How is Your Faith?

Three years ago I had the opportunity to preach a sermon at my church in the evening service. It was great! Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the recording device did not work that night. However, I still have the notes and since this is one of my favorite passages of scripture, and I was reminded of it in Sunday School this morning, I thought I would re-read it and post it here for my reader (s?). 

December 15^th, 2013

Luke 12:28

Evening Sermon

Introduction:  Eric Liddell

Have you heard of Eric Liddell? He is the subject of the Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire.

Olympic Gold Medalist and record setting sprinter.  Born in China and died in China at the age of 43.  Refused to run in his event due to convictions about racing on Sunday.  Instead ran a different and longer event and still won while also setting a world record time.

Eric left racing and followed the legacy of his parents by becoming a missionary in China. He taught English and worked in the church where his father was the pastor.  He went to a poorer area to help his brother who was a doctor and was caught up in the war between the Japanese and Chinese. 

Kingdom

June 16, 2013

Luke 17

"The Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.."

Find the Kingdom - the coming of Jesus was the first of three phases in the unfolding of the Kingdom.  Jesus comes, the church proliferates, and Jesus comes again. Three progressive phases of unfolding of the Kingdom of God.

Who Do You Say that I am?

Luke 9:1-20

Thoughts on Sermons at Andover Baptist

Real power in this world seems to reside with those who have the means to coerce the populace.  Whoever has the guns, money, or food seems to come out on top.  But this power is only temporary.  It is merely the appearance of power because the true power lies with God.

This was illustrated in Worcester v. Georgia where missionaries refused to get licensed to be on Native American land in a bid to keep the government from forcibly moving them off of their land.  The supreme court held for the missionaries but the President and the leaders in Georgia essentially ignored the Supreme Court and mocked the fact that the court had no means to enforce their decision.  But we must see that even these injustices are temporary - and that the true power lies with God and His faithful servants.

An Infinite Debt. Forgiven!

Luke 7:36-50 (January 13, 2013)

Thoughts on Andover Baptist sermons.

A pastor asked his friend if he had heard of a particular theologian and what he thought of him.  The response was surprisingly strong: "Heard of him? I would throw myself in front of bus for him."  Why did this man have such a strong affinity for a theologian?  It turns out that this man had been very close to being denied a prestigious degree by a panel of biased judges and this particular theologian had stepped in and granted the degree. 

I think of Friday in the book Robinson Crusoe.  He'd been saved by Robinson from certain death and pledged himself as his lifelong servant in gratitude.  When we've been given much, and forgiven much, we love much.

Fear the Right Thing

Luke 8:19-58

My thoughts on sermons at Andover Baptist.

What are you afraid of?  Recently a big truck full of goat cheese exploded in a tunnel in northern Norway.  It would be absurd to go around frightened of cheese trucks.  But in fact, we often fear the wrong things in life.  It is absurd to fear the things of this world more than God.

Lord, Do Not Trouble Yourself, For I Am Not Worthy

Review Luke 7:1-36 (January 6, 2013)

My thoughts on sermons at Andover Baptist.

Where does life come from?  Even though scientists purport to know the answer, they end up chasing their tail.  At the end of all of the links in the evolutionary chain there is nothing holding it up.  There is no explanation for where matter comes from and no explanation for how non-living matter became life.  Of course you could agree with some who insist that life, "formed on the backs of crystals" but for many this is not a satisfying explanation.  Jesus came to bring true life and turn the values of the world upside down.

Loving Our Enemies and The Snowball Effect

Review Luke 6:27-38 and Ephesians 3

My thoughts on sermons at Andover Baptist.

Loving Our Enemies
Who do we love? Most of us love many people. Friends and family. But if we carefully think about who we love, we may realize that we don't love many people that don't give us some advantage.  Think about it - who do you love with no advantage to yourself? It is a tough question because it is unpleasant to admit that mixed in with our good and sincere feelings of love are usually selfish motives as well.

For instance, maybe the love we have for our parents is tinged with a selfish emphasis on what we can get from them. Or maybe our love for our children is mixed with a sinful pride in how they positively reflect on us. We would be naive not to admit that our hearts are filled with these sorts of mixed feelings.

But how does God love us?

Luke 5 & 6 Selections: Teachings of Jesus

Luke 5:33 - 6:26

My thoughts on sermons at Andover Baptist.

Regarding Jesus' parable of the wineskins, I had previously asked the question in previewing this passage, "Is this simply a statement regarding a practice not being fitting or appropriate? I have never researched this one and perhaps the question will be explored tomorrow, but that is what this passage seems to be saying."

No! There is much more going on in this parable than simply stating that it is not fitting for the disciples to fast.

Review - Luke 5

Review of Lord’s Day: November 18th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 5

My take on Sunday's morning sermon at Andover Baptist and other thoughts.

Jesus did not come to conquer physical death but spiritual death.  The power He shows over death and disease shows His power to make men spiritually alive.

Preview Luke 5

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Luke has established the divine origin of Jesus, recounted His temptation in the wilderness, and discussed the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  One final note on Chapter 4: Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15 which says, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers - it is to him you shall listen." And just as Moses fasted forty days on the mountain, Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness. 

