I've decided to start blogging about some of my past sermons. I think sometimes we preach or listen to a sermon every week without having the time to really process the information. Think about all of the sermons you have listened to in the past year. Do you actually remember any of them? Are there some that have stood out to you? Maybe there is a message that radically transformed your life and you will always remember what God spoke to you on that day.
So for a starting point into looking at my past sermons, I've decided to take the top 10 sermons steamed from our website. This isn't the top 10 downloaded sermons via the podcast, but the total number of hits from our media player via our website (includes sermon notes as well).
So let's kick it off with #10
"For God So Loved the World" (Part of our Hope series)
This was such a good series and I remember us putting together a pretty cool video intro for each sermon in the series. The Hope series was based completely on Max Lucado's book: "3:16: The Numbers of Hope." I decided to do this in December because I feel the meaning of Christmas is all about hope. We live in a world where hope is often talked about, but nobody really understands where to find true hope. Hope isn't in our government, economy, or in our jobs. Hope is simply found in Jesus Christ. And when I think of hope, I immediately think of John 3:16, maybe the most powerful verse in the entire Bible. There is so much depth to John 3:16, our Hope series took each section of the verse and looked at what that part really means.
Sometimes I can't fathom how big God's love is. Do I truly believe that God loves every person in this world? Yes. 100 times yes. It's amazing how God possess this unconditional love for you and for me. When I think about God's love, it's allows me to have hope for the world. It allows me to asking God to give me the strength to love the world. When it comes down to it, I'm a sinful man who simply can't love the world like God loves the world. My love will let people down, my love is not truly self-sacrificing. Jesus, who died on the cross is the ultimate example of love that is truly self-sacrificial.
So in the end, please hold onto the timeless truth that GOD LOVES YOU. If you're going through a time where you need to hear this, please embrace it with all of your heart, mind, and soul.
If you want to listen to the 10th most listened to sermon go to:
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=14008-count_audio_download-158041
Showing posts with label podcast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label podcast. Show all posts
Aug 13, 2009
Mar 29, 2009
Checking Your Family History
Do you ever wonder why you do what you do? Why do you constantly do the same sins over again? Do you see patterns in your family that have occurred over and over in a particular generation?
All of us have a family. What we have to embrace is that God choose to bring us in a particular family, in a particular place, at a particular moment in history. This gives us a lot of blessings, opportunities, and gifts. However, many of the families that we are born in hand us down emotional baggage. For some of us this baggage is really small and it doesn’t play a big part in our life. For others of us, this baggage is so heavy, so much of a burden on us, we think that this is the way life has to be lived.
Part of breaking free is being able to live with complete joy and freedom in the present day. But to live this life of breaking free from our emotional baggage, we have to go back. In order to move forward spiritually, we have to go back emotionally. God wants us to break free from the destructive sinful patterns of our pats to live the life God intends for us.
What happens in one generation often repeats itself in the next generation. The consequences of actions and decisions taken in one generation affect those who follow. So in order to break free from generational sin, it is healthy to observe certain patterns from one generation to the next. There are sin patterns such as: divorce, alcoholism, addictive behavior, sexual abuse, poor marriages, children running away, mistrust of authority, pregnancy out of wedlock, an inability to sustain stable relationships, etc.
All of us have a family and all of us came from a family. Our patterns are played out in our present relationships with us not even knowing it sometimes. The way you live your life isn’t just for today. The way you life is affected by your previous generations and the way you live your life will effect future generations.
If you don’t deal with your generational sin, it won’t go away, it will linger. You may think not thinking about your generational sin will make it go away. The reality is that it won’t go away.
So are you going to break the cycle of your family problems? Or are you going to let your negative family behaviors get passed down to the next generation?
Here are two books to help you out on your journey: Why You Do What You Do and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Read these and began your journey today.
