Sermons on Fuller:

Jesus-The Son Of David Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jul 19, 2009

If you look at it one way, Jesus came from a very dysfunctional family and a dysfunctional family line. If God has set about to save the world, shouldn’t He have made things a little better along the way? Actually, it’s really a cool part of God’s salvati

Matthew’s gospel was one of the first written in the decades after the resurrection (50 A.D.). At the time the many forms of Judaism were on the wane. After the fall of Jerusalem, in fact, only two remained: one was Rabbinic Judaism (which came from the Pharisees) and Jewish Christianity. It was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:1-25

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Matthew 2 Joseph's Difficult Road Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Aug 3, 2009

Many times we think of Mary’s role in the birth of Jesus, but Matthew records the difficult road Joseph had to travel in protecting this little life that the enemy wanted to snuff out.

Have you noticed that the first chapters of Matthew are really Joseph’s story? Luke records Mary’s version of events and has her genealogy, but Matthew one is Joseph’s lineage, and her in Chapter 2 we find God again speaking to Joseph about caring for the safety of the Messiah. As a father, the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-23

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Finding Your Place Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on May 10, 2009

How do you get a sense of well being, identity and purpose? Is it by how you feel inside and how you compare to others outside? Paul gives us some wonderful advice on how to deal with this as a member of the body of Christ.

Last time we talked about how to respond to God’s mercy—by making ourselves available to God by putting ourselves on the altar as a living sacrifice, shunning the molding of the world on our character externally, while embracing the transformation of our character internally by the presence of the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Show Or Show Off? Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on May 25, 2009

Many times when we think of God using us and us using spiritual gifts we think of some pretty impressive stuff - miracles, prophecy, healings and the like. But Paul gives us some great instruction about the color of the ways God uses us.

We’ve come to this point in our study through Romans by seeing that since God has had so much mercy on us that it is only reasonable for us to make ourselves available to Him to help spread the truth of God’s love and gift of salvation. Last time we saw that we need an accurate look at ourselves ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:9-13

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Living Life Upside Down Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jun 2, 2009

One of the hardest things we as Christians have to deal with is people who don’t like us and who do bad things to us. We think we know how to react but Paul turns life upside down as he gives us the real way to overcome our enemies.

Here are a set of principles that many of us live by without knowing it. • Each negative action towards us should be met with an overwhelming opposite reaction so that those that oppose us will be crushed and humiliated. • Be happy when others are happy. Be absent when others are ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:14-21

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Love Your Government Neighbor Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jun 14, 2009

As Christians many believe government is an evil that should be avoided or opposed. Paul encourages us to be a redemptive force for the gospel by actually getting along with governmental authorities.

As we get into chapter 13, let’s sum up where we’ve been. Chapter 12 marks a big change in Romans—going from the theological to the practical—how do we live out what we’ve learned about God and us and God’s plan? Chapter 12 could be summed up like this: “The only reasonable thing to do in response ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:1-14

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

How Far Will You Go? Part 2

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jul 26, 2011

Often we enter into partnerships without thinking of the consequences for either us or those that we influence. Though we are not to withdraw from this world, we need to be careful when we entangle ourselves in the values of this age. Today we examine bei

Are you willing to appear as a fool in order to be used more effectively by the Lord? Who is the main author of the book of your life? So finally we get to question 3: Are you willing to be differentiated from the world in order to be used more effectively by the Lord? The problem with ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The Power Of Positive Repentance

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Aug 2, 2011

Taking criticism is one of the hardest things for us humans. When it comes to God's critique of our lives, and areas He needs to touch, we often react with our natural human defenses. But Paul in addressing the subject with the Corinthian church, gives us

What happens when you realize you’ve blown it? You have done something, said something, held an attitude about something—and somehow you get called on the carpet. Perhaps it’s by the Holy Spirit, maybe by a Bible study, or listening to a sermon, or even someone else telling you ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Positive Giving

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Aug 8, 2011

What motivates you to give? The Corinthians had an easy time setting unrealistic giving goals that set them up for failure, but a hard time giving in a way that released the gift to God and brought Him glory. In this chapter Paul gives us some valuable le

Giving is one of those subjects that pastors either ignore or really focus on. For us at Calvary Chapel, we teach through the Scriptures so when a chapter comes along on any particular subject then we teach it. Giving should be a part of every growing Christian’s experience, and I’m not ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1-24

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

What You Get When You Give

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Aug 15, 2011

What happens when you give of your time, talents, and money? Many ministries teach that you will receive a material blessing for material giving. I think they completely miss the mark. Paul, in this chapter, sets out a wonderful pattern of the true result

Last time we talked about the motivation behind giving, and the process for how to give: it comes from the word “generosity” which means simplicity, sincerity, and singleness. We give who we are, and what we have, back to the Lord who owns it all, for Him to take our simple gifts given ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Who Is Better?

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Aug 29, 2011

It is human nature to compare ourselves to one another. We do it all of the time very naturally and almost without noticing it. That's what was happening in Corinth and it was giving the Corinthians a false impression about who to trust.

There is an old saying “appearances can be deceiving.” Or: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” In the case of the Corinthians, those sayings apply very well. They fell into a trap that many of us fall prey to, using human senses to judge spiritual realities. In this ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Sep 11, 2011

This question haunts many of us, especially as Christians. We think that things should go well if we are blessed of the Lord. When bad things happen, even seemingly disconnected things like losing a job or getting into an accident, we wonder why? Paul won

Finally here in the latter half of Chapter 11, Paul defends himself to the super-apostles by listing his accomplishments. He does it very reluctantly as he should. Taking credit for what you’ve done was normative for the false teachers in Corinth but is “this age” thinking. God is ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Incomplete Vision Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Apr 9, 2012

Jesus asks a crucial question of His disciples - a question that every single person in all of creation and all of history must answer. How you answer may be influenced by a crucial lack in your life - a lack Je

Resurrection Sunday is a day of celebration. Today, in the 21st century, we sing upbeat songs, we put out lilies, and we exchange greetings like “He is risen. He is risen indeed!” It is a day of great joy. Such was not the atmosphere on the very first Resurrection Sunday. For most ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:22-33

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Why Follow Jesus? Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Apr 16, 2012

Probably one of the most common questions people have when evaluating Christianity is: "Why should I follow Jesus Christ?" He made a lot of claims, and might even have come back from the dead, but so what? In Mark 8 and 9 we see the two reasons why you sh

With the multitude of philosophies, religious systems, and spiritual leaders present in our age, why follow a man who lived a short life 2,000 years ago in Palestine and then died? In fact, in today’s portion of the gospel of Mark, Jesus even suggests to His disciples that if they want to ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Who's In Charge? Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Apr 30, 2012

Face it, we humans like to be in charge of ourselves and as many others as we can. Though we aren't all power mongers, this default human behavior causes major problems when we see how God's universe really operates. The lesson comes home in this portion

We as humans have various default behaviors that we engage in. I know that we as Christians don’t like to think that we are that way, but unless energy is expended in seeking healing from these default human behaviors, we will continue to do them naturally. Paul said in Philippians 2:12 ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:14-37

Denomination: Calvary Chapel