Sermons on Surpassing Glory:

God Pursues His Beloved

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

God wants to be known personally, intimately, and vitally. He wants us to look to him with deep affection, and to depend on him always, because we know him. So foster that true commitment to God: listening to him, speaking with him, and walking with him.

Say you’ve met that “special someone.” It’s one you’ve come to love, it’s the one you want to marry. Probably we all can picture this very human event: meeting someone, falling in love, becoming husband and wife. There’s a lot of joy in this great gift! But then something takes place that nobody ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 2:2-23, Ephesians 5:22-33, Hosea 2:14-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Stubborn Missionary

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

More than Jonah could ever understand, Jesus reveals the greatness of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is for sinners. His mercy is for Jews, it’s for Gentiles, it’s for people of ever nation, for all who seek him.

What does someone do when they’ve been rescued from great danger—pulled from a burning house, or saved from drowning? Or how does a person act after his life’s been spared: when he should’ve been killed, but someone had mercy? A natural response is the desire to tell people about it. Because what’s ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 12:38-42

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Body Love Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 17, 2021

This body we dwell in is the first part of man that God made. Man was a body before he was anything else. As Paul says in verse 46, the natural comes first than the spiritual.

I don't care how widely traveled you are, I know you have never sailed among the Island of Langerhans, or drifted lazily down the Aqueduct of Sylvius. Nor have any of you ever strolled along the banks of Hunter's Canal, or watched the sun go down behind McBurney's Point. None of you ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Seeking God's Face Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 19, 2021

The heart of depression is when God's face is hidden, and the heart of joy is when God's face is shining upon you.

I heard a pastor tell of his experience on a plane. The stewardess was explaining that the parents were to be sure and put on their oxygen mask before they put them on their children. This seemed so selfish, and there was a natural resistance to the idea. It went against the grain of a ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:11-22

The Paradox Of Pleasure Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 21, 2021

The paradox of pleasure is that the pursuit of pleasure can lead you to the pit of hell, or to the pinnacle of heaven. It is life's most dangerous or delightful path to travel.

Alexander Selkirk was one of those men who always had to learn the hard way. The records of his church in Scotland show that he was disciplined several times for causing trouble in the church. In May of 1703 he said good-bye to all that, and at age 27 went off to sea. He tried to run things on ...read more

Scripture: Esther 2:1-4

Differences Make A Difference Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 22, 2021

We do not have to like everything about Paul, for he didn't like everything about himself, but we do have to recognize that differences are not defects. They are the key to the churches having the diversity necessary to reach a very diverse world.

Sometimes a man can be so different that nobody can agree with him all the time. Such was the case with Roger Williams, who was the founder of the first Baptist Church in America. He came to America for religious freedom, and he expected to have more of it than anybody was willing to give him. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 23:1-11

God Is Love Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 25, 2021

We are never nearer God than when we love, and we are never nearer to being what he wants us to be than when we love.

Tolstoy wrote a story called "Where Love Is, God Is." It is about an old cobbler named Martin who lived alone. One night as he read the story of Jesus visiting the Pharisee, and the poor welcome he received, he prayed that the Lord would visit him. In his sleep he heard a voice saying, ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-8

Conflict Of The Kings Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 27, 2021

Every man, including Jesus has to face the universal experience of temptation.

Art Linkletter tells of how when he was 10 years old he was offered a job of tempting people to buy ice cream cones. The ice cream stand owner noticed the dramatic way in which he licked an ice cream cone, and so he offered him ten cents an afternoon if he would wonder through the nearby park ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:9-12

How To Go From Bitter To Better Series

Contributed by David Owens on Mar 29, 2021

Bitterness is an emotion that can eat us from the inside out like poison or cancer. Like the biblical character Joseph, there are things we can do to keep bitterness from destroying us.

A. Abe Lemons was head basketball coach at the University of Texas for six years starting in 1976. 1. Lemons turned the Texas Longhorn basketball program around, but when DeLoss Dodds took over as the athletic director they soon were butting heads, and at the end of the 1982 season, Dodds fired ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 6:12-15, Luke 6:27-28

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Respect In The Home Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 29, 2021

The very dignity you ascribe to your Lord you are to give to your mate. This does not mean we worship our wives, but it means we are to treasure them as one of our most precious gifts.

Waren Webster, missionary to Pakistan, tells of his first attempt to be friendly to the children who came to watch him as he tore a crate apart to rebuild it as a desk. He said, "Hello," and they frowned and ran. He felt disappointed, but later they came back and he said it again, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:7-12

The Lion And The Lamb Series

Contributed by Sherm Nichols on Mar 31, 2021

A look at the paradoxical qualities of Jesus - baby and Savior, Lion and Lamb, etc.

Superman. What’s not to like about him? The man of Steel! No one can beat Superman – unless they have Kryptonite. But, without that, he’s all steel. And we like that about Superman, but there’s something else about Superman we like – Clark Kent. We like that he can also be that dorky, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 5:5-6

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

See Jesus! Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Apr 1, 2021

If you want to see Jesus through the fog of your depression, disappointment, and doubt, then open your Bible and open your heart to Him.

When I was teaching a philosophy class for Barton County Community College, we were asking some fundamental questions: What is Truth? & How do we know the Truth? At that time, one of my students introduced me to The Matrix, a science fiction movie, in which the real world has been taken over ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35, Revelation 3:20, Philippians 3:10

Denomination: Evangelical Free

My Hearts Longs For Something Greater: Eternity In The Human Heart & The Emptiness Of Gorged Sensuality

Contributed by Justin Steckbauer on Apr 2, 2021

All of life is filled with parables and metaphors that point to the meta-narrative of existence. The four seasons are laced with it. Media, movies, books, and stories are filled with expressions of the longings of our hearts. We long for a place we've never been.

All of life is filled with parables and metaphors that point to the meta-narrative of existence. The four seasons are laced with it. Media, movies, books, and stories are filled with expressions of the longings of our hearts. We long for a place we've never been. We desire a home we've ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 43:19, John 6:44

Denomination: Salvation Army

The Future Of Israel (Romans 11) Series

Contributed by James Jackson on Sep 25, 2022

God has not rejected His people Israel. But He has allowed them to be blinded for a time. The reason may surprise you.

The Israel Trilogy, Part 3: The Future of Israel Romans 11 Good morning! Please turn to Romans 11. I want to warn you at the outset that this may be the most difficult part of Romans to wrap our heads around. Did you know that in 2 Peter 3:!6, the apostle Peter admits that sometimes Paul is hard ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Be Great In The Sight Of God! Series

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Sep 29, 2022

We have to: 1. Overcome our selfish mindset (vs. 1). 2. Use God's standards for greatness (vs. 1). 3. Follow the right examples for greatness (vs. 2-4). 4. Focus on the right mission (vs. 5).

Be Great in the Sight of God! The Gospel of Matthew Matthew 18:1-5 Sermon by Rick Crandall (Prepared September 29, 2022) MESSAGE: *Who would you name as a great man or woman? Almost everybody could offer some suggestions, and opinions around the world would have huge differences. But Jim Kane ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-5

Denomination: Baptist