Year: 2016

Rodney Bradford | “You Need to Plan to Pray”

There are few things that make a sermon more powerful than knowing that the one preaching is preaching from the experiences of their own journey. This is the case here.

This is not the official title of the message. But it is a critical truth shared in it.

This is one of the most convicting and sincere sermons I have ever heard on the subject of prayer. There are two reasons I commend this sermon to you. First, I know Rodney. He is a good friend and he is one of the godliest men I know. And, I have some knowledge of the issues he references, and because of this, I know that Rodney means what he is saying because he is living it out. There are few things that make a sermon more powerful than knowing that the one preaching is preaching from the experiences of their own journey. This is the case here. Continue reading “Rodney Bradford | “You Need to Plan to Pray””

4 Steps to Achieving an Increase in Faith

**This was orginally a sermon [Original title: Why the Mustard Seed?] and was first given in May of 2005. It has been updated here.

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:5-10 ESV, emphasis added)

Continue reading “4 Steps to Achieving an Increase in Faith”

Sounds of Liberty | “When I Think About the Lord”

What do you want to do when you think about the Lord?

Lyrics [Source]:
When I Think about the Lord,
How He saved me, how He raised me,
How He filled me, with the Holy Ghost.
How He healed me, to the uttermost. Continue reading “Sounds of Liberty | “When I Think About the Lord””

What would you believe if you heard this?

When the movie Risen originally came out I shared my thoughts right after seeing it. I continue to think that it is one of the most compelling retellings of a Biblical event I have seen.

There is one scene in particular that was particularly poignant. It was when Clavius, portrayed by Joseph Fiennes, is interrogating one of the guards he had left to watch over the tomb. I remember watching this scene and feeling so bad for the soldier. He had witnessed the incomprehensible and then was forced to lie about what he had seen. Couple that with the probability that no one was going to or even wanted to believe what he had experienced. I just can’t imagine the torment he felt.

The thought that comes to mind is this: The truth is inescapable.

Sermon Sketch | “Talk Like Jesus”

This sermon looks at the way that Jesus talked. This is taken from the comments made by the people that heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount. After hearing Jesus talk, the people were amazed. Continue reading “Sermon Sketch | “Talk Like Jesus””

1 John 1:7 | Walking in his light

Missing by an inch or missing by a mile is still missing the standard that John establishes here.

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

John returns to the subject of light in verse 7. As he does it augments what he means by the relationship that we have with God. There is a particular characteristic to our journey in the light. That characteristic is that it is, or should be, the same light that God is in, or rather that God produces from himself. In other words, when we say that we are in the light, that we are walking in the light, then what we are saying–or should be saying–is that we are living out and embodying and reflecting God’s love and life in our own. Continue reading “1 John 1:7 | Walking in his light”

Sermon Sketch | “Why Come?”

This sermon was originally preached some time in 2008. In it, we look to find a more consistently biblical understanding of the church, Christ’s body at work in the earth.

Why Come?

Have any of you ever heard someone say that they don’t need to go to church to be a Christian? Do you think that that is true? I wonder why so many people believe this.

The other night I was watching a replay of Oprah and there was a lady on there talking about the difference between spirituality and religion. I had one thought running through my mind, and it was this woman has no idea what she’s talking about. Continue reading “Sermon Sketch | “Why Come?””

On Chewbacca Masks and God’s Glory

When we lift up the name of God we are living into the ultimate purpose for our existence.

Candace Payne is a stay-at-home mom who decided to share a short video with some friends about something that really made her excited. The video has now gone viral with over 110 million views and over 3 million shares on Facebook (as of this post).

I’ll be honest. I saw it come on my news feed several times and just rolled my eyes about another stupid viral video. But, as is the way of social media, I gave in and watched. And I am glad I did. I have included it here. Watch it and meet me below.

There are two thoughts that came to mind when I saw this video. One, I love her laugh. Someone who can laugh so genuinely is a person I know I will like. I love to laugh. It is such a rejuvinating thing. And, I love to laugh in such a way that I can’t help it. When it happens spontaneously. This video gifted me with one of those.

Two, I wanted to know more about this crazy lady that would post a video like this. And for that, I offer this second video. I encourage you to watch the whole thing. There is some talk about what it has been like since the video went viral. That is all well and good. However, in the last couple of minutes, she talks about her faith and what she has learned in her walk with God and what she would say to her 16-year-old self. Watch it and I will say one final thing.

What Candace shared is powerful and true. I could not agree with her more. It was so impactful that I decided to write these few words about it.

Right at the very end she said something that has left an impression on me. She talks about the three things that she would say. If you watched the video you know what they are. But there is something that she says as the video comes to a close that just punched me in gut. Not in the “Victor, you have to watch out for this kind of way.” Even though I do.

What hit me so strongly was that I have for the longest time known that what matters most is making God great. What I mean is that when we lift up the name of God we are living into the ultimate purpose for our existence. Lifting up His name should not be a burden. It should be a joy and an opportunity to remind ourselves, most of all, that there is more to life than being famous. What I did not have was the language. In one short and poignant sentence, Candace articulated why we should continue to make great the majesty and wonder of God and not our own. What did she say?

I love this statement. I will be using it and it will be helping me stay focused on what matters most.

Count it all Joy

Count it all Joy

James 1:3-4

3 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Some day’s life just sucks. Everyone has those days where everything seems to be going opposite as to what we have planned. There are seasons in life that are joyful and peaceful, but there are also seasons in life that are hard. It’s pretty easy to be thankful and full of joy when everything is going our way. But how do we respond when it seems like everything is out of control?

Including myself, I would say that for the most part when life gets hard we begin to question and ask ourselves “What can I do to fix this?” I believe all humans are wired with the desire to feel in control. But as soon as that feeling of being in control goes away there is a sense of panic. As followers of Christ, we sometimes believe that we should get to live an easier life than those who are not believers. But scripture tells us time and time again that there will be times of pain. There will be pain and there will be hardship throughout any person’s life. This is where Christians have an opportunity to stand apart from everyone else. We can stand apart by how we respond to the pain.

James writes in his New Testament letter instructing fellow believers to count it all joy when these times of hardship arise. It’s a crazy idea to think that we should be joyful when life becomes hard. This joy comes from the realization that our pain has a purpose. This purpose is the production of faith and trust.

God will allow times in our lives to go against our current plan. The key in finding joy in all times of life is by understanding that all things are according to His plan, not ours. We so often try to map out every little detail of our lives, but when it doesn’t seem to go as we planned we think God has made a mistake. The question I ask is how can we find joy in the struggle and in the midst of pain?

My answer is: Embrace it.

When the struggle comes don’t fight it. God is there for you. Let Him do the fighting. You are not alone. We are able to see that He has such a greater plan when we can begin to see our hardships as purposeful. True joy is found when we are able to see Christ as our provision and the satisfaction of our need during our time of struggle.

These times in our lives are what make us who we are truly meant to be. Every season of life, the good and the bad, molds and forms us into the people that we are meant to be. It could be so easy for us to become angry with the circumstances of life but the word of God instructs a better response: “Count it all joy.” When we do this we are promised that the testing of faith will produce steadfastness and in this, we are made complete.

It will be a completeness in Christ that can’t compare to anything else this world has to offer. So I pray that as we all endure different seasons of life that we would learn to see the purpose and always find our way back to His word counting it as joy through it all.

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