Sermon Series (Page 2)

When the time change happens in November and the daylight grows shorter in our northern hemisphere, it is extremely noticeable. It actually might drive me crazy if it were not for the Christmas season.  But the long days of darkness become joyful for me when the Christmas lights go up.  I’m kind of a sucker for Christmas lights — not quite as bad as Clark Griswald (of the Christmas Vacation movie) but I do love them. The gorgeous lights of…

This coming Sunday, November 23, at 10am, the LifeWay Church family will be coming together for a worship time totally dedicated to “Giving Thanks!”  We did this last year and it was so meaningful. This simple article is to strongly encourage you to get ready so that YOU and I — all of us can truly participate in the most meaningful of ways. Here is what to expect at the worship service: Your assignment is to identify one or more…

What is the happiest place that you can think of? If you had a choice, what would be your happy place? I love to play a group game with people (many of you have been part of this in the past). I give people four different locations of places they could go to for their “happy place!”  (1)  A mountain chalet in the Austrian Alps; (2) A white sandy beach in the Virgin Islands surrounded by blue water and palm…

“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. “Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.” “I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight. “Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.” “Do…

What is God like? There are many good answers to this question. God is holy. God is love. God is just. God is joy. These are all true. Actually, these are our sermon topics for the next 3-4 weeks. This Sunday, we will center on the love of God. Christ said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” Furthermore, John writes in his first letter, “God is love.” What a marvelous reality!…

When I was a very young boy, I like many young boys, would get into little playful arguments with my friends about how strong my dad was.  I actually remember this. Now, I had a very good, strong, caring dad, and I never doubted how much dad cared for my brothers and me. We had a great upbringing actually. But it was kind of normal to have 6 year old boys brag to other boys how strong my dad was.…

There’s a guy I have known for several years, and I can say that he is my friend. When we hang out, I always enjoy the time. He’s been a blessing to me, and hopefully I have been one to him. He’s really a good guy. But there’s one thing I have noticed about him that I’ve learned to ignore (I’m sure he has a list of things he ignores about me too). He tends to exaggerate. I’ve heard him…

Have you ever been through a job interview? Most of us have. The questions that are asked are usually similar no matter what specific job you are interviewing for: The interviewer will look for insights into you life as you give responses:   I’m sure there are many more questions, but you get the picture. Many of you have been through this. This Sunday is the Sunday before our LifeWay GIC week (Global Impact Celebration) – our beloved and important…

“I don’t worship. You Christians and religious people worship. I love nature. I believe in science. I only accept that which can be proved.” We all have heard this or some form of this. But is it true that the non-believer, the atheist, or the naturalist does not worship?  The truth of the matter is that we all worship. The question is not if we worship, but who or what we worship? Worship comes from the Old English words “worth” and “ship.” Whatever or whomever we give…

It’s GIC Season!!! This is one of my favorite times of the year because we get to meet amazing people doing God’s work around the world, and we get to re-focus on the core things that are most important to us as a church and as followers of Jesus. This week we are beginning to prepare our hearts and minds for the GIC with a series called, “Made For This.”  In this series, we wanted to focus on that foundational…

Recently I was watching a comedy show on TV and one of the talented comedians that I find very clever was doing a comedy skit from some Bible stories. Now let me be clear, this guy is clever and fast on his feet, and I find him most of the time pretty funny. But I just I’ve read some about his life and heard specifics out of his mouth that lead me to believe that he is not likely a…

For the past five years, we at Lifeway Church have spent the majority of our academic school year preaching sermons on Sunday morning with a major theme. And we’ve been using some very specific places in scripture that guide us to understanding and applying the Word of God. Five years ago as we began this journey, I told you that we had a five-year plan at that time. We have now completed the five years, but we are now adding…

Christians fail. Christians sin. Christians doubt. Christians suffer. This is a reality. But how do we respond in the face of it all? Oftentimes, as humans we are prone to wander. We are inclined to passivity. Some are inclined to self-confident effort. We are all tempted to be prayerless. But how does Christ respond to us when we are overwhelmed and overcome by the trials and tribulations of the world? Thank God, we know. Christ’s words have been written down…

