Sermon Video: John 8:31-36 "the truth will set you free"

"you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
Are we really free, or are even Americans slaves? Jesus said that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. He also offered us all freedom is we choose to believe in and follow him. There is Hope, you can be free!
 
Click on the link below to watch the sermon:
Part One - Sermon Video - John 8:31-36
Part Two - Sermon Video - John 8:31-36

Who is the slave and who is free?

After preaching John 8:31-36 this week, I returned to the classroom to teach today with that thought in mind.  Who really is the slave here and who is free?  Jesus did promise us that the Truth would set us free from the chains of our bondage to sin, but are those chains evident?  Are those who don't have a relationship with God really as lost and hopeless as the Gospel says?...I've been teaching alternative education for over seven years now and I've had some wonderful students over the years.  Sadly, though, the vast majority of my students are so totally enthralled to their own desires that they have virtually no compassion or concern for others.  On top of that, the use of drugs and excessive drinking are for many a daily habit.  Their lives are so desperate and without hope that they need to escape from them every day! 
Who is the slave and who is free?  Am I a slave because I choose to abstain from drugs and alcohol?  Am I a slave because I choose to remain commited to only my wife and no other?  Am I missing out on all of the fun?  No, I'm not.  God didn't give us his commandments in order to ruin our fun, God gave us the Law so that we might see what holiness looks like.  God wants us to be like him because his existence is perfect. 
In the end, we all must choose.  Choose to live our lives for others, to dedicate ourselves to a hope and a calling beyond our own selfish ambitions.  Or, we can choose to live only for ourselves, we can choose to waste our lives on hollow pursuits that will never satisfy.
"if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." - John 8:36

Sermon Video: James 1:9-11, "the value of being rich"

This sermon is from James 1:9-11 and deals with the temporary nature of wealth along with the hidden value of being poor.
to watch the appx. 20 minute sermon, click on the link below
Sermon video: James 1:9-11

For those of you new to my blog...

I suppose there may be some people who view my blog who don't know who I am, for that a trip to the bio. page will suffice, but there may also be some who don't know that I have bunch of documents (a few essays, a play, some sermon videos, and one book) that I've written that are available to read/download/print to anyone who wants to utilize them. I wrote them for a variety of reasons, but if they can be any help to you at all in your personal spiritual walk or answer any of your questions, I'm glad to share my thoughts...The book is entitled, "Christianity's Big Tent" and focuses on the question of who is, and who is not, a Christian. How do we know the difference? What makes a church a Christian church? What's really important about the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, and what isn't crucial? These questions are addressed using the first letter of the Apostle John as the backdrop. Please feel free to direct anyone to the link who has questions about Ecumenism (the issue of churches getting along and cooperating), and don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions at pastorpowell@hotmail.com.

Christianity's Big Tent

Christianity's Big Tent: Works Cited

The LORD giveth, and the LORD taketh away...

Ever had one of those weeks? When things go so wrong that you don't even know how to react. You could say that the last seven days have been that for my wife and I. We started off last friday with a nice evening; went out for pizza and then to a movie (saw Despicable Me, funny); we were in a good mood, looking forward to the weekend and driving home. The road about 3 miles from home was iced over because of the wind blowing snow across it (as it always is at this spot) so I slowed down to 35 mph. knowing that stopping there was next to impossible...after a couple hundred yards, lights in my rear view mirror keep getting closer, quickly. SLAM!! Our Taurus goes spinning around the road and into the ditch {long story short, the car is totaled, we don't get any money because MI is a no-fault ins. state); both Nicole and I were pretty sore, but at least not hurt badly. In an instant, I don't have a car to drive to work anymore {thankfully my parents let me borrow their 2nd car for a while}...what was a nice evening, a good time for my wife and I together, turns into a rotten night of waiting around in the cold for the cops and a tow truck. In and of itself, that would be enough. God has allowed us to be in financially rough times in the past, we've struggled to find the $ to pay our bills, but we're not as hard up as some; we can deal with this too....
Fast forward five days, I check my e-mail to discover that the Army chaplain recruiter has sent me a new one; nothing unusual here, he's been asking for additional info. for six months...when I open it I learn that the Army doctor who had previously approved my medical waiver (I have some knee pain and used to have migraines), has changed her mind and rejected it instead. The recruiter has told me that this is the end, there isn't anything else he can do {there are a couple of long-shot chances I'm yet pursuing, but they're not likely}; in one moment, my plans to go back to the Seminary to finish my MDiv and for us to have health insurance by this summer (we've been 2 yrs. without, neither of my 2 jobs have it, nor Nicole's adjunct prof. position); not to mention the long-held desire I have had to join the military; poof, gone...
Ok Lord, now what? How can I minister full-time when the hurdles in the way keep getting higher...I've been inches away from a full-time prison chaplain job only to have someone decide they weren't going to retire afterall; poof...I've been working for four years at my church, but we're barely keeping our heads above water. All the growth we would have had was negated by people moving away to find jobs. What now?
At times, it isn't easy being a servant of the Lord (I know, that's a shocker); if it wasn't for the support of family and friends, my church and my wife; I'd be hurting much worse...
to think, Job didn't have any of that, his wife told him to cuse God and die; his friends told him to confess to the sins he knew he hadn't commited; God's answer, "hey Job, I'm God, you let me worry about the future" (ok, that's a real big paraphrase)...
So, God, you're God, I'm letting you worry about the future; please help me to see what I'm supposed to do in the present...