(Podcast subscription button is on the top of the blog page)
All of us have a family. What we have to embrace is that God choose to bring us in a particular family, in a particular place, at a particular moment in history. This gives us a lot of blessings, opportunities, and gifts. However, many of the families that we are born in hand us down emotional baggage. For some of us this baggage is really small and it doesn’t play a big part in our life. For others of us, this baggage is so heavy, so much of a burden on us, we think that this is the way life has to be lived.
Part of breaking free is being able to live with complete joy and freedom in the present day. But to live this life of breaking free from our emotional baggage, we have to go back. In order to move forward spiritually, we have to go back emotionally. God wants us to break free from the destructive sinful patterns of our pats to live the life God intends for us.
What happens in one generation often repeats itself in the next generation. The consequences of actions and decisions taken in one generation affect those who follow. So in order to break free from generational sin, it is healthy to observe certain patterns from one generation to the next. There are sin patterns such as: divorce, alcoholism, addictive behavior, sexual abuse, poor marriages, children running away, mistrust of authority, pregnancy out of wedlock, an inability to sustain stable relationships, etc.
All of us have a family and all of us came from a family. Our patterns are played out in our present relationships with us not even knowing it sometimes. The way you live your life isn’t just for today. The way you life is affected by your previous generations and the way you live your life will effect future generations.
If you don’t deal with your generational sin, it won’t go away, it will linger. You may think not thinking about your generational sin will make it go away. The reality is that it won’t go away.
So are you going to break the cycle of your family problems? Or are you going to let your negative family behaviors get passed down to the next generation?
Here are two books to help you out on your journey: Why You Do What You Do and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Read these and began your journey today.
(Podcast subscription button is on the top of the blog page)
Mar 8, 2009
From Isolation to Community
Was there ever a time in your life where you felt completely alone? If we all look back at moments in our life, I think we can all pinpoint various times where we felt alone. I remember right before my senior year of high school, I felt completely alone. Right after my junior year in high school, my family moved from California to Colorado, which meant that I would begin my last year of high school in a new school, with new classmates, and new teachers. A week before school started the school held an orientation for all the incoming students, so you could register for classes, get your photo taken, get your locker, and do anything else that you need to do before school starts. My parents drove me to the orientation and dropped me off at the door. Right before they dropped me off, they asked me if I was ok. I responded with a confident “yes”. As I began to start the orientation process I saw numerous students hugging each other and shaking hands because this was the first time they’ve seen each other since school ended. My heart began to crumble and I felt completely isolated.
I don’t know if you ever seen this scene in a movie: there’s a person standing in a crowd of people and the camera focuses in on the character who’s completely still and the people in the background are out of focus of the camera, but they’re moving in fast forward all around him. That’s how felt, standing in the middle of this large school lobby with other students moving all around me. Even though I was in the midst of a few hundred students, I felt completely alone.
Maybe you’ve felt alone at some point in your life as well.Or maybe, just maybe you live your life isolated from the world around you. The thing about isolation is that it can come in many forms. Isolation can come from your choices or your own circumstances. There are some of us who choose to be isolated. We fail to emotionally, physically, and spiritually invest into a community of faith. Some of us choose to be isolated in what we share with other people, causing our conversations to be shallow. We can also choose to be isolated physically, always wanted to stay in our homes without interacting with society. Isolation can also come through circumstances. You could be physically unable to leave your home or hospital bed and that is isolation. Or maybe you don’t have any family or friends around, that’s isolation as well.
In God’s big vision of humanity, it was never meant to be lived alone, by choice or by circumstances. We were never created to be isolated – we were never created to be alone in any part of our lives. God’s vision for your life is for you to live your life in true community with humanity. The Bible is all about living with one another. Jesus tells us that the second greatest commanded is to love one another. All through out the New Testament there are multiple commands on how we are to deal with one another. Humanity was never meant to be isolated in anyway, shape, or form. God’s vision for humanity is for us to living in true, authentic, and free community
I have this vision of being part of a Christian community where you can be honest about your doubts and fears without being met with worn-out cliches or empty words; a place that recognizes faith as a progressive process, not the product of “quick-fixes"; a place where you can get help today but be challenged to grow so you're better prepared to face tomorrow; a place of intimacy, where you can know and be known; a place where it is hard not to find God; a place where finding God is as corporate as it is personal; a place where you belong whether you're single, married, divorced, widowed, young, old, rich, poor, smart, dull, thin, fat, beautiful; a place to be part of something bigger than yourself; a place that needs you; a place of safety; a place of off-limits to witches, demons, and the walking dead - the safest place in the world. A place where we live as a church that breaks free from isolation. I have this vision of a church where Satan cannot use our isolation as bondage over us. That would be true community; it would be Jesus’ vision for the church.
I don’t know if you ever seen this scene in a movie: there’s a person standing in a crowd of people and the camera focuses in on the character who’s completely still and the people in the background are out of focus of the camera, but they’re moving in fast forward all around him. That’s how felt, standing in the middle of this large school lobby with other students moving all around me. Even though I was in the midst of a few hundred students, I felt completely alone.
Maybe you’ve felt alone at some point in your life as well.Or maybe, just maybe you live your life isolated from the world around you. The thing about isolation is that it can come in many forms. Isolation can come from your choices or your own circumstances. There are some of us who choose to be isolated. We fail to emotionally, physically, and spiritually invest into a community of faith. Some of us choose to be isolated in what we share with other people, causing our conversations to be shallow. We can also choose to be isolated physically, always wanted to stay in our homes without interacting with society. Isolation can also come through circumstances. You could be physically unable to leave your home or hospital bed and that is isolation. Or maybe you don’t have any family or friends around, that’s isolation as well.
In God’s big vision of humanity, it was never meant to be lived alone, by choice or by circumstances. We were never created to be isolated – we were never created to be alone in any part of our lives. God’s vision for your life is for you to live your life in true community with humanity. The Bible is all about living with one another. Jesus tells us that the second greatest commanded is to love one another. All through out the New Testament there are multiple commands on how we are to deal with one another. Humanity was never meant to be isolated in anyway, shape, or form. God’s vision for humanity is for us to living in true, authentic, and free community
I have this vision of being part of a Christian community where you can be honest about your doubts and fears without being met with worn-out cliches or empty words; a place that recognizes faith as a progressive process, not the product of “quick-fixes"; a place where you can get help today but be challenged to grow so you're better prepared to face tomorrow; a place of intimacy, where you can know and be known; a place where it is hard not to find God; a place where finding God is as corporate as it is personal; a place where you belong whether you're single, married, divorced, widowed, young, old, rich, poor, smart, dull, thin, fat, beautiful; a place to be part of something bigger than yourself; a place that needs you; a place of safety; a place of off-limits to witches, demons, and the walking dead - the safest place in the world. A place where we live as a church that breaks free from isolation. I have this vision of a church where Satan cannot use our isolation as bondage over us. That would be true community; it would be Jesus’ vision for the church.
Feb 27, 2009
Are You a Risk-Taker?
I don't really consider myself a risk-taker. If you examine most parts of my life, you would not label me as a risk-taker. I'm afraid of trying most new foods, I'm afraid to experiment with any new drinks at Starbucks, don't like most roller-coasters, hate going into cold water, usually slow to make new friends, etc., etc., etc. The list could go on and on. However when I take a deep examination of my life, I realize that I have to make constant decisions to take risks in order to fulfill my dreams.
When I read the Bible, I notice a constant theme with all of the individuals listed - they took faith-filled risks in their lives in order to fulfill God's purpose in their life. Every time we read about someone in the Bible, there was always some measure of risk that came with their life. You think about people like Noah, who risked his reputation and his family to follow God’s calling. Or what about the 12 disciples, who left their jobs, their security to follow Jesus? The early church in Acts is another great example of people taking risks for the sake of spreading the message of Christianity. The Christian life is about ordinary people taking risks so that God can do extraordinary things.
