Happy Easter.  I hope your Easter went well.  “I know that you are looking for Jesus,” comes from Matthew 28:5.  The angel tells this to the women who have come to the tomb that first Easter morning.  Are you looking for Jesus?  If so, are you looking for someone who was important but died a long time ago, or are you looking for someone who is alive today and is active in this world.  If Jesus is risen, then it changes how we live.  Lots of people have died too young like Jesus.  He is the only one who has risen from the dead and is still alive today.  That changes everything.

Sunday’s sermon  3-31-13 Easter I Know You Are Looking For Jesus

Sunday’s Bulletin  3-31-13

The parable of the weeds has several lessons to teach us.  I am like the servants in the parable.  I want to go out and pull all the weeds.  Yet the lord says to leave them.  Damage will be done if the servants do this deed.  We live with weeds in our lives.  Maybe our job is not to try and destroy them, but to change them into wheat.  A great illustration of this can be found in the life of Clyde Thompson.  The Meanest Man in Texas is a book written about his life and it shows how a weed can become wheat.

Sunday’s sermon  3-24-13 Parable of the Weeds

Sunday’s bulletin  3-24-13

Matthew 25 is an interesting chapter as we have discovered the last few weeks.  It ends with the parable of the sheep and goats.  I tried to emphasize with the previous parable of the talents that we have the gospel and that has been left to us by Jesus.  One common way to spread the gospel is by preaching or telling it.  The way I want us to approach the sheep and the goats is to see this as the world looking at us and asking us if we believe the gospel.  We don’t just love with our words, but with our actions.  We don’t just tell the gospel with our words, but with our actions.

The sermon from 3-17-13 was not recorded

Sunday’s sermon  3-10-13 Parable of the Sheep and Goats

Bulletin  3-10-13

Bulletin 3-17-13

What if the talents in the parable represent the gospel and the people in our life who need to know the good news.  It’s not about our abilities and maximizing them, but it’s about making sure those we know hear about Jesus.  Let’s love people enough to be sure that at least once they have the chance to hear about Jesus.

Sunday’s Sermon  3-3-13 Parable of the Talents

Sunday’s Bulletin  3-3-13

Waiting.  It’s not what we like to do.  Yet the parable of the 10 virgins is about waiting and being ready when the one who is more important is ready.  Waiting for the Lord is about more than just sitting around.  It is about preparing ourselves to be what the Lord needs us to be when He is ready.  If we fail at this task, then when the Lord is ready to act, we get left behind and those who were ready get to go to the party.  God is not through acting in this world.  There is more He wants to do.  Will you be ready to let him do this through you?

Sunday’s sermon  2-24-13 Parable of the 10 Virgins

Sunday’s bulletin  2-24-13

Continuing our series of parables from Matthew, we looked at the parable of the lost sheep.  In the context of Matthew 18 the parable is set in the community of believers.  The lost sheep is someone who once belonged, but has left.  We usually look at the lost sheep from the perspective of someone who was not a believer and needs to be brought in.  In Matthew it’s about going after the ones who were a part, but have left.  In some ways that may present an even bigger challenge.  Did they leave because the church leadership was not doing its job?  Did they leave because the church was not being what it is supposed to be?  Did they leave because they were like the prodigal?  Each case presents its own unique challenge in seeking the lost sheep.  But we have to start with a basic question first.  Did I contribute in any way to their leaving and if so, what am I going to do about it?  You can hear the rest below.

Sermon  2-17-13 Parable of the Lost Sheep

Bulletin  2-17-13

We started a series yesterday on parables in Matthew.  We began with the parable of the sower.  “He who has ears, let him hear”.  Jesus uttered these words at the end of the parable.  The primary focus yesterday was on the idea of obedience.  Hearing can mean that you heard what someone said.  You heard it, but you are not going to do anything about it.  Jesus has in mind a different meaning for hearing.  A better way to understand Jesus’ statement is this:  “He who has ears, let him obey”.

Sermon 2-10-13 Parable of the Sower

Bulletin  2-10-13

We finished Colossians yesterday.  There is so much more I would have liked to have said, but we need to start looking at the parables in Matthew.  LTC is focused on Matthew this year and I want us to spend some time there on Sunday morning.  At the end of Colossians Paul focuses on relationships.  Husbands and wives, parents and children, slaves and owners as well as those around us who are not believers are the ones Paul discusses..  How the household functions is primary to our spiritual growth.  Gary Thomas makes the point that marriage is not about making us happy, but holy.  How we treat those closest to us tells us the most about ourselves.  Spiritual growth starts there.  How I treat my wife, children and those others close to me is fundamental to God and my growth spiritually.

Sermon 2-3-13 Make Your Relationships Work

Sunday’s Bulletin  2-3-13

Colossians 3:12-17 is the part of the letter where Paul is able to state in positive ways how we grow in Christ.  The previous section dealt with the vices we should put to death.  Here we get to learn what we are to “put on.”  In verse 8 we “put off” and in verse 12 we “put on.”  We don’t leave ourselves vulnerable if we put on the qualities Paul commends to us.  It’s similar to the parable Jesus told about the demon who left a man and went wondering about and then decided to return to the man.  The demon found the man in perfect order to be occupied again so the demon went and found some buddies to live with him in that man.  The man was worse off the second time around.  It’s not enough to get our lives in order.  It’s not just about getting rid of trash in our lives, but then filling our lives with something good.

Sunday’s Sermon  1-27-13 Do All In The Name Of The Lord

Bulletin 1-27-13

Setting our hearts on things above is important.  We have a saying:  “It is what it is.”  This is an earthly way of thinking.  It realistic and in many ways expresses the truth that things here are not what they are supposed to be, but we can’t change it so we adapt.  By setting our sights on things above, we learn to turn “it is what it is” into “it’s going to be what it should.”  By setting our hearts on heaven we realize what can and should be and we work to make it real.  You can hear the rest below.

1-20-13 Set Your Hearts on Heaven

Sunday’s Bulletin 1-20-13