Letting Go to Grow 10/31/2011
If we're going to grow spiritually, we'll need to let some things go and leave them behind. In Galatians 5, Paul teaches us to leave behind the acts of the flesh and cultivate and grow the fruit of the Spirit. What do you need to leave behind so that you can grow to be closer to God? 
Add Comment Gossip and Godliness 09/12/2011
In Ephesians 4:17-32, Paul teaches about the importance of building people up in our speech rather than tearing them down. Gossip taints us, and it taints the people being gossiped about and gossiped to. You will see more growth when you stop complaining about people (and gossiping about them) and start building them up instead.
How to Grow Spiritually 09/06/2011
In Colossians 3, Paul outlines a path to spiritual growth that involves living a resurrected, raised life with Christ now by leaving aside the old self, putting on the new self, and doing everything you do for Jesus. This sermon also includes 8 habits that will help you grow spiritually.
Heart and Hypocrisy 08/29/2011
In his "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus taught that God desires obedience that comes from our heart. Obedience that is done to be seen by others, to impress them, is not obedience at all--and those that practice such "obedience" have already received their reward. But when we pray in secret, serve the needy without fanfare, and prepare to worship God for his sake (and not to impress others), we please God, and God, who sees what is done in secret, will reward us.
As children we're often taught not to talk to strangers, to avoid strangers. But the bible teaches us the exact opposite--to regularly show hospitality to strangers. The difference is clear--as we grow older and mature, we are to learn how to love people and share God's grace with them. We do this through hospitality. We had some recording problems on Sunday, so this is a short recap of Sunday's sermon.
Sometimes we view each other as the "necessary evil" that gets in the way of our loving God. When we view each other this way, passages like Hebrews 10:24-25 that exhort to continue meeting together are understood slavishly, as a way to obey God. But when we realize that God expects us to love each other as brothers and sisters, and to keep on doing so, we learn that we need to encourage, serve, and mentor each other. We're called to more. We're called to love better. In this sermon, I examine how encouraging, serving, and mentoring each other will transform our relationships with other believers, and with God. I also look at a simple concept called Life Transformation Groups and how these small, biblically-focused groups can help us achieve all three...and the transformation that God desires for us.
Transforming Our Love For God 06/28/2010
Loving God should be transformative, not transactional. In this sermon, learn the difference between the two and how the spiritual disciplines of bible reading, prayer, and worship can transform your relationship with God.
Four Transformational Relationships 06/14/2010
To grow spiritually, we need to regularly engage in four different areas of relationship: with God, with believers, with neighbors, and with strangers. In this sermon, I describe these four areas by focusing on a core thought, a key scripture, a leading action, and several examples of each. My personal view is that we should always be focused in our relationship with God and at least one other significant relationship in one of the other three areas. We can supplement this with ongoing activity in the other two relationship areas. By taking action and cooperating with God (Philippians 2:12-13), we'll grow spiritually and be transformed (Romans 12:1-2).
How to Find and Live God's Will 06/07/2010
Sometimes we think God's will is so mysterious that we doubt we'll ever find or understand it. But the bible is clear that God's will is both findable and understandable. We understand God's will in the gospel that provides us hope and teaches us to live sacrificially like Jesus, we experience his will in prayer and in spiritual growth that provides knowledge of him, and we express God's will when we bear fruit by serving others in love.
Mature Faith (Philippians 3:1-16) 04/26/2010
How do you know if your faith is maturing? According to Paul, we know with certainty our faith is maturing if we find ourselves trusting Jesus more than ourselves, becoming more attached to him, and pressing on towards our future with him. To listen to this sermon, click on the link or right-click the link and select "Save As" to download it to your computer.
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Older sermons are available in the archived section of my website. Listen to sermons by clicking on the link or by right-clicking the link and selecting "Save As" or "Save Link As" to download it to your computer. If you use an RSS reader (like Google Reader), you may click on the RSS Feed link below to subscribe to this podcast. Each week you'll receive a notice when the sermon is ready to listen to. ArchivesJanuary 2012 CategoriesAll  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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