Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
For years I was convinced that I needed a full manuscript in front of me to preach. I don’t have a great memory and was not able to memorize the sermon no matter hard I tried. My wife tried to convince me to ditch the manuscript but I didn’t have the confidence. The first time … Read More “How to Preach Without a Manuscript” »
I remember a time when no one used PowerPoint for sermons. In fact, I can remember when I first saw (and not just heard) a pastor preach using PowerPoint. I thought it was pretty amazing and couldn’t wait to try it myself. In those early days, it was quite the process to put together a … Read More “Questions to Ask When Using PowerPoint for Sermons” »
I believe that good biblical content is the key to any sermon. However, if that content is not delivered effectively, the congregation will struggle to learn from the good teaching. There has been one thing that has improved my sermon delivery more than anything else. The good news is that it is very simple. The … Read More “The One Thing That Has Improved My Sermon Delivery More Than Anything Else” »
I am both an apologist and a pastor. I do not see those as two different vocations, but rather two aspects of the same calling. I believe that it is important for pastors to integrate some apologetics into their pastoral ministry. This does not mean that every Sunday should be an apologetics sermon or even … Read More “5 Apologetics Topics Pastors Can Preach On” »
The challenge for preaching is that most churches don’t have a homogeneous congregation. The people who are listening to the message are coming from different backgrounds and perspectives. I think that its is a mistake to write a sermon that attempts to cover every group. It is better to find out what most of the … Read More “5 Different People That Pastors Preach To” »
I was asked today on Facebook about the difference between a speech and a sermon. I thought that was a good question and so I have decided to look more closely at it. What is a speech? According to one online dictionary, a speech (at least in the relevant context) is: A formal address or … Read More “What is the Difference Between a Speech and a Sermon?” »
A sermon preached at Queen Street Baptist Church on Luke 7:18-28. Introduction Would you describe yourself as gullible or skeptical? I must confess that one of my guilty privileges is having fun with gullible people. I once convinced a lady that I had invented a solar-powered flashlight that unfortunately only worked in the daylight. I … Read More “Faith, Doubt and the Unexpected” »
A message based on Luke 7:1-10 preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction What would it take to amaze you? Depending on your life experience, it might be difficult for you to be surprised or taken off guard. Others might be amazed on a daily basis by the things that happen. I was amazed this past … Read More “I Believe. Yes, Sir!” »
A sermon based on Luke 6:37-42 preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction It has been observed that we live in a post-Christian society, where many people both inside and outside the church are not particularly biblically literate. The time of simply alluding to a Bible story and having most of your audience understand is … Read More “To Judge or Not to Judge” »
A sermon based on Luke 6:27-36 and preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction I don’t think that I need to preach too hard on the importance of love. I’m sure that there are very few people who would argue that love is unimportant. A random search for quotes on love brought up such thoughts as: … Read More “Tough Love: What Does It Mean To Love Our Enemies?” »
A sermon based on Mark 11:1-11 preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction I have been stuck in traffic many times in my life. Once I was even an hour and a half late for church when I was commuting to Toronto. But there is one traffic jam that sticks in my mind, and not … Read More “What is So Triumphal About the Triumphal Entry?” »
A sermon that looks at the blessings and woes in Luke 6:17-26 preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction God bless you! When are you most likely to hear that? While we should hear it a lot in church, you probably hear it more when people sneeze. This tradition goes back thousands of years. The ancient … Read More “Blessings and Woes in an Upside Down World” »
This is a sermon that was preached at Queen Street Baptist Church as part of CBOQ Sunday. Introduction This is Queen Street Baptist Church. Queen Street BAPTIST Church. We belong to the Canadian BAPTISTS of Ontario and Quebec. What in the world is a Baptist? Many people think that Baptists are simply about using a … Read More “What is a Baptist?” »
A sermon preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on Luke 6:1-11. Introduction Having moved back to St. Catharines, it has brought back a lot of memories of the way things used to be. What has changed is not so much the different location but rather the different time. One of the things that stand … Read More “Give It a Rest” »
For a long time I would always bring a full manuscript with me to the pulpit. I would make notes in the margins, underline certain words or sentences and perhaps highlight main points. I was never happy with it. My wife strongly encouraged me to not use a manuscript but I knew my memory was … Read More “What I Use for Sermon Notes” »
A sermon based on Luke 5:12-32 preached at Queen St Baptist Church. Introduction There have been a number of movies that have stuck with me as having a real impact. One of those movies was the 1962, The Miracle Worker. This is the true story of Ann Sullivan and Helen Keller. I think what really … Read More “The Miracle Worker” »
A sermon preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on 1 John 4:7-12. Introduction If we were to tune into a random radio station, how long do you think it would take for us to hear the word ‘love’? How long would it take for us to hear it a hundred times? If we looked … Read More “All You Need is Love” »
A sermon preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on Luke 5:1-11. Introduction I have accomplished many things in my life that I never thought that I would. I never thought I would write a book. I never thought I would teach a college class. I never thought I would make it through army basic training. … Read More “Caught in Jesus’ Net” »
A sermon I preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on Luke 4:14-30. Introduction What we are going to be looking at today is the story of Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth and the people rejecting him because he was not who they thought he was. To explain what this case of mistaken identity … Read More “So You Think You Know Jesus?” »
This is a sermon titled “Trusting Like Jesus” based on Luke 4:1-13 that I preached at Queen St Baptist Church. Introduction One of the things that I really love about the Bible is that there is nothing there by accident. The authors place everything in certain places to help us to understand the big picture. … Read More “Trusting Like Jesus” »
“Repent” is a sermon I preached at Queen Street Baptist Church based on Luke 3:1-14 Introduction A pastor colleague suggested that my first sermon as the pastor of QSBC should be on John the Baptist’s gentle rebuke of “You brood of vipers!” I know that is not appropriate for a first sermon and that is … Read More “Repent!” »
Gospel of Luke: A Gospel for Everyone preached at Queen Street Baptist Church Acts 2:14-21 Introduction There are so many things that we as a Christian congregation could look at. We have 66 books of the Bible to study, with numerous biblical figures, topics and subjects that overlap with our daily life. Where should we start? … Read More “A Gospel for Everyone” »
1 Peter 3:13-16 Introduction I have many roles in my life of ministry. I am a guest preacher, a Bible college teacher, an army chaplain and a writer. One of the roles that I really enjoy is that of an apologist. An apologist? What in the world is that? Does that mean that I spend … Read More “Apologetics in the Real World” »
1 John 5:1-12 Introduction As we come to the end of our series on 1 John, we have seen that John expects certain things to go along with the faith. We are to take sin seriously. We are to love as God loves. We are to understand Jesus for who he really is. As … Read More “Faith Test: Truth” »
1 John 2:28-3:10 Introduction One of the underlying themes in John’s letter, one that has influenced every part of the Faith Test, is that there should be a family resemblance in our relationship with God. Now we get to dig deeper into what that really means. First, we should ask why John would even want … Read More “Faith Test: Child of God” »
1 John 2:18-27, 4:1-3 Introduction We are going to be looking today at the doctrine of the incarnation, that is that God the Son became human in such a way that he was fully God and fully human. Are you bored yet? Who wants to hear about theology? This is not what we come to … Read More “Faith Test: Incarnation” »
This is the sermon I preached for the 160th anniversary of Woodford Baptist Church. Judges 6:11-18 Introduction Of all the judges, Gideon is one of my favourites. Most of the other judges are fairly one-dimensional characters. But with the story of Gideon we are given, not just information about his life, but insights into who … Read More “The Lord is With You” »
A sermon based on 1 John 2:15-17 that was preached at Toronto Chinese Baptist Church. Introduction Flee from the things of the world! Avoid worldly influences! What does that even mean? When I was a new Christian, I attended a church that put a lot of emphasis on the difference between what was Christian and what was … Read More “Faith Test: The World” »
