Sermons on Jim Croce:

What Is Jesus Praying For Us? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Apr 13, 2022

Jesus prays for His disciples and for those who will believe through them. What does He pray?

REVEALING THE HEART: You can learn a lot about someone from how they pray for you. - John 17:9. - I learn a lot about people when I ask “what’s the most important thing I can be praying for you?” That tells me a lot about what their priorities and loves are. - Do they ask for prayer for their ...read more

Scripture: John 17:9-21

Denomination: Baptist

The Big Problem With The Pharisees, Sadducees, And Herodians

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Feb 22, 2022

All three of these groups dealt with the same problem: hypocrisy. How do we combat that?

ACROSS THE BOARD: The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians all get the same criticism. - Matthew 16:11; Mark 8:15. - In our passage we see the Pharisees and the Sadducees criticized. Let’s add another group before we move on. - In Mark 8:15 we have a similar passage. This is after the feeding ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:5-12

Denomination: Baptist

Blessed With Every Blessing

Contributed by Jim Keegan on Mar 2, 2022

We’re thoroughly blessed and cherished--absolutely, unconditionally and infinitely--by God, the great Lover of our souls. What would your life look like if you lived believing that wholeheartedly?

Henri Nouwen, the late Dutch Catholic priest, had a very interesting life and ministry--teaching courses on spirituality at Harvard and Yale, spending a year at a Trappist monastery, serving as a missionary to the poor in South America, and finally, coming home in the closing chapter of his life ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-8

How To (Mis)interpret The Bible

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Mar 9, 2022

While this passage teaches about divorce, it also provides an interesting case study in how believer manipulate what the Bible says for their own benefit. We'll look at five aspects of that.

- Probably the most obvious way to preach this passage would be to preach a sermon about what the Bible says about divorce. That’s an important subject, but I’m interested in something else as I dig in. - This passage provides an interesting case study into how we interpret (or, more accurately, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

How To Be More Encouraging To Our Brothers And Sisters In Christ Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 24, 2023

Romans 14 is a key passage on potential disagreements with fellow believers. What does this passage teach us about being more encouraging in our church families?

DANGER SIGNS: 1. AM I TRIPPING UP MY BROTHER OR SISTER IN CHRIST? - Romans 14:13b, 15b. - In church arguments and fights, so often our focus is on showing everyone how right we are. - Here, though, in v. 13b, we are instructed not to put a stumbling block in front of a brother or sister. - Let ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:15-16

Denomination: Baptist

If Not Disputable Matters, What Should Our Focus Be On? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 31, 2023

This sermon is the conclusion of the "How to Disagree" sermon series. In this message, we look at what we should be focused on instead of arguing over secondary issues.

A BIGGER VISION: Are we thinking of denominational correctness or of the expansive kingdom of God? - Romans 14:17a. - [Note: focus here on the Kingdom; leave the other for the second point.] - So often we get down into the weeds on all these disputable matters that we’ve been discussing for the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:17-18

Denomination: Baptist

What This Salvation Is Going To Produce Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Nov 7, 2023

This sermon series is going to look at Romans 1-8 in seven sermons. This first sermon focuses on "what." This passage tells us what salvation is going to produce, then the following chapters tell us how it happens

- This is a sermon series that summarizes Romans 1-8 in seven sermons. So we are just hitting the big ideas. - By the very nature of that, there will be much interesting material that we will have to skip over. It’s not unusual for pastors to do a sermon series on Romans 1-8 and take 50+ sermons ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

The Starting Point Of Salvation Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Nov 21, 2023

Paul starts his gospel presentation at a surprising point: the wrath of God. Is it justified? If so, why?

- Last week’s sermon was Paul’s introduction, which gave a summary. Now we are starting to work through what Paul shares as an explanation of the gospel. WHAT IS THE BIG QUESTION PAUL IS STARTING WITH? Is the wrath of God justified? - Romans 1:18a. - The first four words are “the wrath of ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Love Conquers All

Contributed by Jim Keegan on Nov 27, 2023

The love of God overcomes fear if we choose to open our hearts to its supreme reality. The greatest source of blessing and peace we can ever know is found in trusting in his love.

A pastor shared the story of going deep-sea fishing in Florida with his brother when their boat lost all of its electronics, including the communications and GPS functions. They were out of sight of land, and since it was an overcast day there was no way for them even to tell east from west. ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:21-43, 1 John 4:16-18

How Faith Brings Salvation Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Nov 29, 2023

This part of Paul's argument gets into what exactly Jesus does for us.

- [Don’t read the whole passage to open the sermon.] - Review of the sermons up to this point: a. Overview. b. We are all sinners. - Having established the problem, we are now starting to get into the answer and how exactly God is working in that. WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR SALVATION? ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Where Does This Salvation Place Me? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Dec 5, 2023

What is the position that this salvation puts me in?

WHERE DOES THIS SALVATION PLACE ME? I have peace with God. - Romans 5:1-2. - Pieces of this passage: a. We talked in the last sermon about being justified by faith. - v. 1a. b. Where that salvation places me is that I now have peace with God. - v. 1b. c. Jesus made that happen. - v. 1c. d. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

How Do We Live Out This Salvation? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Dec 11, 2023

Paul now shifts to a major misunderstanding about grace and explains what living out this salvation should look like.

A LOOPHOLE? Can we just keep sinning and use grace as an excuse? - Romans 6:1-2. a. Grace is the means by which salvation comes to us, but grace is easily misunderstood. - v. 1. - We closed out with grace last week. It’s the reality that we cannot earn our salvation but we receive it as a free ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-23

Denomination: Baptist

If I’ve Received Salvation, Why Do I Still Struggle? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Dec 18, 2023

Romans 7 delves into the struggles we as Christians experience in this world: wanting to follow God yet often caught up in our sin nature. What does Paul teach us about how we are to look at that reality?

DEAD MAN WALKING: Dying with Christ is important because it means we’ve been freed. - Romans 7:1-4a. - Chapter 7 obviously flows from chapter 6. Last week in chapter 6 the big ideas we talked about were the (a) we are dead to sin and alive to Christ and (b) that we have to choose if we are going ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:1-25

Denomination: Baptist

What Does It Look Like When God Finally Answers? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on May 10, 2023

After years of what felt like silence from God, Joseph finally gets his moment when the pieces come together. What can we learn from his experience?

A LONG TIME WAITING: Joseph finally gets his answer. - Genesis 41:1-57. - Overview the story. - No doubt Joseph wondered countless times why he was in the place and shape that he was in. Now he finally gets an answer. Not a complete reckoning but one that fills in the major pieces. WHAT DOES ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 41:1-57

Denomination: Baptist

A Story Of Slow, Painful Forgiveness Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on May 16, 2023

The story of Joseph coming to a place of forgiveness with his brothers is a long story (four whole chapters!) but the story is a great illustration of how difficult forgiveness is.

HOW WE THINK YOU FORGIVE: Say “I forgive you” and move on. - Discuss the fact that “forgive and forget” is not in the Bible. PLOT POINTS: - This is a really long story – basically four chapters! But it’s important that we hit the various plot points because they show the back-and-forth, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist