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Our Responsibility When There Is God’s Sovereignty
Quite soon after I made a decision for Christ, a pastor friend told me about a debate going around in the Christian world called the Arminian versus Calvinist debate. I don’t want to go too deep doctrinally here, but the Arminian position emphasizes free will, believing that individuals have the choice to accept or reject God’s salvation. On the other hand, the Calvinist position emphasizes God’s sovereignty, believing that God predestines certain individuals for salvation. The way my friend said…
The Mystery of God revealed
When Apollo 8 was launched in December 1968 it was the very first ever manned flight to reach the moon and they orbited the moon on that mission. They did not land on the moon (that was Apollo 11 in July 1969). But it was the first ever to have flown out of earth’s low orbit and circle the moon, which they did 10 times and were within 60 miles of its surface! This mission set the stage for the…
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
When the Seattle Seahawks have their season opener this coming September at Lumen Field, everyone in the downtown region will know there is a game about to happen because the Seahawk blue jerseys, shirts, hats, and even face paint will be everywhere! The shouts from the crowds of thousands of people who were all strangers to one another just an hour before, are now all yelling in unison — “SEA —- HAWKS!” They are all high fiving one another and…
An Easter Poem
A triumphant ride into the townJesus was greeted with the cheersHosanna! proclaimed the peopleOur king is finally here. Now he stands in front of PilateNo longer came the CheersNow changed to Shouts of crucify!The Angry crowds did jeer Then, on the cross, our Lord did hangIt is finished! His last cryHe suffered unimaginable agonyAll for you and I For three long days and three long nightsIn the grave, his body layThose who loved and knew himThought he was there To…
What Would You Paint Jesus to Look Like?
About ten years ago Patty was asked to paint about 25 portraits of famous people who would be considered ‘peace makers’ in the world. Individuals who stand out as people who brought something better for a nation and the world. She was asked to do this by a missionary who served in a difficult place in Asia to be put into a coffee shop there. It was actually called the “Peace Café.” The intent was to foster conversations among the…
Suffering Through the Pain
One of my favorite movie series is “Band of Brothers.” It came out about 20 years ago and has been branded as one of the most realistic views of the challenges in war time. It follows the story of real American WWII veterans from the D-Day Normandy invasion into France all the way to the end of the war. I know that Army bases when training soldiers actually require their troops to watch this series to teach them lessons of…
When An Unbeliever Prays (Part II)
Read Part I An unbelieving person clicks “send” on his screen, and submits a prayer request to God. What will you say happens next? Does the email come through into God’s inbox? Does God even see the “unread” email? If God sees the email, does he open it? If he opens it, does he read it? If he reads it, what does he do with it next? Is God aware that the email came from an unbeliever, and therefore he…
Lost and Found
We have a ‘lost and found’ box in the church lobby. You might think at first glance that there are many different kinds of items in this ‘lost and found’ box. Bibles are the most common. But there are hats, gloves, glasses, notebooks, coats, umbrellas, and plenty of other common items that get left behind with no name on them and are unclaimed. But if you really think about it, there are only two kinds of items… there are LOST…
When An Unbeliever Prays (Part I)
As most of you know, Jenny and I became proud first-time grandparents last year. Oliver (Ollie) was born at 27 weeks. He has spent already four months in the NICU, and is still in a NICU today. Jenny and I are so grateful God has given us a church family so we don’t have to walk on this journey alone. You have not stopped asking either of us about Ollie every Sunday. You have prayed, and continue to pray for…
The Amazing Romans Chapter 8
I have always considered Romans chapter 8 as one of the favorite chapters in the Bible for me. That’s honestly difficult to truly evaluate because I don’t want to lose any of the chapters. They are all God’s Word and inspired. They are all profitable. But undeniably there are a few that really stand out to me and just have always spoken to me in a very special way. This Sunday we are going to begin the first of four…
Preparing for CIC Commitment Sunday
Not unlike the GIC week in the fall (GLOBAL Impact Celebration) we are using this coming Sunday morning March 3 as a commitment Service to our CIC (COMMUNITY Impact Celebration) week at LifeWay. There are some differences though – as well as some strong similarities. The differences: So what is unique about our CIC commitment? As you prepare for this coming Sunday morning, I ask you to read and contemplate from a couple of important places in the book of…
Community Impact Celebration is Here!
At our Tuesday evening prayer meeting this week, Rik Budd was our leader, and he asked that we focus our attention and prayers to the CIC week (Community Impact Celebration) at LifeWay. And as he began our prayer time, he read from Acts 20:24 which is a strong testimony from the Apostle Paul as he was accounting for the purpose of his life. Acts 20:24 “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the…
The Battle with the Dark Side
If we are forced about the battle of good and evil, some of us would first consider the original movie Star Wars. The cosmic battle of good and evil is the centerpiece of this blockbuster movie series. The “good guys” (Luke Skywalker and Princes Leia) versus the really – really – really bad (evil) guys Emperor Palpatine. But in between them is the conflicted character that was good, then turned to the dark side, before FINALLY at the last minute…
This Sunday with Chris Thomas
Hello Lifeway! Thank you for having me this coming Sunday, I’m looking forward to being together again! We’ll be continuing your current series in Romans. For those who like to prepare, we’ll be looking at chapter 7 verses 14-25. In this passage the apostle Paul addresses that age old question many of us have yelled in traffic, “what the heck is wrong with these people?!” No, he wasn’t really addressing traffic, but something of much greater significance; the nature of…
The Sin That Provokes God to Anger (A Lot) Part IV
Read Part I Read Part II Read Part III The words, “idol” and “idolatry”, appeared in the Old Testament. But they didn’t disappear from our Bibles when we moved over to the New Testament. I take this to mean that idols and idolatry are still alive and well in our world today. Our God is a God who does not change. If what provoked God to anger, a lot, in the Old Testament was idol worship, then I want to…
The Sin That Provokes God to Anger (A Lot) Part III
Read Part I Read Part II God said to the Israelites they were not to even dabble with playing with idols. He also said in no uncertain terms that if they were to engage in worshipping idols, the penalty would be severe. Exodus 22.20 He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed. Deuteronomy 17.2–5 If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is…
The Law and New Life
One of the challenges of jumping into a sermon series is trying to figure out how to address everything that I want to address within a given passage because of the richness and depth of God’s word. There is a part of me that wants to spend a few weeks on only a few verses diving deep into scripture. But unfortunately, that is not an option in this season for this passage. But with such complex passages as Romans 6:15-23…
Who do you belong to?
There are different shapes that biblical sermons can take. The late great Haddon Robinson, who was a professor on preaching, talked about this in his book, Biblical Preaching. Among other shapes, Robinson talked about a sermon being a proposition to be proved, a principle to be applied, or an idea to be explained. It is that last shape that I believe Paul is utilizing in this section of the letter to the church in Rome. Though perhaps he wouldn’t have…
The Sin That Provokes God to Anger (A Lot) Part II
Read Part I If you recall, there was a time when Hezekiah became King of Judah, and the Bible said he was a good king. He did right in the eyes of God. He removed idols and destroyed idols. And it said right there in 2 Kings that he also destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had made. Apparently, the Israelites burned incense to Moses’ bronze serpent, and I take this to mean that the Israelites were worshipping the bronze…
Why do we start a story with a question?
In the world of literature and writing, one of the ‘hooks’ that is often used in the opening line of a story or in the title of the book is a question. In the famous children’s story book “Charlottes Web,” the opening line is… “Where is papa going with that ax?” (as the spider is saving the life of the pig friend). I drove by a church property this week and on the reader board out front was a sermon…
The Sin That Provokes God to Anger (A Lot) Part I
We are now well into the third week of the new year. I cannot speak for you but for me, this year is unlike any other year in the past I can remember. I say this because I have not heard in the news nor on the television about making new year resolutions. No one on our staff has talked about them either. What about you? Year after year around January 1st, I hear people talk excitedly about their determination…
Elder Nomination
Annually, as prescribed in our church bylaws, LifeWay Church opens the opportunity to consider any new Elders that you as church members feel led to nominate. The window of opportunity to nominate new elders is now open. There will be a verbal announcement as well. This will be open for the next several weeks. We may or not receive any nominations as we are not bound to make sure we add any. However, God may be leading you to nominate…
Cheap Grace – Is the Gift from Jesus Christ a bargain?
I don’t know if this is a badge of honor or a mark of shame or somewhere in between, but many years ago I began doing garage sales shopping with my wife. At the beginning I tolerated it, and as time went on I really got into it. The reason is because I really found some amazing bargains for some things that I really needed and wanted. I’m not much of a general shopper but I really got into the…
Shame, Guilt and Grace
Shame: Was there a time in your life as a child that a parent said to you… “You should be ashamed of yourself! That is just NOT the way we behave!” Think back on that time and see if you can remember what it was that you should have been so ashamed of. We not only have had that said of ourselves, but we likely have said that statement to someone else. Shame is a part of our life’s history.…
A special Sunday
Hello, all. My name is Andrew Stubblefield, and I have the honor of preaching at LifeWay this Sunday. I’m sure some of you might be thinking, “Wait, that Andrew Stubblefield?” Yes, this Andrew Stubblefield! Pastor Billy reached out to me in August asking if I would like to preach, but after prayerful consideration, I realized that I didn’t have time to properly prepare given how busy my life was at the time. So when work slowed down in November, I…