2008 Sermon Manuscripts and Audio Files

Maybe you missed a message or maybe you wanted to replay a message or maybe pass it along. Here you can download the audio file to playback on your computer, put on a CD, or some other device. Feel free to copy and share these messages in any way that might benefit somebody. They are in a .mp3 file.

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If a manuscript is available, the sermon will indicate a link that will direct you to the manuscript.

You can also goto www.sermoncentral.com to find the audio files and sermon notes for these sermons. Enjoy!

If you are interested in checking out sermons from 2007, click here.

This year for Advent we are preparing for the coming of Christ by looking at points where our culture and the gospel of the kingdom intersect. Specifically, we are going to uncover how the gospel is illustrated in some popular stories and movies. Some of these will be recent while others will be classic. Some fall short while others hit the nail on the head. Join us as we look at the Gospel According To...

Luke 2:8-15

December 21, 2008

The Gospel According To... Charlie Brown

The Good News of the Good News is that the gospel is redemtpion for losers like Charlie Brown. It is for losers like you and me.

Click here for Sermon Manuscript.

Audio (MP3) File.

Luke 2:1-7

December 14, 2008

The Gospel According To... The Grinch

The Grinch has an extremely relevant message that is important to remember about the gospel as well as Christmas. Let's examine this Christmas story in light of the real Christmas story.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Acts 10

December 7, 2008

The Gospel According To... Prince Caspian

Through this classic children's story turned into movie, we find an essential element for following Jesus and the coming of God's Kingdom.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Luke 9:46-50

November 30, 2008

The Gospel According To... Horton Hears a Who

As we prepare for the Coming of Christ, we are first going to look at this classic children's tale recently made into a movie. What kernal of the gospel of the kingdom will we find?

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Audio (MP3) File.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

November 23, 2008

Thanksgiving to ThanksLiving

Blood - everyone's favorite topic. We'll look at the significance of blood and what impact this has as we prepare our hearts and minds to receive communion.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

November 16, 2008

The Significance of the Sacrifice

Blood - everyone's favorite topic. We'll look at the significance of blood and what impact this has as we prepare our hearts and minds to receive communion.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Romans 13:1-7

November 9, 2008

Elections: Our Response

Now that the election is over, what is our response? Is it just to get on with our lives? Or is there something more asked of those who follow Jesus?

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Audio (MP3) File.

7UP

Deuteronomy 15:1-11

November 2, 2008

7UP: This Is Not This

We are continuing to look at seven areas to give over to God in order to follow Jesus in holistic community. This week we are going to look at the financial or economic area of our lives.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Philippians 4:1-3

October 26, 2008

7UP: Getting Rid of Bad Breath

We are continuing to look at seven areas to give over to God in order to follow Jesus in holistic community. This week we are going to look at the social area: relationships.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Genesis 1:26-31

October 19, 2008

7UP: Go Green!

We are continuing to look at seven areas to give over to God in order to follow Jesus in holistic community. This week we are going to look at the environmental area.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Philippians 4:8

October 12, 2008

7UP: You're Out of Your Mind

This week we will address the mental area of the 7 areas of our lives that we give up (7UP) to God’s control to be a holistic community that follows Jesus. We will look at how this area is different from other areas such as the emotional area and then what it means for us.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Romans 12:1

September 28, 2008

7UP: Let's Get Physical

This week we will address the physical area of the 7 areas of our lives that we give up (7UP) to God’s control to be a holistic community that follows Jesus. Basically, it means giving God our bodies to use for His glory.

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Audio (MP3) File.

John 11:33-35

September 21, 2008

7UP: Read 'Em and Weep

This week we will address the emotional area of the 7 areas of our lives that we give up (7UP) to God’s control to be a holistic community that follows Jesus.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

September 14, 2008

7UP: Stagnant Bottom

We begin by looking at the spiritual area of our lives. Is God really in control of our spiritual walk or do we just assume God is? What do we mean by spirituality and is this how God's Word describes it?

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Audio (MP3) File.

