I sometimes hear Christians say something like this, “If only we had been there when Jesus was around! If we lived near Jesus and saw him every day, it would have made things so much simpler. We could ask him about all those difficult decisions we have to make — who to marry, which house…
Shaped BY the cross into the shape OF the cross
Sermons by Alan Smith
In just a little bit, we’re going to take a look at the gospel of John, but before we do that, I want to spend a few minutes talking about some Jewish theology and then some Greek philosophy, and then we’re going to see how John tries to put those two things together. First…
Have you ever had that experience where you’re looking for something, but you can’t see it even though it’s right in front of you? Sueanne will tell you that this happens to me frequently. I can look in the closet for a specific piece of clothing and insist that it’s not there only to discover…
If you’re a country music fan, you’re probably familiar with Travis Tritt. Several years ago, Travis revealed a little-known secret about his early years before he made it big. He was playing in out-of-the-way joints that sometimes got a bit dangerous. Drunken fans would start fights over the smallest matters. But Travis said he discovered…
I heard recently about someone who used to get annoyed when he felt like preachers were being too repetitive. He said, “First, they tell me what they’re going to tell me, and then they tell me, and then they tell me what they’ve told me. Why do you have to tell me three times?…
It was July of 1961 and the 38 members of the Green Bay Packers were gathered together for the first day of training camp. The previous season had ended with a heartbreaking defeat when the Packers squandered their lead late in the 4th quarter and lost the NFL Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles. …
As I said last week, we’re going to spend the next six months or so taking a look at each of the books of the New Testament. And this morning, we begin with the book of Matthew. We’ll actually take two weeks with Matthew, and so this morning, we’ll look at the first half and…
This past year, we went through the books of the Old Testament, one by one. This year, we’re going to go through the books of the New Testament and take a closer look at each one of them. But before I get to my lesson this morning, I wanted to share with you this…
Last week, we took a look at what the angel of the Lord said to the shepherds – “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all men. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:9-10) But, just a short time later, a…
I have a feeling that someone is going to make a fortune on these T-shirts that say, “I survived 2020”. Because it’s been that kind of a year. Twelve months ago, we never could have imagined what was about to happen. It’s been a tough year for all of us. And it’s not over…