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An Introduction to Christian Eschatology

(26 minutes) Go into any “Christian” bookstore and you will find many books on the “end times” and the “last things”—books on the Rapture, heaven and hell, the Second Coming, the Last Judgment, and Armageddon as well as books with charts predicting the order and nature of what will come… Continue reading

Acts 2:42-47 “All Things in Common”

Few passages in Scripture trouble Western contemporary Christians more than these verses from the Book of Acts. On the one side we have those who insist that the pattern found here (where everything is held in common) must be the practice of the faithful church—a sort of spiritual communism. Anything… Continue reading

Let’s Go to the Movies: “Field of Dreams” (Genesis 12:1-9)

(This is a Fathers’ Day sermon I preached years ago. What I remember most about this sermon was the response of men of all ages. Some wept. Others deeply pondered their lives. Some men reflected on their own experience as a father while others began to look at their fathers… Continue reading

Matthew 28:16-20 “Back to the Mountain”

If you had been one of the Gospel writers, how would you have ended your Gospel? Mark ends his Gospel with the women running from an empty tomb and from the announcement that Jesus has been raised from the dead. “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for… Continue reading

Genesis 1:1-12:3 “The First Things” (Ancient Near Eastern Traditions and Historical Context) Part 2

Introduction to the “First Things”: Genesis, Ancient Near Eastern Traditions, and Historical Context The opening chapters of Genesis raise a lot of questions for many people. How do we square the earth being made in 6 days with what we now know about the age and progression of the universe?… Continue reading

Genesis 1-12:3 “The First Things” (Genesis and Science) Part 1

Introduction to the “First Things”: Genesis and Science For centuries the opening chapters of Genesis have provided a battleground on which the church and science have viciously fought. There was a time when the church persecuted those who believed that the earth circled the sun. The church, based on teachings… Continue reading

Philippians 3:17 4:1 “The Gospel According to You”

“Imitate me,” Paul says. What an arrogant thing to say! “Imitate Christ” we can understand. But “Imitate me”? And notice the Christians he is addressing–the Philippians–a fellowship which from all appearances was already committed to Christ and unselfish with its love and resources. In II Corinthians Paul praises them for… Continue reading