Last Sunday I spoke about this topic and my hope is that I can be part of a community of people who are willing to make changes to their lives so they can faithfully take risks for God.
So how can you be more of a risk-taker today?
(If you want to subscribe to the podcast, click on the podcast/iTunes button above).
When I read the Bible, I notice a constant theme with all of the individuals listed - they took faith-filled risks in their lives in order to fulfill God's purpose in their life. Every time we read about someone in the Bible, there was always some measure of risk that came with their life. You think about people like Noah, who risked his reputation and his family to follow God’s calling. Or what about the 12 disciples, who left their jobs, their security to follow Jesus? The early church in Acts is another great example of people taking risks for the sake of spreading the message of Christianity. The Christian life is about ordinary people taking risks so that God can do extraordinary things.
Last Sunday I spoke about this topic and my hope is that I can be part of a community of people who are willing to make changes to their lives so they can faithfully take risks for God.
So how can you be more of a risk-taker today?
(If you want to subscribe to the podcast, click on the podcast/iTunes button above).
Jan 18, 2009
A Weekend in Nyack
First off, sorry that I haven't blogged in awhile. Yeah, I know I posted that video last week, but it wasn't really a blog. Just needed to get something up on the site. Well this is my first "real" blog post in almost a month.
Took the family to Nyack this weekend for a little bit of work/play. It just so happened that Melinda had a meeting for Nyack College on Friday and I had a meeting for the ATS Alumni Association on Saturday. Instead of each of us driving by ourselves on different days, we decided to make a mini-weekend trip to Elianah's birthplace. Nyack holds a very special place for us because that's basically where many different aspects of our lives took place. We both went to college there, I did my graduate work there, the place Elianah was born, Melinda's first job, our first apartment, my internship, and a ton of different things.
On Friday we both did some work at the seminary (laptops are great) while
Elianah went back and forth between us. For lunch I ventured into Northvale, NJ to get some AMAZING sushi at World Sushi (got the Tuna Roll and Shrimp Tempura Roll). After Melinda's meeting we went to the Palisades Mall to go to our favorite restaurant of all time - Stir Crazy! (photo below) For those of you who live next to a Stir Crazy, you have to go soon, like now. The food there is by far the best Asian food we get anywhere else. After that we walked around the mall, something we used to do all the time.
On Saturday I had my meeting while Melinda and Elianah hung out with a close friend. After my meeting we went into downtown Nyack to visit the Starbucks I used to work at. Great to see Chris and Matt who I used to work with. We ended up having lunch at Starbucks then traveled to Carlise, NY to pick up our dog Dash, then finally got home around 10pm.
So I'm up early today, getting ready for a really long day. Order of things today for me: teach the Adult Bible Class, lead/preach in the Worship Gathering, attend a church luncheon, conduct our annual meeting, home for a nap, wake up for the end of the Eagles/Cardinals game, get things done around the house, catch the end of the Steelers/Ravens game, then off to bed.
Monday we're going to Conneticut to visit some friends. So we're looking forward to that.
Just uploaded a reacent podcast. I've been slacking on the podcast front, as this is the first one that I've loaded in like a month. To subscribe to the podcast, click on the link above.
Here's a recent picture of Elianah. Isn't she cute?
Took the family to Nyack this weekend for a little bit of work/play. It just so happened that Melinda had a meeting for Nyack College on Friday and I had a meeting for the ATS Alumni Association on Saturday. Instead of each of us driving by ourselves on different days, we decided to make a mini-weekend trip to Elianah's birthplace. Nyack holds a very special place for us because that's basically where many different aspects of our lives took place. We both went to college there, I did my graduate work there, the place Elianah was born, Melinda's first job, our first apartment, my internship, and a ton of different things.
