Most everyone knows that the Bible is divided into two parts – the Old Testament and the New Testament. But you may have wondered where that word “testament” comes from. It comes from several passages in the King James Version of the Bible. But the Greek word that’s used there is actually better translated as “covenant”…
Shaped BY the cross into the shape OF the cross
Sermons by Alan Smith
This morning, we begin our series, “Exploring the Bible” and to quote Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with Do-Re-Mi.” And when you read your Bible, you begin with Genesis. …
Today is the last Sunday we will all meet together for worship in 2019 and next Sunday morning, we begin a brand-new year together. And I don’t know what your New Year’s resolutions may be for the coming year, but I hope they include a resolution to spend more time in worship and study of…
This morning, we conclude our series on the Christmas story and the book of Ruth, and we’re seeing how the book of Ruth, even though it is in the Old Testament, has many similarities to Christmas story, the birth of Jesus. In week one, we saw how this is the story of a young woman…
This morning is the second in our series on the Christmas story and the book of Ruth. We’re walking our way through the book of Ruth and seeing how God used the people and the events of this book to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. For example, last week we saw that…
Most of you are probably aware that our country is deeply divided, and I don’t know if there is any hope of reconciliation. I’m not talking about the division between Republicans and Democrats. I’m not talking about the ways that different races are divided in our country today. I’m talking about something much deeper than…
There’s a TV show that first came on decades ago that is currently having a comeback – “Kids Say the Darndest Things”. Art Linkletter hosted the first version, Bill Cosby hosted the second version, and now Tiffany Haddish is hosting the third version. And I enjoy watching that show, because it’s so true. You…
As I’m sure you know, this week is Thanksgiving and I hope that you will spend some time thinking about the importance of giving thanks to God. Before I begin my lesson, though, I want to share with you a brief video of what Thanksgiving is all about, at least in the eyes of…
Our grandson Eric is in the 7th grade this year, and he was very excited to be able to take algebra for the first time. But what that means is that, once or twice a week, I’ll get a phone call from Eric asking me to help him with his algebra homework. He…
When we tell our children the story of Jonah, we usually stop at chapter 3 because that closes the story on a very positive note. But it also leaves out a very important section. In fact, I think everything else in this book leads up to chapter 4 — which tells us that the…