Sermons from December 2024
The Elect of God
The Elect of God Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Peter 2:9-12 Dec. 29th, 2024 Introduction: Election is one of those topics that is hard to process because it involves a paradox; people have free will, yet God is completely in charge and has no limit to His power and authority. I, for one, have gotten used to such paradoxes because I believe in a Trinity, that God is completely one and completely three and the same time, yet one and only…
Pondering Things in Our Hearts
Pondering Things in Our Hearts Christmas Eve December 24, 2024 Luke 1:1-20 Introduction Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember reading something about an Italian philosophical group who maintained that our perception that life goes quickly is pervasive but untrue. I was startled by the claim, because it has always seemed to me that life speeds up as we age. Life crawled when I was in junior high school. In seventh grade my freshman year of high…
The Song of Mary
The Song of Mary Luke 1:46-55; 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Sunday, December 22, 2024 The Fourth Sunday of Advent Luke 1:49 “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” Introduction: Seeing the Holy Spirit’s work in the midst of challenging circumstances. The gift of discernment One of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible is the gift of Discernment. People with this gift can see through phony spirituality and can see clearly…
The Peace of God
The Peace of God Philippians 4:4-7 Sunday, December 15, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Philippians 4:7 (NKJV) 7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Introduction Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, and so peace is an appropriate theme for Advent and Christmas. The idea of peace is powerful and broad. There is the peace with God that comes only through Jesus, and there…
The Refiner’s Fire
The Refiner’s Fire Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11 Sunday, December 8, 2024, at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Malachi 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Live, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Introduction: The order of the Hebrew Bible was rearranged somewhere around the fourth or fifth century, with Malachi replacing Chronicles at the…
Watch
Watch Luke 21:36 Sunday, December 1, 2024 The First Sunday of Advent First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction: The Titanic had six watchmen on board and two of them, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, where on duty on the fateful night. It was very dark and the water was so calm that it made it hard to discern where water stopped and air began. Though too late to completely avoid it, Fleet was the first to see the…