Perhaps the two most controversial, confusing parables in all the gospels are both in the same chapter, Luke 16. Why did Luke put these two parables together, and how do they each inform our understanding of the other?
(Preaching through Luke’s Gospel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 18, 2026.)
Most of Jesus’ parables in Luke were direct responses to a situation he was in or a comment or question directed at him, including the parables of lost things in Luke 15. What attitude was Jesus responding to, and how might we be in danger of the same attitude today?
(Preaching through the Gospel of Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 11, 2026.)
We resume our study of Luke’s gospel this week. Luke 14 contains maybe the most famous parable about the “cost of discipleship,” but there are three different parables about feasts before it in Luke 14 that all make answer a similar question: what does it take to follow Jesus?
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 4, 2026.)
Second in our series on Christian fundamentals is “One Lord” from Ephesians 4, combined with a partial examination of “the Resurrection from the Dead” in Hebrews 6. Jesus of Nazareth is our “one Lord,” but why? What give him the right to rule, and how should people today respond to his rule?
(Preaching on Christian fundamentals. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on July 12, 2026.)
Jesus uses two analogies in Matthew 5 to describe his followers and his expectations for them. What do these analogies have in common, and what kind of behaviors should they describe in the life of the modern Christian?
(This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on June 14, 2026.)
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.)
