Sermons by Dan Vellinga (Page 7)
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…
My Word
My WordThird Sunday of Lent March 20, 2022The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, IowaIsaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”• IntroductionI remember, some years ago when I lived in Idaho, that a young man aged around fourteen years came to a youth group meeting and I struck up…
The Exodus
The Exodus Luke 9:31 and other Scriptures Sunday, March 13, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa “And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:30-31 Introduction This morning’s sermon is called “The Exodus” and if follows that use of that word long after the actual event in which the people of Israel left 400…
When Satan Tempted the Lord Jesus
When Satan Tempted the Lord JesusLuke 4:1-13; Psalm 91:1-12Sunday, March 6, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa • Introduction:The root of temptation is, I believe, that notion that we can be our own gods. We don’t need the real God and we can hold that God accountable to meet our needs without us being accountable ourselves. This seems to be the mindset of a particular group of scientists, at least according to a joke I found online:“One…
Children of the Most High
Children of the Most High Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Sunday, February 20, 2022 at the First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction: The man who hated the story of the Prodigal Son. This passage is further on in the “Sermon on the Plain”, Luke’s…
The Beatitudes
The BeattitudesJeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 6:17-26Sunday, February 13, 2022 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa• Intro. it is better to have a few good friends than many friends who are shallow.Several years ago, when I was working at a summer camp in Ohio, a young man asked me for some advice about friends. He wasn’t that popular in school, and it bothered him. I inquired about the friends that he did have, and he told me of a few.…