The metaphor of spiritual warfare is at the heart of the Christian life and our struggle with sin, the Devil, and temptation. In what way is a Christian like a soldier, and what does the image of war and fighting mean for our daily walk with Jesus?
(Preaching on images of the Church. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 24, 2026.)
This sermon is a little different; 38 verses on suffering in the life of the Christian, strung together back to back. Tenses and pronouns have been modified to make the entire thing seem like a continuous letter from God to his church today.
(Preaching on suffering. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 17, 2026.)
The image of the church as a bride has a lot of implications: for how we think about and conceptualize our relationship with Jesus, for how Jesus thinks and feels about us, and for how seriously we treat our sin. Why has God always used this analogy with his people, and what should it mean for us today?
(Preaching on images of the Church. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 17, 2026.)
The image of the church as branches of a tree or a vine is one of the less common in Scripture, but it is instructive nonetheless. What does this analogy teach us about our relationship with Jesus and our job as his followers?
(Preaching on the church. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 3, 2026.)
The image of the church as a flock of sheep is perhaps the least flattering one in all of Scripture. This comparison goes back a long way, to God’s relationship with the Israelites and their leaders. What can we learn from Israel’s use of this analogy, Jesus’s adoption of it, and the early Church’s continuation of its use?
(Preaching on the church. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 26, 2026.)
It is not an understatement to say that the resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in all of history. Based on Paul’s exposition of it in 1 Corinthians 15, why is it so important, and what should it mean to you and me?
(This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 5, 2026.)
If spiritual thinking begins with considering eternal concerns (judgment, the character of God, “spiritual” treasure), what does it look like in practical, everyday terms? How should spiritual thinking manifest in this present, temporal life?
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 29, 2026.)
Luke 12-13 form a cohesive unit of Jesus’s teaching on having a spiritual mindset. This week, we will consider the motivation and basis of spiritual thinking, and then next week look at what Jesus has to say about how such thinking manifests (or should manifest) in our worldview, emotions, and actions.
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 22, 2026.)
The middle section of Luke transitions away from being mostly stories of Jesus to being mostly the words and teaching of Jesus. In chapter 11, there is a sequence of Jesus’s teaching culminating in a condemnation of the Pharisees for having the wrong priorities in their righteousness. What can we learn from these words of Jesus?
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 15, 2026.)
Twice in Luke 9-10 Jesus sends out his disciples on the so-called “limited commission” – a smaller version of what he would eventually command all Christians to do. What can we learn from these preparatory missions, and how do they foreshadow the mission of the church to come?
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 8, 2026).
Watts in the Word 