Search for sermons - Ephesians 2
Amazing Grace - Ephesians 2:1-9 - Oct 3, 1999 - 306
Since this is a sermon series on the gospel, I would like to point out that my text contains the whole gospel message in just six words. If you know what these words are and what they mean, you will know the gospel. And you can share it with anyone you meet.The six words come in three sets of two wo ... More
Amazing Grace - Ephesians 2:1-10 - Mar 16, 1997 - 470
It is commonly said that Christianity is supremely a religion of grace. And that is certainly true. We sing about grace, we write poems about grace, we name our churches and our children after grace. Across the street is Grace Episcopal Church and less than two miles from here is Grace Lutheran Chur ... More
The Truth About You - Ephesians 2:1-3 - Sep 26, 1999 - 310
A quarter-century ago psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote a landmark book titled Whatever Became of Sin? In it he frames the question this way:In all the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses any mention of “sin,” a word which used to be a veritable watchword of ... More
The Wind Blows Wherever It Wills - John 3:8 - May 15, 2005 - 200
This is the first in a six-part series on the Holy Spirit called Experiencing God Today. Two months ago I had no idea that I would be preaching on the Holy Spirit once we finished I Peter. But as I thought about the matter, I felt impressed by the Lord that this is the direction we should go. There ... More
Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone - Titus 3:7 - Jul 6, 1997 - 679
I’d like to begin this sermon with a thought-provoking quotation from Kim Riddlebarger. He works with Michael Horton in an organization called CURE: Christians United for Reformation and Evangelism. When we use the term “grace alone”, what we mean is that our salvation from the wra ... More
Praying for the Lost - I Timothy 2:1-6 - May 14, 2000 - 12
"Prayer is the lifeline of New Testament evangelism, the oxygen for its holy fire. The New Testament was born in prayer. It knows no evangelism without prayer, and no prayer which does not lead to evangelism.” Those are the words of Armin Gesswein, a man God used to ignite a prayer movement in ... More
What is Saving Faith? - Sep 5, 2001
The question, “What is saving faith?” is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who “believes” truly possesses saving faith. Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 7:21-23 that on the Day of Judgment many will claim ... More
Lessons for Modern-Day Sowers of the Word - Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 - May 26, 2007 - 384
The last few days I have been meditating on the famous parable of the seed and the sower. It is obviously important because is found in three different places in the gospels (with Jesus’ explanation in parenthesis):Matthew 13:3-9 (18-23)Mark 4:3-8 (14-20)Luke 8:5-8 (11-15)Context is all-import ... More
Will Everyone Eventually Be Saved? - II Peter 3:9 - Jul 24, 2005 - 143
I can think of only four ways to answer the question raised in the title of this sermon:1) Everyone will eventually be saved.2) No one will eventually be saved.3) Some will be saved and some will be lost.4) There is no way to know.Let’s consider answer #1, which is becoming increasingly popula ... More
Swimming Upstream - Romans 12:2 - Oct 15, 2006 - 726
There are times when we need to see a familiar verse in a new way. The ESV translates the first part of Romans 12:2 this way: “Do not be conformed to this world.” Simple, clear and concise. But what exactly does Paul mean? Other translations bring out various shades of meaning:“Do ... More
Can Homosexuals Go to Heaven? - Apr 1, 2001
For the next few weeks I want to use this space to discuss some “hot topics.” The first one is indicated by the title, although no one ever puts the question in precisely this way. ... More
Born Free: Seven Promises You Can Count On - Galatians 3:15-4:11 - Jul 1, 2001 - 255
The book of Galatians is all about how we can be right with God. Paul wrote this little “emergency letter” to remind us that being right with God is about believing, not achieving. Salvation is not about going to church, being religious, trying harder, or turning over a new leaf. You can ... More
Out On A Limb With Shirley MacLaine: Is Reincarnation True? - Various - Jun 4, 2000 - 216
This is a sermon about reincarnation, which means that I have a serious problem right off the bat. It is also a sermon about Shirley MacLaine, which poses a second problem. My first challenge is to convince you that reincarnation matters enough to warrant a full sermon. Perhaps this will help. Over ... More
The Agape Factor: 12 Ways to Love - Romans 12:9-16 - Nov 17, 2006 - 729
There is an amazing scene at the end of the 1996 movie Marvin’s Room. Bessie, played by Diane Keaton, has cared for her ill father and her aunt for 20 years. After learning that she has leukemia, she receives a visit from her estranged sister Lee, played by Meryl Streep. Bessie tells Lee, &ldq ... More
Repent! The Forgotten Doctrine of Salvation - Acts 17:30 - Oct 6, 2006 - 510
In 1937 the American Tract Society sponsored a contest in which they offered a prize of $1,000 for the best new book written on one of the “essential evangelical doctrines of the Christian faith.” Sixty-one years ago, $1,000 was a lot of money and a great many well-known Christian author ... More
Sinners in the Hands of a Merciful God - Romans 11:30-32 - Aug 25, 2006 - 773
Earlier this week I received a copy of John Ensor’s book ... More
How We Know What We Know - I Corinthians 2:10-13 - Nov 16, 2003 - 669
"But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spiri ... More
We Shall Be Like Him: The Purifying Hope of Christ's Return - I John 3:1-3 - Dec 9, 2001 - 694
