November 29--Sermons Outlines from Today

I thought I'd post you the sermon outlines I preached from today.  I've actually never taken a course in sermon preparation, though I graduated from college with a speech minor and so have lots of training in speech preparation.  There are some differences in the two, but the biggest issue is this: speech outlines, really, look different than sermon outlines.  So, if this doesn't look like what you think a sermon outline should look like, you're right.  It doesn't.

One of my goals, by the way, is to get back and finish seminary, which will require a sermon class or two.  Which, by the way, is intimidating.  Sermon professors are usually well experienced old preachers who know how it should be done, and don't like any nonsense.  Which can be challenging.  Also challenging is the fact that you're preaching to a class of preachers, most of whom are sitting there thinking how they could do it better, and aren't afraid to say so.

Hope you can gather some good from this...

Doug

Date: November 29, 2009 AM

Text: Matthew 1:1-5

Location: CBC Monticello

Theme: Jesus as Son of Abraham

1. The Coming Christ is the Son of Abraham

   1. The Promise: Genesis 12:2-3

      1. God makes a promise in Genesis to Abraham that He would make Abraham great and bless all nations through Him

      2. This promise is God's plan to redeem mankind from the beginning

      3. All nations would be blessed

   2. The Predicament

      1. The sacrifice in Genesis 22

      2. God warns in advance that the true Son of the promise will have to be sacrificed

   3. The Provision

      1. Abraham recognizes in Genesis 22:8 that “God will provide Himself” the needed sacrifice

      2. And so, we find in the opening of Matthew's Gospel that God is providing Himself the sacrifice:Jesus Christ

   4. Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham: The Promise to all nations of the blessing of redemption and relationship, by the provision of the perfect sacrifice for our sins, given by God Himself.

Date: November 29 PM

Text: Philippians 1:9-11

Location: CBC Monticello

Theme: Sincere, Blameless, Filled

1. How we ought to be living

   1. Sincerity

      1. Words are not spoken in vain

      2. Our life backs up our words

   2. Blameless

      1. Refers to the intentions behind our actions

      2. And the perception of them.

      3. Are your actions blameless? Would a reasonable person think you were really out to be Godly in what you are doing?

2. If we are living that way we will see ourselves:

   1. Filled with fruit:

      1. Fruit in the New Testament is most often associated with reproduction

      2. Not biological in this case, but spiritual\

      3. Our goal ought to be to bear fruit

      4. Our church and our lives are going to be judged based on whether or not we are bearing fruit

      5. What is this fruit?

      6. Disciples of Christ that follow after us!!!

         1. Count your fruit

         2. Consider the fruit of this church

         3. Are we going to be judged well or badly?

         4. If we are not seeing the fruit we desire, we need to go back to sincere and blameless and reconsider where we stand!

November 28--Joshua 4:24

November 28 ^th

Joshua 4:24:

23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

This verse comes shortly after the Israelites cross the Jordan River to conquer the Promised Land, but before they have actually fought anyone yet. Joshua is reminding them what is going on, what has gone on, and is letting them know what will happen.

So, what will happen? All peoples will know that God is mighty. This is one of the aspects of God's work in this world, and one of the reasons that he causes rain and sunshine to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). Romans 1 reinforces the idea that the existence of a creation is enough to show most people that there is a creator. The continued sustaining of life shows the mighty hand of God to all people

Then we see this: that God's covenant people will fear him forever. Now, this is the reverential, worshipful type of fear. Not the “I'm so scared!” fear, but rather the “Wow, this is someone greater than me, and I'd like to keep him on my side” type of reaction.

I see here that, even in Joshua, we can understand that God has not limited himself to Israel, but is at work in the world at large. And then this: there have been, and probably always will be, two groups of people in this world: those who are partakers of the covenant, and those who are not.

Which one are you? Do you recognize that God offers a covenant, offers a relationship to those who will accept it? Or are you content for him to sustain and let you go on your own?

Doug

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

In celebration of Thanksgiving Day, here's the text of the Mayflower Compact, which was the foundation of civil law for the people that came to be known as the Pilgrims.

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

(Yep, I copied and pasted that from wikipedia.)

Now, we know that all of American history hasn't really run rightly to the Glory of God or the advancement of Christian Faith and Honour. We don't even spell it honouranymore. And no, I don't think it's symbolic that we've takeuout ofhonour, henceuare no longer honorable. Yet I digress...

