I heard a story about a little boy who asked his mother where he came from. His mother gave him a tall tale about the stork and how the stork brought him. The little boy asked his mother where she came from, and she said, “The stork brought me, too.” The boy went to his…
Shaped BY the cross into the shape OF the cross
Sermons by Alan Smith
This morning, we continue in our study through the Old Testament and we come now to the book of Ecclesiastes. If you were here with us two weeks ago when we looked at the book of Proverbs, you may recall that in our video from the Bible Project, we learned that the proverbs in…
One of the things that I enjoy doing is discovering the origin of words, finding out where our English words came from. One of the words that I think has a most interesting origin is the word “sophomore”. Becoming a sophomore in high school or college is a big step because it means you’re…
There’s something about singing that is profound and powerful. Social scientists tell us that music does something to human beings physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are creatures that need to and love to be around music and participate in it at some level. Music has a powerful effect on the human soul. In…
“I just think God wants me to be happy. It’s never God’s will for his children to suffer.” I hear those statements frequently from Christians as they try to make sense of the character of God. Why would a loving God not want his children to be happy? And I understand the reasoning behind it.…
Good morning to all of you and, of course, Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers! This morning I’d like for you to be turning to the book of Esther. And, in just a moment, I’ll be reading what may seem to be a rather odd text for a Mother’s Day message. …
During the past few weeks, during our extended stay-at-home orders, there’s a phrase that I have heard quite frequently. I used to hear it a lot when our kids were growing up and I still hear it from a lot of children, but I’ve been hearing it more and more from adults. The phrase is,…
There’s a great debate that has been going on for quite a while in this country. People like to argue about it on TV. Some of you have probably gotten into this argument at your workplace. The question is this – Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time – Is it Michael Jordan or…
I’ve told the story before of Hernan Cortez. In 1519, that Spanish explorer sailed to Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat all the warriors of the Aztec empire. The interesting thing was how he was able to…
One of the things that is so impressive to me about the Christians of the first century is how they were able to maintain their spirit of joy in spite of the hardships they went through. There was joy even during times of persecution. And of all the things that should characterize God’s people, one…