Rational Faith

What are the attitudes and actions that will truly tear a family apart? How can we avoid them? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the family. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 31, 2020.)

As we begin our series on Malachi, we start where we always do: who wrote the book, why, and what was happening at the time? And, why is the book important for us? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Malachi. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 24, 2020.)

What sorts of external pressures threaten to undermine God’s purpose for the family in our lives? What can we do about it? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the family. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 24, 2020.)

Now that Peter has discussed why the Lord hasn’t returned yet, and what will happen when he does, the real question: so what? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 19, 2020.)

As we start a new series on the family, we must start at the beginning. What was God’s original design and purpose for the family? Why does it matter? Click Here to Listen. (Focusing on the family. Preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on May 17, 2020. Video can be found here.)

Peter moves on from a rant about false teachers to a reminder about the Day of the Lord. Why hasn’t Jesus returned yet, and what should we learn from his delay? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 15, 2020.)

What makes false teaching so despicable to God? What is the primary danger? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 14, 2020.)

What kind of characteristics or traits do false teachers possess? What should we be on the lookout for? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 12, 2020.)

In his continued discussion of false teachers, Peter lays out God’s historical precedent in dealing with such, contrasted with how He deals with the faithful. Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 11, 2020.)

What is empathy, and why is it so important to the Christian ethos. Why is it something that seems to always be lacking? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 10, 2020.)

What’s the big deal with false prophets? What should we be on the lookout for? And how might this problem affect us? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 8, 2020.)

When we say scripture is “inspired” what does that mean? How does it work? And why does it matter? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 7, 2020.)

What kind of people should Christians be? What kind of characteristics or qualities should they posses? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 5, 2020.)

Why did Peter write his letters. The answer can generally be applied to all the epistles of the New Testament, and fortunately Peter explicitly spelled it out for us. Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 2 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 4, 2020.)

What is patience, and where does it come from? What does it mean to be patient? And, how can we live patiently right now? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on May 3, 2020.)

What final lessons should we take from 1 Peter? What makes the letter so valuable? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 30, 2020.)

Peter wraps up the practical instruction of his first letter by echoing the words of James. What advice did they give us to help us resist the Devil? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 28, 2020.)

What instructions does Peter have for church elders? What is significant about the things he calls them? What about the rest of us? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 27, 2020.)

While it is nice that we can meet for worship in a virtual space, there are some key aspects of physical fellowship that can’t be replicated. What are they, and why are they so important? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 26, 2020.)

Why does Peter say we should rejoice in suffering? What does this even mean and how could we do that? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 24, 2020.)

What does Peter mean when he says that “love covers a multitude of sins”? Why and how can Christians love in that way, and for whose benefit should we do so? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 23, 2020.)

Why is it so important that Christians transform their way of life? And just what does Peter mean when he talks about the gospel being preached to the dead? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 21, 2020.)

At the end of chapter three, Peter goes through a brief overview of Jesus’s journey from heaven to earth and back again, including a strange pit-stop in death. What are we meant to learn from this passage? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April … Continue reading Daily Dose – Jesus’s Journey (1 Peter 3:18-22) →

What can we learn about being encouragers from the “son of encouragement” Barnabas? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 19, 2020.)

How should we respond to persecution? What are some attitudes that universally serve the Christian in this endeavor? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 17, 2020.)

What does the husband-wife relationship have to do with the Christian’s relationship with government or employers? What does Peter have to say about submission in marriage, and how does it compare to Paul’s instructions? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 16, 2020.)

Peter continues his section on submission by speaking to servants or bondservants. Should they be subject to their masters? If so, why? And how could this possibly apply to us? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 14, 2020.)

What does Peter say about being subject to governments or human authorities? How does it compare to what Paul says? Why is it so important? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 13, 2020.)

The concept of “resurrection” is the most important concept in Christianity. Is it something that reasonable people might believe in? What makes it so important? And what does it mean for us? Click Here to Listen. (This sermon was preached for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 12, 2020.)

What does it mean to “be subject to”, and what does this concept matter so much to Peter? What does Peter want us to do and how? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. This was recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 10, 2020.)

1 Peter 2:9-12 serves as the core thesis of the letter. Everything before leads up to it and everything after explains it. How should this central text apply to us? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. This was recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 9, 2020.)