On Friday we both did some work at the seminary (laptops are great) while
Elianah went back and forth between us. For lunch I ventured into Northvale, NJ to get some AMAZING sushi at World Sushi (got the Tuna Roll and Shrimp Tempura Roll). After Melinda's meeting we went to the Palisades Mall to go to our favorite restaurant of all time - Stir Crazy! (photo below) For those of you who live next to a Stir Crazy, you have to go soon, like now. The food there is by far the best Asian food we get anywhere else. After that we walked around the mall, something we used to do all the time.
On Saturday I had my meeting while Melinda and Elianah hung out with a close friend. After my meeting we went into downtown Nyack to visit the Starbucks I used to work at. Great to see Chris and Matt who I used to work with. We ended up having lunch at Starbucks then traveled to Carlise, NY to pick up our dog Dash, then finally got home around 10pm.
So I'm up early today, getting ready for a really long day. Order of things today for me: teach the Adult Bible Class, lead/preach in the Worship Gathering, attend a church luncheon, conduct our annual meeting, home for a nap, wake up for the end of the Eagles/Cardinals game, get things done around the house, catch the end of the Steelers/Ravens game, then off to bed.
Monday we're going to Conneticut to visit some friends. So we're looking forward to that.
Just uploaded a reacent podcast. I've been slacking on the podcast front, as this is the first one that I've loaded in like a month. To subscribe to the podcast, click on the link above.
Here's a recent picture of Elianah. Isn't she cute?
Nov 17, 2008
Monday Morning Update
Do you like the new blog layout? My wonderful wife designed it and I think it looks awesome. For those of you who want things designed, go to http://simplymelinda.blogspot.com and hire her!
Life
I'm still recovering from my cold last week. I'm better, but not great. I'm excited because we're only 1 week away from my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nieces from arriving! I'm very excited. Looking forward to managing a house with 6 adults, 3 kids, and 2 pets. Very interesting.
Checked out of our apartment today. Only lost $100 of our deposit.
Church
Last Sunday we continued our series, "Party Theology." Yesterday we looked at the concept of God sending us the ultimate invitation - Jesus Christ. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: 1) Am I going to accept the invitation and 2) What am I doing to bring others into the party? We looked a parable in the Bible that caused us to ponder what we are going to do with this invitation and how we are going to use this invitation to impact the world. Click on the links above to subscribe to our podcast.
Going to a dinner tonight with a bunch of other local pastors - should be fun.
One more thing: I love www.woot.com! I'm addicted. Gotta stop going to that site.
Life
I'm still recovering from my cold last week. I'm better, but not great. I'm excited because we're only 1 week away from my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nieces from arriving! I'm very excited. Looking forward to managing a house with 6 adults, 3 kids, and 2 pets. Very interesting.
Checked out of our apartment today. Only lost $100 of our deposit.
Church
Last Sunday we continued our series, "Party Theology." Yesterday we looked at the concept of God sending us the ultimate invitation - Jesus Christ. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: 1) Am I going to accept the invitation and 2) What am I doing to bring others into the party? We looked a parable in the Bible that caused us to ponder what we are going to do with this invitation and how we are going to use this invitation to impact the world. Click on the links above to subscribe to our podcast.
Going to a dinner tonight with a bunch of other local pastors - should be fun.
One more thing: I love www.woot.com! I'm addicted. Gotta stop going to that site.
Oct 22, 2008
Moving, Vacation, Sermon Series Recap,
I had a great lunch meeting with John Fleming yesterday. John and his wife Ellen ive in The Capital Region of New York. They are Raising Support to go Full Time working to Turn Lost College Students into Passionate Christ-Followers through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. John and I connected very well and we share the same vision for the Capital District. I look forward to a future partnership with John and Ellen as we are both working towards the same goal. I encourage you to check out their blog and show them some support.
Melinda and I are in the midst of packing, yet again in our marriage. We just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary a few months ago and we are moving into our 6th house/apartment. Elianah is turning 1 next month and before she even turns 1, she'll will have lived in 3 different places!!! My prayer is that this is our last move in A LONG TIME. Why are we moving you ask? Well we're moving from our apartment into the church parsonage (a house the church owns). It'll be nice because we'll only be a mile from the church and we'll have more space - 4 bedrooms. More space for Elianah, Dash, and Jack to run around and chase each other.
