Teaching from 2023

Teaching from 2023

A Litmus Test of True Religion

Luke 20:45-21:4 Turn in your Bibles to Luke 20 and verse 45, and we are at the end of this amazing chapter, a chapter that has really been marked by controversy and conflict, and yet has been so instructive and useful and beneficial for us. But we are turning the page from chapter 20 into chapter 21 today. And in the text before us, it’s a text that gives us a litmus test of sorts, kind of an unlikely litmus…

The Fullness of God’s Grace

John 1:14-18 Well, Merry Christmas everyone. It’s really good to see all your smiling faces, all dressed up in your Christmas best this morning. It’s such a joy to be together on this day as we anticipate Christmas celebrations tomorrow, enjoying that time with family and friends or neighbors and whoever the Lord brings to your table, and hope that what we talk about today will be filled with depth of meaning and understanding about what Christmas really means. Certainly,…

The Riddle of the Christ

Luke 20:41-44 Well, we come now to a what really is a climactic point in our study of the Gospel of Luke, and I’d like to invite you to turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 20, end of the chapter, verse 41. Luke 20:41 to 44 is our text for this morning and this text is really a rare and precious jewel, a unique jewel in the treasure chest of Christology; the doctrine, the biblical doctrine of Christ.  It’s in…

Sons of the Resurrection

Luke 20:34-40 Well, we are in Luke 20 this morning, and in our study as we come to the text, we find Jesus fending off yet another attack, and this time from the Sadducees. We started into this text last week, and by God’s grace we’ll finish it up this morning. As I looked at my notes this morning, I realized I could have cut this into another half. So that’s three halves. Three sermons could have done that, but…

The Attack on the Resurrection

Luke 20:27-33 Turn in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 20 as we consider Jesus’ confrontation with the Sadducees, and we continue in our study of the Gospel of Luke. I’ve got one sermon, three points, but there is so much in this text, and so for mercy’s sake we are going to cover the three points over this weekend and next. Still, in looking at the calendar, I do think it’ll work out better as we head into the Christmas…

Render Unto Caesar

Luke 20:19-26 As we return to our study of the Gospel of Luke, we come to Luke 20 and come to what has to be one of the most iconic of all of Jesus’ sayings, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s.” Many are familiar with that saying, “Render unto Caesar.” In fact, they just use that as shorthand, kind of referring to the entire passage, “Render unto Caesar.” It seems like a bit of…

The Vital Habits of the Local Church

Ephesians 4:11-16 50 years of grace. That’s a remarkable milestone for, for, any people in any church. And, certainly, God has shown his kindness to this church, which we’re going to be able to celebrate more tonight. It was nine years ago when I first came to Grace Church. The people would ask me this question. ‘What is your vision for the church?’ Vision at that time was a, a, buzzword in evangelical circles.  There were pastors of vision, pastors…