Sermons

God Made A Way: Easter Devotional Opening Illustration: In 1994, a 67-year-old carpenter named Russell Herman died in Marion, Illinois. In his last will and testament he bequeathed the following: • $2.4 billion to the town of Cave-In-Rock • $2.4 billion to the city of East St. Louis • $1.5 billion for projects in southeastern Illinois And in a final act of unprecedented generosity, he left $6 trillion to the Federal Reserve to pay off the national debt (it would take a lot more today because the debt is now over $14 trillion). There was only one problem: at the time of his death, the only thing Mr. Herman actually owned was a 1983 Olds Toronado. Russell Herman may not have left behind anything of monetary value, but he did leave us all with a good reminder: you can’t give away what you don’t possess. Point The bottom line is that he did not have the resources to make any of this a reality. Not so with God. He has all the means to make good on all His pr...

Palm Sunday: Who Is This Man? I recently heard a story of a driver that refused to stop at a STOP sign; he was then pulled over by a cop. The incident happed in the 1980’s. The cop told him that the reason he pulled him over was because he refused to stop at a STOP sign. He replied that he slowed down, the cop then explain to him that the sign reads STOP and not slow down. He then gave him a ticket. The second day, the same driver refused to stop at the same sign, the same cop pulled him over, the same accusation and the same defense, he was then given another ticket. The third day, the same driver refused to stop at the same STOP sign, he was pulled over by the same cop, and was accused of not stopping at the same STOP sign, again, he told the cop that he did slow down. The cop then took a big stick and started hitting him with it on his head very fast, he then asked the driver, "Since you are finding it difficult to understand the difference between STOP and SLOW DO...

According To Luke: The Harvest Is Plentiful Opening Illustration: Jesus did a lot of speaking and always had unique ways of describing simple but deep truths about God and how God relates to humanity. Jesus told stories, or parables, to illustrate God’s love and affection for people. Many of those stories included things and situations that most everyone had experienced during His time. Jesus talked a lot about farming and agriculture. You might remember the parable of the sower captured in Matthew 13. Jesus illustrated God’s judgement in Matthew 3 when He talked about God’s “winnowing fork” being in His hand ready to separate the wheat and chaff. The winnowing fork was a common farming tool in those days. Just last week in Luke 10, Jesus tells His followers that “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God”. The apostle Paul even talks about farming in 2 Corinthians 9:6-18, “ Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a sma...