Jesus Prays For All Believers
Jesus Prays For All BelieversJohn 17:20-26Sunday, May 29, 2022 In certain parts of the Bible God is depicted as building a structure using people instead of stones, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Jesus reflects this in the complex prayer that He offers as the role of a great High Priest. In it He speaks of us being One as He and the Father are One, which is baffling to me in that there is a word in the…
How the World Will Know
How the World Will Know 1 Corinthians 14:24-25; John 13:31-35 Sunday, May 22, 2022 at the First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction Josh McDowell, before his conversion to Christianity, once asked a group of Christian students the central point of the Christian story and learned that it was the Resurrection of Jesus. If he could prove that to be false, he could discredit everything about Christianity. He carefully researched and published the results but failed in his…
Hurry up and Wait
Hurry Up and Wait Acts 9:1-6; John 21:15-19 Sunday, May 1, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction I once spent nearly four hours waiting to see a doctor. He was an ears, nose and throat specialist and I was recovering from surgery. Sometime soon after I arrived for my checkup, the patient he was currently seeing suddenly started to bleed from his nose and they couldn’t stop it, so it became this big emergency,…
Kings and Priests
Kings and PriestsSunday, April 24, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, IowaRevelation 1:6 “…and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” • Introduction:People believe in prayer. Why? 282 prayer requestsWhen I was preparing this sermon, I looked up the record of prayer requests submitted to our prayer chains after I started keeping a record in 2015. I tried not to count messages that gave…
Easter Sunday – Newness of Life
Newness of Life Sunday, April 17, 2022 Resurrection Sunday at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Introduction Today is the anniversary of the Resurrection of Jesus, celebrated by Christians around the world. Some theologians have interpreted the story of the Resurrection…
Palm Sunday – Triumph and Tears
Triumph & TearsPalm Sunday, April 10, 2022 – First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, IowaLuke 19:43-44 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” • Introduction: Be prepared: Boy Scout mottoI was never…
Looking For Loyalty
Looking for Loyalty2 Chronicles 16:7-9Sunday, April 3, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” • Introduction: LoyaltyLet’s start with a bad joke from the internet. “A German Shepherd, Doberman and a cat have died. All three are…
Christ in the Flesh
Christ in the FleshSunday, March 27, 2022 – First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa2 John 7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” • IntroductionThe Apostle John wrote the Gospel that bears his name, three short letters and the Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible. He was the only apostle to die a natural death, though he…