I am preaching through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) on Wednesday nights. Last night, I complete the introductory section - The Beatitudes of Jesus (Matt. 5:3-12).The next section of the passage in Matthew 5:13-16, where Jesus describes the influence his disciples should have on the world for the kingdom of heaven. Using to gripping and dynamic word pictures, Jesus declares, "You are the salt of the earth" (5:13) and "You are the light of the world" (5:14-16).Following this paragraph, I will be venturing into new ground in my exposition. Over the past two months, I have taken a...

Tonight, I began a new Wednesday night sermon series through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I had planned on doing another series, on "Total-Life Stewardship." It was very eager to get that study going. But I just could not get a green light to start it. I trust that the Lord will allow me to get to it at another time. For the meantime, I will be in the Sermon on the Mount for a while. I plan to cover the entire passage. And I do not intend to rush through it. I need to spend this time...

I plan to begin a new series on sermons this coming Sunday on the Parable of the Sower that I am calling: "The Heart's Response to God's Word." It's recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But I will do my work from Matthew's version - Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. I find it most difficult and exhilarating to preach the parables of Jesus. They are so simple. And yet the profundity of these simple teachings is staggering. I am looking forward to the plowing through my own soul as I prepare myself to preach these messages. Amid growing animosity and resistance to...

God willing, I will continue my series on "Total-Life Stewardship" this Sunday. I am nearing the end. And it is pretty interesting how this series has been growing on me as the weeks have gone by. Sunday's message will be the next to last in the series. I plan to speak on the stewardship of our (spiritual) gifts. 1 Peter 4:10-11 is the foundational text for this message. It says: "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves,...

On last Lord's day, I continued my series on "Total-Life Stewardship." The message was on the stewardship of the body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I sought to make two major points in that message: (1) We should strive to be healthy, and more importantly, (2) we should strive to be holy.God willing, this sunday I will preach on the stewardship of our speech or our words. The Bible is clear that words matter to God. And our words matter to God. There are many reasons why what we say matters. But maybe the most important reason why we should be on...

This coming Sunday I will begin a new sermon series that I am calling "Total-Life Stewardship: Being Faithful with a Borrowed Life." The bottom-line of Christian stewardship is simply that God owns everything. We are just stewards (or managers) of the things we possess. And this stewardship involves more than just our time, talents, and treasures - even though it definitely includes these fundamental things. Christian stewardship involves every area of our lives. It is required of stewards that one be found faithful. And one day we will have to answer to the Lord for how we have lived our...