Sermon Central
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Deepening Your Life With God (1 & 2 Timothy)
Contributed by Timothy Peck on Oct 8, 2001 (message contributor)
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1. How Deep Are Your Roots?
Contributed on Oct 8, 2001
Three reasons why accurate beliefs are essential to a deepened life with God.
People are now calling September 11, 2001 "Black Tuesday." For many people that day was a wake up call. Attendance in churches across the nation spiked sharply the Sunday after September 11, as people poured into churches like this to try to find answers. In fact our attendance that Sunday was the ...read more
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2. It's Not Just How You Start, It's Also How You Finish
Contributed on Oct 15, 2001
Whether our story of starting our life with God is dramatic or ordinary, what truly counts is finishing.
[Note: This sermon was preceded by a testimony of a person who had been an atheist and substance abuser who came to Christ through our church]. Isn’t it exciting to hear how God has changed Kevin’s life? But even as we rejoice, I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking, ...read more
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3. Men & Women: Different But Equal
Contributed on Oct 29, 2001
Two ways men and women are different in the church, and one way they are equal.
[Note: This sermon was introduced by a drama called "God’s Plan?"]. Men and women really are different. So different one author says that it’s almost like men are from Mars and women are from Venus. The feminist movement in America has accomplished a lot of things--many of them good ...read more
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4. Character Still Does Count
Contributed on Nov 5, 2001
Character among our church leaders and those who serve in ministry gives the church credibility to share the good news of Christ with others.
Church attendance on the Sunday after the September 11 attacks rose by 6% nationwide. However, seven weeks later, pollsters tell us that church attendance has settled back to the same level it was before the terrorist attacks. Just by way of contrast, the Sunday after President Kennedy was ...read more
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5. Becoming A More Spiritual Person
Contributed on Nov 19, 2001
Two warnings and two positive prescriptions to becoming more spiritual.
Sixty years ago social scientists were predicting the demise of religion in western culture. The reasoning went something like this: The more discoveries science makes, the higher the level of education among people, and the more secularized our society becomes, the less people will be concerned ...read more
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6. Going Public With Your Faith
Contributed on Nov 26, 2001
Four ways to make our faith in Jesus public to those around us.
Just how much of our faith in Jesus should we make public and how much should our faith in Jesus remain private? Our culture tells us that faith is a private affair, like having a hobby. Our secular culture tells us that faith is a private issue, to be kept hidden in the privacy of our home or our ...read more
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7. Closing The Generation Gap
Contributed on Dec 3, 2001
A principle for how to close the generation gap and application of that principle to one specific group in the church.
Every generation throughout human history has struggled with its own version of the generation gap between the young and the old. I can picture Adam and Eve complaining about the next generation, predicting the demise of the human race because of the values of their children and grandchildren. I ...read more
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8. Honoring Our Spiritual Leaders
Contributed on Dec 10, 2001
Four ways to honor our spiritual leaders.
When I was writing my dissertation last year and earlier this year I had to read over 100 different books and articles about leadership. One of the authors I encountered again and again was Dr. Warren Bennis, who teaches at leadership USC. One of the more interesting books by Dr. Bennis is called ...read more
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9. Keys To Contentment
Contributed on Dec 18, 2001
How to find contentment when we’re dissatisfied with our job, our faith, and our income.
Have you ever really wanted something? I mean wanted something so badly that you could taste it, so bad that you thought your life would be empty and meaningless until you got it. Maybe it was a certain toy growing up, or a certain kind of car, or a relationship, maybe even a motorcycle. As you ...read more
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10. Living The Good Life
Contributed on Dec 31, 2001
Four insights about living the good life.
With New Year’s Eve coming up on Monday, it’s a good time to ask ourselves the more probing questions about our lives. I want to encourage you on Monday night to ask yourself one question: "Am I living the good life?" Are you living the life God intended for you to live? Of course, the question ...read more
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11. Renewing Our Vision
Contributed on Jan 7, 2002
Renewing our church’s vision for worship, prayer, service, outreach, and nurture.
I read a story recently about a little league coach who reminisced about his childhood years playing baseball in little league. He remember back how during his first year, his coach had called together the entire baseball team for a picnic, and he asked the team, "Who here wants to eventually play ...read more
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12. Outreach: A Partnership Of Trust
Contributed on Jan 14, 2002
Outreach is a partnership of trust, where God trusts us and we trust God. Knowing which part we are responsible is essential for effective outreach.
Note: This sermon was introduced with a drama called "Conversion" In many ways, sharing our faith in Jesus Christ can feel like coming out of the closet with a dark secret. In our culture today, talking about your faith seems too personal for public discourse. People prefer that we keep issues ...read more
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13. Living A Life That Is Built To Last
Contributed on Jan 23, 2002
Five insights into living a life that’s built to last beyond our lifetime.
I still remember the exact moment when I realized that I was truly an adult. It wasn’t my 18th birthday, or when I moved out of the house a few months later. It wasn’t even my wedding day, which came just two years after my 18th birthday. I first realized I was an adult when I was 26 years old, ...read more
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14. The Church God Uses
Contributed on Feb 25, 2002
Five characteristics of the kind of church God uses.
When your average unchurched person decides to go to church, that person is met with a bewildering array of different choices. There are so many different kinds of churches in our culture today, it can be very confusing trying to sort through them all. Churches come in different sizes. The ...read more
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15. Dealing With Painful Relationships
Contributed on Feb 25, 2002
How a deepened life with God can help us deal with people who disappoint us, people who oppose us, and people who are separated from us.
We as people are always looking for a quick fix to life’s problems. Whether it’s the quickest weight loss fad or the fastest computer, we’re always looking for the easiest, fasted way to achieve our goals. We’re a generation of microwave popcorn and fast food. This mentality also passes over to ...read more