Sermons From My Heart

I want to take you on a trip down memory lane for a minute. Some of you may remember a famous comedian named Flip Wilson. He had a TV show in the 1970s, and on this show he had such famous characters as Geraldine Jones and Brother Leroy. He also had some famous lines, including one that ties in nicely with the reading we heard from the Book of James. That line was, “The devil made me do it!” The c...

Christ’s death represents atonement for sin, and the beginning of God’s eternal, messianic rule. Nothing can make up for the loss of our soul, but there are many times when we exchange our souls and our lives for worldly things instead of spiritual things. Worldly things do not lead to eternal life. Those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ and the Gospel will find eternal life. This co...

Healthy compromise occurs when we can “give in” without sacrificing our values and beliefs. A different kind of compromise leads us to abandon sound ideas or standards, leaving us morally and spiritually bankrupt. We live in a world full of temptations that urges us to compromise our godly values. When we choose to compromise, we pay a price, even though it may not seem immediately apparent to us...

Have you ever noticed that Jesus often does things that we don’t expect him to do? Take the stories we read in Mark 7:24-37, for example. He does two things that we don’t expect him to do. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

The writer of Song of Songs uses a series of images and poems to describe God’s love for us. They represent the joys, the ups and downs, even painful longing when apart. It is a relationship between two people who love each other. In the case of Christians, it is a relationship between us and God. It is a contrast to references comparing an adulterous woman to Israel’s idolatry. It shows the longi...

All of us have certain core traditions and beliefs that are important to us. They make us who we are, they define our own behaviours and the way we think other people should behave. That is what lies behind the passage from Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

Instead of tempting us to do evil things, God gives us good gifts. The phrase “Father of lights” reminds us of God’s unchanging nature. The God who put the stars, sun and moon in their places faithfully presides over our lives and provides everything good, and we must thank him for these gifts. As the old hymn which we often sing on Thanksgiving Sunday says, “All good gifts around us are sent from...

The choice to accept Jesus is a difficult one. Godly people will still face difficulties in life, including persecution. God’s ways are not our ways, and that is why the Gospel message is hard to accept. It is costly because in order for us to accept Christ’s death and resurrection as the way to eternal life, we also have to experience our own form of death and resurrection. We have to die to our...

There is a price to pay when we follow Jesus. He calls us to give up our worldly life with all of its sinful pleasures and follow a life that will lead to even greater pleasures in heaven. For most of us, that is not an easy choice to make. We have grown comfortable in our daily lives. They are like a pair of shoes that we have broken in. They feel so darn good, and the life we are leading feels s...

When we receive Christ, His Spirit takes up residence in the core of our being, giving us an internal power that we never had before and transforming our hearts from hateful and rebellion to loving and obedient. Our hearts control our words and actions. It isn’t easy for us to accept ourselves; to love and be loved, to feel worthwhile to ourselves and others. It is a time of overwhelming grace whe...

We need to receive Jesus’ spiritual food on a regular basis, just like the Israelites needed to receive the manna and quail from God every day. Without it, we will always be spiritually hungry. We can’t get enough spiritual food by going to church only at Christmas or Easter or on special occasions such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, or confirmations. Our spiritual hunger can only be satisfied b...

A few years ago there was program on the Investigation Discovery Channel called “I Almost Got Away with It”. The story of David and Bathsheba would have been a perfect one for that show, especially the part where the prophet Nathan confronted David. David thought that he had committed the perfect crime by having an affair with Bathsheba and covering it up by killing her husband. Unfortunately, he...

Do you have Jesus in your heart? In the Bible, the word “heart” refers to your innermost being--the place where your thoughts, feelings, and desires come from. The Bible says our hearts are sinful, which is why we need Jesus to free us from sin and change the way we think and the things we desire. When we trust in Him, He comes into our hearts--not physically but spiritually. Trust Him to change y...

All of us have been afraid at one time or another, even adults. Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of. When we invite Jesus into our lives, we don’t have to be afraid, because we aren’t alone. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support .

Have you ever had to prepare a meal for a large group of people with little or no advance notice? When you prepared that meal, did you ever stop to wonder how you would do it, especially if you realized that you did not have enough food and you did not have the time or money to go to the grocery store? If that is the case, perhaps you can sympathize with the disciples in the story of the feeding o...

The Gospel reading which we just heard from John 6:1-21 is full of rich imagery. Although the story of the feeding of the 5,000 appears in all four Gospels, John’s version has a slightly different meaning. In fact, John includes only seven of Jesus’ miracles in his Gospel, and in each miracle the believer is brought closer to God. Each miracle invites us to reflect on what the miracle says about J...

How do you handle it when your plans get changed, even for good reasons? Do you feel disappointed or angry? The passage from Mark’s Gospel gives us some ideas about how to handle unexpected changes in plans. Jesus’ disciples led busy lives. They were tired. They were too busy from ministry with Jesus and the people to even find time to eat. Jesus displayed His concern for practical matters. His di...

Herod’s story was one of impulse, pride and stubbornness, and the story of our lives is similar. Herod gave his word to his stepdaughter Salome in front of his friends, so he had no choice but to agree to her demands. To do otherwise would have led to a loss of power. Politics overruled principle. Herod was infected with guilt both physically and psychologically. Guilt does that to everyone. Herod...

The passage we heard from Ephesians expresses a new understanding that Paul has talked about in his other letters but never fully developed. The abolishment of the barrier between Jews and Gentiles is the key to understanding God’s plan for the universe. His plan was and is to unify the entire universe in Christ Jesus. That is God’s gift to us, and we should be grateful for what He has done for us...

The Gospel reading from Mark 6:1-13 occurs just after the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage and the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead. It is two different stories about faith, and that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike the two miracles that we heard about in Mark 5:21-43, which demonstrate faith in Jesus, the first parable we heard in this passage is about the lack of faith. Become...

There is nothing more natural than to grieve the death of a friend. The ability to grieve is God’s gift which allows us to process our loss in such a way that we can go on living without a sense of grief. Just like Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, David and his men grieved when they heard of the death of the soldiers, Saul and Jonathan. David honoured Saul, but he celebrated his dear friend Jon...

In this story we saw how much Jairus loved his daughter and would do anything for her. God our heavenly father is the same. He loves us so much that he would do anything for us, including sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Something else that we learned was that with God anything is possible. Jairus’ daughter was dead, and the situation was hopeless, but Jesus raised her from...

Jairus came to Jesus in faith, and the woman reached out to Jesus in faith also. Jesus felt her tug of faith on his robe. He ignored the disciples’ response to the question of who touched him. It was no ordinary touch. He wanted to bring the woman out of the crowd and into a public profession of faith. He responded to her need and Jairus’ need by giving of himself just like anyone who responds to...

The Gospel reading from Mark 5:21-43 is a pair of stories about faith and Jesus’ power over life and death. The woman with the hemorrhage showed great faith in spite of obstacles. The story of Jairus and his daughter demonstrated great faith on the part of a religious leader. Both came from different social classes. Jairus was a well-to-do member of the religious establishment-a group that often o...

There are several aspects of grace giving. First, grace giving is systematic. Paul told the Corinthians to abound in this grace. He implied that this is a framework in which they and we can grow in faith as Christians. Giving can be spontaneous, but it can and should be planned. There are several examples in the New Testament of planned giving by the church and by individuals. A commitment to give...