In December 2009 – my first year as pastor – I gave a message on Lessons from Mary. That’s a good message and is worth going back to.

I used the main points of that message to give a very different message on Christmas Eve day this year. I hope you like it.

Lessons from Mary, Revisited (Luke 1), 12/24/2017

Doug

John the Baptist is, after Jesus, probably the person we know most about from the Gospels.

• Isaiah 40 prophesied about him, as did Malachi 4
• Luke 1 speaks of his birth
• John 1 (along with Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3) speak of his ministry to baptize and preach
• John 3 – the last reference to John before he was imprisoned.
• Matthew 11 – John’s disciples seek out Jesus, and Jesus speaks of John.
• Matthew 14 – The reason for John’s imprisonment, and his execution.

What lessons do we learn from John?

• Doing the right thing may be costly
• Even people great in the Kingdom have doubts – and how he overcame them
• He must increase, I must decrease

Three Lessons from John the Baptist (John 1), 12/10/2017

Three lessons from Mary
Three Lessons from Gabriel

Doug

Paul opened his letters to the churches with a blessing of grace and peace.

In the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, Paul also speaks of “work of faith”, “labor of love”, and “endurance in hope”. In this message, I spoke of grace, peace, faith, love, and hope.

Five Words (1 Thess 1), 10/22/2017

Doug

Jesus compared two sons asked to help in the vineyard:

• One son said he would go, but never did.
• One son that refused, but later changed his mind.

That was background for where I eventually went: Salt and Pepper. I heard this explained in detail when I went to a ministry school in Kansas in 2016.

• God created us pure – like salt.
• Sin tainted mankind – like pepper.
• The blood of Jesus cleanses us and makes us pure – like salt again.
• But we grew up with “pepper” habits, “pepper” thinking, and surrounded by people that are likewise.
• We get to renew our minds to think like Jesus and live like Jesus – like salt.

If believers have a sin nature, or a dual nature, it means the work of the Cross and Resurrection were less than what happened in the garden.

This is “Salt and Pepper 1” because I will be coming back to this again.

Salt and Pepper 1 (Matt 21), 10/1/2017

Doug

The parable of the sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) explains five faith-killers:

• Affliction
• Persecution
• Worry
• Greed and money issues
• Things and the desire for them

The first two attack your persistence; the remaining three attack your focus. All five of them are intended to prevent the promise you’re standing on from being effective.

At the beginning of the message, I noted that I was returning to the previous week’s reading (Mark’s version) rather than today’s reading. I felt this message was important enough to go off-schedule.

Five Faith-Killers (Mark 4), 7/23/2017

Doug

My message on Fear and Faith that I gave at Jesus People Church of Asheville on 7/9/2017.

(For All Saints people – this is a slightly expanded version of the message I gave at All Saints on 6/25).

My notes are posted in the comments.

Fear and Faith (Matt 10), 7/9/2017

Doug

Through the course of Holy Week, I addressed some “reasons behind the sacrifice” – reasons for Jesus’ shed blood and reasons for his beaten body. I summarized those then focused in today’s message on the reasons for Jesus’ resurrection.

Reasons for the Resurrection (John 20), 4/16/2017

Doug

The Transfiguration shows us glory, presence, and love – and that each of these are a gift to us.

Glory, Presence, and Love (Matt 17), 3/12/2017

Doug

Gabriel told Mary she would become pregnant without a man. It didn’t make sense, but she went with it.

An angel told Joseph that what happened was from God. It didn’t make sense, but he went with it.

Our own faith life doesn’t always make sense – particularly if you’re trying to logically analyze how things work. Don’t do that.

Faith Doesn’t Always Make Sense (Matt 1), 12/18/2016

Doug