Sermons on Colossians 2
Christianity Gone Sour
One hot, summer day I came into our air-conditioned house after working outside and building up a tremendous sweat. My throat was parched and I could not wait to get something cold to drink. I hastily opened up the refrigerator door and I spotted a jug of milk which had one serving left in it. “Perfect,” I thought! I love milk and I joyfully grabbed the jug. At this point I did something mother’s across America warn their children not…
Spiritual Freedom, Part 2
President Abraham Lincoln issued the “Emancipation Proclamation” on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached her third year in the bloody Civil War. This proclamation declared all persons held as slaves within the rebellious slave states “are, and henceforward, shall be free” and “the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” The freedom the proclamation declared depended wholly upon the Union military victory. Without winning…
Spiritual Freedom, Part I
Natasha Kampusch was ten years old when she vanished on her way to school on March 2, 1998. She was taken captive by a man who then kept her hidden in a tiny, windowless basement room of his house for the next eight and one-half years. On August 23, 2006, Natasha made a brave and dramatic attempt to escape while her capture was pre-occupied on his cell phone. She races into a garden and pleaded with an elderly neighbor woman…
Living Out the Lordship of Jesus
When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts he was running for a second term and it was a very difficult campaign. After a busy morning of chasing votes he arrived at a church barbeque. It was late in the afternoon and Herter had not eaten all day long. He was famished, so he moved down the serving line and he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece of chicken on his plate and turned…
A Pastor’s Concerns
No one can serve God powerfully who does not love Jesus’ church fervently. This may be shocking to some because such love keeps us from merely accomplishing tasks in place of true ministry. Love for God always joins us with a love for His church and this becomes the driving motivation and the power within us to serve in such a way as to be fruitful. This truth is especially vital for leaders in the church to embrace so that…