Sermons From My Heart

On Trinity Sunday we celebrate not a religious holiday or occasion, but a doctrine-the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is a concept that is not explicitly stated in Scripture, but it is there. The Trinity is a concept that is not easy to describe or understand. In fact, some ministers take Trinity Sunday off! The Trinity is referred to indirectly in the passage from Matthew 28:16-20. All thre...

This year’s Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday is Matthew’s version of the Great Commission. The Great Commission has not changed since Jesus gave it to the disciples over 2,000 years ago. Christians today are also called on to go and make disciples, baptize and teach. We are to do this through Jesus’ power, for his sake, and with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we fail to obey the Great Commissi...

Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday dear Church Happy Birthday to you! On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the birth of the church. On the day of Pentecost over 2,000 years ago, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, and through the Holy Spirit the church was born. It is a time when the church traditionally concentrates on the gift of the Holy Spirit and the ways in which it s...

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul prays for his friends to be illuminated here and now. He prays that God will give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation as they get to know God. He prays that the eyes of their hearts will be enlightened. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

A few years ago, I preached and led worship at a church in a community near where I live. During the children’s talk I mentioned that Jesus told his disciples that he would be returning to the Father, but that they would receive the Holy Spirit. I compared the Holy Spirit to the batteries in a flashlight. Light is amazing. Without it, we would not be able to read and discover the world around us....

What would you say to someone if you knew that you were seeing them for the last time? If you were dying, what would be the last words you would say to your family and friends? If you’ve ever thought about the answers to these questions, then you can appreciate what was going through Jesus’ mind in the Gospel reading from John 17:6-19. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/p...

What’s one of the hardest things you have ever had to do? For most of us, the answer is waiting, especially if we are sitting in a doctor’s waiting room. Frustration soon sets in. The disciples felt the same way, especially when Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the power He said would be coming to them. This was especially frustrating for Peter, who preferred to be doing something instead...

Several years ago, when I was working for a local lumber mill, the company had a contest where the employees were encouraged to come up with a slogan that portrayed the company’s mission. The slogan was to be used on all of the company’s promotional material. The winning entry was “Together We’re Better”, and it reflected the employees’ desire to work together to produce top-quality products. Chri...

Have you ever wondered how you can reach and teach people who don’t know Christ? If so, you can learn from the example Paul used in the passage from Acts 17:22-31. Paul approached the subject of his message from the viewpoint of the Greeks. He did not use flattery. He complimented them on their pursuit of spiritual knowledge. He used something familiar to the Greeks to introduce them to something...

Boys and girls, all of us have something special that comforts us. For you, it’s a special toy or a favourite stuffed animal or blanket. For many of us adults, it’s something like a doughnut and cup of coffee from our favourite coffee shop!  The one thing that all of us as believers have is the Holy Spirit. It guides and comforts us, especially when we are sad or having problems. Even the discipl...

What would qualify a person as a “real Christian?” What daily practices would they have to observe? What would they have to know? These questions and others like them would be interesting topics for an information session or a class for new believers. There is one basic thing that each and every Christian must have to be a real Christian. It is the Holy Spirit. Become a supporter of this podcast:...

“Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know and the way you know.” Isn’t that comforting? It is not surpri...

The passage we just heard from John’s Gospel is known as the parable of the good shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd. People who truly belong to God listen to and believe in the words of Jesus. We must distinguish his voice from all the other voices we hear in our daily lives and follow Him in faith. He provides the security of an eternal kingdom, but people often look elsewhere for their spiritual an...

All sin is wrong. It doesn’t matter what the size of the sin is. All sins separate us from God. It is only when we accept personal responsibility that the process of repentance and restoration can begin to work in our lives. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

A mother was once asked by a census-taker how many children she had. She replied, “Well, there’s Billy and Harry and Martha and…”. “Never mind the names,” the man interrupted, “Just give me the numbers”. The mother angrily replied, “They don’t have numbers, they all have names!” This might be a funny story, but in our modern world this is oh so true. We are often reduced to numbers and statistics,...

Have you ever wondered what heaven is like? Acts 2:42-47 offers us a glimpse of heaven here on earth. The early believers joined together in faith, hope and love in the very best ways possible. The reading from Acts is a picture of the early church. It suggests what the Holy Spirit can do. The Holy Spirit gives Christians the power to provide mutual service that reflects God’s justice, mercy, love...

We may not have trouble with our eyesight, but all of us have difficulty seeing and understanding things at times. The events in Luke 24:13-35 took place just three days after Jesus was crucified. They show how some of Jesus' disciples had trouble understanding what they had seen. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

Have you ever had problems or trials in your lives? We often have times of trial and difficulty in life. Sometimes they are the result of things we have done, and other times they are caused by God. All of us know what it is like to be hurt. It is part of all cultures, and it can only be cured by a powerful potion. In the case of believers, that potion is faith. Christian hope is grounded on the r...

The reading from Acts 2:14, 22-32 is part of the first sermon ever preached. It was in response to the disciples’ speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost. When the disciples spoke in tongues, some people in the crowd thought that they were drunk. Peter stated that this was not true because it was 9:00 in the morning. If Peter was drunk with anything, he was drunk with the Holy Spirit. It allow...

Even the Bible has stories in it that are true even though they are hard to believe. For example, Thomas the disciple refused to believe the other disciples when they told him that they had seen the Risen Saviour. He was not with the other disciples in the room when they saw Jesus on the first Easter night. He refused to believe them until he could see Jesus in person. One week later all of the di...

Thomas refused to believe the news that Christ was alive. We are the same today. In many cases, we can’t believe everything we hear. That’s why agencies such as the police and Phone Busters always warn us about scams. We can’t trust everyone and everything. Trust in political figures is at an all-time low. Trust in the church and its leaders has also been eroded, especially by recent scandals Beco...

Picture the scene in John 20:19-31. All the disciples except Thomas are in a room behind locked doors at night. It was common for early Christians to meet at night. In times of persecution they were forbidden to meet during the day, so they had to meet at night. The disciples are scared. They saw their leader brutally killed, and they are afraid that they will also be killed. In more ways than one...

Has anyone ever told you something so outrageous or so unbelievable that you thought you couldn’t believe it unless you saw it for yourselves? Have you ever seen anything that was so unbelievable that it was scary? If so, then you can understand how the disciples felt after they saw the risen Jesus in the passage from Luke 24:36-48. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podc...

Have you ever wondered how the disciples were able to accomplish so much after Jesus returned to heaven? The answer is revealed in the story of Peter and John and the healing of the lame man. We read what happened because of that healing in Acts 3:11-26. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

The passage from John 20:1-18 is the key point of our faith because it is about the Resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the basis of our faith. Without it: 1.The Gospel would be meaningless. 2.Forgiveness of sins would be hopeless. 3.Present life would be joyless. 4.Godly living would be fruitless. 5.Future life would be worthless. The resurrection of Jesus is like the quiet dawning of a new da...