Big Idea: True salvation must include repentance. True Repentance always bears fruit. Vipers flee the fire God’s Children bear His fruit Dead trees are fuel for the fire “This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.” -Richard Baxter Introduction: Last week:…

Some of you have heard me tell a story before of my first year preaching, when a lady decided she needed to have a sit-down with me and tell me my sermons were accusatory. She went on to tell me that in a recent sermon, I had used the word repentance 39 times! Now, in that sermon, I was preaching from…

This morning we are going to look at the only passage of scripture that says anything about the childhood of Jesus. The other gospels do not say anything about the life of Jesus between his birth and the beginning of his public ministry. But Luke records an interesting incident. Over the last two weeks,…

Recap: Simeon And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to…

Illustration: “Glory Days” football game. Neighborhood Alliance There can be a tendency for the young to consider the older folks to be behind in thinking (technology, information, education all constantly improve. Youth know things their parents didn’t know. Younger people need to value and respect…

We begin with Luke 2 verses 15-34, but our main verses will be 21-24. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and…

Shepherds and Sheep In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,…

Tonight I am going to focus more on Joseph than the other participants in the Christmas Story. Joseph was given a call to protect and a call of prompt obedience. As every husband is given charge to protect his family, Joseph had already made a commitment to protect Mary. For Mary and Joseph, their betrothal…

dignity | ˈdiɡnədē | noun (plural dignities ) the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect: disgrace | disˈɡrās | noun loss of reputation or respect as the result of a dishonorable action: he left the army in disgrace But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of…

This morning I am doing something that will be different for you as well as for me. Our annual meeting is today following the service, and as part of my duties as pastor, I am to provide a report. I have found that when the report is done in written form, very few people outside the governing board read…