Jason Hovde

A little girl was sitting in her first Good Friday service, and the epic story of the Crucifixion was beautifully read. She heard about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. She heard about Peter’s denial. She listened to Pilate’s cross-examination of Jesus. She pictured the crown of thorns and felt the beating…

Context: 11:14. Jesus is accused of casting out demons by some and others, in verse 16, demand signs. Jesus knows these are insincere requests. He gives the parable of a strong man, and the unclean spirit that returns (representing mans attempts at morality) Then he says that the truly blessed will be…

Readings:Lent is a 40-day period of penance, reflection, and fasting observed by many Christians, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending before Easter Sunday. It commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, and believers often use this time to prepare spiritually through prayer, self-denial,…

What is More Attractive than sitting at the feet of Jesus? We often hear phrases thrown around the church. Particularly in the modern church, many have adopted the philosophy of Christian life that says Jesus is Savior, and that Christianity is not about rules, its about relationship. Or we hear, it…

Big Idea: Unbelief leads to blasphemy. Healing was a staple of Jesus’ ministry Those who hated him could not explain away the miracles So they say vile things about him. Reading 14-28, but will not get through all of it this morning. Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone…

Recap: The Lord’s Prayer (Or Disciple’s Prayer) Priorities in our prayers: The Holiness of God A desire that he be exalted A prayer for his Kingdom to come For our daily bread For forgiveness: to be granted to us that we would forgive others (sin is a debt) That we be protected from temptations that…

Big Idea: We should pray that we be protected from temptation. Recap: Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to pray. As John’s taught his disciples. He teaches them a simple prayer. Luke’s version is even shorter than Matthew’s. He was not commanding the prayer to be recited, but rather offered a template…

What is more attractive than serving together? An argument against outsourcing in the church Our world over many decades now has become a world of outsourcing. When we hear that word, outsourcing, we may think of a company outsourcing their manufacturing to a country like China. Or a company may outsource…

Big Idea: Our forgiveness of others is evidence of our being forgiven The Lord’s Prayer (Or, the disciples prayer) Hallowed be your name: He is Holy, holy, holy. We must treat him with all reverence Your kingdom come: May there be continually increasing evidence of God’s kingdom impacting this world.…

This morning we continue our look at the Lord’s Prayer, and we now are going to focus on the third verse of Luke 11 , “Give us each day our daily bread”. As we take a look at this, it may be a good reminder that we often complicate life. In our lack of contentment, we often are unhappy because we do…

When I was a brand new pastor, I was excited to attend the first prayer meeting with some of the people of the church. The prayer meeting was held at noon at a home, and some of those attending were on their lunch break, and others were retired. I came to the prayer meeting ready with some scripture…

What is more attractive than corporate worship? Religion defined The very word religion bothers some Christians. People like to say “Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship”. Or even more directly, some Christians have made videos and written articles saying “I hate religion” Or “God hates…

Enough is as Good as a Feast Greed vs. Thanks One of the movies that has been seen many times in our home is Mary Poppins. The “practically perfect” nanny has a lot of great lines in the movie, and on of my favorite lines is “Enough is as good as a feast”. In this simple statement, Mary Poppins is explaining…

Most of us love stories, and this is the most important story you will ever hear, but this story, if you want the happy ending, must be believed. This is the story of God and us. It is a story like many others, in that there are things to marvel at, things to be frightened of, and things to look forward…

A Call to Praise Those who know me well know how much I love Christmas Stories. I have books of these stories, and have read many of them for the masses. There are many of these stories I love, but there is one that must be my favorite. I think my first encounter with this story was an animated Mickey…

The Call of Christmas: Joseph: A Call to Protect For Joseph, he was given a call to protect and a call of prompt obedience. As every husband and father is given charge to protect his family, Joseph had already made a commitment to protect Mary. I mentioned last week that for Mary and Joseph, their betrothal…

The Call of Christmas Zechariah: A Call to Prepare If you were to read your Bible straight through, when you got to the end of the Old Testament, you may only have to turn a page or two to get to the New Testament. Some Bibles have a Page that simply says “New Testament”, some Bibles go straight from…

Big Idea: Don’t let your service to the Lord keep you from His Word Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much…

What are we to do with parables? What are we supposed to notice? What are we supposed to learn? Are the details important? Is the trivial important? Parables generally have one main point. While it is good to understand the historical and cultural context of the parables, we should avoid getting caught…

Big Idea: The Kingdom is hidden from the proud and shown to the humble. Jesus is thankful for the hidden and the revealed He chooses who will receive the revelation We ought to be thankful for his revelation There are some things that are clear when you think about them simply, and more confusing when…

What is more attractive than God’s family? Those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus are given a new family. Series: What is more attractive? Than God’s family Than corporate worship Than serving together Than learning at the feet of Jesus Than the gospel Therefore remember that at one time…

What is More Attractive Sermon Series (First Sundays) What is more attractive than God’s Family? Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated…

Big Idea: The Real Reason for Celebration is our Salvation We should celebrate: Spiritual Wins Satan’s Loss Our Greatest Gain There is much to be excited about when we do Christian Ministry: Changed lives, growing families, spiritual growth and maturity. But these may not always be a constant thing.…

Those who rejected were never elected. The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition (The Shorter Catechism) Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter…

Sinners in the hands of a Gracious God Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the Hands of an angry God - totally appropriate, those who do not receive Christ will come under the judgment of an angry God Christians are sinners in the hands of a gracious God, who removed our guilt and condemnation but Jesus went…