Sermons on Jim Croce:

Belief That Isn't Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

Many people believe Jesus for the things that He does. That’s not the kind of belief that Jesus is looking for.

Several years ago a famous liberal named Norman Cousins wrote an editorial for a magazine called the Saturday Review. Understand that he was no friend to Christianity when he wrote this. But what he wrote was true and should convict us all. He wrote about a conversation he had on a trip to India ...read more

Scripture: John 2:23-25

Denomination: Baptist

The New Birth Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

Jesus tells Nicodemus of the new birth.

If you’ve ever taught a class, there is one kind of student that can absolutely drive you crazy. And it seems like there’s one in every crowd. That’s the person who has an answer for everything. I got a kick out of a couple of the kids during the youth rally who were like that. In the very ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Belief That Is Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

How can these things be? That was the question Nicodemus asked Jesus in our passage today. Do you ever find yourself asking that question?

A few weeks ago, when we looked at 2:23-25, I titled the sermon, “Belief That Isn’t.” This morning, I’m using the title, “Belief That Is.” Before John introduced us to the person of Nicodemus in chapter 3, he took just a few verses to describe the vast majority of people who were around Jesus at ...read more

Scripture: John 3:9-15

Denomination: Baptist

God So Loved Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

God’s love has two sides—salvation / judgment… life / death… redemption / righteousness. He loves with a purpose—salvation. He loves with a consequence—judgment.

What was the first memory verse you ever learned? For most of us, it was John 3:16. I have a set of 6 books at the house that I bought a few years ago. They are by a man named Carl F.H. Henry. When Carl Henry died in 2003, the New York times called him the brain of the evangelical movement. ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16-21

Denomination: Baptist

Addition By Subtraction Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

Are you a true witness for Jesus? How can you tell? What does it take to be the kind of witness God has called you to be? We’ll answer those questions as we look today at the example of John the Baptist.

The John that is in our passage this morning is not the same John that wrote this Gospel. The John that wrote this Gospel is the brother of James. Jesus called him a son of thunder. He was the one whom Jesus loved. But that’s not the John in our passage. The John in our passage is the one we ...read more

Scripture: John 3:22-30

Denomination: Baptist

Personal Gospel Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 25, 2008

Many people today claim to be Christians yet have no idea what that really means. All too often we have stripped Christianity of all its content and meaning in an attempt to win converts. But Christianity does have content. Its content is the Gospel and t

I read the transcript of an interesting interview this week. The religion reporter from a newspaper was asking a person in her town about his faith. But what was interesting was that she didn’t just ask a couple of basic questions. She started off by asking him point blank what he believed. And ...read more

Scripture: John 3:31-36

Denomination: Baptist

The Hope Of Christmas Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 28, 2008

Where is your hope this Christmas? If your hope is in Jesus, you’ll never be disappointed. The true hope of Christmas is for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Well, Thanksgiving is over. The table is cleared and everything’s gone except the leftovers. You know what that means, don’t you? I know what it means in my house. It means Christmas time is in full swing. Miranda loves Christmastime. For years, if it was up to her, we would have the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Denomination: Baptist

The Hope Of Christmas In The Psalms Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Nov 28, 2008

No matter what circumstances you are going through in life, there is hope.

This morning we looked at the hope of Christmas. Living on this side of the cross, we have the benefit of the New Testament to give us the details of the hope we have in Christ. But I want to take a step back tonight and see our hope displayed in the prophetic pages of the Old Testament. Before ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 80:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

Applying God's Word Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 7, 2009

In our last three messages in Nehemiah, we’ve seen what it takes to understand God’s Word the way He would have us to. The fact is, most of the time our problem isn’t understanding God’s Word. Most of the time our problem is applying all the things that w

We have spent the past few Sunday nights talking about what it takes to understand God’s Word. The first 12 verses of chapter 8 have given us one of the best examples in Scripture of God’s primary design in making His Word understood. In that text, we’ve seen how it takes the right message for ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Rejection! Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 7, 2009

Why would the religious leaders of Jesus’ day want to kill Him? For the same reasons that we reject Him today.

What a wonderful time of the year! The feel of fall is in the air. We often think of spring as the time of new beginnings—and it is. But so is fall. This morning we mark the beginning of a new Sunday school year. As part of that, many people moved up into new classes. That’s a new beginning. ...read more

Scripture: John 5:16-18

Denomination: Baptist

Truth And Power

Contributed by Jim Belcher on Oct 1, 2009

How would you know if a revival happened? The best place to look is in Acts--a tiny group of peasants and slaves had no political, economic, cultural or religious power, but within three centuries the Christians were the only ones keeping the world togeth

The Great Awakening prevented the French Revolution from happing in England. As a result, social healing took place. The rich became just and generous with their resources. The poor became more self-disciplined after conversion. Britain abolished the slave trade. There were lots of reforms, ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:1-14

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Spirit Of God

Contributed by Jim Belcher on Oct 1, 2009

What did it mean for God to send down his Spirit on the day of Pentecost? When the Spirit of God fills you, how do you know it?

Some kind of power came from outside; a transcendent energy. How are we filled with the Spirit? Reminder: Pentecost was 50 days after Easter, 10 days after the ascension. They had been told by Jesus to wait for it. In the forty days between Easter and the Ascension Jesus had instructed them on ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:1-13

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Deep Gospel

Contributed by Jim Belcher on Oct 1, 2009

What does this mean to be convicted, i.e. cut to the heart? How does it happen? What are the results?

Why did Christianity succeed in the Roman empire? According to Emperor Julian’s letter to one of his priests of the Greek religion: 1. Christians died better than anyone else 2. There was kindness to everyone. They were more inclusive than anyone else--religions usually divided by region, race, ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:32-41

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Deep Community

Contributed by Jim Belcher on Oct 1, 2009

How do you achieve deep community and fellowship within a group of believers?

What took a small, scared group of believers and filled them with so much confidence that they eventually became the dominant religion in the Roman empire? We are looking at the aftermath of Peter’s sermon. On that day 3,000 believed. The church went from 120 to 3120. A few days latter another ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Times Of Refreshing

Contributed by Jim Belcher on Oct 1, 2009

When we know the whole story about the human condition, we can fully appreciate how good the Good News really is.

Overview of last week. Overview of chapter: set the drama. From "happy ship church" to crashing on waves of persecution. The events of chapter 3 will lead directly to persecution. Peter and John get arrested for this healing and their preaching. Healing of the Lame Beggar (v. 1--10) There is a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 3:1-26

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed