Sermon Video: "a baptism of repentance" - Luke 3:2-6

How do you go about preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah?  If you were John the Baptist, charged with this very mission, what would you do?  John's answer is to preach "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins".  In other words, John knew that God's people needed to repent of their sins, turn their lives around, and start following God once more.  If they did that, Jesus' message would be heard.  The same hold true for us today, when we humble ourselves, confess our sins, and begin serving the Lord we open our eyes to see God's salvation and our ears to hear his Word.  When we do that, God can work mighty deeds through his people.

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Sermon Video - "In my Father's house" Luke 2:38-50

For a parent, few things are more frightening than to have a child go missing.  In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph lose track of Jesus (12 years old) after the Passover festival in Jerusalem.  Following three days of frantic searching, they find Jesus in the Temple courts where he is amazing the teachers of the Law with the wisdom of his answers.  When asked by Mary, Jesus seems surprised that they would not have known that he had to be "in my Father's house".  Where would people expect you to be?  In church?  Helping the poor?  If they'd never think to look for you there, why not?

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"In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD." I Samuel 1:10

If you're like me, you love verses like this.  That the Bible contains such revealing texts makes it all the more of a blessing.  It is obvious that the Bible wasn't written by people who were trying to put God in a positive light because it contains so many hard truths and candid moments.
What was the reason for Hannah's bitter weeping?  The LORD had closed her womb and prevented her from having children (a serious shame in her society).  Our Bible study group was studying James this past week and talking about the difference between a test that comes from the Lord and a temptation that does not (it comes from ourselves; see James 1:2 and 1:13-14).  This is clearly an instance where God put Hannah to the test and she passes with flying colors.
Wait a minute, Hannah was bitter when she prayed to God, doesn't that show that she failed to trust in him??  Not at all, Hannah is a great example to us all because she earnestly prayed to the LORD despite her prior disappointments and bitterness.  Even though her prayers had gone seemingly unanswered for "year after year" (1:3), she simply continued to pray to the Lord.
Does that mean that our prayers will always be answered the way we want them to be if we keep on nagging God with prayer?  Of course not, but our willingness to continue to pray even when things are not going our way is how our faith develops and becomes perseverance and wisdom.  We may never receive the answer to prayer that we want, but God will certainly hear us when our hearts honestly pour out to him, as Hannah told Eli, "I was pouring out my soul to the LORD." (1:15).
Why did God put Hannah to the test?  Not to try to uncover the mind of God, but two reasons seem be clear enough.  #1, God knew that Hannah was capable of passing the test and #2 God knew how important the child she would dedicate to serve the LORD, Samuel, would later become.  By the way, God blessed Hannah over and above the maturity that she received through her patience and persistence (2:21); that's just the way God is, he loves giving gifts to those who serve him.

Sermon Video: Why are you here? - John 3:16

Do you know why people go to church?  Who is God anyway?  Who are we, and what is our purpose?  What about life after death?  These questions may seem like they'd take pages and pages to answer, but Jesus offers to us the truth of the Gospel in one simple sentence.  God is the one who created and loves this world, his Son came to reconcile and save us, and our response to God's love is simply to believe in Jesus.  It doesn't get any easier than that, and we shouldn't ever make it any more complicated.  Do you believe in Jesus Christ?  Don't let today go by without choosing for yourself to accept God's gift of love.

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Sermon Video: The Year of Jubilee (1st service at Franklin) Leviticus 25

This sermon is the first given as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA.  It explores the lessons of renewal and second chances that were in the Jewish celebration of the Year of Jubilee and serves as an object lesson for the start of this new ministry.

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"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." - Acts 16:31

There are time when the Bible is, admittedly, hard to understand.  There are passages of Scripture that baffle Bible scholars and provoke endless debate.  However, when God wishes to make something plain to us, he doesn't waste time with making the message any more than it has to be.  When Paul and Silas were asked by the jailer in Philippi (just after an earthquake had caused the building to collapse, but all of the prisoners had remained in their cells because of Paul's preaching), "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" the answer was remarkably simple.  Paul simply replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."
It is amazing to me how we can overcomplicated such a simple message.  How the Church can take God's one sentence offer of salvation for those who believe in his Son and turn it into a massive tome.  The message itself is complete without any embelishments.  There isn't anything else we can do to be saved, there isn't anything else we have to do to be saved.  There isn't anyone or anything else that we can put our faith in that will get us the result of salvation promised by Jesus.
And yet, over the centuries, we've allowed other things to creep in, we've made the test of faith harder for those on the outside to pass.  We've forgotten that we too were saved by the blood of the Lamb and that without Jesus we'd be as lost and fallen as anyone.  I had a basketball coach that liked to recite an acronymn that he was sure teenage boys would remember: Keep It Simple Stupid.  He didn't want us to overcomplicate the sport, but the sentiment applies here as well.  The message was simple and straightforward when Jesus spoke it, it was simple and straightforward when Luke wrote Acts, and it should be simple and straightforward when we tell it to the world today.
What about good deeds, don't I have to prove that I'm worthy?  That comes later.  Once we become Christians we prove that our faith is genuine by obeying God's laws and following the teachings of Jesus, but those deeds alone will never save us.  They're part of a process of becoming like Christ that will occupy the rest of our lives as we seek to removed impurities through the grace of God.  Rest assured, if someone tells you that you need to be good before you can be a Christian they don't know what they're talking about.
The message is simple, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."

Franklin PA, Day 1

Today was my first official day as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Franklin.  Nicole and I arrived here on Wednesday night and began the laborious task of unpacking, we were joined by my parents who came down for the weekend and helped out.  Today's message, the Year of Jubilee from Leviticus, was the same message that I preached as a farewell to Palo.  The Scripture works for both an end to something and a beginning to something because it teaches us that we need to have second chances in life and start thing afresh from time to time.  The people at Palo began life without me today, the people here at Franklin begin it with me...On a lighter note: I was "recognized" on the street yesterday by the owner of the antique mall; he had seen the article in The News Herald on Saturday that detailed who the new pastor of the 1st Baptist Church was and included the photo of myself and Nicole at the Stanley Cup Finals (where they beat the Penguins by the way!) with my Red Wings jersey on; as they say in hockey, "game on".

The end of an era, the beginning of a new adventure...

Today was my last service preaching at the First Baptist Church of Palo.  It was my first pastorate as a senior pastor and ended up lasting five years.  Today's service was bittersweet as some tears were shed and hugs shared.  I was glad to have the opportunity to share in Communion one last time with my congregation and hear one last story in the middle of the service from Wilma.  I know that in the future we will both be praying for each other.  Help me pray that the church at Palo finds a new pastor whose passion, knowledge, and wisdom (all good things from above) are what the flock there needs to continue in their worship of God.  Help them pray, along with many who already are, that I will be up to the task of my new ministry in Franklin, PA.  It is a new chapter in my ministry and my marriage, one that, Lord willing, will continue to glorify his name through the work that he is able to do through me.  That may seem a bit much to some, but it is actually something that I've prayed for many years, "Lord, make your name great through me".  It's the kind of thing a man can pray when he doesn't really know where the Lord is leading him but he's willing to live with the uncertainty if meaningful ministry results in the end.  When I accepted the call to Franklin, it felt like that prayer had received a new answer.  For the past five years the place where I have ministered has been the beautiful stone church in Palo (and an alternative education building in Portland), in two days Nicole and I will leave for PA.  It will be a new adventure, but one that begins with equal parts excitement and sadness.  We'll miss you guys, God bless you for giving me a chance to minister to you.

Sermon Video: "The Year of Jubilee - Leviticus 25

What do Jewish regulations about the Sabbath, land ownership, and workers' rights have to do with the Church today? The answer, it turns out, is plenty. The principles of justice and second chances that underpin the celebration of the Year of Jubilee are certainly needed in our world today. In addition, the return of land during the Jubilee to its original owners helped to balance wealth and poverty in Israel as well as allow those who fallen on hard times to redeem their families land and start over...


This sermon is the last to be given to the people of the First Baptist Church of Palo, my first pastorate, and as such ends with a personal message of thanks and prayer for the future ministry at Palo.
 
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Sermon Video