ministers and church leaders to consider when dealing with marriage and divorce in your congregation: Be Compassionate: People who …

Repentance

It's ironic that last week I wrote about the power of honest confession at precisely the same time as a tragically poor example of confession was unfolding in Florida. Perhaps you heard about it. (if not pick a newspaper website and go read). The story began a couple of weeks ago. First an article in …

A Human, Not A Hypocrite

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf Josh Hamilton is an outfielder who has publicly professed a faith in Jesus Christ. He has also admitted to being an alcoholic. This past August a story broke that Hamilton had been photographed in a bar eight months previously, drinking and partying. The media latched onto the story and words like 'hypocrite' were used …

Love Your Enemy

Jesus said, 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain …

Know Your Role

In church this week we talked about 'Famous Neighbours' – verses that get largely ignored because they are directly before or after frequently quoted verses. My favourite: ... For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. John 3: 17 The remarkable point …