Sermons on Isaac Raised:

The Finishing Touch

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 29, 2011

This is a funeral sermon, outlining God's grace in the beginning, the middle, and the end of a woman's life story.

First Presbyterian Church Wichita Falls, Texas June 29, 2011 Witness to the Resurrection Betty Patricia Newman (March 2, 1925 - June 23, 2011) THE FINISHING TOUCH Isaac Butterworth Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV) 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:3-6

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Beyond Our Strength Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 16, 2015

When you undergo afflictions, go over your convictions.

JOSEPH BAYLY ONCE SAID, “Never doubt in the dark what you learned in the light.” But we do, don’t we? When we go through times of trial, we lose sight of what we believe. We have a tendency to see only the bad our afflictions. For example, when the heat’s on, we may assume ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Our Inheritance

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 27, 2014

A funeral sermon in which we learn about the person something of her relationship to herself, to others, and to God.

Jutta was one of those people that make a preacher’s job easier – or really, the job of anyone who speaks in public. I came to know Jutta at the vespers service held each Thursday evening at the Manor. She always sat close to the front – on the second row, in fact – ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-14

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Free From Death, Free For Life

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 7, 2008

If you are free from death -- and in the man Jesus you most certainly are -- then you are also free from the fear of death and from its power and its finality.

FREE FROM DEATH, FREE FOR LIFE John 11, selected verses (NIV) 1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.... 4 When he heard this, Jesus... stayed where he was two more days.... 7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1-45

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Dispelling The Darkness

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 23, 2015

What we’re trying to do is push back the darkness.

So, Matthew says that, “when Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested, he withdrew….” What does that tell us? It tells us – doesn’t it? – that there is a force of darkness at work in this world. And we know what that means, of course. It means there ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:12-23

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

He Is The One

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 23, 2015

Two things we need most are found in Jesus: real security and deep satisfaction.

King Saul was a major disappointment. As you know, he was the first king of Israel, and he was everything you would want a king to be. When we first meet him in the pages of Scripture, we are told that he was “a handsome young man.” In fact, “there was not a man among the people ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Nike Factor

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 28, 2015

In all his obedience Jesus was standing in for us, doing for us what we could never do for ourselves.

“Just do it.” That’s the way Nike hopes to motivate us to “get back to sport,” as they put it, to get back in the game. “Just do it,” they tell us, and, of course, they also tell us: the best way to “do it” is to use their shoes and their gear. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:9-21

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Mind Your Thoughts Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 23, 2015

When you "mind your thoughts," you don't have anything to worry about.

Next Sunday is Stewardship Commitment Sunday. You and I recently received pledge cards from our Finance and Stewardship Committee, and they are asking us to make a commitment about what we will give in the year 2015. There will be a time set aside in next Sunday’s service for those of us who ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:4-9

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Comeback

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 26, 2015

God makes our desert a garden; He turns our exile into homecoming.

MY MOTHER DIED when I was twenty-six. She was only fifty-seven. A few years before her death, she was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. She fought it bravely, but, in time, it overtook her, and all too soon, by our accounts, she died. We had a service led by an Air Force chaplain at a local ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Priest Who Shows God's Mercy Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 16, 2011

As our great High Priest, Christ offers Himself as the sacrifice for our sins and intercedes for us with the Father.

First Presbyterian Church Wichita Falls, Texas April 17, 2011 THE PRIEST WHO SHOWS GOD’S MERCY Jesus Christ -- The Center of Our Faith: Part 3 Isaac Butterworth Hebrews 4:14-5:6 (NIV) 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,Jesus the Son of God, ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Bob's Legacy

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jan 9, 2015

Don't just be religious. Make your life a spiritual quest.

Bob’s house was well built, by which I mean that his life was well-grounded. That’s what the Bible means – at least, most times – when it talks about building houses. We saw in Proverbs where it says, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38-48

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Christmas Journeys: The Magi Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 27, 2014

We ought to take our cue – not from Herod, who rejected God’s gift of Jesus – but from the wise men, who received it with glad and thankful hearts.

This is the last of our series on the theme of Faces at the Manger. We started with Joseph, remember, and we continued with the angels, the shepherds, and Mary, the mother of our Lord. And now we conclude with the wise men, or the magi, as they are sometimes called. Technically, they did not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Who Jesus Christ Is Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 1, 2011

What we know of God, we know through Jesus.

First Presbyterian Church Wichita Falls, Texas April 3, 2011 WHO JESUS CHRIST IS Jesus Christ -- The Center of Our Faith: Part 1 Isaac Butterworth Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV) 1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-3

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

My Redeemer Lives! Series

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 8, 2014

God’s plan of redemption has been in process for centuries on end, but what it comes down to is this: Jesus is our greater Boaz. He is the faithful Redeemer, who has paid the price to deliver us and to recover us for an eternity of joy.

Over the last few weeks, we have turned our attention the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, and now, today, we come to our final study of this remarkable account. As we have said, the story of Ruth is told in four episodes with a chapter given to each one of them. The first chapter is the story ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 4:1-22

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Idol Thoughts

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Apr 23, 2015

Let us determine to know God and to worship him, not as some idol devised by our own natural preferences, not as many people configure him to be, but as “the book of nature” and the Holy Book together reveal him to be.

The two passages before us today [Acts 17:22-31 and John 14:15-21] could not be more different from one another. And yet, in some ways, they could not be more similar. In the first one, the one from Acts, we have the Apostle Paul speaking to a group of Gentile skeptics who know nothing of the ...read more

Scripture: John 14:15-21

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed