The Rabbi system in first century Israel is an important piece of background information for contextualizing the story of Jesus. What was a Rabbi, and how did Jesus fit into this system? What does this mean for the modern reader?
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 1, 2026.)
(Note: This audio sounds very different because it is livestreamed from home in a snow storm.)
The first few stories of Jesus’s ministry in Luke’s Gospel serve to introduce the purpose of his earthly ministry and reinforce some of the ways that Jesus might have been tempted to alter or change his purpose from the Father. What was his purpose, and how does it inform our own?
(Preaching through the Gospel of Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on January 25, 2026.)
Luke chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4 is the last bit of set-up before the ministry of Jesus begins in earnest. What can we learn from the teaching of John the Baptist, Luke’s version of Jesus’s genealogy, and the temptation of Jesus?
(Preaching through the Gospel of Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on January 18, 2026.)
Over the course of this year, I will be preaching through the Gospel of Luke, mostly at a pace of one chapter per week. We will do the first half over the first three months of the year, take a break, and then finish out the year by covering the second half of Luke in October-December. We begin with Luke 1, wherein Luke sets up the purpose and stakes of his account of the life of Jesus.
(Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on January 4, 2024.)
Mark’s Gospel is a good one to use as a base for digging down to the core Gospel story; the part of the good news of Jesus’s life that all four Gospel writers included in their accounts. The list is surprisingly short, and while everything each writer wrote is essential for all Christians, considering the story in its most basic form powerfully confirms the simplicity and communicability of the Gospel story.
(NOTE: The audio cuts in and out a bit at the beginning. Sorry. Preaching on the Gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 12, 2025.)
The “kingdom” is an especially important theme in Matthew’s version of the Gospel story. Jesus’s work was not disconnected from the story of Israel in the Old Testament; it was a fulfillment and continuation of God’s plan to establish his eternal kingdom, promised to David and Daniel. How does Matthew explore the importance of the “kingdom of heaven” in the life and teaching of Jesus?
(Preaching through the Gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 5, 2025.)
Matthew’s gospel is the most closely connected to the Israelite story in the Old Testament. He connects these stories in two main ways: the fulfillment of prophecy, and the continuation of the kingdom. First, we will consider how Matthew addresses prophecy in the life of Jesus. How does Jesus fulfill all the promises of God in the Old Testament, and what does it mean for the modern reader?
(Preaching on the gospels. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 5, 2025.)
Matthew focuses on the Jesus the Jew more than the other gospel writers, especially in the way that Jesus is the culmination of so much Old Testament Hebrew prophecy. While Jesus fulfills more prophecy than just the ones listed on this chart, these are some of the most explicit references in Matthew, along with some overarching prophetic themes.
As we continue looking at various parts of Jesus’s work and power, we focus in his work as Heaven’s supreme messenger. What message does he bring, and how does he convey it?
(Preaching on Jesus. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on December 12, 2021.)
Why is it so important that Christians transform their way of life? And just what does Peter mean when he talks about the gospel being preached to the dead?
(Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 21, 2020.)
Watts in the Word 