Park Road church of Christ Sermons

When Jesus commissioned his apostles, he sent them to go and “make disciples.” That is all we seek to be and to do: to be nothing more than disciples of Jesus, and invite others to be the same. Simply disciples. Simply Christians.

This lesson studies why.

Why be just a Christian, when many are Baptist Christians, Methodist Christians, Presbyterian Christians, Protestants, Catholics, Pentecostals, Lutherans, etc., etc., etc.

In 1 Corinthians 1:13, Paul asks a divided church filled with several different takes on Christianity, “Is Christ divided?”

Of course he is not.

Neither should his people be.

In John 17:21, Jesus prayed for his disciples, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.”

That’s our prayer too, and this lesson considers why. May it bless you.

“You are good and do good…” (Psalm 119:68)

The God of the Bible is everything God should be: the ideal, the standard by which perfection is measured. He is without defect or contradiction, and there’s nothing that could be added to his nature or removed from it that would improve upon him. To the nth degree, he is excellent. He is priceless. He is good.

But in addition to that, because God is quintessentially good, he is the source of all good. Being so good, leads him to do good for others. It is in his nature as much as anything can be in anyone. He is merciful, generous and demonstrative. Psalm 31:19 says: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!”

And so it is perhaps incredulous to us when we discover that not everybody agrees our God is good. But in fact, it has been this way from the beginning.

In the Garden, Satan challenged the goodness of God when he called into question what he had commanded Adam and Eve. “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4, 5)

Today those who doubt God’s goodness point to the evil and suffering that exists in the world. “If God is good, why does evil exist?” Even we may wonder why God would allow the suffering we see.

This lesson considers that dilemma and was delivered with the hope that it might give us ample confidence in the abundance of God’s goodness.

(November 8, 2020 — Sunday AM Sermon)

The presidential election is this week, and while it isn’t meaningless who we vote for or who is in power, there are some things that this year’s election cannot change; things that are not going to change regardless of which candidate wins, regardless of which party is in power in congress.

From the perspective of a Christian, there are some things that are going to remain constant, namely…

• Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords no matter what earthly leader comes to power.

• Our heavenly citizenship far precedes and matters much more than our earthly one

• Our purpose is to make disciples for Jesus, reforming the country from the inside out, and calling others to be loyal to the one who has all authority. And finally…

• No matter who is in power, we are to pray for them, “…for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1, 2)

(November 1, 2020 — Sunday AM Sermon)

In the final words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers an invitation to follow his words and live.

When it comes to the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus, we have a choice to make, as he phrases it, between the wide gate that is easy and leads to destruction or the narrow gate that leads to life; a choice between listening to him or listening to others who bear no fruit; a choice between talking like we serve the Lord or actually doing the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Finally, Jesus says our choice it’s like deciding the foundation on which you’re going to build a house. To follow the words of the Master is like building a house on solid rock; that life can withstand not only the storms of life but the judgment to come. But to disregard the teachings of Jesus and build you life on anything else, is to build on sinking sand.

(October 25, 2020 — Sunday AM Sermon)

Priscilla and Aquila are a beautiful example of a husband and wife team that put serving the Lord first before all else. One of the most special things about them is that they were just ordinary Christians.

As far as the book of Acts tells us, Aquila was not a full-time evangelist or one of the shepherds in the congregation; he and his wife were simply full-time Christians.

Tentmakers by trade, wherever the Lord needed them to go, Priscilla and Aquila stepped forward and served God in every way they could.

Our theme this year is drawn from the words of Joshua: “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) As Priscilla and Aquila show us, any house and every house can do remarkable things for the Lord, if they’ll make that same commitment.