Sermons on Fuller:

The Real Holy Spirit Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Mar 30, 2008

Many of your ideas about the Holy Spirit are wrong. What is the real role and purpose of Jesus representative on earth in your life?

The Holy Spirit is the best kept secret in Christianity mostly because His purpose and role have been misunderstood. The Holy Spirit is not a grand show master who makes it possible for you to do really cool stuff, or at least appear really cool so people are impressed. The Holy Spirit actually ...read more

Scripture: John 14:15-31

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Pruning Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Apr 6, 2008

Jesus uses the picture of a vineyard to teach us about how to have real life, good fruit and benefit from the Lord pruning our lives.

We live in the midst of Oregon wine country. Traveling down any rural road around Newberg and Dundee yields a plethora of tourist signs leading to vineyards and wineries with hard to pronounce names. Gentle hillsides that once grew part of the world’s largest crop of Christmas trees are now covered ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-2

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Preparing Jesus, Preparing For Jesus Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Mar 3, 2008

This chapter provides some real contrasts between real and trumped up worship, real belief and real betrayal. It is all a part of preparing Jesus for the cross and preparing us to receive him.

John places Jesus at Ephraim, a village north of Jerusalem. Between the end of chapter 11 and here, Jesus travels back to Galilee, heals the ten lepers (Luke 17), talks to Zacchaeus (Luke 19) in Jericho on his way back to Bethany. It’s only six days until the Passover, and Jesus’ crucifixion. John ...read more

Scripture: John 12:1-50

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Love & Betrayal Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Mar 11, 2008

Are you ashamed to be served by Jesus? Be careful how you answer. As Jesus demonstrates what real love is, he also recoils at real betrayal.

In the February 20th issue of Time Magazine, Joel Stein writes the cover story about George Clooney the Hollywood TV actor turned movie star. Stein recalls asking Clooney for an interview. What he got was Clooney himself coming over for dinner. “He’ll eat whatever’s cooking” his publicist said. The ...read more

Scripture: John 13:1-38

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Make Room For Mercy - Make Room For God Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jun 3, 2007

As we head out full bore into a victorious life in Christ, sometimes we forget the qualities of mercy and ownership. God reminds us of who He is and who we belong to.

One of the big problems in being in battle is that you don’t know when to quit. During World War II some Japanese soldiers holed themselves up on small islands in the Pacific and hid away decades after hostilities ended. Some were even told the war was over but did not believe it. Two years ago, ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 5: Don't Remain A Baby Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Oct 11, 2010

One of the most dangerous places to find yourself as a Christian is thinking you are more mature than you really are. This was one of the main reasons the Corinthian church had so many problems and may be a reason you are not moving forward in your walk.

I have a granddaughter, little Maya. She is our first grandchild and, of course, she is the cutest baby on planet earth. Up until now Maya has only known her mama's milk as her food. She is just starting to eat puréed foods like bananas and the like. We saw the cutest video of her and she actually ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 6: Get Over Yourself - Get On With The Work Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Oct 18, 2010

One of the greatest blessings is when God works through you. One of the greatest dangers is when God works through you. Learn how to avoid the penetrating gaze of the Lord and simply rejoice in His work through you.

What’s the hottest thing you’ve ever been close to? I remember once being near a log deck fire that was so hot that it was melting the asphalt under my feet. I’ve seen the effects of intense heat and fire reduce a full house to a pile of ashes and a chimney, with things melted in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:5-17

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 7: Look Out For The Culture Of Celebrity Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Oct 25, 2010

Is there such a thing as the celebrity pastor? Is that a good or bad thing? How should I look at a church to make sure I will be fed as a believer?

As we’ve seen in looking at the problems of the Corinthian church, the members of this congregation had expended a great deal of energy putting certain leaders up on pedestals and then aligning themselves with that leader and claiming their leader was better than theirs. In the first part ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 8: Watch Out For Pride Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 1, 2010

Pride is a sneaky thing. It's the default program for humans and is at the root of the problem in Corinth, and often at the root of our problems as Christians.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines sarcasm as: "A form of irony in which apparent praise conceals another, scornful meaning." An example might be to someone who is always late and you say to them: "Oh my, you're right on time!" Now if I told you that the Bible has several excellent examples ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:6-21

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 9: Sin In The Church Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 8, 2010

Handling sin in the church has become very difficult from both angles - in our PC world much bad behavior is actually celebrated, but Christians are also wounding each other over weakness instead of supporting and helping. We'll try to walk the fine line

In Chapter 5 we move from pride of surface appearance over internal substance to pride over major sin in the body. It's issue two on Paul's mind as he writes to the Corinthians. It's a tough subject—sin in the church. This chapter can easily be misconstrued in several ways and I want to try ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 10: Don't Solve Kingdom Problems In The World Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 22, 2010

What happens when Christians disagree? If it is reasoning from the Scriptures about the Word, that's one thing. But when believers quarrel often it can be a sign of immaturity. When they try to resolve those disputes in front of the world, the gospel is t

In the last chapter Paul talked about how to deal with big problems in the church involving open, unrepentant sin. Now as we move into Chapter 6, he talks about handling smaller problems between believers. In a way, this is a continuation of the flow from Chapter 5. There he is telling the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Lesson 11: Be Wary Of Addiction Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 28, 2010

Is there something in your life that if it was taken away your life could not go on? Is there something you just can't stop doing? You may be addicted. In fact, even many Christians are addicted to something they are not even aware of - the flesh. How to

What's your addiction? I know that's a pretty strong statement but I want us to think about that. Put another way, what controls you? What can you not do without? What, if taken away, would mean your life was over? You might say "I'm not addicted to anything!" If that's true, then halleluiah. But ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Plan B Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Sep 21, 2008

Do you ever get into a situation where you are trying to follow God’s will but things just don’t seem to work out? If so, you are in good company. Find out how the Lord used a pinball to guide Paul, and you!

We’d love to get an email from God with our day all planned out but it doesn’t work that way. And so we seek God and move forward—only to run into road blocks and rivers and dead ends. So what gives? Does the fact that things don’t work out perfectly mean we don’t hear God or are somehow not ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:1-40

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

How Do You Hear The Word? Part 1 Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Sep 29, 2008

When God’s Word is communicated, the state of your mind can greatly affect how your heart receives what God is saying. We have the first part in a discussion from Acts 17 on the ways the Bible is communicated and received.

Chapter 17 gives us three glimpses at how people process the Word of God. Isn’t contrast great? Medical science uses contrast to find anomalies in the body, and here we use contrast to see the different approaches people take to the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ll look at the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:1-15

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

How Do You Receive The Word Part 2 Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Oct 5, 2008

The philosophers of Paul’s day are not really that much different from what we see in the world around us in a post-Christian society. How Paul addressed them can help us in dealing with people who collect thoughts like Matchbox cars.

What did you collect as a child? I collected a number of things, pennies, model trains, marbles, and Matchbox® cars. I would wait anxiously until my mother would drive me down to the toy store so I could drool over the latest and greatest tiny little car or truck. I used to show off my more ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:16-34

Denomination: Calvary Chapel