SERMON SUMMARY Christianity had gotten off-course, and so 500 years ago a brave Catholic monk named Martin Luther nailed to the door of a church a list of 95 abuses. In Luther’s day, church leaders competed against the Scriptures for authority. Today, due to globalization, Christianity is just one of many religious options— each of…
SERMON SUMMARY 1. Our lives are shaped by our expectations. Shaped by the Old Testament, the disciples expected God quickly to bring in a physical, national kingdom of Israel with a victorious, messianic ruler who would squash all Gentile opposition. The disciples expected and wanted one thing, but Jesus had something else in mind. False…
Sermon Summary Sermon Summary What mental image do you get of God the Father? Now picture Jesus. Now, try to picture the Holy Spirit. For most of us, it is hard to envision the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is not an it, but a person. He is referred to…
Sermon Summary We live in a painful, confusing world with way too much evil and injustice; how can we make sense of it? Believers have a hard time reconciling all the pain and evil in the world and the existence of God. Does God cause or allow these evils? What are the theological implications if…
Sermon Summary Jesus is a controversial historical figure, not so much because of what he taught, but who he claimed to be: God in the flesh. Those who knew him best believed him, and risked life and limb to echo that claim. Is Jesus really God? Let’s consider the case for Jesus’ deity. Jesus claimed…
Sermon Summary Is the Bible truly a unique book when compared to other religious writings like, say, the Koran or the Hindu Scriptures? Is the Bible trustworthy? Is it historically accurate? Is it internally consistent? When compared to other works of literature, the Bible is unique. A. Unique in its continuity. The Bible was written…
SERMON SUMMARY Christmas is a time to celebrate the entrance of God’s son into this world. The Bible contains the original Christmas Story (Luke 2:8-14), in which the angel revealed to the shepherds Christmas’ threefold purpose as a time of celebration, a time for reconciliation, and a time for salvation. Today we are going to…
Sermon Summary Last Sunday we completed a 13-part series on the New Testament book written by and bearing the name of Jesus’ little brother, James. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Seeing is believing.”, but James thoroughly disproves it. James spent more than 30 years seeing perfection—watching Jesus “up close and personal”—and yet he was a…
Sermon Summary Each week on the hit TV show NCIS a mystery is solved by figuring out the criminal’s modus operandi, Latin for “method of operation”. God also has an M.O.—a way he typically operates. How does God work in his world? Answering that question will help us pull together what we’ve been learning over…
Sermon Summary Spirituality is flourishing in 21st century America. One Raleigh resident said that raising chickens “is a spiritual endeavor, a powerful daily devotional that has brought me to my knees.” A famous scientist calls thinking about atheistic evolution “a spiritual endeavor, a powerful daily devotional that brings her to her knees”, adding “Science is,…
