Sermons

The sermons below include critiques, praise, suggestions and the authors own preaching.

Thumbnail image for Subjectivity in Modern Preaching

Subjectivity in Modern Preaching

I was recently listening to a pastor preach on the importance of prayer in pastoral ministry. Prayer is certainly important in the life of a pastor (or any Christian). The context was that this pastor was teaching future pastors. Giving his time to such teaching is a great service. However, the text he used to [...]

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Thumbnail image for Bisagno On Extending the Gospel Invitation

Bisagno On Extending the Gospel Invitation

One of the books assigned to read for one of my classes is Pastor’s Handbook by John R. Bisagno which offers a lot of practical advice. The advice is mostly pragmatic seemingly from a consequentialist perspective. That is, Bisagno writes from experience with little Scriptural support for his advice. Bisagno’s advice is not intrinsically good [...]

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Thumbnail image for Preaching On Sin and Responsibility

Preaching On Sin and Responsibility

Sin and responsibility may not be the most comfortable topics about which to talk or preach. No one really wants to consider that they are responsible for something they did i.e. sin. It is much easier to blame sins on someone else as if they some how caused the sin and, therefore, avoid personal responsibility. [...]

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Thumbnail image for Devotion Preached Sept 2011 MP3

Devotion Preached Sept 2011 MP3

Luke 1:37 Devotion [ 13:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (243)

I preached the Sunday evening devotion before the congregation on Sept. 5. My text for the devotion was “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37 ESV). To provide context for the verse I read Luke 1:26 – 38 which is quoted below. I offered threes points of consideration: 1) God’s actions, 2) Mary’s [...]

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Thumbnail image for Preaching: Young, Restless and Four?

Preaching: Young, Restless and Four?

Paul wrote to Timothy and stated, ” Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV) I don’t think Paul had a four year old preacher in mind as one way this Scripture may be applied. [...]

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Thumbnail image for Sermon: Drinking Is Not Drunkeness

Sermon: Drinking Is Not Drunkeness

Eddie Exposito, a pastor friend from Louisiana, preached a sermon about the biblical approach to alcohol. The sermon, linked below, is called Drinking Is Not Drunkenness. He addresses some of the unbiblical approaches to alcohol that are prevalent today and offers a corrective, biblical view. I thought some of you would appreciate this sermon. Drinking [...]

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Thumbnail image for On the Sermon Series

On the Sermon Series

Tim Hawkins on the sermon series…

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Thumbnail image for February 2011 Devotion MP3

February 2011 Devotion MP3

Isaiah 49:3 Devotion [ 15:19:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (388)

Isaiah 49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. (NIV) (ESV – in whom I will be glorified)” I.Introduction A. The focus of tonight’s devotion is on Isaiah 49:3. 1. What did God teach and how did it affect His people then? 2. How do we [...]

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Thumbnail image for My Recent Sermon On James 3:7-8

My Recent Sermon On James 3:7-8

Last Thursday night I got a call from a friend at a somewhat unusual time around 5:30 pm. It was a friend named Kevin Griggs who pastors a local church a few cities north of me. Due to unexpected events he asked if I could fill his pulpit that Sunday. We spoke the next morning [...]

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Thumbnail image for Spurgeon on Impressive and Borrowed Sermons

Spurgeon on Impressive and Borrowed Sermons

Justin Taylor recently posted TGC Asks Don Carson: When Has a Preacher Crossed the Line into Plagiarism in His Sermon? Carson starts by explaining that it is always wrong to preach someone else’s sermon as if it were your own. A related question is whether it’s right or wrong for a preacher to admittedly deliver another’s [...]

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Thumbnail image for An Illustration On Urgency: Starring Satan

An Illustration On Urgency: Starring Satan

Below is a great illustration I ran across on urgency. I thought I’d share it. The story of told of three apprentice devils being trained by Satan. ‘What are you going to try today?’ asks the leader. The first apprentice replies, ‘I’m going to tell them there is no God.’ ‘Well,’ says Satan, ‘you can [...]

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Thumbnail image for A Letter From Hell

A Letter From Hell

Pastor Jeremy Rhode of  Faith Lutheran Church in Capistrano Beach, CA has graciously allowed me to publish the text of his sermon A Letter From Hell. This sermon is based on the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31. Pastor Rhode offers what a letter from the rich man writing from hell may look [...]

