Here is my sermon skeleton from yesterday. TITLE: "Power to Reach Your Full Potential" TEXT: Hebrews 13:20 THEME: A benediction and doxology for divine help POINT: God helps those who trust in Jesus. OUTLINE: I. God has done great things for us through Jesus Christ (13:20).There are three fundamental reasons why you can trust God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself: A. God is the God of peace. B. God raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead. C. God established an eternal covenant with us by the blood of Jesus. 1. Blood: We are completely...

Here is my sermon skeleton from yesterday's message on Psalm 23. The audio of the message should be on the MSMBC website some time this week. Title: "Living with Confidence in God" Text: Psalm 23 Theme: A song of confident trust in the Lord Point: God is worthy of your trust. Purpose: The purpose of this message is to exhort end encourage the hearer to live with confidence in the Lord, because he is worthy of our complete trust. Outline: I. The Lord watches over those who trust him (23:2-3) A. The Lord watches over the physical needs of those...

This past Sunday, I preached from Proverbs 30:7-9. It is a prayer of a man named Agur (Prov. 30:1) - the only prayer recorded in the book of Proverbs. The prayer of Agur is the counterpart to the prayer of Jabez (1 Chron. 4:9-10). Here is the sermon skeleton: TITLE: “The Wise Prayer of a Weak Man” TEXT: Proverbs 30:7-9 THEME: A prayer for a Godward lifePOINT: Wise people confront their spiritual weaknesses through prayer. Introductory points: There are several lessons we can learn from the way in which Agur prayed: 1. The manner of our prayers should honor God....

I completed the series on the miracles of Mark 4-5 this past Sunday. I preached the miracle Jesus performed for Jairus and his sick, dying daughter. This was a interesting, challenging passage to preach - along with the woman with the issue of blood. As an theologian and expositor, I am absolutely convinced that the miracles of Mark 5 are historically true. And I firmly believe that these miracles rightly affirm the divine power and sovereign authority of Jesus over sickness and death. But as a pastor I am aware that, if Jesus tarries, my people will have to face...

Last night, I continued our study of the book of Ephesians. We are at Ephesians 3:1-13, which is a rather difficult text. My original tension was to divine the text into two parts. There are, indeed, two themes in the text: (1) the ministry of Paul and (2) the mystery of the gospel. But it seems to me that these two themes are interwoven throughout the entire passage. So I was really struggling with how to divide it. I finally decided not to. And my congregation patiently endured my exposition of all thirteen verses. It's a great, difficult, challenging text....

I resumed my study of Joshua yesterday in our morning services. My text was Joshua 4. I did not preach through the entire outline in either service. But I was able to get out the key points I wanted to make. Here is the sermon skeleton. TITLE: “Don’t Forget to Remember” TEXT: Joshua 4THEME: The importance of remembering God POINT: God commands you to remember who he is and what he has done for you. PROBING QUESTION: Why is it important to deliberately and constantly remember who God is and what God has done? PURPOSE: The purpose of this message...

Last night, we resumed our Tuesday night worship services. And I picked up our exposition of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Here is the sermon skeleton from last night's message. TITLE: “God’s Plan for Peace” TEXT: Ephesians 2:14-18THEME: Reconciliation with God and one anther through the Person and work of Jesus Christ POINT: Jesus Christ is the only way you can peace with God, self, and others. PROBING QUESTION: Is true peace possible? If so, how can it be attained? PURPOSE: There are two points of application the listener should leave this sermon with: 1. For unbelievers: You cannot be...

I try to avoid calling any passage "familiar," calling them "famous" instead. I do this because I don't think we are ever really familiar with any passage. We know the words of certain passages, but the meaning of those passages continues to deepen the more we spend time with them. I was reminded of this last week as I studied Psalm 124. Many Christians know the words, "If it were not for the Lord who was on our side..." But this is a rich passage, filled with powerful images, that calls on us to acknowledge, worship, and trust God for...

This past Sunday, I preached on Exodus 17:8-16. I had been studying this passage and meditating on it for several weeks. Several things attracted me to this passage. First, the theme of spiritual warfare attracted me. This battle that the Israelites fought against the Amalekites illustrates the spiritual battles we as Christ-followers face against the flesh, the world, and the devil. I feel like some of the things the members of MSMBC are going through in their personal lives is the direct result of spiritual battles that need to be fought and won. Likewise, some of the things we are...

This past Thursday, we observed the National Day of Prayer at MSMBC with a special prayer meeting. This is the third or fourth year we have had this service. We worship together. And we spend time in prayer specifically for the government, media, education, church, and family. Then I bring a message. I almost didn't preach this year, though. I was debating whether or not we should just keep on praying. We don't have too many meetings like this where we just pray. So I thought that maybe I should just save my sermon for another time. But I finally...

Here is the sermon skeleton for yesterday's message:Title: "The Life of the Party"Text: John 2:1-11Theme: The transforming power of Jesus ChristPoint: Jesus is God who has come to transform your disappointments into joy.Outline:I. The Gracious Presence of Jesus (2:1-2) A. Jesus was invited to the wedding feast. B. Jesus accepted the invitation to the wedding feast.II. The Sovereign Authority of Jesus (2:3-5) A. The authority of Christ is seen in Mary's report to Jesus (v. 3) B. The authority of Christ is seen in Jesus' response to Mary (v. 4) C. The authority of Christ is seen in Mary's command...