If you want to help us pack and unpack the truck, that would be amazing. We're moving this Saturday (10/25/08) @ 11:00am. Contact us if you need directions to our apartment.
This week is our vacation (from all of our jobs) and we're spending it packing. Yeah!?!? Next year, we are really going to go on a vacation and take a family trip somewhere. We won't be in church on Sunday, but I'm excited that Michael Moore will be preaching and Keegan Sidhu will be leading worship.
This past Sunday, we finished up our series, "Caretakers for the Kingdom" where we looked at our role as stewards in God's kingdom. One of the most important aspects of our Christian faith is how we respond to God’s call to give our tithes and offerings to His church. A helpful tool I found regarding tithing comes from Andy Stanley's book, Fields of Gold.
The 4 P’s of Giving
Melinda and I are in the midst of packing, yet again in our marriage. We just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary a few months ago and we are moving into our 6th house/apartment. Elianah is turning 1 next month and before she even turns 1, she'll will have lived in 3 different places!!! My prayer is that this is our last move in A LONG TIME. Why are we moving you ask? Well we're moving from our apartment into the church parsonage (a house the church owns). It'll be nice because we'll only be a mile from the church and we'll have more space - 4 bedrooms. More space for Elianah, Dash, and Jack to run around and chase each other.
If you want to help us pack and unpack the truck, that would be amazing. We're moving this Saturday (10/25/08) @ 11:00am. Contact us if you need directions to our apartment.
This week is our vacation (from all of our jobs) and we're spending it packing. Yeah!?!? Next year, we are really going to go on a vacation and take a family trip somewhere. We won't be in church on Sunday, but I'm excited that Michael Moore will be preaching and Keegan Sidhu will be leading worship.
This past Sunday, we finished up our series, "Caretakers for the Kingdom" where we looked at our role as stewards in God's kingdom. One of the most important aspects of our Christian faith is how we respond to God’s call to give our tithes and offerings to His church. A helpful tool I found regarding tithing comes from Andy Stanley's book, Fields of Gold.
The 4 P’s of Giving
- Priority Giving – giving to God first prevents good intentions from waning when finances run low at the end of the month.
- Percentage Giving – deciding on a specific amount maintains discipline in giving
- Progressive Giving – gradually increasing the percentage given promotes growth in faith.
- Prompted Giving - being willing to meet spontaneous needs prevents the relational aspect of giving from growing routine
Of course, below are the links to listen to the sermon and/or subscribe to the podcast. I also am posting the video we did to recap the entire series.
Oct 12, 2008
Money, Money, Money!!!
Money is often a hard topic to talk about. People will often be open about any topic in their lives accept money. It’s socially forbidden to ask people questions about money. Asking someone how much they make, how much they spend, how much they give, or how much debt they have is socially unacceptable. But when we read the Bible, it’s full of discussion and conversation about money. There are around 800 passages in the Bible that talk about money. 25% of Jesus’ teachings were about money.
Because money such a major factor in our lives, we need to come to an understanding of how God views money.
In today's Worship Gathering, we taught about what it means to be good stewards of our wealth, a very fitting topic considering the state of our current economy.
Because money such a major factor in our lives, we need to come to an understanding of how God views money.
In today's Worship Gathering, we taught about what it means to be good stewards of our wealth, a very fitting topic considering the state of our current economy.
Jul 16, 2008
Sermons Now Online
Hey everybody, exciting news! We finally figured out how to record the sermons from our Worship Gatherings. This allows people from any part of the world to listen to our sermons, plus it allows visitors to catch a glimpse of the church. Click on one of the links below to subscribe to our sermons as a podcasts. If you have iTunes/iPod, please show some love and subscribe. If you simply want to listen to the sermons, without subscribing, click here.
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