Revelation 1:17-20

September 7, 2008

7UP: Total

This series will examine seven areas that we need to give up to God’s control if we are to follow Jesus in holistic community. This sermon begins by focusing on the importance of seven as a symbol of being complete or totally used by God.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Corinthians 13

August 31, 2008

The Labor of Love

Loving God and loving others is hard work. However, hard it is at times, it is still the way that God has created us to live. We'll look at what this Labor of Love is and what it is not.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Proverbs 22:6

August 24, 2008

Blessings and Brain-aches

Kids can be immense joys but also our greatest pains. Sometimes at the very same moment! There are really no magic formulas for dealing with kids but there is inspiration and help from God.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Psalm 23:5

August 17, 2008

Meaningful Presence

Communion is about encountering the life-changing presence of Jesus. It is about experiencing grace. It is then about being inspired to be a meaninful presence to others.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 4:23-25

August 10, 2008

It's an Epidemic

This week we are going to look at a hugely important issue that God has laid on my heart: AIDS. We’ll look at this crisis that the church is facing and some ways to respond.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Following Jesus in Holistic Community

This starts a mini-series of sermons that explore what it means to follow Jesus in holistic community. This mini-series sets the stage to explore the seven areas of holistic community that we need to surrender to God. These seven areas act as counter-weights to guard against and get ourselves out of those seven deadly sins that were examined in the last series.

This mini-series has three sermons. The first is examining what holistic is, where it comes from as a word, and then what it means for followers of Jesus as we seek to become the body of Christ that God is calling us to be. It gives us a picture that we all are called to help paint. The second sermon will look at the life of Stephen in Acts as an example of someone who followed Jesus in holistic community. The third sermon will discern what it means for following Jesus in the midst of community. What it means for us to follow Jesus holistically together.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

August 3, 2008

Come Unity

As we define what it means to "follow Jesus in holistic community," the focus will be on the importance of community to those who follow Jesus.

Click here for Sermon Manuscript.

Audio (MP3) File.

Acts 6 & 7

July 20, 2008

I am Stephen

Stephen is a prime example of someone who followed Jesus in holistic community. Imagine now what it would be like if Stephen was talking with us today.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

July 13, 2008

What Is Holistic?

What is does holistic mean? Following Jesus in Holistic Community. What does it mean for community to be holistic? What does this mean for you and I? Is this some type of New Age impetus? No, not really. Holism is a very powerful biblical idea. And one of the main passages that this is derived from is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

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Audio (MP3) File.

   SE7EN

This new sermon series starting on April 6th will explore the seven deadly sins. We begin by looking at the importance of these sins and then examine each one. Pride, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, wrath, and envy.

1 Kings 21

June 29, 2008

SE7EN: EN7Y

Here we are at the last of the seven deadly sins: envy. Greed and lust are forms of envy but focused on specific areas: sex and money. Envy is basically coveting, which is wanting something that isn’t yours. One of the “Big Ten” commandments was an instruction by God not to desire or covet something that your neighbor has that you would like to get. Greed would be seeking more and more money (and power) in order to get something just like or better than what your neighbor has. Or envy could simply be (as I talked about with the kids) wanting to be like someone or just to be liked by someone. But what happens when what you want can’t be bought?

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Audio (MP3) File.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-14

June 22, 2008

SE7EN: SL6TH

We are coming down to the final two deadly sins. They are deadly practices and lifestyles because they lead us to destruction and trash the community formed in Jesus. And this one is no different: sloth. Sloth is more than laziness. It is lack of working for the betterment of the community: both the community of the body of Christ and the community at large. Basically, it is the failure to make a contribution to make the lives of people around you better. Which is what ministry and service is all about.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Samuel 11

June 8, 2008

SE7EN: LU5T

The fifth deadly sin is lust. Like, the others, this one permeates our culture. It is everywhere. It tempts us all. It starts out so innocently but even the smallest seed can germinate to destructive proportions. We'll see how to guard against it.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Ephesians 4:26-27

June 1, 2008

SE7EN: WR4TH

The fourth deadly sin that we are assaulted with through our culture is wrath. This is not God's wrath or judgment but the deadly sin is about our anger. What we do with our anger is what matters the most.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 11:25-30

May 25, 2008

The Rest of the Story

Often quoted and very familiar to even people who don’t follow Jesus' "Come to me" passage. But do we really understand what Jesus means by it? This passage is full of cultural specific references that could easily be lost if we don’t understand the cultural setting that Jesus was referring to.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Galatians 5:19-21

May 18, 2008

SE7EN: GR3ED

When people think about greed, a lot of us picture Scrooge. But this an extreme picture. The truth is none of are immune to the effects of greed that runs rampant in our culture. We look at the manifestation of greed and how to deal with it.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Ephesians 5:21-33

May 11, 2008

Who Is the Biggest Loser?