I am writing this article to the LifeWay family New York City. To be a bit more specific, I’m writing from Brooklyn, New York. Patty and I are with our mission team working alongside some amazing Gospel workers in Brooklyn and in New York as they reach out to the college students on multiple college campuses in the greater New York City area. We have been blessed beyond measure this week, and we are not finished yet. Specifically, Josh and…

Did you know some people say the military salute in all the world’s armies originated from the medieval knights who needed to raise their helmet visors when they talked to one another? Even after the use of helmet visors ended, modern day soldiers kept the tradition, and that is how we came to know the military salute. I didn’t know that. Others say because the knights carried their weapons on their right, this is how we came to drive our…

What does it mean to be a part of family? Is it just about blood relations? Or maybe about living situations? How do you define family and what does it mean for someone to be a part of your family? My family is pretty big and we grew up all over. I don’t necessarily feel very close to my extended family, many of whom I haven’t seen in person since I was a young child. In a lot of ways,…

Have you noticed that the mention of the devil is not insignificant in our culture? I am not exactly a movie person, but even I know the movie, “The Devil wears Prada”. Can you think of other movies with the word, “devil” in the title? When my high school classmates wanted to form a band, and play “The Devil went down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band, they asked me to play the violin. It was not Mendelssohn or…

Track and Field is a great sport, but honestly much different than most other sports. It really is not a team sport at all, as it is pretty individual by the way it is set up. Let me explain: But Track and Field is very different. It is a solo sport for the most part. Yes, there are relay teams, but most of it track and field is very individual. There is one person at the starting line, and when…

The Beatles, the prominent 60’s and 70’s British rock and roll band, and specifically Paul McCartney, wrote and released a song in 1967 on their “Lonely Hearts Club Band” album, called “When I’m 64.” It’s a very clever and fun song about growing older and the expectations and fears we have about aging. An interesting fact about the song is that Paul McCartney wrote the tune to this song when he himself was about 14 years old. In 1966 as…

As I have stated many times, I have developed a personal habit of reading the Bible in multiple locations simultaneously.  Old Testament books then New Testament books, and always a Gospel story. Because of this way of reading from many locations I find many common themes throughout. One of those themes that always pops out at me is the theme of “Where is God in the Tragedy?” Every book in the Bible; in every time period of history; it doesn’t…

Whenever you use the words “prosperity” alongside the word “Gospel” it can be toxic!  For those of you who are astute in modern world church lingo, the phrase “Prosperity Gospel” is almost a curse phrase, and for good reason. Let me give a simple explanation. There have been many over the years who have abused the point of the Gospel when it is shared with the world. Some have taken truths, and strained them out to use only partial truths…

As an American, many of us have come to understand that the most important piece of paper document we possess is that American passport. Of course this is very much in the news every day now. I will not be able to address all the questions and issues politically in this article, but this might come to mind when you read it. No doubt, that document is of great importance — humanly speaking. Now let’s stress that last line —…

I am the youngest child of three boys that my parents have. My oldest brother is 4 ½ years old, and my middle brother is 2 ½ years older. I remember vividly when one by one my two older brothers left home for college, and the house got quieter and quieter. My first night at home when my middle brother left was a bit odd – honestly weird, and I remember it well to this day. But for my parents,…

Do you know how many percent of the adult US population are grandparents? Take a guess. If you answered one-third, you get a lollipop! Up to one third of all adults are grandparents. That means that if we were to walk about in our cities of Federal Way or Northeast Tacoma, one out of every three adults we see are grandparents. In 1900, there were only 3.1 million people 65 years and older. By 1999, one hundred years later, that…

I love visual illustrations! Tim (one of our church piano players) has a real gift of being a cartoon style artists. During that long, drawn-out season of Covid a few short years back, many of my sermons were in front of a camera and the only audience was online (I sure hope to never go back to that again!). But one of the funny things that emerged out of that time was that after every sermon that I delivered, Tim,…