Cliff Terrace Church

Having you ever struggled with do the right thing before? Several years ago, I was working at an Alltel kiosk in a Walmart. I was thirsty so I went to the vending machines that were in the entryways of this particular Walmart. I put my 50 cents in the machine and to my amazement 2 sodas fell down. Some…

From Easter to Mother's Day we spent 4 weeks on the the Prodigal son. Such a great story and many of us have often wonder what happens to this father and his two sons. In one of N.T. Wright's commentaries on our text today, he gives us a concept that I believe many of us can picture and it goes along…

A little boy once got in trouble at school for talking back to the teacher. When he got home, he expected the wrath of his parents. Instead, his dad sat him down and said, “You know what you did was wrong, right?” The boy nodded, ready for punishment. But then his dad said, “Well, tonight, we're going…

Today we are finishing up our come home series. This is also Mother's Day. I don't know of too many mothers that don't want to see their children come home. My guess is that most of you if not all of you would love for your children that have runaway, you would love for them to come home. I want to ask…

I have a confession to make. I'm not perfect. I'm not a perfect pastor. I'm not a perfect husband. I'm not a perfect father. I'd like to be perfect. But, I'm not. I'm so glad God isn't like me – that He doesn't pile on to make sure you've learned your lesson. Can you imagine? “Ok – nice prayer. Thanks…

I like to travel in a car. There is something about seeing new country. I have found that it is more fun when you have plenty of time to get there. I try to use my GPS as much as possible when I travel. My wife tells me I can't read it very well. Have you ever asked people for directions? You get some…

Have any of you ever felt like running away from home? Like when you were a little kid, did you ever pack you bags and write a note and try to leave the house. I never did. I was too scared. I didn't have the guts to do it. I may of said I was going to, but when it came down to it, I couldn't go through…

Have you ever received an inheritance—something passed down to you that you didn't ask for? Maybe it was an heirloom, a financial gift, or even a family trait—good or bad. Some things we inherit are blessings, but others feel more like burdens. Imagine a family where a rare genetic disease runs through…

Imagine for a moment that you are at your absolute worst—broken, rebellious, and undeserving. Now picture someone stepping in, not just to help you, but to give their life for you. Not because you proved yourself worthy. Not because you begged for mercy. But purely out of love. That is the radical message…

Beauty pageant contestants have received a reputation of claiming they want world peace during their interview portion of the contest. There have been talks these days from our President that He wants peace in the world. End war, keep troops at home. With a world in turmoil we can see people searching…

How many of you have ever made a promise before? All of us have promised something at one point or another in life. We've all received promises from people in our life before as well. If you have been married, or you are currently married, both you and the person you are married to made promises to each…

Do any of you love receiving gifts? Of course we do. A gift is completely different than a pay check. A pay check you work in order to receive. A gift you receive just because. I can't sit at home and earn a paycheck by not doing anything. I have to work, either on a computer, at a job, in my car, or…

There are moments in history that change everything. The discovery of electricity. The invention of the printing press. The first steps on the moon. These moments marked a before and after , shifting the course of the world forever. Romans 3:21 is one of those moments—but not just for history; it is…

What makes a person truly righteous before God? If we were to ask the world this question, many would say that righteousness is about being a good person, following the rules, or being better than others. Some might say it's about going to church, reading the Bible, or avoiding major sins. And yet, as…

I want you to take a moment and imagine a world without any justice. Think about a world where evil is never punished and everyone goes about their day ignoring all the wrongdoing that is happening. Each of us would be angry. We would think of it as being unfair. Non of us would want to live in a place…

Today, we are coming to the end of our series that we have been working on for just over a year. We began 2024 with the book of Luke and we are ending it today with the last chapter and the last several verses of Acts. The book of Luke is one of the four Gospels. We learned about the life of Christ and…

Today we want to look at the transforming power of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about power in Jesus. Not only is there power in Jesus, but there is transforming power in Jesus. If you have your Bible, go to Acts 19 . We will read the first 20 verses. 1 While Apollos was at…

If you have your bible this morning, go to Acts 16 . We will begin at verse 16. 16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul…

Before Christmas, we left off at Acts 15 . We study the importance of the Jerusalem council. At the end of chapter 15 we read that Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement and decided to part ways. Today I want to look at the first part of Acts 16 . Have you ever been on a trip, only to have your plans completely…

Christmas is celebrated in many different ways with many different traditions all around the world. In Australia, since it is in the Southern Hemisphere, it is celebrated on the beach and with a backyard bbq. In China, Santa is seen most of the time with a Saxophone and he brings everyone peace apples.…

Last week I shared with you that the average family spends $1000 for Christmas every year. In 2021, holiday sales reached $859 billion. American's spend lots of money on Christmas. Christmas has become a time of consumerism and a pursuit of materialism. This clip from Jingle All the Way makes me laugh…

Today, we begin a 3 part series called Merry Xmas. Throughout the last few years, we hear the phrase Xmas and we think about how they may be taking Christ our of Christmas. We see it written and it may or may not make us mad. We see it in advertisements and we vowel not to purchase from that company.…

In 1970, the Apollo 13 mission faced a life-threatening crisis when an oxygen tank exploded in space. The astronauts aboard the spacecraft, along with mission control teams on Earth, had to quickly and clearly communicate under extreme pressure to solve the problems that unfolded. Everyone involved shared…

I hope you have been enjoying our series on the book of Acts. Next Sunday will be the last message on Acts until after New Year. We will look at the Jerusalem Counsel in Acts 15 . However, this week I want to look at a Acts 13 . As always, please go back and read through the verses we don't cover. How…

Before we begin today, I want to encourage you to go back and read all of Acts 11 . We will not read any of that chapter today. I want us to go to chapter 12. We will begin reading at verse 1. What kind of trials are you facing today? What kind of persecution are you facing? The things we go through…

Let me encourage you to finish reading chapter 9. I want to skip down to chapter 10 and look at a story that is very important to all of us Gentiles. As we study the gospel message of Jesus Christ, it is important that we understand that this message is for all people. The story of Cornelius is a very…

This morning I want to remind you that the most important connection that you will ever make is the connection you will make with Jesus Christ. Today I want to show you a conversion that would change the course of Christianity forever. This conversion is about a man who we first became aware of when…

Imagine a large, ancient oak tree. It has stood in the same place for hundreds of years, weathering countless storms. The tree's roots run deep, anchoring it firmly in the ground. One day, a powerful storm comes, with fierce winds and pounding rain. Other trees in the forest bend and sway, some even…

This morning I'm not going to read all of chapter 5 for you. I want you to go home and read chapter 5. However, I do want to briefly look at the first story about two people named Ananias and Sapphira. Some people get confused about this story. They wonder why they were struck dead on the spot. I want…

Has anyone here been to the Symphony before? Imagine a symphony orchestra preparing to perform a grand piece of music. Each musician plays a different instrument—some play the violin, others the trumpet, flute, trombone, or whatever. Each instrument on its own can sound beautiful, but it cannot capture…

Lamp Illustration: How many of you like my lamp? It is a nice lamp. When I look at this lamb, in my mind I see something that will shine bright for me to see. It will illuminate everything around me. (Try to turn lamp on) Nothing happens. The bulb is here, the wiring is fine, everything seems to be in…

The next two Sundays we are going to look at two messages that Peter preached. One message takes place right after the upper room experience. We will look at that one in a second. The second message took place a few days later after Peter and John ministered to the beggar at gate beautiful. Both messages…

Before we get to our text this morning, I want to give you a brief introduction into the book of Acts. The book of Acts is the second book written by Luke. It is written to the same person that He wrote the book of Luke to, Theophilus. We just finished the Gospel of Luke that gave us a beautiful look…

Last week when we left off we had looked at the death of Jesus. The followers of Jesus felt like it was over. They laid His body in the tomb. They saw the stone rolled in front of the tomb. There were guards placed in front of the tomb. They felt like it was completed and their wonderful master had died.…

Many years ago a man named Siddhartha, left the palace that he grew up in in order to see the world. When he left the palace, he didn't like what he saw. He saw a world that was full of poverty. He saw a world where people were hurting. He decided that he wanted to end suffering. The first place that…

We have three weeks left of our series in the book of Luke. I want to remind you that we will be moving right into the book of Acts when we finish Luke. Acts was the second letter that Luke wrote to Theophilus. In Acts we will look at the church and how it began. But for now, we are towards the end of…

Today is our 24th week to be in the book of Luke. Including today we have just 4 weeks left. Over the next four weeks, we are looking at the last fews days of Jesus' time here on earth. There are many verses to cover and we won't spend a lot of time on each one. I know for many of you, you probably know…

I want everyone to take a moment and think about the time that you asked Jesus to be your savior. Did you feel an emptiness in your life? Were you running from God when you finally submitted to Him? Or were you like me and you decided at a very young age that you wanted Jesus to be in your life? Think…

I love a good story. I don't read much. Most of the items that I read is either non-fiction or some kind of news item. However, I love watching a movies. There is something about a good story. I love it when a story takes us on an adventure. I also like a good story that teaches us something meaningful.…

Today we are continuing a series that we began in January. We are taking the long journey through the book of Luke. This is one of the Gospel accounts written by the physician Luke. The Gospel of Luke is written to the Gentiles. A Gentile is anyone that is not jewish. When we get to the book of Acts,…

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you only had one year to live? What would you do to finish up your life? Would you spend it making lots of money? Would you spend reaching out to family members that you have never met? Would you spend it going places you've never been before? These are…

Have you ever lost something of value to you? Have you ever lost something that was so important that you looked all over until you found this item? Today, we are moving right along in our series on the book of Luke. I am in chapter 15 and in this chapter Jesus gives us three parables of something that…

We are moving along in our series on the book of Luke. Today we are in chapter 14. Jesus is making his way towards Jerusalem. He knows that it is getting closer to the time that He must fulfill the purpose that He has come to earth for. Chapter 14 is a common scene that have been noticing throughout…

Two weeks ago, we left off where Jesus was addressing the crowd and His disciples. In the final verses of that weeks sermon, Jesus told a parable about a servant being ready for when the Master comes. This week, we finish up chapter 12. Jesus transitions us to another thought along this line. Look at…

Sunday Service for Pentecost Sunday May 19, 2024

Today, since it is Mother's Day, I wanted to take a day away from our normal text in Luke and I want to make a tribute sermon to mothers. A 15 year old son comes how from school and he notices that his mom is laying down, he asks, “Are you okay?” She said, “I'm feeling a little sick.” The son thought…

If I were to ask you what the opposite of light was you would say darkness, right? Some of you probably think about this and some of you probably don't. Some of you only think of the natural world that we live in. How many of you think about the supernatural world? First of all, the supernatural world…