Sermon Series

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me lately… “how do you feel right now about your time ending as Pastor at LifeWay?”  My answers have ranged widely depending on who asks me the question. Often, I’ve made jokes about it.  Frequently I’ve answered with the normal American version of retirement by saying something like… “just bought my golf course membership so I can finally golf all the time!”  For some I have tried to have a more…

There was a radio announcer many years ago that would use a famous line in his broadcast when he said… “now you will hear… the REST of the story.”  (Paul Harvey). It is extremely common for us at church to state over and over again… “read your Bible regularly!” Why do we do this? Well, simply put, the Bible is God’s Word written for us. It is completely worth the time to study how we have the Bible, and the…

Beloved LifeWay family, I pray and hope God has been near to you through his word and by his comforting Spirit. By his grace, I have been comforted by the steadfast presence of God through his word and his people, especially this week. I was at a short conference with 100 other pastors in the PNW. We sat under the Word, prayed for one another, and we were refreshed by God’s presence through his word. My prayer is that this…

Have you ever spent time thinking about what heaven will actually be like—not as a vague idea, but as a real place God has promised? As believers, heaven is our eternal home and our hope should be in the eternal promise of our Creator.  Scripture stretches our vision far beyond our human imagination and into the solid, stunning promise of a New Heaven and New Earth.  This Sunday we’ll be in Revelation 21 and 22, where John gives us a window…

I have the privilege this Sunday to bring a message out of Revelation 12:7-12. We continue in our sermon series called Creation to New Creation. This week we see the heavenly and spiritual reality behind our personal experience in the “already but not yet” kingdom. Why does the Bible talk about the defeat of Satan in a decisive and real sense, yet on the other hand still portray him as powerful? Put another way, why is Satan in one sense…

I had some unique and wonderful grandmothers… both of them… and in my typical Billy Arnold story telling fashion, I have some fun stories about them. But this story is from the life of my maternal grandmother is helping  me shape the sermon I’m going to bring this coming Sunday morning. Bear with me, there is a point here: Grandma Holleman had 5 children with my grandfather; 3 boys and 2 girls. My mom was the oldest girl and second…

We are in the last few weeks in this series of sermons that we’ve titled “Creation to New Creation.”  The passage that I would ask you to read and meditate on before you come to worship is Revelation 19:1-10. Revelation is often one of those Bible books that are confusing and often overlooked (much like the Old Testament book of Leviticus I referred to a few weeks ago). But Revelation is not a puzzle that we are left on our…

There are many Christian concepts that have great overlap in meaning. Kindness and love. Hope and faith. Grace and mercy. If a person is kind, then the person is usually loving, too. But what is the difference? Is there a difference? If one has hope, does she also have faith? What’s the similarity? If God is gracious and merciful, are these mere synonyms or not? This week, the Christian concept we will meditate on is mercy. The dictionary definition of…

I’ve been reading the book of Leviticus lately, working my way slowly through this book that we know of as a serious and blunt book of the LAW.  I’ve told you many times that I enjoy reading a chapter or two from the Bible from multiple sections of the Bible.  Currently my readings come out of Old Testament books of Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Jeremiah, Hosea… the New Testament Luke, Romans, and Titus… then finish it off with a Psalm. The…

He is risen! (Slightly early, but I couldn’t wait.) What a celebration Easter Sunday is and has been for the Christian Church. Have any of you continued to have a small question hopping in your mind every time Easter comes around? Why is a pagan, German bunny always tied to a historic Christian celebration of Easter? Without wasting much of your time, yes, the birth of the bunny (or hare) connected to Easter is likely from a bit of German…

“Long live the king!” “Hail Hitler!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Throughout time there have been shouts of acclamation to kings, leaders, and authorities. But as you can see, not all shouts of praise are equal in quality.  So, what gives worship its quality? Well, at least two things: 1) the character of the one who is praised,…

What motivates you to get something done? I have often talked about the very long list of projects that I have to get accomplished. I have church projects, house projects, yard projects, small projects, and huge projects. In no way am I trying to say that I always get stuff done, but I will tell you that no matter how many things I finally do get accomplished, the list that I go back to seems to just get longer and…