Our Founding Fathers were men of great intention and, generally, good heart. Were there ways and places they had shortcomings? No more than you or I do. That they are remembered today to be criticized for what they did not do is the result of what theydidaccomplish. They attempted and accomplished things many of us would never undertake.

I'm thankful for the good examples that are left for us by the men and women that persevered through those years. So, today, if you've got a roof over your head and food to eat, time to stare a computer or watch some football, let's be positive and thankful for what we do have. We can dwell on the lessons learned the other 364 days a year.

So, what are you doing today that will make you memorable enough that people 400 years from now will find fault with you?

About Doug...

So, who is Doug?

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, who died to save the world from sin.  I find myself more in awe of His grace and the wonder and majesty of God every day.

I'm blessed to be married to Ann, who is much more amazing than words can ever tell.

I'm the father of Olivia, Angela, and Steven.  Sometimes, I'm glad I've only got 3.  Other days, I wonder why we have so few.

I am the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Monticello, Arkansas.  We're a group of people that are trying to honor our heritage as a Baptist church while seeking our future as a part of God's Kingdom.

I am honored that you've read this far.  Hopefully you'll find somethings in this blog worth considering, and feel free to comment.  I alternate between moderated and not-moderated simply because of spam comments.  So, comment away. This is my blog, though, and while your views are your own, I'm responsible for what people read here, so if it gets profane or unnecessarily offensive and rude, I'll delete it.  Blogger and Wordpress both allow free blogs, so if you really want to spew, go get your own blog in your own name.

I don't blog every day.   My biggest responsibility is to my wife, then my children.  Then I'm responsible to teach and lead the church I pastor.  Beyond that, I blog to supplement my church leadership and to help myself grow through expressing thoughts.  I also occasionally blog book reviews for books I get for free.  Those reviews are clearly marked.  I don't derive any income from blogging at the present time, and doubt I ever will, though you can subscribe to this blog for your Amazon Kindle.  If you do, and don't feel like you're getting your money's worth, let me know!

Other things about me?  I'm still thinking about running for President in 2012, but I don't know if I can take enough vacation time.

Why do an "About me" now?  Because I just realized my template had an "About" shortcut that went nowhere.  So, I thought it would be good to give it a place to point.

Feel free to contact me through this blog if you have any questions! (hit the "contact tab" and take the extra spaces out of the email address!)

Skit Guys

I've been a long-time fan of a comedy duo called The Skit Guys.  They're a couple of youth ministry people that are quite entertaining. 

And they're trying to win the Doritos contest to be featured in the Doritos Superbowl Commercial or something like that.  These links take you to their videos.  I like the penguin one better.

http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/5586

http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/4855

Check it out!

Doug

FREE!!! IT'S FREE!

Just because it's free....

So, I'm sitting here, trying to simplify my digital organization scheme. Why? Well, let's inventory what I have had, and some of it I still have:

3 Separate Google accounts: 1 straight-up, 2 domain/Google Apps.

Between them, these are connected to: 6 email addresses (not counting that I'm the domain admin for the 2 Apps accounts, and so I get any non-addressed email to those domains); 13 blogs; 7 Google calendars; 1 Google Voice account; 3 Google Docs accounts; and a Google gears app on my computer that I don't know what it does.

I also have Facebook account that is the admin on both a fan page and an organization page for the church plus a group page for ministers in Drew county.

I am the only one that does anything with the church website, which is free, and has a blog, calendar, and all sorts of other stuff, and it's great, but it doesn't link to anything else.

Plus I need all of this to sync back to my laptop, my Blackberry, the desk computer at home, some of it to the church desktop, and all the websites really need to communicate.

And it's not working. So I'm deleting 60% of it. Why do I even have it in the first place? Simple: it was free! Well, the domain registrations were $20 a piece for 2 years, but the rest is free!!!! And shouldn't we take advantage of free? I mean, really, what's it going to hurt?

Oh, I also review books so I can get them free. I've done them for Zondervan, Thomas Nelson (I still owe you guys on David Jeremiah's Living with Confidence! It's a great book! My chaotic world has kept me from reviewing. I'll get it, Mr. Hyatt, I promise!!), WaterBrook/Multnomah, and somebody else (I'm not even sure who!!). Point taken.

I'm a bit of an abuser of free, apparently. There's so much free available that I'll use it all, whether I need it or not. And that's not exactly a good thing. It shows a selfishness that we don't need any more of in our nation and culture. We certainly don't need it in our churches. We've become increasingly hooked on free.

