Baptism: Your Gospel “Show and Tell”
Mar17

Baptism: Your Gospel “Show and Tell”

The men, women, and children I regularly speak with usually approach the who, what, why, when, and how of baptism with a note of seriousness, recognizing it’s no trivial matter. But many, many people have heard such a variety of opinions about baptism that they are left rather confused about the biblical meaning and pattern for this important ordinance Christ’s established for His followers.

Are you unsure about the meaning or practice of baptism? Have you not yet taken the step to be baptized as a follower of Jesus? Were you baptized as an infant, yet now wonder if you should be baptized as a believer?

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Taking Your Vitamins?
Mar12

Taking Your Vitamins?

When we’re jogging along in a healthy trajectory of spiritual growth, we can find ourselves gaining an inordinate confidence in ourselves. We gaze back at our past accomplishments with a token note of thanks to God, yet also an encroaching desire for a good ole’ pat-on-the-back. We might ease up on the throttle, subtly believing we’ve crossed a threshold in obvious maturity. . . .

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A Sermon From My 16-year-old Self
Feb18

A Sermon From My 16-year-old Self

A few days ago I uncovered an old spiral-bound notebook from my high school days. “Aha! This should be humorous!” I thought. “What sort of peculiar ideas was I scribbling down at that age?”

As I thumbed through various notes from my landscape business, exam preparation material on American government and economics, backpacking food recipes, and other random jots, my interest perked up when I happened upon a sermon I wrote concerning prayer and the status of our country. Interestingly, all the dates in this notebook are from 1999, which indicates I penned this sermon-essay a little over 16 years ago, when I was 16 years old…

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Dear Pastor Michael… My Heart Aches
Jan28

Dear Pastor Michael… My Heart Aches

Pastor Michael, Thank you for your sermon today and the elements and reminders that give us believers such hope. The thing I struggle with is not being able to say, “Jesus, Come Quickly”. What about all the people that believers might know who don’t know the Lord Jesus as their Savior? One of my close relatives, for instance, is living a life separate from God. There are many more I could think of.
My heart aches for what the day would look like for the unsaved…

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Our Ruler-Creator and Personal Savior
Jan23

Our Ruler-Creator and Personal Savior

In God’s immeasurable power, He is not only the ruler and Creator over all things but also the personal Savior of all who trust in Him. The God who has the power to make all things also has the power to make personal, real contact with those whom He has made. Herein is the heart of the Gospel…

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