In Sermons: showing 526-540 of 629

Watch Out For The Shortcuts! Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Apr 4, 2008

47th in a series from Ephesians. Shortcuts in our walk with God rob us of the joy of the journey.

We seem to always be in such a hurry that as a culture, we have fallen in love with shortcuts. My earliest recollection of taking shortcuts goes back to when we used to walk to school each morning. You know – 5 miles, uphill each way, through the snow – in Tucson! Actually it was more like half a ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-17

Denomination: Baptist

My Response To The Resurrection

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Mar 24, 2008

Which of the four possible responses to the resurrection will I make - deny it, be distracted from it, be deceived about it or delight in it?

Thank you so much for joining us this morning for our annual Resurrection Sunday Sunrise Service. Every year as we approach the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, I always enjoy going back and reading the Biblical accounts of all the activity that was going on in connection with the only ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

A Wake Up Call Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Mar 17, 2008

46th in a series from Ephesians. A wake up call to Christians to be light in a dark world.

[Video clip of “Cat Wake Up Call” - found on YouTube] Unfortunately, too many of us are kind of like the man in that video clip. We need a wake-up call, but unfortunately we don’t pay attention to some of the more subtle ways that God tries to wake us up, so eventually he has to hit us over the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:11-14

Denomination: Baptist

We'll Leave The Light On For You Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Mar 9, 2008

45th in a series from Ephesians. How to live as light in the midst of darkness.

Most of us are probably familiar with the advertising for Motel 6 that ends with the advertising tagline, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” The image that those ads are trying to create is that Motel 6 is a place of hospitality, refreshment and rest for weary travelers. As we continue in our ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:7-10

Denomination: Baptist

The Difference Between A Lapse And A Leap Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Feb 29, 2008

44th in a series from Ephesians. How followers of Jesus differ from unbelievers in the way they respond to sin in their lives.

In his book, Listening to the Voice of God, Pastor Roger Barrier shares the account of how he was led by God to preach a one sentence sermon one Sunday morning. The account in the book focuses more on how that was an act of faith on his part than it does on the message itself. But the message ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:5-6

Denomination: Baptist

How To Keep Sex From Becoming Your God Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Feb 25, 2008

43rd in a series from Ephesians. How to view sex from God’s perspective.

I don’t really know if there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. That’s not an issue that the Bible addresses either way. But let’s just suppose for a moment that an alien from elsewhere in the universe was to make his way to the earth, and to the United States in particular. And this ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:3-4

Denomination: Baptist

Loving Like Jesus Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Feb 3, 2008

42nd in a series from Ephesians. We are to imitate the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus.

At the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Steve Bridges appeared alongside of President George Bush. You’re probably asking, “Who is Steve Bridges?” I could tell you who he is, but instead, let’s watch and see. [Clip from White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner showing ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-2

Denomination: Baptist

To Forgive Is Divine Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Jan 27, 2008

41st in a series from Ephesians. We need to forgive others in the body the same way God forgave us.

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32

Denomination: Baptist

Grieving The Holy Spirit Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Jan 14, 2008

40th in a series on Ephesians. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we harm the unity of the body of Christ.

Last week after the message, someone came up to me and said, “Those were some really good jokes in your sermon today.” But when I asked them about the main idea of the message they couldn’t remember a thing. So this morning, you’re going to get just a plain old boring message without any jokes. I ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:30

Denomination: Baptist

Sticks And Stones Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Jan 3, 2008

39th in a series from Ephesians. Our words can either tear down or build up.

In February of 2007, a 31 year old female posted this question on Answerbag.com: "Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never harm me." Is this true? Why or why not? There were some very heartfelt answers to that question, but one in particular caught my attention. An anonymous ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29

Denomination: Baptist

Why We Need Christmas

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 21, 2007

We need Christmas because the incarnation provided what we needed in order to be saved from our sins.

Every year, much of the world celebrates Christmas without really understanding why. We’ve done a great job of perpetuating the “what” and the “how” of Christmas. Even though we lament the fact that Christmas has lost a lot of its meaning, at least in this country, almost everyone, regardless of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:20

Denomination: Baptist

Christmas Eve Service

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 21, 2007

Christmas Eve Candlelight service focusing on Jesus as the light of the world.

Note: Pat and Dana are the Pastors. Others reading Scripture are church members. "Up! Good Christian Folk, and Listen!" - Ladies’ Trio Pat: Welcome to Thornydale Family Church and our Christmas Eve Candlelight service. Tonight and tomorrow much of the world will join in the celebration of the ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12

Denomination: Baptist

The Christian Work Ethic Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 16, 2007

38th in a series from Ephesians. Paul describes how the Christian work ethic is different than that of the world.

A webmaster name Paul Kinsella recently performed a test in the mid-sized town of Belleville, Illinois. He dropped 100 identical wallets which each contained $2.10 in cash, a fake $50 gift certificate, ID containing the name, address and phone number of the owner, and few miscellaneous items in ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28

Denomination: Baptist

Some Unconventional Wisdom About Anger Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Dec 9, 2007

37th in a series from Ephesians. The "conventional wisdom" is that this passage deals with our individual anger. But Paul seems to have something else in mind here.

This week I ran into what was billed as a “Conventional Wisdom IQ Test”. The idea is to see how many of the sayings of conventional wisdom that one can complete. The original test had 20 questions, but for time’s sake let’s see how well we can do on just 10 of them: 1. If it’s not broken.... ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:26-27

Denomination: Baptist

To Tell The Truth Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Nov 19, 2007

36th in a series from Ephesians. Why it is so important to put off falsehood in the church.

Last week we saw that Paul described how those who are followers of Jesus Christ are to dress the part based on who they already are in Him. In verses 22-24 of Chapter 4, Paul wrote about how we are to put off of the old man and put on the new man by allowing God to renew our mind. In the next ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25

Denomination: Baptist