Woodbury Church of Christ Sermons

2/5/17   This is the first sermon in a series on the first half of James 1. Patrick unpacks verses 1-4 and calls for us to figure out why we endure trials and how we can consider it joy.

1/29/17   After being gone for 3.5 years, Mike Smith makes his return to Woodbury, and brings with him a friend. In this conclusion to our series, Mike brings in a story from Mark and ties it into the story of the Good Samaritan.

1/22/17   "The one who showed mercy." What is mercy? Sometimes our words don't do justice, and if we are going to be people who go and do likewise, we need to better grasp what mercy is.

1/15/17   The story of the Good Samaritan leaves us with the command to go and do likewise. If we are going to do that, we need to know precisely what the Good Samaritan did and figure out what that would look like for us.

1/8/17   "Who is my neighbor?" Have you ever wondered if that may have been the wrong question? Jesus goes on to answer a similar, but not the same, question. Check out this sermon to find out what question Jesus was answering.

1-1-17   2 Corinthians 3:18 - And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

12/18/16 Sometimes there is more to generosity than how much we give. Sometimes there is more to greed than just hoarding something to ourselves. If we are not able to see greed, how can we disengage from it?

Sometimes our moral dilemmas are bettwen right and wrong but often they're between good and better. We're drawn away from Christ by "good" distractions. If our "good" keeps us from God's best - then it's not good.

12/04/16 We struggle with being fully present in each moment. There’s so much to prepare for that we can easily miss out on the experiences and people right in front of us. What if we decided to no longer dismiss people or interactions?

11/27/16   One of the easiest traps we fall into is the trap of comparing ourselves to others. Nothing good comes from doing this. The cure for comparing ourselves is confidence, and our confidence comes from being in Christ.

11/20/16   We'd would sure love for everything to work out just like we plan. Unfortunately that pretty much never happens. How we react to people who threaten to disrupt our plans says a lot about what we really value. 

03/06/16   Have you ever thought, “What is wrong with people?” Why do people do ridiculous and even self-destructive things? Maybe, to answer that question, we should ask ourselves, “What’s wrong with us?” We’re not exempt from making bad, even sinful, choices. Sin, no matter how we rationalize it, will always be a dead end. What is going on in our minds we deliberately head toward a dead end?

03/13/16   We like to think of fear as healthy and sensible, after all it keeps most of us from owning pet snakes and bungee-jumping. But "Do not fear" is the most repeated command in scripture. Why? What is so dangerous about fear?

03/20/16   It is so easy to be selfish, but to be a Christian, we have to put an end to that way of life. 

03/27/16   This is a two part message. In Part One, Jordan focuses on the triumph on the cross. In Part Two, Patrick walks us through the hope of the ressurection. In the middle of what must have felt like the biggest dead end of all time, Jesus destroyed sin and death. That is something to celebrate!

04/03/16   As citizens we are entitled to certain "inalienable" rights. We are very senstive to when those rights are infringed upon and we like to demand our rights. But what happens when our rights get in the way of showing someone the Gospel? 

04/10/16   How deeply do we really care about someone else's salvation. I'd venture to guess we say we'd do just about anything. However, when the roadblocks of our preferences, comfort and even traditions are in the way of spreading Christ, we're much less willing. How can we change that?

04/17/16   A recent study found that a whopping 1% of Christians were actively sharing their faith. That's not going to get the job done. We know we should evangelize. We don't. What do we do about it? 

04/24/16   When suspicion, offense and pessimism enter church life - the result is always destructive. The job of encouragement is hard work and crucial to church life and growth.

05/01/16

05/08/16   The habit of faithful-encouragement doesn't just happen. It's a reflection of deliberate choices. Motivated by the fact that we don't have all the time in the world.

05/15/16   Twice in scripture we're told that Jesus was "amazed" at the faith of the people around him. However, the amazement is at both ends of the specturm. Genuine faith is amazing. How would your faith impact Jesus?

05/22/16   It's easy to say God loves everyone but Jesus showed us what that looks like. Everyone, no matter their circumstances , background or even behavior is loved by God. Everything Jesus did was driven by his deep love for everyone. 

05/29/16   We all have a gap between our intentions and our actions. There are goals we've been "meaning" to accomplish for years, maybe decades. In our Christian walk, how to close the gap between intentions and actions?

06/05/16   How has God been active in the process of moving Drew Bailey and Alex Bettich to graduation? We take the time to reflect on this.