What began with a joyful procession into Jerusalem became a dark day for Israel. Jesus was rejected by the Jewish leaders. His visit to the temple was the last straw—what should have been a place of prayer had become a place of extortion. Jesus visually declared his judgment on the nation by cursing a fig tree, that, like Israel, should have been fruitful, but remained fruitless and barren.
Sermon Summary 2 Peter 1:1-11 1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing…
Sermon Summary In James 4:1-12, Jesus’ half-brother describes what happens when we adopt the world’s value system: we make enemies on two fronts. We quarrel with each other, and we quarrel with God. In James 4:13-17, James expands the implications of adopting the world’s value system, which is flawed primarily because it leaves God out…
Sermon Summary Modus operandi is Latin for “method of operation”. God’s M.O. is to use “means” to accomplish his will. A “means” is an instrument or a method used to accomplish something. God uses means to bring people into his family, and then he uses means to help us become fully-devoted followers. There is 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 First Timothy 3:15-16 introduces a hymn which is older than the New Testament! Believers began singing shortly after Jesus rose from the dead and it quickly spread throughout the churches as a declaration of their faith in the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. But before Paul quoted the lyrics, he tells us what…
Sermon Summary Notes There were times when Jesus taught hard things. On the worst day in Jesus’ life—those twenty-four hours between his Passover meal with his disciples and his death. For three years Jesus loved and taught Judas, who then betrayed and sold him out. That same night the rest of his followers abandoned him…