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Thumbnail image for Thabiti On the Gospel and Witnessing, Secrets and Tricks

Thabiti On the Gospel and Witnessing, Secrets and Tricks

Desiring God 2010 National Conference Thabiti Anyabwile’s topic was Thinking for the Sake of Global Faithfulness: Confronting Islam with the Mind of Christ. Of all the good words Thabiti shared one thing stood out as a great reminder for all Christians. Although he was speaking about witnessing to Muslims, any type of person or group [...]

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Thumbnail image for September 2010 Devotion MP3

September 2010 Devotion MP3

James 3:7-8 Devotion [ 13:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1348)

Theme: No one but Jesus can tame the tongue, which is evil and full of poison. I. Introduction “Tonight we’re going to look at taming the tongue. We will be in James chapter 3, which explains how no one can tame their own tongue. We will see the root of the tongue’s true problem and [...]

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Thumbnail image for Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?

Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?

As I was thinking recently about faith and justification a commenter made an assertion about a conflict between Jesus’ and Paul’s gospel. I was reminded John Piper’s excellent talk from T4G 2010 where he answers the question: Did Jesus preach Paul’s gospel? The text Piper spoke on was from Luke 18:9-14 about the Pharisee and [...]

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Thumbnail image for August 2010 Devotion MP3

August 2010 Devotion MP3

August Devotion - Malachi 3:3-4 [ 14:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (503)

This is a short devotion I gave on Malachi 3:3-4 during our evening worship service on August 1, 2010. I tried a little different approach in this devotion. Below is my rough outline. Critiques welcomed and encouraged! I. Introduction

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Thumbnail image for Teaching The Bible: Still Unpopular, Still Essential by Phillip Jensen

Teaching The Bible: Still Unpopular, Still Essential by Phillip Jensen

Below is an article written by Phillip Jensen, founder of Matthias Media and writer of the gospel outline in Two Ways To Live. Though the article is a few years old I found it extremely relevant and helpful. Teaching The Bible: Still Unpopular, Still Essential by Phillip Jensen Yoga is to Hinduism what Billy Graham [...]

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Thumbnail image for July Devotion MP3

July Devotion MP3

Ezekiel 36:25-26 Evening Service [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1952)

This is a short devotion I gave on Ezekiel 36:25-26 during our evening worship service on July 25, 2010. Below is my rough outline. Critiques welcomed and encouraged! Ezekiel 36:25-26 (Correlating with the morning sermon: Be Born Again – John 3:1-21) I. Introduction

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Thumbnail image for Haddon Robinson On Truth In Sermon Illustrations

Haddon Robinson On Truth In Sermon Illustrations

It can be tempting to exaggerate or lie when trying to entertain or persuade others. This is understandable as it is nice to feel appreciated and engaged. It is an easy trap to fall into, especially, if one’s flesh gets in the way. Christians too? Even though the Christian is called to glorify Christ in [...]

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Thumbnail image for Sermon listening

Sermon listening

Most Christians listen to sermons weekly. And many listen to some other kind of biblical teaching during the week. How often is a second thought given about what exactly is going on in our mind when listening? In other words, how do we listen? Challies has a review of a book called Expository Listening by [...]

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Thumbnail image for March Devotion MP3

March Devotion MP3

2 Peter 3:9 Evening Service Devotion [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (344)

This is a devotion I gave at our evening service on March 7. The first 1.5 minutes did not get recorded so I added it myself. The change in audio can be heard on the recording. It is interesting how different it was trying to recreate this short intro sitting at my computer versus being [...]

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Thumbnail image for Heresy Two-step

Heresy Two-step

On a recent Fighting for the Faith radio program host Chris Rosebrough had Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller as a guest to help with a sermon review. During the sermon review Wolfmueller mentioned something he called a heresy two-step. It’s a process that some might use to preach heresy or some position/doctrine that that is not from [...]

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Thumbnail image for August Devotion MP3

August Devotion MP3

Isaiah 24:23 Sunday Evening Devotional [ 14:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (174)

I gave this devotional for our Sunday evening service on August 16. My previous devotion was the evening of April 5 if you’d like to listen. My text for this devotion was Isaiah 24:23 The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and [...]

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Thumbnail image for Dynamite Sermon Illustrations

Dynamite Sermon Illustrations

As the story goes, we get our word dynamite from the Greek word dunamis.  Dunamis means power.  This can be a powerful illustration in a sermon where we read about the power of God in the Bible. We can actually see the dynamite of God!  Powerful!  Right? 