We treat the free as if, since it's free to us, the price doesn't have to be paid somewhere. Guess what? Someone's buying the bandwidth at Google and Facebook. The paper and ink aren't free for review copies. That potluck you get to eat Sunday, someone cooked it, prepped it, planned it, and made it happen. The freedom we have to be thankful for this November? That forgiveness of sins, guess what, that grace? Yeah, it's free. For you.

Let's stop abusing free. Take what you need, but do your best to need less. It's not that Google's going to run out of bits or that God will exhaust His graciousness, but really, just because it's free to you doesn't mean you need to take all you can.

And yes, I just put those two together, because how we handle trivial things like billion dollar companies impacts how we handle stuff that matters, like our relationship with the Almighty God of the universe.

Doug

November 17 Hour of Prayer Guideline

Calvary Baptist Church Prayer Hour:

1. Prayer for ourselves:

   1. That we stand rightly before God:

      1. 19Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Heb 10:19-22 (NASB)

2. Do we have unconfessed sin?

3. Are we harboring any resentment toward others?

4. Do we covet what others have?

5. Are we focused on God and not on the things we are doing for Him or what we are 'giving up' for Him by taking time to pray?

1. 1. That we open our hearts to Him, acknowledging our dependence on Him

2. Prayer for our families

   1. That our homes will be places of worship

   2. That our homes will be places of prayer

   3. That our homes will be places of discipleship

   4. That our homes will be places of outreach

3. Prayer for Calvary Baptist Church

   1. That this will be a house of prayer

   2. That this will be a church committed to the truth

   3. That this will be a church committed to reaching Monticello

   4. That this will be a church committed to reaching the world

   5. That we will engage all ages with God's truth

4. Prayer for Monticello, Arkansas and Drew County

   1. That all churches will focus on what matters: The Gospel of Jesus Christ

   2. That our communities will turn to Christ

5. Prayer for our nation:

   1. That the Gospel will be preached by all churches

   2. That our hearts will turn to God

6. Prayer for our world:

   1. That our fellow believers will be comforted in their suffering

   2. That our fellow believers will be bold in witness to Christ

   3. That we will work together to spread the Gospel to all people

What's going on here?

Okay, this isn't really a blog post, but a quick posting of where we are as a church.  I'd challenge any of you who are followers of Jesus to consider the situation, though.  Are you willing to give an hour of prayer for your church?

Dear Members of Calvary Baptist Church,

As we approach another season of Thanksgiving, it is easy to find the many things we have to be thankful for: God has been faithful through this past year; we continue to enjoy the freedom to worship Him, and we have seen some souls saved in the past 12 months. 

Yet we can also find many causes for concern.  First, people in Monticello and around the world step into eternity through death, and many go to eternal judgment.  Second, while we see a core of faithful members, Calvary Baptist Church does not draw in many new members. Finally, we can easily see that the moral, ethical, and financial      problems of our country have affected Monticello, and some of those challenges also challenge this church.

What can we do about it?  The answer is the same as it was for the disciples after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must pray and seek His power.  Not in passing, not lightly, but crying out to God from the desperation

of our hearts.  From our desperation that people

not go to Hell.  From our desperation that our children

not falter from following Christ.  From our desperation that we, as a church of the Living God, not fail to

accomplish His purposes.

As your pastor, I am calling you to prayer.  Not because I don’t think you pray on your own.  Not because God does not hear your prayers when you pray alone.

Instead, it is because I believe we must come together to confess our need for Him.  We must come together to

demonstrate that nothing has a greater hold on us than

our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m calling on all of you who are physically able and not home-bound by young children to join me on Tuesday nights at 8 PM to pray.  Every Tuesday night, in the church sanctuary, we will gather with whomever will come to pray that our Heavenly Father will turn the tide of our hearts, of this church, of this city, and of this world.

If you are stuck-at-home on Tuesday nights, I issue the same call.  If you are willing to commit that hour, but can’t leave the house, write your name and phone number on this sheet and give it to me.  I’ll connect you with a prayer partner so that you can call and encourage each other in prayer on Tuesday nights.

It’s one hour.  It can be done, and it will move us to become the people God has called us to be.  The question is simply one of your willingness.

I’ll see you Tuesday night at 8.

Bro. Doug

Moving day is going to be November 7! So, here we go.

Any help is appreciated. All prayers greatly appreciated!