Shortly before his recent death, ex-Beatle George Harrison was asked about his spiritual journey. The question was apt since it was Harrison who introduced the Beatles to Eastern religion in the 60s and (after the group broke up) wrote the song My Sweet Lord (a hymn of praise to the Hindu deity Kris ... More
Can I Lose My Salvation? - Philippians 1:6 - Nov 2, 1997 - 525
I would like to begin with the observation that this is a controversial question in Christian circles. It would be difficult to find a subject about which believers are more deeply divided. To the question, “Can I lose my salvation?” there are whole denominations that answer yes: The Met ... More
Ministry That Makes a Difference - 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 - Sep 1, 1996 - 320
"No one cares how much you know till they know how much you care.” Yesterday we had a most amazing wedding here at Calvary involving Barry MacNamara and Uli Keyna. I first met Barry several years ago when he started attending our services. We occasionally talked after the services about his ... More
This Same Jesus: The Blessed Hope of the Church - Acts 1:10-11 - Apr 5, 1998 - 638
"They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way ... More
Did Mickey Mantle Go to Heaven? Why I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sin - Various - Nov 12, 1995 - 795
Like many others of my generation, Mickey Mantle was a household when I grew up. Back then, in the late fifties and early sixties, he was one of the most famous sports figures in America. Schoolboys by the millions imitated his swing and dreamed of the day when they could make it to the big league ... More
How to Make Peace with Your Enemies - Genesis 21:22-34 - Jun 23, 1996 - 25
Slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said it, “You don’t make peace with your friends, only with your enemies.” He uttered those words soon after Israel signed an historic peace treaty with the PLO in 1993. Harshly criticized by many of his countrymen who felt he had given ... More
What Happens When We Die? - Hebrews 9:27 - Sep 28, 1997 - 532
We live in a time when there is great fascination about life after death.• A few years ago Raymond Moody wrote a best-seller called Life After Life, which purported to detail the near-death experiences of men and women who “died” and then came back to tell remarkably similar storie ... More
Are We a Non-Prophet Ministry? - I Corinthians 14:29-33 - Jun 17, 1990 - 575
What image comes into your mind when you hear the word prophet? If you are like most people, several images may flash across your mental screen. You may think of a white haired old man in a prison cell on an island in the middle of the ocean. With wrinkled face and a long white beard, he ponders ... More
What Moves Your Mountain? - Romans 12:8: I Corinthians 12:9 - May 20, 1990 - 572
I’m sure you’ve heard this definition of a football game: It’s an event where 50,000 people who desperately need exercise sit in the stands watching 22 men on the field who desperately need rest. Unfortunately, that definition fits more than a football game. It also fit the typi ... More
Taking The Plunge - Apr 5, 1990
Of all the issues that divide Christians, none is more hotly debated than the issue of baptism. For centuries godly men and women have come down on different sides of this question. Entire denominations have sprung up as a result of disagreements over the mode, meaning, and purpose of baptism.The wi ... More
The Gift that Never Grows Old - Romans 12:8 - Apr 8, 1990 - 570
Some of you have heard this story, but it bears repeating. About 16 years ago some researchers decided to find out if seminarians really were Good Samaritans. In order to conduct their experiment, they enlisted 40 volun-teers from a major American seminary. They divided the volunteers into two gro ... More
Upon This Rock - Matthew 16:18 - Aug 27, 1989 - 327
If you ever travel to the Holy Land, one of the places you may visit is an Arab town called Banias. To get there you will have to travel north from Jerusalem to some place like Tiberius or Capernaum and from there travel even farther north into the finger of Galilee. You will pass through a kibbut ... More
How to Meet the Enemy - Ephesians 6:14-17 - May 8, 2009 - 1199
It is commonplace in our day to doubt the existence of the devil. Many who believe in God believe not at all in the devil. When people say, “The devil made me do it,” they mean the exact opposite. When someone says, “Oh, you devil,” it’s meant as a kind of compliment. A ... More
Experiencing God’s Love - Malachi 1:1-5 - Apr 27, 2003 - 1256
A man was having a hard time getting out of bed one Sunday morning. “Get up. It’s time to get ready for church!” He just grumbled and replied grumpily, “I don’t want to go to church today. Those people at church don’t like me. I don’t want to go.” She ... More
God Guarantees Our Salvation - 1 Peter 1:3-5 - Aug 8, 2004 - 611
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God& ... More
Serving to the End - Malachi 3:13-18 - Jun 8, 2003 - 1263
A man stopped by a house with a sign out front that said, “Talking Dog For Sale.” The owner directed him to the backyard to see the dog. He was pretty skeptical and called out, “You talk?” “Yep,” the mutt replied. The man then said, “So, what’s your st ... More
God’s Peace Corps - Matthew 5:9 - Mar 3, 1996 - 60
It’s dangerous to be a peacemaker. In 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace treaty with Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. When someone asked how he could sign a treaty with the people who had been the mortal enemies of Israel, he replied, “You ... More
What We Saw In India - Matthew 5:7 - Feb 18, 1996 - 56
About 12 hours ago our plane finally landed at O’Hare Airport. I do not think I have ever been happier to come home than I was last night. During the last 19 days our team traveled 42,000 miles, took eight different plane trips and one 24-hour train ride, and in the process visited Amsterdam ... More