One of the more common analogies for the church is a structure, or building, which Peter uses in 1 Peter 2. Why is this so important, and what part does Jesus play in this analogy? Click Here to Listen. (Daily walk through 1 Peter. This was recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April … Continue reading Daily Dose – The Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8) →

In this section Peter makes another distinction between things that are temporary and things that are eternal. How should this separation affect our lives? Click Here to Listen. (A daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 6, 2020.)

Our words are important, perhaps especially so in a time like this. What qualities should our words possess? What should we avoid in our speech and typed words? Click Here to Listen. (This sermon was preached for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 5, 2020.)

In this section Peter dives into the meat of his message: be holy! How did that apply to their context, and how does it apply to ours? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded for the Dewey Church of Christ on April 3, 2020.)

At the end of his introduction, Peter brings up an interesting idea concerning the prophets of old, and their relationship to Christians living in the “last days”. As such Christians, what should we learn from this text? Click Here to Listen. (Part of a daily walk through 1 Peter. Recorded on April 2, 2020.)

In the extended introduction to his letter, Peter begins to explore some of the main themes in more detail. What can we learn from Peter in this passage? Click Here to Listen. (Recorded on March 31, 2020.)

As we begin our daily walk through 1 Peter, we must begin with some introductory questions. When did Peter write this? What was going on in his life? What sort of themes did he address? And, how can this apply to us? Click Here to Listen. (The first in a daily series of short lessons. … Continue reading Daily Dose – Introduction to 1 Peter →

In such uncertain times it is important to remember the promises of God, one of the most important of which is heaven. What are some of the incredible blessings of heaven we are promised? Click Here to Listen. (I didn’t start recording until part of the way through. This sermon was preached for the Dewey … Continue reading The Blessings of Heaven →

COVID-19 has swept the world. Is this a sign of the End Times? How would we even know? And what would that change? Click Here to Listen. (Prerecorded for people to use on Sunday, March, 2020. We live in interesting times. Because this was not actually preached, I have no idea how it will seem. … Continue reading Is This The End? →

This past week, COVID-19 really started impacting our country. It has been sweeping the globe for a while now. As the world starts to simultaneously panic and lock down, how should Christians respond? What should we be thinking and feeling? How should we act? Fortunately, God is not silent about what He expects from His … Continue reading The Christian Ethos in Crisis →

At the conclusion the letter, Paul reinforces the two main themes of the New Testament: love God and love others! How does Paul specifically expect the Galatians to fulfill these commands, and what about us? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Galatians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 8, … Continue reading No Other Gospel: Love God, Love Others – Galatians 6 →

Jesus was (is) a person of incredible person power. Usually when a person accumulates such an ability to influence the world around them, it goes to their head and leads to corruption. How did Jesus use his power, and what should that teach us? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached … Continue reading Good News, Right Now! Power and Compassion – Mark 6:30-56 →

Having finished his mini-treatise on the law, Paul then moves into a contrast of behaviors: what should the new, free life in Christ look like? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Galatians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on March 1, 2020.)

Why was Jesus rejected so much? Why did he anticipate his apostles being similarly rejected? Should we expect the same, and if so, what should we do about it? (Bonus! A little discussion about Jesus as a child.) Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ … Continue reading Good News, Right Now! Expecting Rejection – Mark 6:1-13 →

Through a sequence of stories, Mark conveys a set of Jesus’s teaching that are easy to say; they aren’t complicated or complex. But, they are really hard to put into practice. How can we do so? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February … Continue reading Good News, Right Now! Easy to Say, Hard to Do – Mark 5:1-43 →

Paul uses slavery language a lot in the book of Galatians. What was he afraid the Christians would be slaves to? How would they be taken captive? And what freedom did Paul want for them? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Galatians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 16, … Continue reading No Other Gospel: Freedom and Slavery – Galatians 4:8-5:15 →

The calming of the storm is one of the most explicit displays of supernatural power in the Bible. What aspect of the story does Mark focus on, and why? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 16, 2020.)

If God always knew Christ would come, and that a New Covenant would be instituted to replace the Old, then what was the point? Why did God give Moses the Old Law at all? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Galatians. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 9, 2020.)

Why did Jesus speak so much in parables? Mark records an explicit reason he did so, and it might surprise you. Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 9, 2020.)

How did the religious leaders in Israel react to Jesus? Why did they react this way? And what warning should we take from their reaction? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Mark. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on January 26, 2020.)