Sermons on John
I Am
Exodus 3:13-15; John 8:53-58 Sunday, September 3, 2023 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa I recently read about a discussion a pastor had with the church office manager about his sermon for the next Sunday. It’s title, “Jesus was the Greatest” and the office manager took exception to it and suggested that he change the title. The pastor was confused. What was wrong with it? It seemed to be grammatically correct and the Lord Jesus certainly loomed large…
At the Right Hand of God
At the Right Hand of God Acts 2:33; John 20:19-31 Sunday, April 16, 2023 The Second Sunday of Easter at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction: St. Stephen sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God just before he is martyred. Acts 6-7 tells the story of one of the first deacons of the church, St. Stephen, who was a person filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit. God did miracles in answer to his prayers…
Into this Shared Work
Into This Shared Work John 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 19, 2023 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction You can have a couple of guys in high school…
Light
Light Isaiah 52:7-10; John 1:1-14 John 1:4-5 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:9 “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. Sunday, January 1, 2023 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction In our passage in John, we learn about Jesus as the “true light which gives light…
He Kept the Scars
He Kept the ScarsJohn 20:19-22; Genesis 2:7Sunday, July 31, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa • IntroductionThere was once a famed football player named Ray Nitschke, who was a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. He was famous for his tough and aggressive play and eventually ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nitschke once lost several teeth in a very physical football game. Afterward he was found wandering around the field, looking for his…
The Word Made Flesh
The Word Made Flesh John 1:14; Revelation 21:1-3 Sunday, July 3, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction pilgrims vs. settled and belonging Today’s sermon is the first in a series that touches on the Biblical truth brought forward by the events of the birth of the Lord Jesus, honored every year on Christmas. The first hymn for today was the Battle Hymn of the Republic, sung in honor of the founding of our nation and…
The Spirit of Truth
The Spirit of TruthJohn 16:12-15Sunday, June 12, 2022, at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa • Introduction: Reaching back to find the right connection for a loose cable in the tv system.I find that when I have to reach back behind the television/vcr/dvd system to reattach a loose cable, being able to see complicates things. It can be easier to simply close my eyes and go by touch rather than try to crane my neck and look back or…
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,…
Water Into Wine
Water Into WineSunday, January 16, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, IowaSecond Sunday after EpiphanyJohn 2:6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. • Introduction: wash your hands“Cleanliness is next to godliness” is an old saying that I would hear from time to time during my childhood. All the adults would impress upon us kids the importance of washing our hands…