Special Guest Speaker: Dr. Frank Turek - apologist, speaker, radio & TV host, and president of Crossexamined.org
April 17, 2016: Gospel Flow
Luke Series
Text: Luke 10:25-37
Luke 10 introduces a new focus to previous discourses: keeping the law (being good) won't gain you eternal life because it's an impossible feat. In chapter 10, this crushing truth is nestled in between two not-so-new truths: the reality of Judgment Day and the consistent teaching to love others well. We'll tie all this together and focus on the essentials of the Gospel. I'm not going to preach on the law as I mentioned last week, I've switched direction.
April 10, 2016: He Stands Alone
Luke Series
Text: Luke 9:28-36
This is the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses (law) and Elijah (prophets) appear with Jesus, glorified. Peter offers the usual discombobulated babble you would expect from him. Soon enough though, the two disappear and only Jesus remains. As great as the law and the prophets stood in the minds of the disciples, they fade away before the power and presence of Jesus Christ. This will lead into a sermon next Sunday on the purpose and role of the law in the life of the believer today.
April 3, 2016: Bigger than That
Luke Series
Text: Luke 8:40-56
We've just celebrated Easter, the resurrection. It's easy to loose our focus on the power and hope that the Gospel brings. I know many of our people are walking through tough stuff and I don't want them to become weary in doing good or faint in petitioning God for big things. He's able. When Jairus' 12 year old daughter - his only daughter - was dying, he threw himself at Jesus' feet. After an interruption, someone told Jairus his daughter had died. "Don't bother the teacher any more." How sad. Hope was lost. How many of our people grow weary of doing good in their messy situations? How often do we grow weak in prayer? How often do our people quietly throw in the towel and walk away? God can do anything. I hope to revive our people through this message to not give up and persevere through times, even seemingly hopeless situations.
March 27, 2016: So What?
Luke Series
Text Luke 7:36-50
A Pharisee invites Jesus over for dinner. When a city woman hears about it she shows up and her brokenness is on full display. She wets His feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair and kisses and anoints them with perfume. Quite the contrast to the self righteous Pharisee.
March 20, 2016: When Faith Fails
Luke Series
Text: Luke 7:1-23
Next week we'll celebrate a dead man walking. Luke provides three successive demonstrations of the power of God, and the corresponding faith of those involved. The Gentile Centurion would not even have Jesus under his roof to heal his dying servant. When hope had passed, Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead, but she had not requested this of Him. With these and other events captivating crowds, John the Baptist languished in prison and openly questioned his confidence in Jesus. Though an abundance of convincing evidence was right under his nose he could not see it, for he was weak. We'll look at both the Centurion's and John's faith, because b/c there's a little bit of both in each of us. Life has that effect on us. What's important though, is the object of our faith...that's where we draw strength. After all, next Sunday, we celebrate a dead man walking.
March 13, 2016: A Jet Tour From Genesis to Revelation
Luke Series
Text: Luke 24:25-27
Well we've asked people to really dig into the Word. One thing that was enormously helpful to me when I was younger was to read a book which painted the big picture of the Bible for me. I gained an understanding of how each book and character fit together. This big thick book became less intimidating. I'll walk us through the narrative, covenants, principles, and timeless truths of God's unfolding drama of redemption.It is my hope that people will be inspired to dig deeper themselves.
March 13, 2016: A Jet Tour From Genesis to Revelation
Luke Series
Text: Luke 24:25-27
Well we've asked people to really dig into the Word. One thing that was enormously helpful to me when I was younger was to read a book which painted the big picture of the Bible for me. I gained an understanding of how each book and character fit together. This big thick book became less intimidating. I'll walk us through the narrative, covenants, principles, and timeless truths of God's unfolding drama of redemption. it is my hope that people will be inspired to dig deeper themselves.
