North Boulevard Church of Christ Sermons: Video

Watch the WISH Team Dinner video at vimeo.com/205469122

The Old Testament ends with a message of hope for families."I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6) The Bad News: Without strong families, the land becomes cursed. Americans consistently underestimate the damage done when families fail. This is because families are the building blocks of humanity. The word that best describes today’s adolescents is abandoned. When enough people are wounded, societies collapse. We are America’s Malachi: a Hebrew name meaning my messenger. The Good News: In Christ you can turn your heart to your family. In Christ we receive grace to cultivate life-giving virtues. Do This: Pledge here and now to become Christ to your family. Remember this: You can be Christ to your family no matter what they do.

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Guest speaker Michael Strickland

The final lesson in David's series focusing on discipling ends with all of North Boulevard being called to follow The Great Commission.

It’s no secret: Christianity in America is in trouble. Like Peter, many Christians have simply returned to the ordinary.

-- Since 1968, more than 8,000 Methodist churches have gone out of business.

-- In the last fifteen years, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has lost 30% of its membership. Almost 765,000 members have left the PCUSA since 2000.

-- More than 200,000 have left the Episcopal Church in the last five years; over 300 parishes have closed. In the last ten years, the Episcopal Church lost over 20% of its members.

-- Since the 1960s, the United Church of Christ has lost 44% of its members.

-- The American churches of Christ lose 200 members every week, and every single week a church of Christ closes its doors forever.

-- About 3,000 churches go under in the U.S. every year; that’s one church every three hours.

-- Most churches are either plateaued or in decline, and most Christians will never baptize a single person in their entire life.

People who do not accept Christ are lost, but Churches that do not evangelize are a dishonor to God. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s recover the mission of Jesus. North Boulevard has made it clear: our mission is to make disciples. Let’s take the Gospel to the whole world!

John 21:4-8

"Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, 'Friends, haven’t you any fish?'

'No,' they answered.

He said, 'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, 'It is the Lord,' he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards."

(NIV)

Watch Raeshon Torres' testimony featured in this sermon: vimeo.com/202068689

As the Titanic was sinking John Harper had one goal: to help as many people find salvation in Jesus Christ before they drowned. Harper had something that we must recover if we are to make disciples of all nations: a sense of urgency. Jesus is the world’s Savior, but He is also its Judge. We love the idea of Jesus as Savior, but we should also love the idea of Jesus as Judge. Without a judge, there is no justice. And God is a just God.

Matthew 13:47-51

“'Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

'Have you understood all these things?' Jesus asked.

'Yes,' they replied."

(NIV)

Watch Lisa Benzinger's testimony featured in this sermon: vimeo.com/201322879

When Jesus looks at the world, He feels compassion. Jesus’ mission is to seek and save the lost. But His motive is love. Jesus has compassion on us. Compassion is the ability to feel the pain of others. Jesus teaches us to feed the hungry world.

Mark 6:31-44

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. 'This is a remote place,' they said, 'and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.'

But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'

They said to him, 'That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?'

'How many loaves do you have?' he asked. 'Go and see.'

When they found out, they said, 'Five—and two fish.'

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand."

(NIV)

Watch Marvin Maupin and Dustin Najar's testimony featured in this sermon: vimeo.com/200227333

Matthew 17:24-27

"After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, 'Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?'

'Yes, he does,' he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. 'What do you think, Simon?' he asked. 'From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?'

'From others,' Peter answered.

'Then the children are exempt,' Jesus said to him. 'But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.'"

(NIV)

Watch Larry Smith's testimony featured in this sermon: vimeo.com/199543341

Luke 5:1-11

"One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.'

Simon answered, 'Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.'

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.' So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."

(NIV)

Matthew 4:18-20

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' At once they left their nets and followed him."

(NIV)

Guest speaker Ken Carlson

Guest speaker David Skidmore