How we treat not just our mothers but all the women in our lives has huge implications for the life of the body. We'll examine a controversial passage to see how important it is to treat one another including the mothers, daughters, and sisters in our lives.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Galatians 5:19-21

April 20, 2008

SE7EN: GLUT2ONY

We continue the seven deadly sins by looking at gluttony. This is a serious issue with God and in our culture. It is not limited to food either. We'll also look at the remedy and get some tools to help us overcome this character defect.

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Audio (MP3) File.

2 Chronicles 32:24-26

April 13, 2008

SE7EN: PR1DE

Pride is the first of the 7 deadly sins. It is insidious. It is also often recognized as being present alongside the other 6 sins. We’ll look at what makes this so dangerous.

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 John 5:16-18

April 6, 2008

Se7en: One Sin at a Time

This is the intro sermon to a series on the seven deadly sins. What are they? What is so important about these sins? What do we mean by deadly? What is important to remember as look at these sins?

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Audio (MP3) File.

1 Samuel 3:1-11

March 30, 2008

How Do I Know God's Will?

The last burning question that was asked: How do I know God's will? Simply put: by learning to wait on the Lord. However, waiting is active not passive. Through Samuel we can gain some insight into how we might go about this.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 21: 1-11; John 13

March 23, 2008 - Easter Sunday

All In

Jesus is "all in" for us. He was "all in" giving every last drop of blood for us. Jesus calls to be "all in" for him: holding nothing back. The resurrection gives us the hope that there is more "life" for those who are "all in" for Jesus.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 21: 1-11; John 13

March 16, 2008 - Palm Sunday

Looking Out for #1

We have this tendency to be selfish--to look out for #1--me, me, me. The true #1 is God and God’s ways. Jesus shows that making God #1 means not thinking we are better than others. John 13 (foot washing) is a beautiful expression of this.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Lenten Sermon Series:

The Burning Question

Our Lenten sermon series begins on February 10. These are questions submitted by attenders that they were either curious about or would like to hear more about. What is heaven like? Is there really a hell? What happens after we die? Is cremation an option? We will examine these questions as we prepare for Easter.

Various Scriptures

March 2, 2008

Is There REALLY a Hell?

Is there really a hell? The answer from the Bible is: Yes. However, perhaps a deeper question is how can a loving God send people to eternal torment? We’ll look at this and also what it is the God wants from us.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Various Scriptures

February 24, 2008

What Is Heaven Like? Part 3 - The Way to Life

Here we explore what it means to "go to heaven." What does this mean and what implications does it have in this life? What happens when we die?

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Audio (MP3) File.

Various Scriptures

February 17, 2008

What Is Heaven Like? Part 2 - Not Just Spiritual

Is heaven strictly spiritual with no physical manifestation? No, the Bible speaks of heaven as both a spiritual and earthly kingdom. This has huge implications as to how we live our lives by following Jesus right now.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Various Scriptures

February 10, 2008

What Is Heaven Like? Part 1 - Kingdom Come

What is Heaven Like? This is a question that is not easily answered as there are a large variety of ideas in history/Scripture. First we examine the relationship between heaven and the Kingdom.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 28:16-20

February 3, 2008

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Spiritual signs, symbols, and markers are needed now more than ever. Baptism is an extremely important sign for the follower of Jesus. We explore some of those important facets of baptism.

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Audio (MP3) File.

Exodus 25:16-18

January 27, 2008

The Prayer Chair

The Mercy Seat or Atonement Cover represented the throne of God and the source of mercy. Here is where prayers were answered. The Prayer Chair is an interactive adaptation of this idea.

No Manuscript for this sermon.

Audio (MP3) File.

Matthew 3:3-17

January 13, 2008

Jesus Gets Dunked

Why would the son of God be baptized? I was told that it was an example. But there has to be more to it than this. And there is.

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Audio (MP3) File.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

January 6, 2008

Hardly New

In Christ, we are supposed to be a new creation but we don’t always feel like new creations. We will hear some suggestions to make "the old is gone and the new has come" into a reality.

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Audio (MP3) File.