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Is Something Missing from Your Prayer Life?

Is something missing from your prayer life?   The Wednesday before Easter, our church celebrated the Lord’s Supper.   When we came into the sanctuary, we were given a self-contain juice and wafer cup.   At the appropriate time, I peeled the tab back and took out the little wafer.   As I held that little wafer, I found myself asking.   How do I feel about what this little wafer means, what it stands for?   And honestly, I didn’t feel anything .   My mind jumped back to a mission trip scene forever etched into my memory.   It occurred on a mission trip to Ukraine 25 years ago . Justin Rotan, Bill Jackson, Charles Bullard, Nelson Roland, and I went to help build a church building.   On our last Sunday, Nelson and I assisted in baptizing 30 people in a river.   After the baptism service, we walked about 1 1/2 miles back to the small building to worship and celebrate the Lord’s Supper.   It was packed full of people, with people sitting tightly together on their homemade benches and
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Seeking a Miracle: Luke 5.12-16

There are moments when we are aware of our need for God.  We cry out to God and have pressing needs on our hearts.  We know what this feels like and we ask God.  Sometimes we're at a vending machine. We put our money in and nothing falls down.  We pray, "Please God!  Let it fall!"  Other times we desperately want to see God in our lives.  In Luke 5 someone is seeking a miracle and we see something unique about Jesus.  Looking at the person of Jesus we encounter a need a person has.  The needs of the people in Luke 5 are different than the needs of us today but we certainly know what it feels like to have needs.   A man has leprosy.  Leprosy could be a minor skin irritation or it could end in death.  The challenge was there was no known cure, no way to distinguish between a minor skin problem and leprosy so the solution was isolation and quarantine.  Disease and isolation, separation from society could strike anyone of any status or income if they got leprosy.  This man is
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Life Lessons at the Jordan River Seminary: 2 Kings 6:1-7

  April 12, 1981, I had this unnerving thought; “I don’t know what I am going to do with my life”.  O wow!  I wonder if I have any company in the room this morning if some of you have had thoughts like that!  I remember the date well.  When the first space shuttle Columbia launched on April 12, I was finishing work on my second degree. I was 7 months from getting married and 8 months from entering seminary. I was in a good Sunday School group in a collegiate environment.  In fact, I drove the van for the collegiate group.  I even drove by Karen’s dorm.  She said she had a ride, “thank you”.  I never told dad and mom about April 12.   He would have said; “Okay we’ll increase the acreage and bring in more cows.   That means more hay bailing.   This is the day job.   The factories are hiring night workers.   Get it together! People all over this room have moments when you felt you were at the bottom. You wonder if you are in the right college or university. You wonder if you are in th
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Pressing Through Adversity: Luke 4:16-30

We are in summer, not according to the calendar, but school is out.  I always enjoyed summer reading programs while I was growing up.  The bookmobile even came to my street. One way we communicate is through books.  As we read we learn new vocabulary and we learn.  Even what we're doing now is communicating.  A sermon or preaching is  something we don't have in other aspects of our lives.  Preaching allows us to work through a passage of scripture.  What's so significant about preaching?  Some say preaching won't last in our culture.  The reasons why we communicate in sermons is this is how Jesus communicated.    Jesus taught and spoke to people.  Jesus was a preacher.  One of the main ways Jesus communicated was through preaching when Jesus was in his public ministry.  Jesus was so influential that even people who didn't believe He was God called him, "Rabbi" which means teacher.  Preaching can convict us and take us to a place that's uncomfortable. 
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Tempted: Luke 4.1-13

Good morning on this memorial day weekend that we're also celebrating graduates.  We are able to worship together today because of the sacrifice others made on our behalf.  We have  religious freedom.  We can travel to places where we cannot do what we are doing right now.  We gather publicly and freely. Our graduates are in a time of life where they will face new challenges.  In Luke 4 Jesus is at a place where he's about to begin His public ministry.  Jesus went through a time of temptation.  We've all faces temptations and challenges.  Jesus demonstrated for us how we can follow God and be victorious.  We are tempted to walk away from our trust in God. To think God has abandoned us  We think God has abandoned us.  It's a surprise to us that the Sprit of God leads us towards challenges.  We think God is supposed to keep us from challenges.  Last week we read about the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove,  The Holy Spirit fills Jesus and Luke refers to th
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Why should I be Baptized? Luke 3.21-22

Baptism is a special time for us; it's a special moment in the life of the church.  Baptism also reminds us of our own baptism.  My parents were very involved in church.  My dad filled and drained the baptistry.  As a kid I was fascinated by the baptistry.  In summertime as a kid my cousins and I would practice baptizing one another at the pool, playing games and dunking one another.  Baptism is meaningful and it's also unusual.  It's different than anything else you do.  You don't see baptism anywhere else, so what is it and why should someone be baptized?  The baptism of Jesus is in Luke 3 in two verses.  It's actually one sentence in the original language.  As we read Jesus' baptism it's a time to think about  our own baptism.  There's some reasons we baptize: Baptism connects us to believers throughout history.  Baptism is something we have celebrated as a church for a couple thousand years now.  Millions and possibly billions of people have been
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