Sermons on Jim Elliott:

Why Did The "Sinners" Love Hanging Out With Jesus?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Dec 30, 2013

It's a fact worth pondering: the tax collectors and sinners LIKED being with Jesus. That's not usually how the lost feel around us. What did Jesus have that we don't?

AN IMPORTANT FACT: The tax collectors and “sinners” liked hanging out with Jesus. - Matthew 9:10. - It’s easy to rush past verse 10 and get to the rest of this story, but it’s worth settling for a moment here and thinking about its implications. The tax collectors and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

How Focusing On Sacrifice Can Twist Our Faith Into Something Ugly

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 6, 2014

Why focusing on sacrifice causes trouble and how focusing on compassion (as Jesus instructs us to) brings better results.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SACRIFICE? Sacrifice is not intrinsically bad, but the problem is when we say that more sacrifice equals a better Christian. - Matthew 9:13. - There is a lot that is good to sacrifice. Like many other things, though, making it the ultimate goal of our Christian life puts us in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:11-13

Denomination: Baptist

Why Does Jonah Love A Plant More Than An Unsaved City?”

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 7, 2014

A look at four ways that we put our comfort above the unsaved.

WHICH IS A HIGHER PRIORITY FOR ME: My comfort or God’s compassion? - Jonah 4:5-9. - Verse 6 tells us that Jonah is “very happy” about the vine. - Verses 8 and 9 tells us that the destruction of the vine puts Jonah is such a bad state of mind that he wishes he was dead. ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 4:5-9

Denomination: Baptist

Why God Is Concerned About The People We Don’t Care About

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 12, 2014

A look at the source of God's empathy for the people we don't care about as well as some guidance on how we can become more like God in this area.

LOOKING AT PEOPLE WE DON'T LIKE: I can roll my eyes at them. - Most of us find it pretty easy to roll our eyes at people we don’t care for. - We dismiss them. We find them not worth our time. - Some of these people are those we struggle with personally. - Others are simply part of a ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 4:10-11

Denomination: Baptist

Did Jesus Come To Repair The Old Way?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 13, 2014

Jesus' comment on wineskins is confusing to many. What does it mean and how does it tie into His comments right before that on fasting?

DID JESUS COME TO REPAIR THE OLD WAY? There are some of the same elements, but we need to know that this is a new thing. - Matthew 9:14, 16-17. - There will still be fasting – Jesus doesn’t dismiss it. Instead, He says it’ll happen when He is taken away from them (when the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:14-17

Denomination: Baptist

What God Said To Me At 4 A.m. In Guangzhou China

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 14, 2014

This tells the story of an insight God gave me into John 14:1-4 the morning before I held my adopted daughter for the first time.

I want to tell you a story about an insight that God gave me into John 14:1-4, the passage where Jesus speaks of going to prepare a place for us. This is the story of something that happened to me several years ago while I was in Guangzhou China. Karen and I were in Guangzhou to complete our ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus’ Word To Those At The Top And The Bottom

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 15, 2014

This passage is a "sandwich," which leads to some significant parallels and contrasts.

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THIS PASSAGE: This story is a sandwich. - What does that mean? This is one of the multiple places in the Bible where a story is begun, then interrupted by another story, and then the first story is revisited and concluded. When that happens, there is always a great ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:18-26

Denomination: Baptist

Who Did Jesus Say That We Should Fear?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 21, 2014

What happens when we don't fear God as we should but instead focus our fears on the things of this world?

MISPLACED FEAR: We are often scared of the wrong things. - Luke 12:4. - Now, what exactly do we mean when we talk about “fearing God”? - It’s not a cowering-in-the-corner type of thing. It’s awe, a respect, an awareness of how great He is. It’s also awareness that ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:4-5

Denomination: Baptist

Has God Forgotten Me?

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jan 28, 2014

A look at the care that God has for us and the important difference between pep-talk self-esteem and God-spoke personal value.

A LINGERING QUESTION: Has God forgotten me? - What if God forgot about me? Has God forgotten me? Can I be confident that God is paying attention to me? - Reasons that we think that God has forgotten us: a. It’s taking longer than expected for God to answer our prayer. b. Events in our ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:6-7

Denomination: Baptist

Why Would God Stoop To Reveal His Will Through Dice Tossed By Pagan Sailors Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Sep 27, 2013

God reveals Jonah's guilt through dice tossed by pagan sailors. It's so undignified. Why would God stoop to reveal His will in such a way?

REALLY, GOD? Why would God stoop to reveal His will through dice tossed by pagan sailors? - Jonah 1:7. - When you think about this situation, it just all seems so undignified. We’ve got these sailors (whom we can safely presume were not having Sunday School on the ship) rolling dice and ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:7

Denomination: Baptist

How Can Prayer Be A Witnessing Tool? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Sep 29, 2013

Everyone believes in prayer in a crisis and that's an opportunity for us to point them to God.

AN OPEN DOOR: Everyone believes in prayer in a crisis. - Jonah 1:6 – “The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god!’” - In the section, notice two things: a. It’s the captain that asks Jonah to pray. - Now, there’s ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:6

Denomination: Baptist

The Parts Of Our Lives That Are Off-Limits To God Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 2, 2013

A look at how we only let God into certain parts of our lives when He needs to be "Lord of all" in our lives.

WHY WEREN'T THE SAILORS BOTHERED EARLIER? Because they believed in small, provincial gods. - Jonah 1:7, 10. - One of the unusual things about this verse is that it tells in verse 10 that Jonah had told them previously that he was running away from God. You would think that when the storm arose ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:10

Denomination: Baptist

When We Act Like Stubbornness Is A Spiritual Gift Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 13, 2013

A look at the dangers of stubbornness.

WHEN WE DON'T LIKE WHERE GOD IS LEADING: Jonah would rather die than change. - Jonah 1:12. A CROSS PROBLEM: Too many Christians are more defined by crossed arms than by the cross of Christ. - Too many of us confuse stubbornness with conviction. - What’s the difference? Conviction has to ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:12

Denomination: Baptist

How To Pray For Someone Deep In Sin Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 15, 2013

A look at how we need to be praying sometimes for God to put a 'whuppin" on someone.

HOW TO PRAY FOR SOMEONE DEEP IN SIN: it’s ok to pray for God to “whup” someone. - Jonah 1:17-2:1. - Verse 17a – The Lord prepared the trial and rebuke. - Verse 17b – Jonah still did not immediately repent. - Verse 1 – Three days later, Jonah finally ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Why Was The One Sign Jesus Would Give "the Sign Of Jonah"? Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Oct 30, 2013

A look at whether Jonah died in the whale as well as what the specific significance of the "sign of Jonah" is.

WHAT IS THE SIGN OF JONAH? Is the point that Jonah was in the whale or that Jonah was dead? - Matthew 12:38-40. - The point of the miracle is less the miracle of being in a whale or the specific time frame (“three days and three nights”) and more the miracle of resurrection. WHAT EXACTLY ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 2:2-9

Denomination: Baptist