Sermons on Jim Eliot:

How Can I "Be Perfect As God Is Perfect"? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jun 1, 2010

What did Jesus mean when He called us to be perfect?

A Supremely Baptist Excuse: “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” This is something that we love saying and we mean it as a way to emphasize that there is no way to earn your way to heaven. That is absolutely true – salvation can only come by grace through faith. Too often, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:48, Philippians 4:13

Denomination: Baptist

How To Be Rewarded By God For Your Giving Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jun 16, 2010

How to give in a way that will invite reward from God.

When It Comes To Giving, What Is The “Reward In Full” That We’re Hoping For? Either less private guilt or more public praise. - Let’s look at two of the biggest “rewards”: a. Less private guilt. - Sometime we give out of sense of guilt: the homeless man at ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

How Can I Keep From Backsliding?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Aug 3, 2009

A sermon on the importance of repentance for Christians.

How Can I Keep From Backsliding? To repent means to do a 180 degree turn. - Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 2:21-22; Revelation 3:3, Revelation 3:19. We all know that that repentance is a part of becoming a Christian. - Revelation 2:21-22. - At least, I hope we do. - Fernando ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:5

Denomination: Baptist

Can I Be Honest To God?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Aug 6, 2009

A look at the invitation (and the need) for us to be bold and honest in our talking with God.

Is it ok to question God? - The presumption is usually that the answer is “no.” - Just sit down and shut up. Just take it. - When you hear people pray, a lot of the praying is very rote and formulaic. It’s pretty rare that you’ll hear someone really bearing their heart to God. It’s even ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 18:16-33

Denomination: Baptist

Where Is God When I'm Sighing With Despair

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Aug 12, 2009

A look at David and the sighing that he lifts up because of his difficult circumstance.

WORST WEEK EVER: When is God when I’m sighing with despair? - Psalm 5:1. - Most of us have faced times when problems and difficulties and struggles leave us with little more than a heart-heavy sigh. - It’s almost like the latest blow knocks the wind out of us yet again as we exhale a sigh of ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 5:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Understanding God's Word, Part 1: The Message Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Aug 18, 2009

This is the first of four messages titled, "Understanding God"s Word." Today, we will see that in order to understand God’s Word, we must have the right message.

I have looked forward to this chapter ever since I started preaching in Ezra, two years ago. When we were in Ezra, we looked at what I consider to be my life-verse. Ezra 7:10 says, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Family Forgiveness Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Aug 18, 2009

Because everyone has sinned, everyone needs forgiveness. That is especially true within families. How does forgiveness play out in our families?

You might have heard the name Clara Barton before. After the Civil War, she helped organize the American Red Cross. One day a friend came up to her and reminded her of something awful that someone had done to her in the past. When her friend brought it up to her, she looked at her like she ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-21

Denomination: Baptist

The Permanence Of Marriage Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Aug 18, 2009

Is divorce ever an option? We will look at that in this sermon titled, "The Permanence of Marriage."

Sometimes we get to look at easy passages. Sometimes we have to look at difficult passages. This is a difficult passage. But when we think about it, most of Jesus’ teachings are difficult. They are difficult because they force us to confront things in our life that we don’t want to. They force ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

Family Faith Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Aug 18, 2009

Your faith is not your own. Your faith is also your family’s faith. The question is, is your home a place of family faith?

What is our most basic calling in life? Let me put it another way—why are you here? There is a lot of talk in the church today about finding our purpose in life. What is God’s purpose for me? What is His will for my life? Why has God put me here? And people look all over the place to find the ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Denomination: Baptist

Family Finances Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 1, 2009

Does your family know where their money comes from? Does your family know where their material resources come from? Just like everything you are, and everything you have—it all belongs to the one who created it in the first place. The responsibility of

Well, we have reached the last message in this Faith and Family series. Over the past six weeks, we’ve talked about some sticky subjects. We’ve talked about submission. We’ve talked about sacrifice. We’ve talked about the covenant nature of marriage. We’ve talked about sex. We’ve talked about ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Denomination: Baptist

Understanding God's Word, Part 2: The Method Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 1, 2009

In order to understand God’s Word, we not only have to have the right message, we have to use the right method. What is the best method of teaching the Bible in a way that people will understand it? Today’s passage gives us timeless principles concernin

This is our second week of looking at what it takes to understand God’s Word. Last week we looked at the right message. In our passage, as Ezra stood before the remnant and taught them God’s Word, He taught them the right message. As you can tell from what we just read, we’re still in the same ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Understanding God's Word, Part 3: The Response Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Sep 1, 2009

It not only takes the right message and the right method to understand God’s Word. It takes the right response. Do you want to understand the Bible in such a way that it will be sufficient for all of your life’s needs? Then you must have the right resp

Understanding God’s Word is not an optional thing for us. Understanding God’s Word is crucial. If we want to live our lives in the way that we were designed to live them, we have to understand how to do it. And the only way we can do that is to understand God’s Word. So, the question that this ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-12

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

Stepping Stones To Faith: Purity Series

Contributed by Jim Kane on Sep 27, 2008

The fifth sermon of a seven part series, ‘Stepping Stones and Stumbling Blocks to Faith.’

John Rowan Claypool once shared the following story in his sermon entitled “The Future and Forgetting:’ “Two Buddhist monks were walking in a drenching thunderstorm. They came to a stream, and it was swollen out of its banks. A beautiful young Japanese woman in a kimono stood there wanting to get ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

Denomination: Church Of God