Sermons by Pastor Taylor Shippy of Gibbon Baptist Church
Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 Samuel 4:1-6:21In this week's sermon, we explore an interesting moment in ancient Israel's history where they lose the Ark of the Covenant. What happens when our faith is more in the symbol of God's presence than in God Himself? Drawing on this ancient story and Jesus' crucifixion, we reflect on how pain, loss, and disillusionment can become a crucible—testing and refining our faith. What if these seasons aren't signs of God's defeat, but invitations to let go of our boxed-in versions of God and learn to trust Him more deeply? Even in a Good Friday world, what if all Dagons will fall and resurrection is on the horizon?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 Samuel 3:1-18Most retellings of Samuel's midnight wake-up call often don't finish the story. Almost no one remembers that God had a message that night—though surprisingly not for Samuel. More often than not, we tend to fixate on the circumstances surrounding how God spoke to Samuel. But almost no one remembers what God actually said that night, let alone who God was trying to communicate with, much less why God wanted to say it! Now don't get me wrong, the way God spoke to Samuel is absolutely worth reflecting on... But I worry if we only focus on that we may potentially be missing other things God wants us to hear.What if this story isn't simply a cute story about God waking up a kid in the middle of the night?Though it certainly is!What if this story also sheds light on the kinds of things God tends to say and why? And what if we're the ones in need of a wake-up call?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 Samuel 1:1-28What do you do when the world around you is always Good Friday but never Easter? This is the world Hannah knew. Hannah found herself living in one of the darkest chapters of ancient Israel's history: the period of the Judges. Where in those days Israel had no king and everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). How do you operate in a world like that? How do you honor and worship your God in a time such as that—especially when on top of that your God seems to have forsaken you...
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 15:11-32What do you think is nothing more and nothing less than the deepest, most desperate desire of God's heart? I believe our story this morning might just hold the answer…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 16:1-8Easter Sunday 2025No one reads—let alone preaches—Mark on Easter. Mark doesn't give us what we want unlike the other three Gospels. Mark just gives us the bare essentials of what happened that day: an empty tomb and a vague promise. And he ends with three terrified women who—at face value—don't tell a soul! Easter's not supposed to end like that, right? This is why practically ten out of ten times we tend to avoid reading—let alone preaching—Mark on Easter Sunday. Convinced Mark has nothing to offer us on Easter, aside from frustration and bewilderment.But while Mark may have—at face value—the lousiest Easter of the four Gospels, what if he is in fact the right Gospel that we need most this Easter.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Psalm 118:1-29; Matthew 21:1-11Palm Sunday 2025"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."How can God's love endure forever if by the end of the week it ends in a tomb?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34It's not all that surprising to hear someone being crucified feel how David felt in Psalm 22; however, with Jesus... Given who Jesus is… It gives us pause. This is something we never expected Jesus to experience—let alone express. Not Him. Not the LORD's Anointed One. Not the eternal Son of God.But of all the Bible verses He could have chosen—Of all the Psalms He could have quoted—Why does Jesus choose to echo David's cry of abandonment by God?Surely this is a clue… That something profound is happening on the Cross this morning.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 19:28Friends, I could be wrong, but I believe "I thirst" gives us a glimpse into Jesus truly experiencing what we feel every day—what it means to be human. That Good Friday offers a window into the incarnation of Jesus Christ: the Son of God without ceasing to be God becoming fully human.That is a real man experiencing real human suffering! Better yet, God Himself is experiencing real human suffering! The Word who became flesh is experiencing the full weight of human brutality firsthand in the flesh!He thirsts.Thirst was—or used to be—exclusively something that plagued only us. But here God thirsts. He's become something that He never knew (cf. 2 Cor 5:21).And it appears that Jesus wouldn't have it any other way…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 19:26-27All the Gospels tell us that various women—faithful followers of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry—make the journey from Galilee to Calvary (cf. Matt 27:55-56; Mk 15:40-41; Lk 23:27, 49). However, John is unique in mentioning that among these women, standing near the cross, was Jesus' mother.This is not a throwaway detail for John.Jesus' mother has only appeared twice in his Gospel—once at the very beginning (Jn 2:1) and now here at the very end (Jn 19:25). And that's not a coincidence for John.Something deeper is going on here.This morning we meditate on this week's Word from the Cross, exploring the conversation Jesus had with His mother and the Disciple Whom He Loved at the foot of the Cross.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 23:43When it comes to this word from the Cross this morning, I fear we run the risk of emphasizing the wrong parts of the sentence. That many of us hear—"Today, you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43)—and we are conditioned to hear either only the beginning or the end of that sentence. But what if neither of those are the most important parts of what Jesus is saying this morning? And it changes everything.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 23:34Despite how central and iconic Christ's crucifixion is to the heartbeat of our faith (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25), it may be jarring how laissez-faire the Gospel writers are with retelling the specifics of Good Friday (cf. Matt 27:32-44; Mk 15:22-32; Lk 23:26-43; Jn 19:16-26). They don't dwell on the physical agony of Jesus or depict it in graphic detail; instead, all four Gospels opt instead to focus on other details they deem more pressing.And it's why, for our Lenten journey this season, I have chosen for us to meditate on something the Gospel writers do emphasize: the words of Jesus from the Cross.The last thing you'd expect to hear from someone being crucified was a plea—nay a prayer!—asking God to show mercy on those driving nails into your wrists—yet that is exactly the first thing we hear from the lips of Jesus.What if the Cross isn't just the place where we have our sins forgiven—it's also the place where we learn to forgive others just like God has forgiven us.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 9:28-36Transfiguration SundayWhat happened on the Mount of Transfiguration may be one of the most significant events in the life of Jesus that we rarely ever talk about.Three out of the four Gospel writers go out of their way to include this story (cf. Matt 17:1–13; Mk 9:2–13; Lk 9:28-36), which in itself ought to tell us something. Yet, despite its apparent importance in the eyes of the Gospel writers, in the words of New Testament scholar Patrick Schreiner, it seems the Transfiguration had a bigger impact on them than it usually does us.But maybe we ought to change that?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 2:18-20This is our final week in our current series looking at the "easy yoke" Jesus offered (cf. Matt 11:28-30). Let's close by highlighting a unique dimension of the easy yoke—one that feels especially appropriate as we enter the upcoming season of Lent. It's something we see Jesus Himself practice at key moments in His life (cf. Matt 4:2; Lk 4:2). And it's also something Jesus seems to have a few thoughts about (cf. Matt 6:16-18). And while it might seem counterintuitive in the context of yoke—something you 'take on'—what if we're invited to take something off?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 11:1-44Throughout this season of Epiphany, we have been uncovering the secret of what Jesus called the easy yoke—His yoke (cf. Matt 11:28-30). The secret to a life for those of us who are weary and heavy laden that is truly, genuinely good and life-giving. Today I want us to bravely push us to consider something tricker. Something we might not instinctively connect with the easy yoke. Something we don't necessarily like to discuss because, like C.S. Lewis, it feels so much like fear. But I'm convinced it's a dimension of the easy yoke... Grief.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 13:1-17; Philippians 2:1-11“Do you understand what I have done to you?” (Jn 13:12). A powerful question. But this moment—Jesus washing the disciples feet—is too important to be misinterpreted or forgotten.But could it also be that Jesus is giving us a clue to the easy yoke? If we believe Jesus somehow holds the clues to living an abundant, fulfilling blessed life… If we're ever going to experience any rest for our souls, any lightness to His burden, any ease to the yoke (cf. Matt 11:28-30)… It doesn't come by oddly—paradoxically—looking out solely for #1; it comes by looking out and having a radar for how to best serve the needs of others around us! If we're going to be yoked to Jesus—the Servant King—we best not overlook or balk at what Jesus was doing on the other side of the yoke; instead, what if weleaned into it… Put on a towel and joined Him!Who knows? Maybe we'll accidentally stumble into a secret to living an abundant, fruitful life…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 6:30-34 For so many of us—myself included—our lives feel like a constant barrage of things to do, tasks, responsibilities, obligations—one after another—this endless string of notes played in rapid succession, set to a breakneck tempo, leaving no time to rest, let alone catch our breath. Just a relentless rush that leaves us wondering how in the world it is even possible to keep up with such a pace. 'No rest for the weary' we jokingly say. But for many of us, it ceased being funny a long time ago. It's just how the world works. No rest for the weary but what if there was…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 7:11-17 Splagchnizomai (σπλαγχνίζομαι) A funny sounding, ancient Greek word that is almost always reserved for Jesus. As a matter of fact, splagchnizomai is so rare in the Greek New Testament that it appears only in the Synoptic Gospels (x14 times). And out of the three, Luke uses splagchnizomai the most sparingly—just three times in his entire Gospel (cf. Lk 7:13; 10:33; 15:20). But what if splagchnizomai holds part of the secret to the easy yoke Jesus was talking about?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 11:28-30 “Sometimes I dream that he is me… I dream I move, I dream I groove. Like Mike. If I could be like Mike…” What if I told you that this old sports-drink commercial slogan holds the secret to unlocking our text this morning? The secret that all of us who are weary and restless are desperately pining for... The secret that some of us who are disappointed and maybe even a tad guilty haven't found... The secret… of life in the coming new age… Eternal life… The secret of the easy yoke.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Nehemiah 2:11-18 Every time I read through the book of Nehemiah, I picture it like reading the memoirs of a storm surveyor. Long after the ‘eye of the storm' has passed, here's a man who doesn't just see and hear about the wreckage, he feels it. And God stirs his heart to respond in light of it! How might Nehemiah's legacy influence how we see and respond to the state of the church this new year in 2025?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 2:1-11; Philippians 2:12-16 Christmas Eve 2024
Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 John 4:7-12 Let's have fun with a little thought experiment: If He could, not that He would, but what do you think Jesus would ask Santa for Christmas? If God wrote a Letter to Santa, what would he ask for? What would be at the top of God's Christmas list? What do you think God wants for Christmas this year? I don't think it's too far-fetched to ask. There could very well be something on His heart that He'd love to receive from us this Christmas. And maybe we don't need to ask; maybe He's already told us…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 1:39-44 The LORD took me to a familiar story in the Gospel of Luke this week—the story of the very first person who jumped for joy because of Christmas. And while I've heard of taking candy from a baby, I never imagined I'd be taking pointers from one…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7; Luke 2:8-15 What I'm discovering is that my understanding of peace is far too narrow then how peace is described in Scripture. Peace is the Bible is this profound, multifaceted reality. A cornucopia of ideals God desires for not only this world but for us: completeness, wholeness, flourishing, abundance, blessedness. What if this kind of peace is what the Triune God is actively working to restore in a broken world, and it's what God the Father sent God the Son, conceived of God the Holy Spirit, to bring and usher in at Christmas?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23 As we light the first candle of Advent, the candle of hope, we're reflecting on how sometimes our circumstances can blind us—not only to God, but also to what He is doing in our lives. We can find ourselves in the darkness. In these moments, in the shadows of faith, we can easily become vulnerable to doubts and fears. But it's precisely in these moments, that we need to find the support of each other. We need our friends, we need our community, we need the church to share with us what they've seen and heard...
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 19:11-27 Today is "Christ the King Sunday," the final Sunday before Advent, the last Sunday of the Christian Year, a day set aside to remember where Christ is currently, ruling and reigning, I believe I heard this morning a charge from our king, challenging us to live boldly and publicly and unapologetically as His followers wherever we find ourselves…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 12:13-21 “Take care!” Jesus says, “Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Lk 12:15). The ‘life' that Jesus is referring to here is the same life He refers to in the Sermon on the Mount: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7:14). It's also the same life that in John's Gospel Jesus famously said: ‘Whosoever believes in me shall never perish, but have everlasting life' (Jn 3:16). They're all talking about the same thing: life unto the coming new age. Life in the age to come. What Jesus is talking about often gets mistaken for the afterlife—our existence in heaven. But that's only partially true. Jesus is talking about a mode of existence that can be accessed and enjoyed even now— before we even step foot to heaven! It's a life of abundance and blessedness and fruition and joy that God promised His people, that will come to fulfillment in the life to come, but Jesus says it's already here, among us, available to us, and we just have to tap into it. What if Jesus, from time to time, gives us a clue on how to enjoy the life He's talking about? A hint on how to get through that narrow gate even right now? And this morning He gives us one that has to do with our possessions…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 1:13-16; Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22 Today is a Baptism Service at Gibbon Baptist Church! We looked at Jesus' memorable baptism considering that maybe we're meant to see our own baptisms through the lens of His? That a dimension of revisiting Jesus' memorable baptism isn't simply to recall a historical moment in Jesus' life but to see echoes, reflections, if not ourselves in the story with Jesus… That when we “join with Christ Jesus in baptism” (Rom 6:3) we ought to hear the words spoken by the Father as if they were spoken to us, ‘You are my dearly beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.'
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 "Right foot on red." "Left hand on blue." "Right hand on yellow." What if being a Christian is kinda like playing a game of Twister?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 18:9-14 Leonard Ravenhill was a 20th-century British evangelist and author. He once said, “The devil has two major tricks with people. One is, ‘You're so good you don't need to be saved.' The other is, ‘You're so bad you can't be saved.' And he's a liar on both counts.” I believe both of these lies appear in Jesus' story this morning, and I also think He shows us a way to break free from both of them…
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 18:21-35 There's a danger for each of us, friends, that Jesus wants us to be aware of… We want to be like the first servant at the beginning of this parable -- and enjoy all the benefits of being liberated from your debt to the king -- but there's a high chance we'll become like the first servant throughout the remainder of the parable as well, unwilling to liberate others of their debt to us! It's a sobering reality that I think Jesus wants us to consider and wrestle with this morning. A tension that exists in all of us. We're more than willing to be forgiven by God, yet we struggle, even resist, forgiving like God with others and even with ourselves… "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" (Matt 6:12)
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 13:31-33; Luke 13:18-21 On seemingly numerous occasions we find Jesus preaching in the Gospels about the Kingdom of God. You could make the argument that this was Jesus' primary message as He inaugurated His ministry with it: “The Kingdom of God is near…” (Mk 1:15; cf. Matt 4:17). However, without fail, Jesus seemed to always frustrate the expectations of those around Him about the Kingdom. Jesus never doubted or refuted that some of what they said was true; rather, He simply and deliberately talked differently about the Kingdom than they did, and He invited them to see the Kingdom His way. And perhaps this morning He is inviting us to see the Kingdom from His perspective too?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 20:1-16 "The Parable of the Vineyard Workers" may be the worst offender of Jesus' seemingly poor arithmetic… The most flagrant and attention-grabbing example of Jesus' bad math... Almost everyone can sympathize -- if they haven't already outright identified -- with who we believe are the ‘victims' of this story, and their seemingly justifiable discontentment and frustrations with the payroll system of the vineyard owner. But Jesus strangely presents this as a secret to the Kingdom of God… What if our frustrations with this parable all stem from reading this parable from the wrong character's point of view? We often read this as a story about the plight and slight of relatable blue-collar workers, but what if that's not the focus of the story at all? What if the main character in this parable is actually the boss? That the central focus of this story isn't the employees; rather, it's the employer. The landlord. The vineyard owner. A compassionate employer.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 11:1-13 More than any of the other Gospels, Luke is captivated by the prayer life of Jesus. It was not a trivial detail to Luke that Jesus, even as God the Son, frequently prayed to God the Father. And Luke's not the only one fascinated by this. The disciples were too.“Lord, teach us to pray…” (Lk 11:1). It's not to say that the disciples do not know how to pray; rather, they were impressed with the example of Jesus' prayer life. And they want to pray like He prayed. And a part of teaching His disciples to pray like He prayed, Jesus revealed the character of the One they were praying to: The Father whose name we hallow as holy. The One whose will we are content may be done on earth as it is in heaven. The One we can ask for daily bread from. Through a brief little parable Jesus reveals who is the One we are praying to... Someone who is more than a friend and more like a Father.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 10:25-47 What if I told you we don't often read "The Parable of the Good Samaritan” how Luke likely intended us to… It may be the most memorable and compelling story Jesus shared, but we so often forget it's actually a story within a story. And what if it was never meant to be told by itself; rather, Luke intended for us to read it as part of a larger story unfolding in the life of Jesus. What if we've been reading Jesus' little short story about a neighborly Samaritan not necessarily incorrectly but incompletely. That there's more going on here. And we need to read it as Luke intended… In concert with what comes before and what comes after… Perhaps Luke has something for us to see this morning...
Pastor Taylor - Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21; Luke 12:13-15; Philippians 4:10-13; Colossians 3:5; Hebrews 13:5-6 This morning our conversation is going to center around watching out for the 'Green-Eyed Monster' that often knocks on the doors of our lives, deep in our heart of hearts. And if we given it space and freedom in our lives -- it won't simply make it impossible for us to adhere to the other nine Ten Commandments -- rather it has the capability to deform us so that we live less than how we were created to be. Devoid of joy. And far removed from the abundant life Jesus wants for us As we conclude our series looking at the 'Big Ten,' we're gonna take a look at this 'Green-Eyed Monster' inside each of us. An ancient 'monster' that has tempted humanity since practically day one and is still wielded by the Enemy to drive each of us away from our Creator God and further apart from our neighbor. We are going to look at the 'Green-Eyed Monster' of coveting.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 6:16-19, 26:24-28; Matthew 12:36-37; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; James 3:2-12; 4:11-12 For the past few weeks, we've been talking specifically about the later half of the Ten Commandments. These terse, pithy, often only two or three word sayings in the original Hebrew. Sayings aimed toward honoring and loving our neighbor. So far, we've looked at honoring the sanctity of our neighbor's life, and honoring our neighbor's dignity, and honoring not only our neighbor's property but their right to own and possess things. Today we will be talking about honoring our neighbor's reputation. As author Jen Wilkes summarizes, we are not to take our neighbor's life, spouse, or stuff. And the ninth commandment will charge us not to take his or her good name.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:15, 22:1-15; Leviticus 6:2-5, 19:11, 13; Matthew 6:19-21; Ephesians 4:28 Why do you think stealing is in the Ten Commandments? Why did God feel the need to include, in and among the Top Ten things He wanted the ancient Israelites to live by, something every civilized society recognizes as a crime? Why is taking something that doesn't belong to you, without the consent of your neighbor, so near and dear to the heart of God? This morning we are seeking an answer to these questions...
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 7:24-29 As part of our 'Back to School' Sunday, where we recognized and blessed our students and teachers ahead of a new academic year, we also consider how we can continue to be students and apprentices of Jesus.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Genesis 2:18-25; Exodus 20:14; Job 31:1-8; Matthew 5:27-30; 1 Corinthians 7:1-11; Ephesians 5:21-33 This morning Jesus makes a similar move with the Seventh Commandment as He did with the Sixth. Another two word phrase in the original Hebrew: ‘No adultery.' Like last week with anger, Jesus sees a virtue or value behind sexual desire. A good that has unfortunately been spoiled by sin. This week we will work to discover what Jesus sees as the good to avoid the bad as we strive to see our neighbors, particularly those of the opposite gender, as God sees them: not as objects but as persons.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Genesis 4:1-16; Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:21-26; Ephesians 4:31-5:2; Romans 12:14-21 C.S. Lewis once wrote that“your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” And today, through the Sixth Word, we are reminded and invited to honor the sacredness of the lives of our fellow human beings. Image bearers of God Himself. To honor the sanctity of human life and flourishing.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; Proverbs 23:22-25; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20-21 Perhaps you've familiar with the prevailing theory that the Ten Commandments can be neatly divided between the first four and the remaining six? That as you make your way down the ‘Big Ten' there is a momentum shift part way through where the language seems to pivot from talking about our relationship with God to talking about our relationships with our neighbor. If that's the case, what better ‘neighbor' to start with than with the ‘neighbors' who produced us… The first neighbors, most of us, ever knew… Our parents. This morning we're exploring and talking about the first humans we are meant to honor: our parents.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Isaiah 58:13-14; Mark 2:23-28; Hebrews 4:1-11 Out of all the 'Big Ten,' the fourth one is the longest and most detailed. It's also the most hyperlinked and referenced commandment throughout the remainder of the Bible. Why is that? Further, it is the only one charging God's people to remember something… It's as if God is subtly hinting that keeping the Sabbath is a detail that can be easy to forget...
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:7; Matthew 5:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; 1 Peter 2:11-12; 3:15-16 As we are continuing in our summer series through the Ten Commandments, last time we were together, we talked about God caring about His image. This week we now see that God cares about His name. A name that He has given and pronounced over those whom He's saved and called. A name that is above every name! A name He asks of those who have been called by His name... To use it well.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:4-6, 32:1-8; Deuteronomy 4:15-20; Mark 8:27-30 This morning, as we continue our summer series through the Ten Commandments, for a lot of people this week's ‘word' from the LORD may seem a tad redundant. Last week, we talked about having no god but God, and God's insistence on having no idols is essentially communicating the same thing; however, while there is definitely significant overlap in the first two commandments, there are deeper dimensions to the Second Commandment... The Second Commandment is the linchpin to the entire Ten Commandments. It circles back and reinforces the first while simultaneously influencing the remaining eight!
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 20:1-3; Mark 10:17-27 John Wesley once said, “Whatever is loved, feared, delighted in, or depended on more than God that we make a god of.” Today, as we examine the first 'saying' of God from Mt. Sinai, the first of the 'Big Ten,' we meditate on having no other gods but God and the potential for us to create other gods either besides Him, before Him, beside Him, or against Him.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Hosea 2:2-20; Ephesians 5:21-32 Last week we began our summer-long conversation through the Ten Commandments. Some of the most iconic, most recognizable, and perhaps, for some, the most venerated verses in the entire Bible. But also, we began talking about last week, some of the most misunderstood… This week we are continuing that conversation, picking up where we left off, trying to discern what do we call the ten things God says to the people of Israel because the Bible never calls them 'commandments.' Why do we call them the ten ‘commandments' when the Bible never does? Does that influence or sway our understanding of their role or function in our lives?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 19:1-8, 16-19; 20:1-21; Matt 5:17-20 This morning we are beginning our new summer sermon series entitled - "The Big Ten: A Survey of the Ten Commandments" - where we are going to strive to figure out the function of the Ten Commandments in our walks with God. To discern, with God's help, what is the role and purpose of God's Law not simply for ancient Israel but also for us, as His people, now 2000 years later. We begin with discussing the Ten Commandments, or better yet the Ten 'Words,' as a whole, unpacking that they did not appear in a vacuum; rather, they are presented to us in a narrative. How does this story inform how we are to understand their function? Perhaps we are to read and interpret the Ten Commandments in light of the story?
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Genesis 2:4-8; John 20:19-23 Today is ‘Pentecost Sunday.' ‘Pentecost' is a transliteration of the Greek word pentēkostē (πεντηκοστή) which simply means ‘fiftieth.' For Christians is the fiftieth day after Easter when remember the Holy Spirit descending upon the followers of Jesus after His Ascension. The tricky part is, if you're reading the New Testament, there isn't one Pentecost but two. Luke tells us one (cf. Acts 2:1-41) and so does John (cf. John 20:19-23). One is a loud and large worship service; the other is a small and quiet prayer meeting. And we need to both.
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 1:3-9; Hebrews 4:14-16 For many of us, when we retell the story of Jesus, we're really good at talking about when He was born. We're eager to share about the Cross. And we're pretty good at talking about the resurrection. But we almost never talk about the Ascension, and perhaps that's why we forget and forfeit what our risen Lord is doing right now out of love for us… Among many things the risen Lord is doing is interceding and mediating as our Great High Priest in the heavenly places. On this Ascension Sunday, let's remember, celebrate, and proclaim what Jesus is doing right now out of love for us!
Pastor Taylor Shippy - Acts 16:16-34 While ‘a magician may never reveal his secrets'... A preacher does. It dawned on me this week that this whole episode wasn't an escape; it was a rescue. A rescue of not only this single jailer but also his entire family. Not to mention the slave girl from earlier that afternoon. And how about us?
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