One of the first personal encounters with Jesus was a back-alley nighttime meeting with Nicodemus, a Pharisee. What can we learn about Jesus and his expectations for his followers from this encounter?
(Preaching on personal encounters with Jesus. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 29, 2023.)
This week we are starting a new series looking at the life of Jesus through the lens of personal encounters; who was Jesus? What did he care about, how did he treat people? We begin by considering the bulk of Jesus’s life, unexplored in any detail in the gospel texts: who was Jesus before his ministry?
(Preaching on the life of Jesus. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 22, 2023.)
The first chapter of the book of Esther isn’t really about Esther at all, but rather sets the stage for a biting satire skewering the incompetence of those in power in Persia. What can we learn from the ineptitude of Ahasuerus?
(Preaching through Esther. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 8, 2023.)
The writer of Hebrews concludes the list of “elementary doctrine of Christ” with eternal judgment. What judgment is the writer referring to, and what does it mean for you and me?
(Preaching on the first principles of Christianity. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 8, 2023.)
We begin our study of Esther with some top-level considerations of the book: it’s place in the story of the people of God in the Old Testament, it’s historical context, and the timeless themes in the book for God’s people in any era.
(Preaching through Esther. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 1, 2023.)
There is no Christian doctrine more elementary, no principle more basic, than the resurrection of the dead. It is not an understatement to say that the entire faith rests on this one event, this one teaching. Why is it so foundational, and what does that mean for us?
(Preaching on the first principles of Christianity. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 1, 2023.)
Relative to the modern American Christian context, the “laying on of hands” seems most out of place in the list of “elementary doctrine of Christ” in Hebrews 6:1-2. Why is that? What is so essential about this doctrine, and what should it mean for Christians today?
(Preaching on the first principles of Christianity. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 24, 2023.)
(NOTE: The first three minutes of this audio are very echoey. Sorry.) Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with one of the more iconic sets of imagery in the New Testament: the Armor of God. What is the armor, and why do we need it?
(Preaching through Ephesians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 17, 2023.)
The phrase “instruction about washings” in Hebrews 6 is very unusual, especially considering that the opening verses of Hebrews 6 are supposed to be about “elementary doctrine of Christ.” What is meant by “washings,” and how is it an elementary doctrine?
(Preaching on the first principles of Christianity. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 17, 2023.)
One of the major themes in the latter half of Ephesians is authority, both in the church and in human relationships. This is a common refrain of the Bible; how should people in authority treat those under their charge, and how should those under authority act in submission?
This is a lesson composed mostly of various scriptures, stitched together. The scriptures used:
(1) Ephesians 5:15-21
(2) Philippians 2:2-8
(3) 1 Peter 2:9-25
(4) Ephesians 6:5-8
(5) Colossians 3:23-24
(6) Ephesians 6:9
(7) Colossians 3:25 – 4:1
(8) Leviticus 25:43
(9) Galatians 1:10
(10) Galatians 3:27-29
(11) Colossians 3:11-14
(12) 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
(13) Hebrews 13:1-8
(14) Hebrews 13:15-17
(15) 1 Peter 5:1-10
(16) Ephesians 6:1-3
(17) Proverbs 1:8-10
(18) Proverbs 6:20-22
(19) Proverbs 23:22-25
(20) 3 John 1:4
(21) Matthew 15:3-9
(22) 1 Timothy 5:3-8
(23) Colossians 3:20
(24) Romans 1:29-31
(25) Proverbs 15:5
(26) Ephesians 6:4
(27) Proverbs 19:18
(28) Deuteronomy 4:9-10
(29) Colossians 3:21)
(30) Psalms 78:1-4
(31) Deuteronomy 6:5-9
(32) 2 Timothy 3:14-17
(33) Proverbs 22:6
(34) 1 John 2:12-14
(35) John 13:12-17
(36) Hebrews 5:7-9
(37) Romans 12:9-10
(38) Romans 15:2-3
(39) 1 Peter 3:8-12
(Preaching through Ephesians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 10, 2023.)
Watts in the Word 