It was the spring of 1984, Patty and I were married with our newborn son (our son Brian) and living in Fort Worth, Texas. Our home was a mobile home park that was part of the seminary that we both attended, and in that particular spring I was trying to finish the last semester of my Seminary degree.  At that time, we had already decided that we were moving to Federal Way (we made that decision about March of 1984,…

My wife and I the other day were looking around some interesting ‘youtube’ documentaries, and we came across one that was titled “The Holiest Places on Earth.”  It peaked my interest and we watched about an hour of it. Top on the list of holiest places was a monastery on an island in Greece.  It was built centuries ago; was constructed multi-stories high on a crazy rock (to this day engineers are amazed how they did it a few hundred…

Paul the Apostle is arguably one of the most influential people for the Christian faith (obviously after Christ!) He had a momentous conversion. He was planting numerous churches. He gave bold witness to individuals, communities, and governments! In short, he was a powerful instrument in the hands of God. But where did this power come from? Do you remember what God said to Ananias regarding Paul’s faith and ministry?  “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry…

This coming Sunday I will bring to us a very famous passage of Scripture that are part of the “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament; that is. “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament describe theologically who Jesus really is and what He has done. Last week we studied Colossians 1:15-23.  I am asking you to read ahead before Sunday and meditate carefully on this week’s passage, Philippians 2:6-11. For a larger context, once you read this part, read the whole…

Have you ever given much thought to how the ancient societies seemed to have so many gods?  If you are a student in any way, even just a casual student of ancient times you will know of some of the names in the past of ‘gods’ that societies had.  Just for fun, let me remind you of some: This coming Sunday I am beginning to lay out the first of four in what is often referred to as “Christology hymns”…

“Hell is unfair!” “There is no way a loving God can morally send a person to Hell for eternity.” “If the God of the Bible allows Hell, I would rather be away from him forever.” The outrage against Hell is real. The truth of Hell is one of the most challenging topics in Christianity. It is one of the most common obstacles for the skeptic. But not only for the skeptic, for the sincere Christian, too. Even if a Christian…

Last week we heard about Heaven being that future world of love where God is. This week we will be learning about the present kingdom of heaven here and now. So, we might say that last week, we focused on heaven as the place where God dwells. This week, we will focus on heaven as the space that God fills. In our understanding of “kingdom” in human terms, we tend to see it as a physical empire, a government, or…

I am eagerly longing to gather with you all again to worship our loving God. I have heard it said that “heaven is where God is.” But God is everywhere, isn’t he? God is omnipresent. He is then “present” in your home, the workplace, the mountains where you hike, the grocery store, the highways where you drive, your schools, sports teams, and sleepovers… But to say God is everywhere, it doesn’t mean he is present in the same way everywhere.…

If you have heard me preach and ‘tell stories’ (which I commonly do) you have learned some things about me. And one of those things is My wife and I enjoy on a day off or relaxing afternoon stopping at a garage sale. The one remarkable thing about garage sales is that of course you find lots and lots of American junk we are famous for that in our culture of collecting far more than we would ever need. But,…

At a youth Christmas party that we were at the other day I played a bit of a game with the teens… ‘name all the characters that you remember in the Christmas story.  I wonder if you could do that? Then… not only name them, but tell where they are found in the Scripture, and what their significance is.  This might be a good Christmas party game for you as well. Let me get you started: But did you on…

Often in my time in Turkey I was asked a single set of questions by many Turks (mostly taxi drivers). “Where are you from?” To which I would answer, “I am Korean. My father and mother emigrated from Korean to the States in the 80s.” Without fail, the next question was. “North or South?” Some would also then ask, “Do you know Kim Jong Un?” On my best days, I engaged with humor. When cultural stressors were higher, I used…

We are moving into the third week of Advent this Sunday. The theme is on joy. What is joy? Joy is a deep and very good emotion. So, we read in many places in the Bible: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found a covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Mt. 13:44) “And you will have joy and gladness, and…

Hello beloved LifeWay family, Happy Advent to you all! Why is the sermon theme this Advent season on Sin and the Fall? What a damper on a joyous and happy season…Why not just happy carols, frosted cookies, and joyful choruses? Christ has come! But is life really like that? I was told once by a friend overseas that when Western missionaries leave the homes of indigenous peoples/groups/tribes, these once smiling people return to their lament and sadness. The Western presence…