Sermons

According to Luke: The Cost To Following Christ Opening Illustration: Endurance is a quality that God expects us to manifest. If you go to an IKEA store, you will find somewhere in the chair department a glass box with what is called the durability test. They have a mechanism that simulates someone sitting on the chair, and they say the chair was used 10 times a day for 10 years and it’s still like new in its original shape. The furniture at IKEA was never meant to be as sturdy or as high quality as the good old teak or oak furniture that the older generation has probably been accustomed to. Let’s face it--it’s cheap quality but they want to sell it by showing how durable it is. 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul says "I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith." Someone posted a very funny picture on the Internet called "The real IKEA durability test" where a dog is chewing one of those chairs and it didn’t pass the ...

According To Luke: Dealing With Difficult People Opening Illustration: How many of you say a prayer like this, “Lord be with me today”? How many of you have said a prayer like this, “Lord give me an opportunity to display my faith today”? I have prayed prayers like that and I am thankful that God answers those prayers everyday. That’s right, everyday God provides me opportunities to share my faith and see Jesus move. Everyday.  What I have discovered is that God provides those opportunities in curious ways. He presence is most felt in my life when difficult people are near or when difficult circumstances are present. Isn’t that funny? God I want you to be near. Ok Stuart, here are some really hard times, difficult situations, and troublesome people. Um God, that is not exactly what I was talking about.  God, give me an opportunity to live out my faith. Ok Stuart, here is someone that is really hard to love, speaks poorly of you, dislikes you publicly, love that ...

According To Luke: Who Is The Greatest? Opening Illustration: Sports fans will know that Muhammad Ali today is called the greatest. Ali himself used to tell everyone “I am the greatest,” but not everyone agreed, especially when he was younger. He became the greatest in the eyes of the world over the last 40 years. Muhammad Ali used to “float like a butterfly” and “sting like a bee”. Ali would dodge a punch while he used a very unconventional style, with hands held low, as he bobbed and weaved. In 1964, he was far from the Greatest. He was an underdog. Hardly anyone gave him any hope of winning the fight. But he won and became the Heavy Weight Champion of the world. Then he lost his title and had to win it back in the so-called “Rumble in the Jungle”, against then champion Gorge Foreman. Yes indeed. Young people might be surprised to know that Foreman was an athlete before earning his current fame as the salesman of George Forman grills. Ali was the World’s He...