Leidy's Church Sermon Podcast

The title of this week's sermon is "Fired Up!" It’s Rally Day! This is a day to get all fired up for a new season of active ministry. The Apostle Paul knew all about folk getting fired up. He did a fair amount of firing up folk himself. In fact, that’s the charge that others are going to bring against him in today’s text. They get fired up because of the way Paul has been getting others fired up. We’ll see that one can be fired up for all the wrong reasons as well as all the right reasons. There are varieties of ways to fire up others. It can run from a whispered word to shouted exhortations. You know when it happens.

The title of this week's sermon is this morning is "A Faith Wanderer." There are phrases in the English language that can be interpreted either positively or negatively when presented without a context. An example of this is found in the title of the sermon today: A Faith Wanderer. Construed positively, such a person may be journeying through life trusting in the Lord. Negatively interpreted, it may point to one journeying through life no longer trusting the Lord. Today we will identify some pitfalls that lead people from trust to no trust. We must learn how to navigate around such pitfalls and stay in the faithful way.

This week's sermon is titled "No Offense Meant." God did great things through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Of most significance was the expansion of the apostolic church’s boundaries to include non-Jewish people. Because the Gospel is inherently Jewish, this was difficult for Jewish people to accept. As we’ve made our way through Acts we’ve seen time and again hostile actions taken against Paul by Jewish leaders and people. When he gets to Jerusalem the leaders of the church want him to take action to show he is not trying to subvert Jewish life. Sometimes when no offense is meant, offense is taken.

This week's sermon is titled "What’s the Lord Saying?" We’ve all had experiences where we found it difficult to discern exactly what it is that the Lord is saying. It’s clear enough what He’s said, but what does it mean and how should we apply it? That is the precise case with the Apostle Paul as he journeys toward Jerusalem. All along the way folk tell him if he goes to Jerusalem bad things are going to happen to him. What they tell him is from the Holy Spirit, not just from their imagination. Yet Paul persists in making his way to Jerusalem. Was he resisting God? Did he reject the counsel of the Holy Spirit? We’ll see.

The Sermon from this week is "Dangers Abound." Among the most pernicious of dangers that abound in our world is misinformation, especially through misrepresentation or mislabeling. One need only think about identity theft! Someone gets hold of your information and begins to go around spending large sums of money. They’re having a great time, but you have to pay the bill – or, spend lots of time getting everything straightened out. Similarly, some teach as truth what actually is false. Dangers abound not only in doing such, but in not warning others when you know such is the case.

The sermon this week is titled "He is Able." A Common metaphor for the experiences of life is the ocean. That is the case in literature around the world and down through the ages. The Bible makes use of this metaphor as well. The question at hand is how does one stand in the midst of the storms of life when the deck is more like a bucking bronco than a stable floor? Paul has painted a pretty bleak picture of the future for the Ephesian elders. Lots of storms! How will they stand on the slippery, pitching deck of life? Paul’s confidence is not in their sea-legs, but in the One who is the Master of the Seas, Jesus.