Category Archives: sermon podcasts

The Nature of Grace

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A pastor I knew had just cared for the funeral of a woman who had never given God the time of day until the week before her death. There, on her death bed, she repented of her sin and placed her faith in Christ. The pastor, hoping his people would rejoice over this child that was lost and had been found, mentioned this on the following Sunday in the morning worship service.

He was surprised when a woman spoke up with: “That’s not fair.”

It’s not fair.

It’s grace.

But if you have been working hard to coax God to accept you, it’s a little exasperating when you hear of someone who finds what you’ve been looking for comes by grace.

This podcast speaks of the nature of grace, looking at the parable of the workers.

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What does it mean to be a Christ-Follower?

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What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Does it demand things of us?

The Bible clearly teaches that it costs nothing to have your sins forgiven. Jesus paid it all. He took all the punishment as he hung on the cross. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Forgiveness, regeneration, justification — these are free gifts from God through Christ. But the idea of following Jesus without there being a cost in doing so is completely alien to biblical teaching. The New Testament church would have considered such a concept as nonsense. So would Christ-followers in places like Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, or Iran.

This podcast speaks about the meaning of discipleship — the reality of being a Christ-follower.

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Replacing Discouragement with Expectancy

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The story is told of a man who was walking along the beach, after the tide had gone. Scattered densely on the sand were thousands of starfish that the tide had brought in, but neglected to take out. In a short time, the sun and wind would dry the starfish, leaving them dead. The man, on his daily walk, was bending down, picking them up one at a time, tossing them back into the ocean.

After watching this for a while, a tourist approached him and said, “There are so many starfish on this beach. What difference could what you are doing possibly make? What does it matter?” The man bent down, picked up another starfish, and just before tossing it into the sea said, “It matters to this one.”

If there is one tool of the enemy that is nearly universal in its effectiveness, it is the tool of discouragement. Often, because the task embodied in The Great Commission seems overwhelming, believers just give up. This podcast strives to help us avoid this. It helps us recover our lost expectations.

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