1 John 1:5-2:2 Introduction What does it mean to be a Christian? Well, that is easy, you just believe in Jesus. Yes, faith in Christ is the foundation of the protestant church. People become Christians by faith alone. Read through Romans, the Apostle Paul goes through it over and over again. It is not be … Read More “Faith Test: Sin” »
What do you do when your pastor preaches? Do you zone out? Do you play with your phone (text, Facebook, etc.)? Do your try and listen? Listening to a sermon does not have to be a completely passive experience. Here are five things that you could be doing. 1. Take notes. One of the most … Read More “5 Things You Can Do While Your Pastor is Preaching” »
A sermon I preached at Toronto Chinese Baptist Church. Genesis 45:1-11 Introduction I need to make a confession about one of the most satisfying experiences that I had as a teenager. As a child, I was always one of the smallest students in my class. Most often, all the boys and all the girls were … Read More “I’ve Got the Power!” »
The following is a sermon that I preached at Toronto Chinese Baptist Church. Genesis 41:41-46 Introduction When I was a child, the thing that was most interesting to me was the army. I am not sure exactly where that came from. I didn’t have, at that time anyway, any close family that served in the … Read More “Getting the Big Job” »
A message based on James 3:1-12. Introduction I love to have opportunities to preach. It is such an honour to be able to dig into the Scriptures and to build bridges between the original context and our present setting. And yet what passage am I assigned? I get to preach about the danger of the … Read More “Watch Your Tongue” »
Ideally a preacher will have had time to formally study preaching/homiletics in a Bible college or seminary before presenting their first sermon. That should include practice with feedback from the teacher and/or class. Mentoring by an experienced pastor is also very helpful. Having said that, I know that the ideal is not always the reality. … Read More “How to Write a Sermon” »
I often hear people complaining that they do not feel fed at church. By this they usually mean they do not like the pastor’s sermons. I will admit that I have been there before. So what should you do if you feel this way? Here are five suggestions. 1. Get over it There is no biblical … Read More “5 Things to Do If You Do Not “Feel Fed” at Church” »
A sermon preached at First Baptist Church based on Acts 4:32-35. Introduction Sometimes we have preconceived ideas about what something looks like. I remember the first time I met Mike Allen, the former padre in Meaford. He had read Unmasking the Pagan Christ before we met. The first thing he said to me was that … Read More “How Do You Recognize a Good Church?” »
A sermon based on Numbers 13:1-3, 25-33 preached at First Baptist Church Meaford. Introduction Can you remember doing something for the first time and feeling inadequate? There are so many times that I can’t even count them. Getting married. How would Amanda and I blend our personalities to make a healthy family? The birth of Logan. What … Read More “Beware the Grasshoppers” »
This is my sermon from this morning at Queensway Baptist Church. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 Introduction Change is not something that comes easily. I have sometimes joked that I don’t mind change as long as it is the same kind of change that I have always had. I enjoy the familiar. The familiar is comfortable. This … Read More “What are You Made Of?” »
This is a sermon that I preached at the 161st anniversary service at First Baptist Church, Owen Sound. Ezra 3:10-13 Introduction Anniversaries are special events for churches, something that not every tradition understands. An anniversary is a time for us to celebrate the past and to prepare for the future. When my wife and I … Read More “What Noise Are You Making?” »
Christian leaders need to learn to take a compliment. Early on I picked up on the assumption that pastors are supposed to reject all compliments. If someone tells you they enjoyed your sermon/Bible study/article, quickly reject the compliment and give the glory to God. I understand the principles behind this and we should give glory … Read More “Ministry Reflection Eight” »
Introduction Some surprises are good and some are bad. I remember some bad ones. I remember biting into what I thought was a chocolate donut and finding out it was a pumpernickel bagel or what I thought was a nice sweet grape and finding out it was a black olive. On the other hand, I … Read More “Six Surprises of Easter” »
1 Corinthians 2:1-2, 15:12-17 Introduction Have you ever been in some sort of sales transaction or contract? All sorts of details are being presented and the other person goes on and on and on. As you are listening to all the talking, you begin lose patience. What is the bottom line? Whether that is price … Read More “Did Jesus Die on the Cross and Rise Again?” »
