Sermons From My Heart

At first glance, the three stories we heard in Matthew 9:9-13,18-26 don’t have much in common. We have a tax collector, a woman with a bleeding disorder, and a man with a sick daughter. What could they possibly have in common? If we look deeper, we find that they are all sinners, or sick people. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/sup...

Ephesians 3:14-21 might be the most glorious prayer in the New Testament other than the prayers of the Lord. Paul addresses all three members of the Trinity in his request for inner strength. Inner strength is absolutely necessary to spiritual survival because the outer strength of humans is so fragile Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423...

When I was in the Scouting Movement in the 1970s, I learned that the Scouts motto was “Be prepared.” Peter offers a similar motto to his readers. Our personal testimony is one of the most powerful and compelling tools God has given us in reaching nonbelievers with the Gospel. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

Have you ever made a pilgrimage or taken a trip and felt like an outsider? The word “pilgrim” can mean anyone who is living away from home-temporary residents, exiles, strangers, foreigners. Christians are citizens of heaven, not of earth. They are outsiders, and it is to outsiders that 1 Peter is written, including 1 Peter 1:3-9.   These outsiders have been given the sense of belonging, the inher...

.When Mary and Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb where Jesus had been placed after His crucifixion, they found it empty. An angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. The women were told to go quickly and tell His disciples.   The women experienced fear and great joy. Joy and fear often mix in the working of the gospel. Fallen humans-even when redeemed-cannot help feeling great fear in t...

Have you noticed that almost everywhere you go online you need a password? You need one to log in to your bank’s web site. You need one to log on to sites such as Amazon or Facebook. If you forget your password, it can take some effort to create another one.   The people in ancient Rome were looking for the password that would give them access to God. Some thought that careful obedience to the Law...

When the world around us does not prize the church and its message as much as it does the newest Super Bowl commercial, we can hold our heads high: we’re on the side of God’s foolishness! We will win! It’s easy to find hope and promise in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. It’s much more difficult to let its message shape our lives.   Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermon...

Paul wrote about the new way of seeing things. The new way to look at the world could only be understood after Jesus came. Paul explained that the wisdom he taught was not worldly wisdom, but a wisdom revealed through the apostles and prophets. Paul admits that he came to the Corinthians in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. This is a healthy attitude in preparation for ministry. Only the p...

There is an old saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Genesis 11:1-9 is a good example of this. The Tower of Babel stemmed from the builders’ sense of their own power. They were thinking too big: a tower to the sky. The tower was built on sameness, on conformity, on a denial of difference. Shinar, in the region now known as Iraq, was the location of the ancient kingdom of Babylon. Th...

In the 1970s there was a comedian named Flip Wilson. He performed characters such as Brother Leroy and Geraldine Jones. One of his most famous lines was “The Devil made me do it!” In Genesis 3:1-24 we heard a story where the devil really did make someone do it!   Many people try to discredit the Scriptures. They claim that the Bible is ancient, so it doesn’t apply to today’s world. How can words w...

Even in our darkness, we have hope that the sun will come up soon and it will be light again. We light up the Christmas tree and we light up our houses. Light gives us hope in the midst of a dark world. Isaiah gives us that kind of hope. He spoke of the returning Messiah, one who would come to lighten our burdens, to right the wrongs, to restore all things to the way they were meant to be. This Me...

Have you ever noticed that life is made up of decisions? Decisions reveal the inner nature of a person. People make decisions based on conditioning that is determined by their goals and priorities.. We are responsible for our own decisions, but we are also accountable to God.   Jesus presents three very significant contrasts in Matthew 7:13-21. They are:   1.      The broad way  and the narrow way...

Today’s society can own this psalm as its own. Stress helps us realize how much we need God to steady our lives. We also need God’s forgiveness, because we have also turned our backs on God. We worship things like money, power and sex. Chaos and sin are running wild in this world. If you don’t believe me, look as what has been happening in the United States since Donald Trump returned to the White...

We as Christians live in the tension between faith and obedience, worship and work. One must lead to the other or we will have half a gospel. Psalm 50 demands faith that acts. It calls for worship that works.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

In Matthew 12:1-14 we read about two incidents that took place on the Sabbath. These incidents illustrate what Jesus meant when He invited His followers to find rest in His way of life. In each account, Jesus shows that the “burden” of the Sabbath is to do good by meeting people’s needs. The word “lawful” is important in this passage, in which Jesus had disputes with the religious leaders of the d...

A plumb line is a builder’s tool for determining that a surface is straight. All sin and its resulting judgment is measured against the holiness and righteousness of God. This new understanding enabled Amos to fearlessly stand as God’s spokesman and accept Israel’s coming judgment as both necessary and just. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart...

God asks us the same question He asked Elijah: “What are you doing here?” What motivates us to be in church, a minister’s study, a particular job, a particular church activity, or a retirement hobby? What will we do with our lives, short as they are compared to God’s timeline? What are we afraid of? What keeps us from claiming our divine destiny? When life questions us, we may discover new sides o...

For most of us, the idea of strength in weakness doesn’t make any sense. Strength and weakness are opposites. They don’t go together at all. Weaknesses are bad and are to be avoided at all costs. Strengths are good, and something all of us want. That explains why most of us do everything we can to avoid, overcome, or conceal our weaknesses. They make us feel vulnerable. They can even frighten us....

Have you ever wondered what it will be like in our heavenly home, also known as New Jerusalem? John uses the image of the city in the passage we heard from Revelation as an image of the qualities of life that make up the new heaven and the new earth. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

Several years ago there was a renewal of worship in the church. It was not a renewal of the liturgy. It was based on a liberal theology with a resulting change in language and theatre. It was not based on the Holy Spirit. It was a change on the outside rather than on the inside. Its centre was first in the Jesus movement of the 1960s. It brought in many “flower children” and their hippie culture....

God invites us to join in a relationship with Him and our neighbours, and He wants us to respond. He wants us to join Him and fellow believers in the heavenly feast. That is why Jesus died on the cross and rose again. He paid the price for our sins so that those who believe in Him can be reconciled to God. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--...

On January 27, 2025, the world observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The world also observed the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where the Nazis murdered 1.1 million people-mostly Jews but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people, blacks, Jehovah Witnesses, Freemasons, disabled people, and other “enemies of the state.” Shoul...

When you were young, were you ever told to mind your manners? In that respect, “minding” is more like “remember” or “pay attention to.” It’s a matter of “keeping it in mind.” That is the type of minding we read in Psalm 19.   Psalm 19 reveals the God who is continually communicating with us through His works and through His Word. The psalm begins with a meditation on the works of God: “The heavens...

How many of you received clothing for a Christmas gift this year? Did you know that when Jesus was born He gave us a gift that is similar to clothing? The apostle Paul talks about this in Colossians 3:12-17. We are to put on the garments of Christian grace. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

The events in Luke 19:11-27 took place just before Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where His earthly ministry would find its painful fulfillment. Jesus once again had to correct misconceptions about His kingdom. In this story of the nobleman, his citizens and his servants, Jesus presents three very distinctive lifestyles. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast...