I am not starting with “proof” of God. I don’t believe you can prove God to someone who is simply unwilling to believe. For whatever reasons, there are people who resist believing and there is not enough evidence in the world (or outside the world) to convince them. The Scripture calls them fools in Psalm 14:1-3: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. In Psalm 10:2-5 David says of the fool: In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. He boasts about the…

1.  From the beginning, there have been people teaching all sorts of doctrines about the second coming and the time of the end. Yes, there were and are false teachers but most of the confusion is either jumping to conclusions about certain signs or overly excited imaginations or just different readings of Scripture. Why else would we have pre/post/a millennial and pre/post tribulation interpretations of end times. No one knows for sure but everyone has an opinion or a feeling. That was true for the church at Thessalonika. There were people teaching that the only explanation for their suffering and hardship was the end times had begun. Others were teaching…

1.  Paul writes at a time when the whole age was suffering from “the failure of nerve.” Men were longing for some defense against the “advancing chaos of the world.” We want to use Christ as they used religion as a means of making our world a better or safer place. We want to find something that will calm the volatility and uncertainty. In times of instability, then and now, people attach themselves to easy answers, sure things, strong leaders, institutions that promise security, heresies, novelties, cults, movements, extreme beliefs or no beliefs at all. This was the world the church was in when Paul is writing. People were unsure…

1.  The assignment this morning is the topic of mission and how each of us are missionaries – not just those who travel to foreign countries or are full-time. That’s true and I want to look at that from a little different angle. I want to look at our mission as defined by Christ. When Jesus ascends in Matthew’s gospel he leaves the disciples with what has been called The Great Commission. “19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And…

There are several different appearances of Jesus after his resurrection with many different responses. Some are afraid at first and then overjoyed. Some, like the chief priests, assume the disciples will steal the body and try to fool the people into believing Jesus has been resurrected. Some, like the soldiers, welcome the opportunity to make extra money by being silent about what they saw. Some doubt and need more evidence. Some, like those in our text this morning, are sad and confused and leaving town. 1.  They were so lost and headed in the wrong direction. They had been in the room when the women returned from the tomb and…

1.  The first several chapters of Romans can be described as Paul’s use of four pronouns. In chapter 1:24 he is talking about “them” – the Gentiles. In Chapter 2:1 he is talking about “you” – the believing Jews. In Chapter 3:9 he addresses everyone – we have all sinned. In 3:25 he finally addresses “him” and the work of God in addressing the issues and problems of all the others. “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference…

The Scottish preacher Andrew MacLaren said this is the most profound page in the entire New Testament – and he is right. It is also the most controversial and the source of most Christian heresies in the early church. What you think about this one page pretty much defines what you believe about Jesus, God, and the Gospel. That is why it is so important not to read it as an isolated page but as part of the whole of Scripture. It is the same Jesus as in Matthew, Mark and Luke but intended for a different audience. 100 years after the death of Christ the Gospel had migrated from…

1.  After 70 years in Babylonia, Cyrus, the King of Persia issues a decree that the Jews who wish to return to Judah are free to do so. While Nebuchadnezzar’s policy was to completely conquer nations and bring people to Babylonia in exile, the Persians allowed conquered nations to become client states or colonies. The book of Nehemiah is the history of the return and the rebuilding of the city. 2.  So we read in Ezra an account of those who returned. After 70 years, not everyone wanted to return, of course. People had lived their whole lives there and had no interest in uprooting and rebuilding. They had no…

1.  We know there were three invasions of Israel over a period of two hundred years. The first was by the Assyrians who carried off the ten Northern tribes. We know very little of what happened to them. They just disappear from history. The second invasion is Babylonia’s first invasion and defeat of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar carries off 10,000 of the upper class leadership of Jerusalem as well as the military commanders, the craftsmen, artists and educated – the best of the Jewish society. Among these are Ezekiel and Daniel. He left the poorest. It is those who were left behind to whom Jeremiah is speaking in Jerusalem. It is the…

1.  At the height of its power, sophistication and influence Israel is invaded by kudzu. Well, not really but it’s something like that. Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 from Japan for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and was recommended by the Soil Erosion Service as an excellent ornamental plant and cover to help prevent soil erosion. Left unattended when farmers moved due to the boll weevil infestation, it was left to grow with no controls and with no natural predators it now covers 7.5 million acres of the South. We call it the “vine that ate the south”. Remember the outbreak of cholera in Haiti…