On Sunday, July 1, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46. This message was part 4 in the “Like” sermon series. Below you will find the audio related to this message to listen to or share.
To listen offline, click the link below to download:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, July 1, 2018 a Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46. This message was part 4 of the “Like” sermon series. Below are a series of questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
In every stage of life, we learn to save for something we cannot see. When we are kids, it might be saving for a new toy or a summer camp. When we are students, the piggy bank points to that first car. As adults, there is that moment when we start contributing to an IRA.
At each stage, a similar process happened:
If you saw a vision of something that you wanted/needed, knew it was REALLY POSSIBLE, and was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT, you would persevere to see that dream into your future.
Now, I say this today, because as I look at 4 parables in Matthew 13, I see Jesus talking about a future reality that we want and need — to be a part of eternal life in Christ’s Kingdom. However, in this present age, we cannot see the full effect of this Kingdom, so we are tempted to wonder if it is REALLY going to happen, and (even if it is) is it REALLY WORTH IT? Jesus tells the parables of the mustard seed, leaven, treasure, and pearl to tell us that what we cannot see is worth giving everything for. Instead of asking us to save for the future, He wants to SAVE US into the future . . . will you trust Him?
Sunday at Wildwood in our 9:45 and 11:00 services we will be “ALL IN” to see these parables as we conclude our “Like” series together. Hope to see you there!
On Sunday, June 24, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50. This message was part 3 in the “Like” sermon series. The audio from the sermon is available below to listen to online or download.
To download the audio, click on the link:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, June 24, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, and 47-50. This message was part 3 of the “Like” sermon series. Below you will find questions related to this sermon for personal reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
Think back to the last time you flew on an airplane. After boarding the plane, finding your seat, and buckling your seat belt, a stewardess came over the loud speaker and began talking about the emergency procedures should your plane have a problem while mid-flight. Have you ever noticed how few people pay attention to these instructions? While potentially life-saving information is shared, people are reading that terrible “in flight” magazine, listening to a song they have heard 1,000 times through their ear buds, or talking to the person they just met in the seat beside them (and who they will most likely never see again after the flight is over).
Why do people check-out while the safety speech is happening? While I can’t speak for everyone, I do have a theory. People fail to listen because they assume the plane will not crash. If they half of all flights crashed, you better believe people would be paying closer attention to their stewardess! Even if they had flown 1,000 times, they still would have high incentive to listen to the speech to make sure nothing had changed.
Now, I want to draw a parallel between the “safety speech” on an airplane, and our spiritual lives. Throughout Scripture, the “Gospel speech” is shared (“In the event that judgment comes, Jesus is the only life saving option!”) We have heard it a number of times, but do we listen to it? Do we apply its message? Why not? Well, one reason we ignore the Gospel’s message is because we assume judgment is not coming. We assume this because we have not seen anyone struck by lightning when the moment they sinned! Because of our experience, we are tempted to think that judgment for our sins is not likely, so we tune out when the message that will lead to our Eternal Safety is shared.
Brothers and sisters, this should NOT be the case! Our “plane” is guaranteed to crash. 100% of us will one day have to stand before the Lord in judgment, so we would do well to heed the message of the Gospel today while there is still time.
This Sunday at Wildwood, we will look at the certainty of coming judgment as we study Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50. In these verses Jesus tells two parables to remind us of the crash that is in front of us all . . . while there is still time. Join us for part 3 of the “Like” sermon series in our 9:45 and 11:00 worship services.
On Sunday, June 17, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. This message was part 2 of the “Like” series and focused on the Parable of the Sower. Below you will find the audio from the sermon to listen to or share.
To listen to the audio offline, click the link to download:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, June 17, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. This message was part 2 in the “Like” sermon series. Below you will find a set of questions related to this message for personal reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
Guarding the entrance to the South Oval at the University of Oklahoma is a statue of the “sower.” This statue mirrors the image that fills the center of the University’s official seal.
Though a symbolic image, the sower’s face was patterned after David Ross Boyd, OU’s first President, who arrived in Norman in 1892, and found not a single tree around campus. The story goes that President Boyd spent nearly half of his salary those first few years planting seeds that would turn into nearly 10,000 trees, turning our city from hardpan prairie to what is nationally recognized as one of the most beautiful University campuses in the United States.
President Boyd, a devout Christian, held a chapel service each day on campus. During one of these chapel services, he compared the University’s mission as sowing seeds of knowledge in students’ hearts, using the “Parable of the Sower” from Matthew 13:1-9 as his inspiration.
This Sunday at Wildwood, we will be looking at the “Parable of the Sower” in part 2 of our series – The Kingdom of Heaven is “Like . . .” In this message we will see that Jesus sows God’s truth in us with a desire to turn the “barren prairie” of our lives into beautiful landscapes of His righteousness. As this seed is sown, however, there are three enemies that will attempt to prevent this intended transformation in our lives. We will see what Jesus says about this Sunday in our 9:45 and 11:00 service. Hope to see you there!
On Sunday, June 10, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 13:10-17, 34-35, 51-52. This message was part 1 of the “Like” sermon series. To listen to or share this message, use the links below:
To download the audio & listen offline, click the link:
To listen online, use the media player below:
