First Sermon

The injunction to seek God's kingdom first, implies that we seek it first in point of time. It should be the first thing attended to. It is not merely to be admitted as of first importance, but should really be put first in point of time. The first thoughts of each morning should be given to it. And whenever God's word, or his providence brings before our mind the invitations or the claims of this kingdom, we are to remember that now is the accepted time.

What does God want from us? What does it mean to follow him? Nothing answers those questions better than the simple but profound teachings Jesus delivered on a hillside over 2000 years ago. If we can learn and implement the principles found in the Sermon on the Mount, we will not only change our lives, we will bless the world! That is why we were created. That is why we live.

These sermons were preached at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, where I have the privilege of serving as Parish Associate. They were shaped by the honest questions of people walking through ordinary days filled with both joy and sorrow. Over these first seven years at BMPC, I discovered again and again that sermons are not speeches but conversations—between scripture and the present moment, between faith and doubt, between God’s promise and our lived experience.

Life is a story. A good movie or book places us “in” the action. We feel like we can relate to, and understand the characters. We cheer for the hero and disdain the villain. Two-thirds of the Bible is written in historical narrative—stories about people. Jesus taught using stories. The stories in the Bible are replete with drama, mystery, and even humor. Like popular movies and novels, Bible stories have intriguing plots of love, friendship, betrayal, competition, murder, and war. Yet, many times they seem boring and we have trouble relating to the characters. Through first-person ...

The Apostle’s Words, the Preacher’s Fire — Chrysostom’s timeless insight into Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. A master interpreter of Scripture, John Chrysostom unfolds the Apostle Paul’s counsel to a divided church with rare clarity, warmth, and urgency. • Forty-four powerful homilies that illuminate Paul’s teaching on unity, morality, love, and the resurrection • Readable modern revision of the classic Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers translation • Helpful paragraph formatting and updated language for accessible devotional or scholarly reading • Ideal for pastors, ...

The Changed Life was originally intended to be given as a spoken address by the renowned 19-century Scottish evangelist Henry Drummond.

This collection of sermons by Jonathan Edwards includes his most important and impactful words on the nature, origin, and positive yields of charity. Included in this set are five sermons.

Effective expository sermons communicate the timeless truths of the ancient parables to the modern listener. This book proceed in the following manner:•Chapter II will review the necessity of defining and interpreting the parables in their cultural and theological context.•Chapter III will review the literary nature of the parables and guidelines that the 21st Century preacher might follow in order to interpret and effectively preach them.•Chapter IV will include the steps for the 21st Century preacher to translate the 1st Century parable into a 21st Century context. Here, the parable...

This book is a collection of inspirational sermons given across North America following the 9-11 terrorist attacks. All were written on short notice by pastors who were themselves experiencing 9-11 with the rest of us. They serve to bring us all back to those dark days. Hearing the sermon's and the pastors' comments help you recall and experience the feelings we all felt in September 2001.

Spiritual food.

See Jesus from the perspective of Job as he suffers in misery, of King David as he wrestles with his sin, of the soldier tasked with crucifixion of Jesus, of Judas and Peter after they betrayed their dear friend, of Cleopas who walked with Jesus on Easter Day unawares, of Jairus who put his trust in Christ and saw his daughter live again, and of others!

The Ups and Downs of Life, well illustrated by Simon Peter, the Rock and Now Satan

MY brethren, if we at all believe that creation is the work of God; that highest wisdom, and highest power, and highest goodness, these, and not random chance, presided over its birth; we must then also, and as a necessary consequence, believe that to every creature of God’s hand a certain sphere of action was at the first assigned, in which moving, all should be well with it, for it would be fulfilling the ends of its creation; while, if it should forsake this, or he forcibly removed from it, all would then he harsh, discordant, adapting itself ill, or adapting itself not at all, to its ...