Sermons

  Jesus In His Own Words: I AM…The Gate Opening Illustration: This morning, to start today’s message, I want to read for you a passage of Scripture from Genesis 6:14-16. It is the story of when God spoke to a normal man, his name being Noah. God instructed Noah to do something very strange. He instructed him to build a boat. We do not know exactly where the boat was built but we do know that after the flood it came to rest in what is today modern day Turkey on Mount Ararat. This is one of the strangest stories in all of the Bible. Most scholars believe that God told Noah to build a boat where there was no large bodies of water. Nothing like the ark had ever been constructed by human hands. The Bible tells us that the ark would be built to combat a global flood. This was unbelievable in Noah’s day because Scripture tells us that the earth had never experienced rain. That’s right, there was a global canopy of moisture that brought water to plants and all living things. It had neve...

  Jesus In His Own Words: I AM…The Light of The World Opening Illustration: Chances are you have never heard the story of Herman Mendoza. I was listening to a pod-cast a few weeks ago and heard the story of his conversion from New York drug lord to born again Christian who now pastors one of the largest churches in New York City. Mendoza starting experimenting with alcohol and drugs when he was in his early teens. His parents were hardly ever around. He began dealing drugs in his late teens. In his early 20’s he couldn’t find honest work so he drove deeper into the drug game. He made money fast and easy. He was wealthy, living the high life. He was partying every day. He was young, rich, and powerful. However, that would all come crashing down with the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force busted him and his partners. Suddenly, he was looking at life in prison. Mendoza turned state’s evidence and went to prison for a short time. When he was released, he immediately went back to t...