Let me ask you a question – With a show of hands, how many of you would say that you are a “people pleaser”? Now, those of you who didn’t raise your hands, how many of you didn’t raise your hand because you were worried about what everybody else might think about you if you…
Shaped BY the cross into the shape OF the cross
Sermons by Alan Smith
There’s a book entitled, “Total Forgiveness”, by R.T. Kendall. In the first chapter of that book, Kendall tells about a time in his life when someone very near and dear to him hurt him greatly. He felt overwhelmed by a sense of anger. Sometime later, he was talking with a friend and he poured out…
I heard recently about a preacher who had a conversation with a woman. This lady was in her early 30s, was very attractive. She had previously been married but at this point in time, she was very much into the singles scene. But she had just become a Christian, she had just started going to…
One of the difficult things about being a parent is knowing when to support your children’s dreams and when to gently let them know that they might want to consider getting another dream. One of my pet peeves (and Sueanne will verify this) is whenever I hear someone say, “I just want you children…
Monty Roberts is a man who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro, California. He likes to tell a story about when he was a senior in high school. He was given an assignment to write a paper about what he wanted to do when he grew up. That night, he wrote a seven-page…
The curriculum for our children begins with a study of the life of Joseph, so I thought it might be nice to spend a few weeks preaching about Joseph. But, before I actually get to the story of Joseph next week, I wanted to spend one lesson talking about Joseph’s family, so that’s what…
A few weeks ago, I preached on a beautiful passage in Romans 8 where Paul said, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1). During that lesson, I made the comment that there are some people who might say, “But if folks believe that, then they’re going to…
I always enjoy listening to children as they describe their view of God and spiritual things. I heard about a 4-year-old little girl by the name of Jenny. One day, she asked her mother, “Does heaven have a floor?” Her mother said, “Well, what do you think heaven is like?” Jenny looked up at the…
At our Wednesday evening Bible class this past week, I read this quote from Steven Cole. He said, “I’m always amazed at how fascinated everyone is by biblical prophecy. One night when I was in the Coast Guard, I was sitting alone in the bridge of the cutter on radio watch when the chief came…
When our children were young, Sueanne and I would occasionally take them to a playground and watch them play. And our kids would always enjoy it, but there were times when they would be a little bit timid. They might climb out onto the monkey bars, but they would say, “Daddy, stay close. Catch me…