1.  Hillary Clinton stirred up some dust this week with her statement that “great nations need organizing principles and “don’t do stupid stuff” is not an organizing principle.” She’s right about nations in particular but also about all organizations in general.  Whatever your organizing principle is will determine how you make decisions.  Your organizing principle defines you. That is why the lesson this week is on the Lamb of God.  That is the organizing principle, the organizing image for the Church.  It is not the Lion of God and the Church triumphant but the Lamb of God, the servant Church.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The Church is the Church only when…

It’s good to have Tom and Jennifer Alden with us this morning to bring us up to date on their work in Portugal.  As well, we are going to have a conversation by phone with Jeremy Courtney, the founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition in Iraq. Jeremy Courtney, founder of Preemptive Love Coalition, moved his family from Turkey to Iraq in January of 2007 to work with a nongovernmental organization, stirred by the overwhelming needs of the people there. It didn’t take long to identify pediatric heart disease as a major one. “Our response to a local request introduced us to a group of 700 other kids…

1.  Read the passage: 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the…

The lesson this morning is divided into three parts: Caring for the created world; Caring for wealth; Caring for the poor. Let’s look at them individually. 1.  Caring for the created world. A few years ago I saw a movie titled “Food, Inc” about the food industry. It’s pretty rough in its presentation of how we mass produce our food – especially chickens and beef and pork. The images of pigs so large they cannot move in their pens and chickens so heavy they cannot stand is not pleasant. Did you know? – Chickens are being raised in half the time they were in 1950s (49 days vs. 3 months),…

1. Scripture does not idealize or romanticize marriage. It’s not Hallmark cards. In fact, many of the marriages of the greatest figures are difficult. “Marriage To A Difficult Man” is a book about the marriage of Sarah and Jonathan Edwards. He was the great early American preacher, theologian and scholar. “Edwards was less than helpful as a host, for he was still a light eater and would often finish his meal before the others did. He would then slip out to his study, returning to the table only when he was alerted that the others had finished and he was needed to preside over the grace which was always said…

“It has always struck me as remarkable that when the writers of the four Gospels come to the most important part of the story they have to tell, they tell it in whispers. The part I mean, of course, is the part about the resurrection. The Jesus who was dead is not dead anymore. He has risen. He is here. According to the Gospels there was no choir of angels to proclaim it. There was no sudden explosion of light in the sky. Not a single soul was around to see it happen. When Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb afterward, she thought at first that it must be a…

Two fishing stories.  Book-ends really. The first in Luke 5:1-11 and the second in John 21  Luke 5:5-11:   5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep…

We don’t hear much about doctrine today. I’m not sure I heard much about doctrine when I was growing up. We knew we were Baptists and thought we knew what that meant but didn’t. We learned our doctrine from our hymns. We knew about propitiation from “Washed in the Blood” and “Nothing but the Blood”. We knew about the sacrificial death of Jesus from “The Old Rugged Cross”. We knew about forgiveness from “Just As I Am” and about grace from “Amazing Grace”. In their defense the influence of those songs has lasted for a lifetime. I’ve heard thousands of sermons and Sunday School lessons but it’s “It Is Well…

1.  The topic this morning is “Christian Worldview” and the text is Romans 12:1-2. It is such a familiar passage. But we should start reading in the previous chapter to see where Paul’s mind was heading. Let’s look at the doxology of 11:33-36: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.…

1.  Perhaps the most fundamental figure of the New Testament is in the Old Testament – and he is not even a Jew but a Gentile. It is Abraham, the father of all who believe by faith. I say not a Jew because until he is almost 100 years old he is not circumcised and, as you know, that is the mark of a true Jew. So, this non-Jew is not only the father of all who come by faith but he is the father of all Jews. There are several stories that illustrate Abraham’s faith and this morning we are going to look at the second. The first is…