Riverside Covenant Sermons

Sermon text: 1 Samuel 17:1-51

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It is always a humbling task to give a sermon on a story that everyone has heard so many times.  Even non-Christians and the average person in our world – if we were to ask about Bible stories that they know would name this story of a small shepherd boy, David and the enormous giant of a man, Goliath.

What is it about this story that so captivates us as people and draws us in?  It is not exactly a pleasant story.  Goliath gets his head cut off at the end . . . it is about war, but we love the story because it is about an underdog that prevails.

It is the same reason that we got really excited about Butler in the NCAA basketball tournament earlier this year.  It was reported that Duke spends $394,068 per player on their basketball roster.  Butler spends $347,108 on the entire team.  Duke’s coach had 76 NCAA tournament victories.  Butler’s coach was mistaken for a player buy Lucas Oil Stadium security before the championship game.  Duke had 6 McDonald’s All-Americans and Butler had a bunch of guys from Indiana.

The story line was fantastic and anyone that did not have pre-existing loyalties rooted for Butler because we like underdogs.  And we like underdogs because there is a part of us all that believe we are underdogs at something.  Perhaps no one thought we would amount to much.  Maybe we are from a small town or didn’t do well in school.  Maybe we have had a lot of tragedy in our life.  For whatever reason when we hear stories of underdogs prevailing, it gives us hope that we can too.

Sermon text: Romans 12:1-2 and Mark 8:34-38

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Link to Drama Video

This morning we are going to begin a series of sermons on transformation.  Transformation or change is a fundamental element of the Christian life.  The phrase, “I will never change” has no place in the life of a Christian.  We cannot be faithful people if we do not constantly change. 

There are two fundamental changes that should occur in the Christian life.  The first is the moment that we change our lives from being self-directed to directed by God.  We step over the line and admit that we are sinful and in need of a savior. 

The next level of change, however, is not so clear.  It is the continual churning of our souls by which we constantly change into people that are more Christ-like.  It is a churning in the sense that as we see a clearer picture of Jesus, we recognize how far from that picture we are and how much in need of transformation we really are. 

Sermon Text:

Galatians 5:21

1 Peter 4:3

Galatians 6:1-5

Sermon Text: Luke 21:25-38

Sermon Text

• Philippians 2:1-4
• Galatians 5:16

Sermon text: Romans 16:17-20

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Wow! What a busy week. Friday was a real pain because I got stranded in London. You probably saw the email . . . Thanks for all your help via Western Union.

Let me give you a real quick update on where we are at in this series. We have been going through the various “acts of the sinful nature” in Galatians 5. We only have a few weeks left. This Sunday we are talking about “dissensions” . . . next week Todd will be giving the sermon on “factions,” then I will be doing “addictions” on the 8^th, then on the 15^th Dave Timmerman will finish the series with a sermon I know you have all been waiting for on “orgies.”

I was having lunch with someone from Riverside this week and we were talking about the sermon series and the Timmerman's last Sunday, which is the 15^th. And the waitress was listening to us. I said that Dave was giving the sermon on the 15^th, but that I had not pointed out yet to him what the last sin in the “acts of the sinful nature” was. When I said “orgies,” the waitress’s eyes got really big. Then I told her that she should come and check it out. I am not sure, but I think she may have went into the back of the restaurant and called the police.

I am not sure if Dave will call the sermon, “orgies.” In all seriousness, though the word is translated as “orgies” in the NIV and probably includes what immediately comes to mind, but it also includes all forms of disfunctional, abusive and perverted community. That, I imagine is what Dave will focus on.

This week we are discussing dissensions in the Christian community.

Recording of the facilities discussion after the service on July 18th, 2010

Phillippians 2:1-13

Sermon text: Mark 3: 1-6

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Last night was playing around with my sermon on our laptop and I had just added a few thoughts that I thought might be helpful.  I reached over for my glass of water and somehow I hit my wrist on the power button of the computer and off it went.  Awesome.  I had not saved my notes since I added the new stuff, so I waited for the computer to reboot to see if the content was there and sure enough it was gone. 

So today’s sermon is about anger.

I know that not everyone here this morning is a sports fan, but this week has been really wild in terms of NBA basketball.  One of the best players in the league, Lebron James, recently became a free agent and entered into potential negotiations with several NBA teams.  There has been a ton of speculation about his decision and which choice he would make.  He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers his entire career, but decided on Thursday via primetime hour special on ESPN that he is now going to play for the Miami Heat with a couple of his friends.  The media hype and the 1 hour decision special was a little over the top, but what has really made this a spectacle is the reaction to Lebron James’ decision. 

The anger has been amazing, especially from people in Cleveland that believe that James has betrayed them.  There are photos of people weeping and screaming at their televisions.  There are photos of people burning Lebron James jerseys.  And then I could not help but be a little shocked when I saw the anger of the Cleveland Cavaliers owner in an open letter that he wrote to Cleveland Cavalier fans and posted on the team’s website.  See if you can sense a tone to this letter:

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

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Unity is one of the recurring themes of the Bible.  But the Bible and our lives are also jammed packed full of disunity.  And this is the way that the Bible works.  The Bible paints a picture of how we are supposed to live . . . what we were created to do and be.  Our lives then are movements towards that ideal.

True unity and the avoidance of divisions seems like such an impossible ideal for us as humans in relationship with one another, though. It is hard enough for Dana and me to agree on a place to eat sometimes . . . so when the Bible calls us to perfect unity, that can seem a little crazy and impossible.

The passage we are going to examine this morning comes from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.  The sin from Galatians 5 that we are looking at is “discord.”  Some translations have “contention” or “strife.”  But the basic problem is that humans sinfully struggle to get along, even in the church.

Let’s begin by reading this passage.  Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.