Sermons on Pauls Plea:

An Example Worth Following

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 27, 2010

An example worth following (PowerPoint slides to accompany this talk are available on request - email: gcurley@gcurley.info)

Reading: 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1-12. Ill: When architect Sir Christopher Wren; • Designed the interior of Windsor Town Hall near London in 1689, • He built a ceiling supported by pillars. • After city fathers had inspected the finished building, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Denomination: Brethren

What Good Are You? Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jan 3, 2011

Sometimes we feel like God has to completely change us in order to use us. Paul shows us that God takes the background, weaknesses, and even difficulties and uses them for His kingdom, if we let Him.

Who are you as a person? Who are you as a Christian? Do those two questions get two different responses from you? I think often times we think that when we come to Christ, Jesus basically considers us to be a blank slate that needs to be redrawn into the character of Jesus and that everything about ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Stand Firm!

Contributed by Daniel Habben on Oct 30, 2011

A first-person narrative based on the Apostle Paul’s final words of encouragement.

If you only had fifteen minutes to live, who would you want to speak to and what would you say? Would you, perhaps, call up your mom and tell her how much you love her for all that she did for you? Or would you sit down with the grandchildren and impress upon them again those things that are ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:9-18

Denomination: Lutheran

Riding The Fence Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 1, 2011

More times than we would probably like to admit, we slip into legalism. It can happen when God takes too long to answer a prayer, or answers in a way we don't expect. We take over the reigns, and it's a mistake!

To continue Paul’s arguments against legalism he turns again to a story in the Old Testament. This time it is the children that God promised to Abram. The issue is whether you let God fulfill His promise of righteousness in you, or whether you want to take the controls and do it yourself. ...read more

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The War Within Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 7, 2011

Being human we are born with certain default settings that drive us to think in certain ways. When we become a Christian a war starts between a new nature seeking to establish a beachhead and take over and the old regime that wants to stay in control.

The human mind is self-rationalizing. In other words, we will rationalize our thoughts and actions according to ourselves, rather than to some external source. Even when we read something or hear something and alter our behavior, it is because we choose to believe that thing we read or ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-18

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The Stark Contrast Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Dec 5, 2011

The contrast between the old nature and the new couldn't be more stark as we finish up our study in Paul's letter to the Galatians. The question we all have to face is: where is our treasure, in this legalistic age, or in God's kingdom?

Galatians is all about the contrast between the old nature and the new, legalism and Spirit-life. As we finish up the book today we’re going to see that contrast in stark relief so let’s look for it as we finish chapter 6. As we talked about the fruit of the Spirit in chapter 5, we saw ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:6-18

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

When Your First Choice Is God's Second Choice

Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Jan 6, 2012

A sermon about the providence of God as discovered in the life of Paul.

Acts 16:7-8 KJV After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. [8] And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. I. INTRODUCTION—THE CHALLENGE OF CONTENTMENT -One of the most challenging spiritual battles that many face in our ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:7-9

Denomination: Pentecostal

What's On Your Mind?

Contributed by Thomas Clawser on Oct 28, 2017

Christians must guard what enters their minds to gain the benefit of God’s peace in their lives.

In “How to Find Out Who You Are”, Nelson Price reports that 15 prominent college professors took this challenge: “If all the books on the art of moving human beings into action were condensed into one brief statement, what would that statement be?” The result of their deliberations was: What the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9

Denomination: Other

Blinded By Grace Series

Contributed by Scott Kircher on Jul 27, 2008

God’s Grace to save

Blinded by Grace Grace gives Hope to the Hopeless Acts 9:1-8 Grace gives Help to the Helpless Acts 9:9-30 Grace gives Peace to the People Acts 9:31 Slide 1 We are continuing on in Acts today. We have been studying the book of Acts for the past couple of months. Today I want us to end this ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-31

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ephesians Chapter 3 Series

Contributed by Eric Hanson on Sep 8, 2008

Paul here goes into some detail about his own call and his aims with the Ephesians believers. It was clearly his fondest wish that all believers understand who we are in Christ.

Ephesians Chapter 3 Pastor Eric July 27, 2008 (Read verses, then comments.) (1-3) Paul, building upon the closing thoughts of chapter 2, refers to himself as the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of the Gentiles. Note that Paul did not refer to himself as the prisoner of the Roman ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-21

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Dealing With Disputes Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Sep 14, 2008

Whether your dispute is with another believer or with a whole church, there are vital lessons to handling conflict contained in Acts 15. Learn how to find God’s will, keep your integrity, and still be a family.

Raise your hand if you have ever had a dispute with another Christian. Hopefully we all raised our hands because if we have never had a dispute then we are not really actively plugged into the body life in Jesus. Disputes occur for a number of reasons, some good, some bad. Often disputes come from ...read more

Scripture: Acts 15:1-41

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Back To School Series

Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Aug 22, 2007

’Tis the season, and we can see 3 schools God took Saul thru before he graduated as ’Paul.’ The schools of Solitude, Suffering, & Seasoning. Link included to formatted text, audio, and PowerPoint Presentation w/ graphics and animations.

Back to School Acts 9:21-30 http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/BackToSchoolForSaul.html ILL.- Teacher to student, “What are you – animal, vegetable or mineral?” The boy replied, “Vegetable. I’M A HUMAN BEAN.” ILL.- It was the little girl’s first day at school and the teacher was making out her ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:21-30

Denomination: Baptist

Bouncing Back (Part Two)

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on May 30, 2021

Last week we looked at the story of Joseph. He bounced back from multiple situations: sold into slavery, a false accusation, betrayal, etc. But he wasn't the only one who bounced back from multiple hardships; Paul did too.

BOUNCING BACK (part two) There are many personal stories of people who bounced back from a bad situation. We're bouncing back from the pandemic with vaccinations and loosening COVID restrictions. People have bounced back from having COVID. Churches have bounced back from having to shut down ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, 2 Timothy 3:10-11

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Rejecting Rejection Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 22, 2021

Jesus was despised and rejected of men, but he was only rejected by the leaders of Israel, and the mob they got to support them. Paul had all this plus. He was rejected all over the world, and not just in Jerusalem and by Jews.

Paul is the most traveled man in the New Testament. He covered much of the known world of his day, and his ambition was to go to the end of the world. The furthest point West that man could then go was Spain. Spain is only mentioned twice in the New Testament, and both times by Paul in Romans 15. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 21:27-40

Learning To Listen Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 22, 2021

Listening to God's Word brings us into the kingdom, and it is by listening to it that we grow and become sanctified. That is why Jesus says to the churches in Revelation over and over, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches."

Benjamin Franklin decided to take stock of him self one New Years, and try to figure out why he seemed to alienate people, and why he lost friends so easily. He discovered that one of his major flaws was that he was not willing to listen to others. He had all of the answers and was arrogant. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 22:1-22