In Sermons: showing 286-300 of 629

What I Think About God Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

Sixth in this series. The Parable of the Talents show that what I have with what I have been given reveals what I really think about God.

Over fifty years ago A. W. Tozer wrote his classic book, The Knowledge of the Holy. In his preface, he described why he wrote the book: The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Denomination: Baptist

Running On Empty Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

Fifth in this series. The Parable of the Ten Virgins shows that I cannot live on someone else's oil.

I still remember my first date with Mary. I know that she was really impressed when I picked her up in my banana yellow Ford Pinto, especially since it was the middle of summer and that car had no air conditioning – unless you call rolling down both windows and driving as fast as that car ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

An Invitation To A Party Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

Fourth in this series. The parable of the Weeding Banquet pictures God's invitation to a relationship with Him.

I don’t know if you’ve ever really thought of in quite this way, but the gospel accounts of Jesus show that He really enjoyed a good party. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been reading John’s gospel account and there we find that the very first miracle that Jesus ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

The Scandal Of Grace Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

Third in this series. The Parable of the Workers reveals the scandalous nature of God's grace.

We throw the word “scandal” around a lot in our culture today so just for the fun of it I Googled that term earlier this week and, not surprisingly, got a number of hits on recent events that have been labeled scandals by the news media – the IRS scandal, the Benghazi scandal, the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Evil In The Kingdom Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

Second in a series. The Parable of the Weeds helps us understand why there is evil in the midst of God's kingdom.

Do you ever wonder why it’s often so hard to be a follower of Jesus? Perhaps like me, you once had some well meaning, but naïve person tell you that if you would just give your life to Jesus all your problems would go away, only to find out that is far from reality. I look around this room ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-43

Denomination: Baptist

Serial Seed Sowers Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Aug 21, 2014

First in a series of messages that examine Jesus' parables from the perspective of a minor or unsympathetic character.

Several years ago I came across a book by J. Ellsworth Kalas titled Parables from the Back Side. The author’s introduction to the book begins with these words: Familiarity doesn’t always breed contempt, as the saying puts it, but it often breeds something potentially worse, the glazed ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Denomination: Baptist

Turning Our Hearts Toward God Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

We need to learn from the past to live in the present as we look to the future.

I often joke that the length of my sermons seems to be inversely proportional to the length of the passage. So get comfortable and settle in because as we finish our study of the book of Malachi this morning, we’re only going to look at the final three verses of the book. But what an ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 4:4-6

Denomination: Baptist

Living As God's Remnant In An Ungodly World Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

God takes notice of those who take notice of Him

When Mary and I were considering names for our children, there were a number of names that were immediately eliminated because of certain students that Mary had in her classes over the years that she just didn’t want to be reminded of. And even today, several decades later, there are certain ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Giving To A Giving God Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

God desires for me to give to Him in the same way He has given to me

This morning we come to a passage that has – in my opinion – been one of the most misused passages in the entire Bible. It has been used throughout church history to perpetuate what I believe, based on my understanding of the Scriptures as a whole, are myths. And to demonstrate that, ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:6-12

Denomination: Baptist

God's Refining Work Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

God loves me too much to let me continue in my sin.

[“Be Careful What You Wish For” video] In life, it’s so easy to look at the circumstances around us and to wish for something without really having a full understanding of the entire situation. For the boy in the video, his wish certainly ended up putting him in a place he never ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Being A Covenant Keeper Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

Being a covenant keeping community is essential to our relationship with a covenant keeping God

Recently someone who has attended our church in the past sent me an email that contained these words: At this time, I have decided to take a step back and do some more thinking about things. I need some time to digest what I have learned and discovered and decide if it is right for me. This is ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 2:10-16

Denomination: Baptist

The Song Of Simeon

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

The song of Simeon reveals that God makes His salvation available to all people through His people

According to the Billboard music charts, the top five Christmas songs for this week, based on airplay, are: 1. “Little Drummer Boy” by Pentatonix 2. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey 3. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:29-32

Denomination: Baptist

The Song Of The Angels

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

The song of the angels shows that God’s glory and God’s grace are to be grasped and to be given

As we’ve already seen the past two weeks and in our Scripture readings earlier this morning, angels are intimately involved in the Christmas story. In the past two weeks we’ve seen how Gabriel first revealed to Zechariah that he would have a son who would prepare the way for the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:13-14

Denomination: Baptist

The Song Of Zechariah

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

The song of Zechariah reveals that saying “yes” to God’s pursuit, promises and purposes brings God’s peace

In 1963 Andy Williams released his first Christmas album which contained a song that has become one of the top ten holiday songs of all time – “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. So it’s not surprising that the song has been recorded by nearly 20 other artists ranging ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:67-79

Denomination: Baptist

The Song Of Mary

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 26, 2013

Mary's song reveals that a humble Savior delights in working through a humble servant.

This year, two radio stations in central New York switched over to their all Christmas music formats in early October. By the first part of November, many other radio stations across the country had also followed their lead and began playing Christmas music 24 hours a day. Now, like many of you, I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:46-55

Denomination: Baptist