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Thumbnail image for April Devotion MP3

April Devotion MP3

April 5 Devotion Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (151)

My pastor said something I found funny while introducing me.  He mentioned that I was a blogger.  I was still too nervous at that point to comment. Below is a recording of the devotion I gave that I wrote about yesterday.  I hope it’s edifying.  If not, then shoot the messenger (me) because the message [...]

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Ask John Piper: Pornification of the Pulpit

John Piper is taking questions again: Ask John Piper a Question on Twitter (Note: you don’t have to use twitter, check the link.) My question via twitter is: @desiringgod #apj Pastor John, what did you think of Phil Johnson’s recent sermon on “Pornification of the Pulpit”? Why ask this?  If you aren’t familiar with this [...]

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Ten Indictments Against the American Church by Paul Washer

A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture. An ignorance of God. A failure to address man’s malady. An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration.* An unbiblical gospel invitation. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline. A silence on [...]

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Deeper Conference, First Baptist Woodstock: Paul Washer

In a previous post I blogged about the Deeper Conference.  I didn’t get to attend as I’d hope, but below is one of Paul Washer’s presentations that is quickly becoming very popular. Play the audio above or download MP3 here. Enjoy! Mark

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Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy III

Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy Part III This is the third and final installment of this series.  This will finish up part I and part II and my review of Dr. John Compton’s sermon “What is Calvinism?”  I want to take a look at Dr. Compton’s three concerns, his theology of [...]

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Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy II

Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy Part II This is a continuation of the previous post.  We start this section with the claim of the over-emphasis of God’s sovereignty above man’s free-will. An assertion based on what? We aren’t told. A side observation is that rarely are objections raised when a preacher [...]

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Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy I

Calvinism or Just a John 3:16 Kind of Guy Part I Fellow SBC blogger Timmy Brister linked to a sermon telling us why it’s important to combat false representations of Calvinism within the Southern Bapitst Convention. Note: If you want to see why it is so necessary to publicly debunk errors by Lemke and others, [...]

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T4G 2008 MP3s – Together for the Gospel

T4G 2008 wishing I were there… Session I – Ligon Duncan MP3 Sound Doctrine: Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry: A Joyful Defense and Declaration of the Necessity and Practicality of Systematic Theology for the Life of Church Session II – Thabiti Anyabwile MP3 Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church Session [...]

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The Story of Jesus’ Birth by Martin Luther

I. The Birth of Jesus Christmas Text: Luke 2:1-14 The Story of Jesus’ Birth 1. It is written in Hag 2:6-7, that God says, “I will shake the heavens; and the precious things of all nations shall come.” This is fulfilled today, for the heavens were shaken, that is, the angels in the heavens sang [...]

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Hard but true words from John Piper

In other words, in this research the term “born again” refers to people who say things. They say, “I have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It’s important to me.” They say, “I believe that I will go to heaven when I die. I have confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.” [...]

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Deal and sermon of the week

Deal of the Week Tom Ascol over at Founders Ministries has blogged that James P. Boyce’s Abstract of Systematic Theology is back in print.  Not only that, but for a limited time it’s available for only $12.50 plus $3.50 for postage and handling which will be priced at $29.95 once this deal expires.  You can [...]

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Southern Baptists the coffins are here and Voddie’s got the hammer!

Do you want to here the straight truth about what’s going on in the SBC? Inflated baptismal numbers? Unregenerate members? Actually preaching the Gospel? Church discipline? Want to hear about “the dance”? You can hear about all of these things and more at this years Eastern Evangelism Conference in Hampton Voddie Baucham brings it. My [...]

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Timely sermon: Rolfe Barnard’s The God Nobody Is Mad At

Friend and fellow georgian, Pastor David King suggested this sermon. You can read it or listen to it or both if you like. The opening paragraph of the sermon reminds me a lot of how the Gospel is given today. I went to a big Bible Conference, Southern Baptist Fellowship last week; and one more [...]

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Is the sermon about Jesus?

I often listen to Todd Wilken on the Issues, Etc. radio show. He evaluates sermons of various preachers and he has three “rules” that he uses. Below I am going to put them in my own words. They are: 1. Is Jesus mentioned in the sermon and how much? 2. If Jesus is mentioned, is [...]

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