March 6, 2016: Discipleship
Guest Speaker - Mark Whitacre
It's the third month of the year, so time for my third vision piece for DBC. This Sunday we will hear Mark Whitacre direct us to the Word and speak to the importance of personal discipleship. Someone invested in him and changed the trajectory of his entire life. His undercover work with the FBI during the ADM scandal was the inspiration for the major motion picture, "The Informant." The three topics you will hear me talk a lot about this year are:
1. Digging into the Word.
2. Loving people. Loving everyone, well.
3. Personal discipleship opportunities.
February 28, 2015: The Judgment Juggernaut
Luke Series
Text: Luke 6:37-42
We continue in our study of Jesus famous teachings, this one will probably hit close to home for a lot of us. We'll focus on the destructive habit of judging others and the shrapnel that that shows up everywhere in its wake. But before we get to that we need to correctly understand what it means to "judge not, lets you be judged". That's often take out of context and misapplied. Sunday's message will be highly practical and applicable. There will be a short vignette featuring some of our teens toward the end. A theme of the message will be protecting the unity and health of the body of Christ, particularly our church family. The Scripture Reading was chosen to reflect our ongoing commitment to value and dig deep into God's Word.
February 21, 2016: Don't Just Stand There!
Luke Series
Text: Luke 6
Last week we chased some passages which show how deeply and unconditionally we are loved by God. If you missed the message, please catch it before Sunday. That message will inform this sermon, in which we'll lay out the Christian mandate to love others well. I've said before, that I was very convicted by my study of Isaiah 58; I do not think that I (or, DBC) do enough to minister to the poor and marginalized in our community. We'll have a special reading of that passage before diving into Luke 6; please read this chapter before Sunday. This message will have a special 'vision-casting' element for how I'd like to direct our church.
February 14, 2016: A Gracious Kind of Love
Luke Series
Text: Luke 6
In this message we look at the type of radical love Jesus requires of His followers. It's a tough and resilient love. This call to love is echoed throughout the NT. Paul, in particular, hones in on this and then makes a direct application to marriage: we are all to love each other, but husbands are called upon to heighten this love within their marriage. This Sunday will be a refresher message on what love should look like between husband and wife. We all need this reminder.
February 7, 2016: Blessings and Woes
Luke Series
Text: Luke 6:17-26
This is the sister message to the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus often repeated key elements of His teachings in different settings. An overarching truth is that what is to come is where we should be focused, not there here and now. When we suffer loss for following Christ, we are most blessed because life is short and our reward is in heaven.
January 31, 2015: What Community Looks Like
Luke Series
Text: Luke 5
Those guys who brought their paralytic friend displayed intentional and servant friendship. They did not let obstacles stop them until they literally got their guy on the roof and lowered down before Jesus. There are so many tie-ins to what relationships ("one anothers") within the church should look like. As well, we'll look at sub-themes such as the power and freedom of the Gospel juxtaposed against the attending Pharisees and scribes (and how do we draw these parallels? Through intentional study of Scripture :-)). And we will ask ourselves:do the miracles performed by Jesus in Luke 5 match those displayed by faith healers today?
January 24, 2015: Canceled because of the snowstorm
January 17, 2016: When Testing Comes
Luke Series
Text: Luke 4
The record of Jesus' testing and temptation is telling. If Jesus experienced it, we should expect the same treatment. His temptation followed glory and He used the WORD to respond to and extinguish the fiery darts of the devil. This ties right into our theme of prioritizing the Word in our lives. We'll look at the nature of testing and temptation and how to stand up under it.
January 10, 2016: Character Development: John the Baptist
Luke Series
Text: Luke 3:7-9
John was a voice calling in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and His salvation. His message was clear: repentance. He did not mince words and his life was unique in every way. His latter days are full of drama and end in decapitation.
January 3, 2016: A Holy Pursuit
December 27, 2015: The Supporting Cast
Text: Luke 2:21-52
Luke gives us such great detail on cast supporting Jesus' birth. Such godly characters. God uses others to work in and through us as He accomplishes His purposes. Last week we focused on love, a theme we hit in the Rethink series. This week we'll focus on another Rethink theme: community, as it plays out in the Advent narrative.
December 20, 2015: This is Love
In this well-known account, we'll highlight the many profound ways God shows love and kindness to us by sending His Son - He gives us the very best. The highest praise was given by angels and men alike because of who He is and what He did. Also, God's providential care and leading is remarkable in this passage, in a very personal manner.