This is just another interesting pointer to fulfilled prophecy, the unity of scripture, and the beauty of God's plan of redemption!

Review - Sunday November 11th

Review of Lord’s Day: November 11th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 4

My take on Sunday's Sermons at Andover Baptist and other thoughts

Recent events in the word of cycling have resulted in many cyclists being convicted of cheating.  The most notable of these has been Lance Armstrong who has had all seven of his consecutive Tour de France titles removed.  One approach for dealing with the rampant cheating in cycling was to offer a period of amnesty so that the vast network of cheaters and their methods could finally become unravelled.  The problem with this approach is that one of the sport's main governing bodies would only offer amnesty if the amnesty covered the ruling body as well.  The implication is that the network of deception extended all the way to the governing body itself!

Preview Luke 4

Preview – Luke 4

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

Lord willing we have another exciting day in God's house tomorrow.  This week we're studying Luke four.  In Luke chapter four Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.  How is it that God could be tempted?  If it is impossible for God to sin, then would it stand to reason that He could also not be tempted?  This is certainly a mystery but I think we find a helpful solution to this question when we consider Jesus' humanity.

Review - Sunday November 4th: Relationships

Review of Lord’s Day: November 4th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 3

My take on Sunday's Sermons at Andover Baptist and other thoughts

What is responsible for the moral consciousness of modern society? It is Jesus Christ and the Christian religion.  Even godless philosophers recognize this. The genealogy of morals begins with Jesus.

Preview - Luke 3

Preview – Luke 3

Pastor Shane Walker

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

John the Baptist is a prophet who is the subject of previous prophecy himself: Isaiah 40:3-5! Jesus was also the subject of much prophecy.  Both John and Jesus were announced by angels and were prophesied in the Old Testament.  

Review - Sunday October 28th: Grow and Take Heed

Review of Lord’s Day: October 28th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker and Pastor Neil Jackson

Luke 2:39-52, Revelation 6

My take on Sunday's Sermons at Andover Baptist and other thoughts

LUKE 2
What happens to a stalk of corn grown indoors when you plant it outside in the elements? It doesn't have the strong fibers which enable corn to withstand the wind and the rain so it falls over and dies.  Jesus was faced with difficult life circumstances which enabled Him to grown strong and increase in wisdom.  And we need to seek to grow strength of character and increase in spiritual wisdom as well.  

Review - Sunday October 21st: Joy to the World!

Review of Lord’s Day: October 21st 2012

Pastor Shane Walker

Luke 2:1-38

My take on Sunday's Sermon at Andover Baptist and other thoughts

There are many ways to wait for something.  We find ourselves waiting in boredom or anticipation depending on what we're waiting for.  There are two ways to wait; in idleness or in anticipation.

Preview - Luke 2

Preview – Luke 2

Pastor Shane Walker

My preliminary thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday

The incarnation

When we looked at Mary's song we saw a clear link to the Psalms of David as well as the appropriateness of Mary using similar language as her forefather to praise God regarding the coming of Jesus.  And the coming of Jesus was a fulfillment of the promise to David that he would always have a descendant sitting on the throne.  And so we see in the beginning of Luke 2 the family is returning to Bethlehem the city of David due to Joseph's lineage, for a census.

Review - Sunday Morning October 7th 2012

Review of Lord’s Day Morning: October 7th 2012

Pastor Shane Walker

Luke 1:46-80

My take on Sunday's Sermon and other thoughts

The sermon begins with an introduction to the theme of "Enemies" using the example of baseball fans who cheer for their home team and also whatever team is playing against the New York Yankees.  Perfect! I feel a sudden urge to yell, "Let's GO O's!" but refrain and quickly return my attention to our text.

Preview - Luke 1:45-80

Preview – Luke 1:45-80

Pastor Shane Walker

My thoughts on the passage to be preached this Sunday
Luke chapter 1 is extremely long – it is the longest chapter in the New Testament.  No wonder we’ve broken it into two sermons at our church.  Last week we learned about the response of Mary and Zechariah when they were in the presence of Gabriel.  This week we see a more full response from both Mary and Zechariah and both of them are beautiful.

Review - Sunday Morning September 30th 2012

Review of Lord's Day Morning: September 30th 2012
Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 1:1-45

My take on the sermon

Friends on Facebook are of a much different sort than other types of friends. You can rack up friends on Facebook and it merely means you are interested in seeing posts by that person some of the time.  It doesn't necessarily denote a deep and abiding affinity.  In ancient times it was likely a much more serious (in a good way) thing to call someone your friend.  Luke was likely a good friend of Paul and we know they were traveling companions.  Luke was likely a physician and we know that he was well taught by the skill exhibited in his Greek.  He writes in classical historic terms using the word translated "inasmuch" which is nowhere else found in the New Testament but is found in other Greek historians of the time.  This is just one example of his use of the Greek language, the entire "Preamble" to the book is very well done.  Also, when Luke refers to Old Testament passages and ideas he uses the same words that are used in the Septuagint.  The one addressed in this book as Theophilus may well have been a person or could also refer to all Christians.  The name means "friend of God" and forms one of the themes of the sermon: Friends of God.