Sermons on Great Expectations:

God Is Not The Author Of Confusion

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Apr 5, 2022

All of us have driven through neighborhoods and noticed that many of the houses are built with carports - some even with double carports - to park their cars out of the bad weather.

In many of these homes, from the street you see the garage doors are open, and you immediately come to the conclusion there is no way they could park a car in there because they are filled with what looks like junk. It is even dangerous to walk into some of these carports because you might get ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:26-33

Denomination: Baptist

God, Are You Sure?

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Apr 5, 2022

Chapter five of Exodus teaches us it is the will of God for man to live and worship God in freedom.

In Exodus 4, we saw the RELUCTANT PROPHET that came up with all kinds of excuses for why he could not be God’s man to lead Israel out of Egypt. In Exodus 5, Moses became willing to obey God in the PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD, BUT NOT THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD. The PERFECT WILL OF GOD was for God to ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The War In Heaven Has Become The War On Earth

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Apr 18, 2022

In April of 2009 the Barna survey of 1,871 they asked questions about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Satan, and demons.

When it comes to asking questions about Satan . Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Many of these unbelievers tell us the teaching on the existence of satan came from parents who wanted to scare their children into doing good ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 28:11-13

Denomination: Baptist

Worship God Desires

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Apr 27, 2022

We are all created in the image of God. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It means every mortal that has ever been created by God has god-like attributes that can be found in their life.

We all like some things. (1) WE ALL LIKE TO BE APPRECIATED We all like to be appreciated for WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE HAVE DONE! Illus: Thinking about being APPRECIATED FOR WHAT WE HAVE DONE, did you hear about the artist that asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings ...read more

Scripture: John 4:16-24

Denomination: Baptist

Raising Children Of Influence Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on May 4, 2022

To raise children of influence, raise them to bless others, to believe in Jesus, and to boldly share their faith.

The children had a special program at church and a little girl was to recite the Scripture she had memorized for the occasion. When she got in front of the crowd, the sight of hundreds of eyes peering at her caused her to forget her memory work. Every line that she had so carefully rehearsed ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:3-7

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Created In The Image Of God Series

Contributed by Denn Guptill on May 8, 2022

This message looks at the concept of being created in the image of God, what that means and how the image becomes distorted.

In the Beginning. That’s where it all started and where God created all things. Now, I have no interest in dating when that creation may or may not have happened. Everybody has a theory. For me, it’s enough to believe that God created everything. That this world as we know it was not an ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

Denomination: Wesleyan

Who Am I? Series

Contributed by Gordon Pike on May 24, 2022

Are we just some accident? Some random lump of cells? Or are we fearfully and wonderfully made by a Divine, Loving Creator?

There is a question that is being hotly debated right now that’s pretty much dominating the news and threatening to perhaps tear our country apart and the debate is scary and uncomfortable but maybe it’s a good thing because we’re wrestling with an important question … perhaps the most important ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 8:1-9, Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 2:7, Genesis 1:30

Denomination: United Methodist

Worship God Desires

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on May 26, 2022

We are all created in the image of God. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

It means every mortal that has ever been created by God has god-like attributes that can be found in their life. We all like some things. (1) WE ALL LIKE TO BE APPRECIATED We all like to be appreciated for WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE HAVE DONE! Illus: Thinking about being APPRECIATED FOR WHAT WE HAVE ...read more

Scripture: John 4:16-24

Denomination: Baptist

The Foolish Blind Spot Series

Contributed by Troy Borst on Mar 3, 2022

Foolishness is in our blind spot. I think we all have a ‘foolish blind spot’ when it comes to ourselves and because we don’t see it, we think we are not foolish.

WISE LIVING: THE FOOLISH BLIND SPOT Ecclesiastes 10:1-20 #wiseliving2022 READ ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 10:1-20 [person from the congregation] INTRODUCTION…Donkey in Lion’s Skin (fablesofaesop.com/the-ass-in-the-lions-skin.html) There is an old story about how a donkey found a lion’s skin left in the ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Feast Of Unleavened Bread Series

Contributed by Michael Deutsch on Mar 5, 2022

A sermon series looking at the 7 feasts of Israel and where we find Jesus in the feasts.

Feast of Unleavend Bread Exodus 12:14-20 March 6, 2022 When it comes to eating, I think we all have our downfalls. There are some foods we can eat every day. When I think about myself, I have a few different foods which bring me comfort. Usually, the go to is dessert, especially chocolate. One ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 12:14-20

Denomination: Baptist

Four Steps To Bearing Fruit

Contributed by D. Dewaine Phillips on Mar 6, 2022

John chapter 15 speaks of bearing fruit, which we often interpret as winning lost souls to Christ. However, winning people to Christ is only one meaning of the word fruit. Fruit symbolized the best result or sweetest prize in life.

One time on the farm I was sitting on my porch admiring the rose bushes that were in bloom. A couple of weeks prior they had appeared to be dead. They hadn’t been pruned in over two years since my mom passed away. Each bush was a huge mass of dead branches. My wife asked me about them, and I ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

A Generation Of Worshippers

Contributed by D. Dewaine Phillips on Mar 6, 2022

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord and worship? The answer is those who are of the generation of Jacob. The term “Jacob” is a general classification for any generation in which many people turn to God and seek to worship Him.

We’re going to begin our message tonight by reading through our passage of Scripture, which is Psalm 24:3-6: 3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 24:3-6

Denomination: Baptist

Preach The Word -- Which One? 1 Of 2

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Mar 7, 2022

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was, “Preach the Word...” This same exhortation is given to pastors today.

However, if they are going to preach the Word of God today, they have to make a judgment as to which one of the many Bibles available is actually God’s Word. If all the translations, versions, revisions, and paraphrases taught the same thing, there would be no controversy, BUT THEY DO NOT! ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:15-21

Denomination: Baptist

Grace From Galatians (17 Of 19)

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Mar 8, 2022

In this passage of scripture, Paul is addressing Christians. Notice, he addressed them in verse 1 by referring to them as, “Brethren”.

Paul’s concept of the church throughout the scriptures is that the Believers are the family of God. WHY IS HE ADDRESSING THEM? He is addressing them because people in the family of God are supposed to love one another as a LOVING FAMILY. Like all families, the family of God has times when ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:1-5

Denomination: Baptist

The Foolishness Of God Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Mar 10, 2022

If you want to repair your broken relationship(s), reject the wisdom of this world and rely on the foolishness of the cross

Several years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher. They were having lunch at a local café when they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their peppershaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Denomination: Evangelical Free