For the past several lessons, we’ve been looking at some of the ways that God tests our faith. Because James told us to “count it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3) We saw that one of the tests of our faith is…
Shaped BY the cross into the shape OF the cross
Sermons by Alan Smith
Today is Mother’s Day and I want to take just a moment to acknowledge and express appreciation to all the mothers who are in the audience this morning. Abraham Lincoln was not exaggerating when he said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother.” Mothers demonstrate the love of…
I read recently about a salesman who was trying to make a big sale to the purchasing agent of a company. He was sitting in the purchasing agent’s office waiting for him to come in so that he could submit his bid. While he was waiting, he couldn’t help but notice that his competitor’s bid…
Last week, we began our look at the topic of deacons and we’re going to conclude that study this morning. But first, I want to remind you that next Sunday morning, we will have a church family meeting in place of our Bible class at 9:30 and we need for all of you to…
As most of you know, we are in the process of selecting deacons to serve here at Cruciform. This is a huge step in the growth of this congregation and I’m excited as we take this step. For the past couple of months, the elders and their wives have been meeting together to talk about…
Last week, I talked about the fact that just as God gave Jesus new life and raised him from the dead, God has given those of us who are Christians new life as well. In Ephesians chapter 2, we looked at our past, our present and our future. In the past, we were dead in…
This morning, we want to look at a beautiful passage in Ephesians chapter 2. But before we get there, I want to talk a little bit about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is either a fairy tale, or it is the most significant, the most joyful, the most hopeful thing that…
For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about sharing our faith. This morning’s lesson will be the last in this series, and it may well be the most important one – because this morning, I want to talk about the importance of sharing our faith with urgency. Do you understand what it means…
For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about “Sharing Our Faith”. Because God never intended for the Christian life to merely be a matter of coming to this building once a week, sitting down for an hour or two, and then going back out into the world to make money, spend money and have…
For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about “Sharing Our Faith”. If we’re going to follow the example of Jesus Christ, then we’re going to have to reach out to the lost because Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). That was his mission, and it’s our mission as…