Human beings are not made to live for themselves. We are not designed to be the center of our own attention. We are designed to center our attention on God and others. We are designed to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving God and others is not ultimately about what we feel but rather how we live. But, alas, we are not the people we were designed to be. We have been broken, and so loving God and others does not come naturally to us. God saves us by pure grace. But he saves us for this life of love, and he gives us the disciplines of faithfulness to help us grow into the loving people we are meant to be. In this sermon, we’ll get an overview of these disciplines of God’s transformation in our lives.

Read Mark 8:27-34

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Death is a truly universal aspect of the human experience. Regardless of who we are, we all have to reckon with the reality of death. The Bible gives us resources for understanding and dealing with this fact of human existence. Coming to terms with death unavoidably involves coming to terms with grief. Not only will we face grief at the prospect of our own death, but also we all must face grief because of the deaths of those whom we love. How are the followers of Jesus to grieve? That’s the topic of this episode. A sermon preached at Venice Presbyterian Church in suburban Pittsburgh, PA on March 26, 2017.

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Death is a truly universal aspect of the human experience. Regardless of who we are, we all have to reckon with the reality of death. The Bible gives us resources for understanding and dealing with this fact of human existence. Acknowledging and accepting the fact of death can open an avenue for us to grow in wisdom and in making the most of the days we have in this life. A sermon preached at Venice Presbyterian Church in suburban Pittsburgh, PA on March 19, 2017.

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Death is a truly universal aspect of the human experience. Regardless of who we are, we all have to reckon with the reality of death. The Bible gives us resources for understanding and dealing with this fact of human existence. In this episode, we look at what God reveals about his remedy for the ways in which death impacts our lives. A sermon preached at Venice Presbyterian Church in suburban Pittsburgh, PA on March 12, 2017.

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Death is a truly universal aspect of the human experience. Regardless of who we are, we all have to reckon with the reality of death. The Bible gives us resources for understanding and dealing with this fact of human existence. In this episode, we will explore the several ways in which the Bible defines death. And we’ll think together a bit about how these various meanings of death impact our lives. A sermon preached at Venice Presbyterian Church in suburban Pittsburgh, PA on March 5, 2017.

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Everything we do, Paul tells us, we should do "in the name of the Lord Jesus." In this video, I explore the meaning of doing something in the name of someone else. It is a call to be that person's representative. What does it mean to be Jesus' representatives in the world? It means love--a genuine concern for the well-being of the other. When we love others, we embody the Lord Jesus in our troubled world. Produced October 16, 2020.

For a video version of this podcast, go to: https://youtu.be/xZ6pumIGIOw

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Paul here urges us to sing to God with our whole being as one people together. Singing is a gift from God that is intended to help us focus our whole selves on God alone. This gift of singing our worship to God is a thing that we are to do together. In this video, I reflect on the right and wrong ways to do that and encourage us all to allow singing to draw us deeper together into love for God. Produced September 25, 2020

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In Colossians 3:16, Paul urges us to teach and counsel one another in all wisdom. This teaching and counseling one another in the word of Christ is a wonderful privilege and joy, not just for pastors but for all disciples of Jesus. But Satan likes to bend and distort the good things of God. In this video, I explore some of the ways in which the devil does that in our "teaching and counseling," and I explain the corrective role of wisdom which Paul urges us to attach to all our teaching and counseling. Produced September 23, 2020

In today's verse (Colossians 3:16), Paul urges us to allow the "word of Christ" to inhabit our lives abundantly. In today's video, I explore what the "word" of Christ is and what it means for that "word" to take up residence in our lives. I do that in part by telling you what a slob I am when it comes to clutter. Check it out. Produced September 18, 2020.

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Colossians 3:15

Thankfulness is fundamental to a rightly ordered relationship with God. True thankfulness requires two specific recognitions: 1) the recognition of a specific gift and 2) the recognition of a specific giver of that gift. Recognition of our dependence on God and recognition of God's good gifts produces thankfulness in us. In this video, I identify some concrete ways we can nurture an attitude of thankfulness which will enable us to grow in our trust in God and in our hope for the future. Produced September 16, 2020

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