Providence Church: Recent Episodes
Keith Brich
Today…we see the Bible talk of Pentecost. Pentecost is a BIG deal in the history of the early church. Today, we see a major event – as the Holy Spirit is given to the church.
The Bible, and the focus of our faith is about Jesus – He is WHY we do church, He is WHY we preach the Gospel, He is the focus of our faith. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. If we can tr [...]
I saw an article the other day. The headline read “Can God be glorified in a business meeting?”
Can we glorify God by the simple, mundane task of doing the business of the church? Sometimes it’s about how to do some small thing…sometimes it’s a bigger issue. Is he glorified by the process of naming elders, or deacons, or trustees? I’ve been to church board [...]
Sometimes….we have a tendency, when we read Scripture to think “That was then……” We tend to think that God is not relevant for today. That what was done 2000 years ago……isn’t really important now.
We may think that it’s not relevant to today..because it happened wayyyyyyyyyy back then..and it’s a different world today. That simply is not the case. T [...]
I was a horrible student as a teenager. I remember taking Algebra…and failing it when I was in High School. I saw no use for it. It wasn’t relevant to my life.
It didn’t matter if I could solve an equation and tell you what “x” was. Why?
Because it didn’t matter to me. As a high school senior I had determined that I wanted to be a police officer. I was going to graduate high school….and I was going to major in Criminal Justice. I just KNEW as a police officer that I would NEVER have to solve an algebraic equation. I just wasn’t worth doing, in my mind. Weird how things change…and careers change
I wonder how many people have the same notion when it comes to studying the Bible. I wonder how many people feel the same way about the Christian life in general.
Oh..sure……it’s good to sing songs to God on Sunday morning…it’s good to pray on Sunday morning…it [...]
I began this sermon with a short story. Unfortunately, I’m beginning to realize that I’m not a comedian…and this kind of fell flat!
One night a motorist was run down by a train at a grade crossing. The old signal man in charge of the crossing had to appear in court. After a severe cross-examination, he was still unshaken. He said he had waved his lantern frantically, but all to no avail. The following day the superintendent of the line called him into his office. “You did wonderfully well yesterday, Tom,” he said. “I was afraid at first that you might waver.” “No, sir,” replied Tom, “but I was afraid that old lawyer was going to ask me whether or not my lantern was lit!”—Sunday School Times.
The point? A light is useless if it’s not lit. Are we showing our lights to the world?
Let’s look at Philippians 2.
Last summer I was talking with another pastor. We were talking about our respective churches. Did you guys know that pastors do that? We like to talk! We were discussing some of the things going on…some of the activities…some of the ministries we have going. And he made an interesting comment….He said he wanted people in his church to be part of his church…..
- Not because their names were on the membership roll…
- Not because they were born a part of it and grew up in it…..
- Not because they were part of that denomination…..
- Not because they liked the music…
- Not because they liked the preaching, even….
The reason he wanted people to be a part of his church….was because they wanted to be part of the PEOPLE of that church.
I think that’s what the world craves today—they want to be part of something that is REAL. I think people are tired of playing games…tired of g [...]
The thesis for today’s message is from Philippians 1:23. To live is Christ, to Die is Gain. I’ll look at the 2nd clause first…because I think Paul was focusing on the first — to LIVE for Christ. The life of a Christian should be marked with a devotion to Christ — we should want to “Jump right in with both feet” to the Christian life. Too often, we tend to simply be content with going in tentatively, and mrely testing the waters, but never really giving our whole selves to him.
Let’s open to Philiippians 1 and see what God’s Word says.
What are you willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel? Inconvenience? Hardship? Persecution? The apostle Paul encouraged the Philippian church to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
Let’s turn to Philippians 1 and see what he says:
There is Joy in the Gospel In the midst of trial…in heartache……there is joy.
That’s the overall message of Philippians. Joy.
Today…we see what Paul has to say about it. Today…..in the first chapter we read what he has to say about his own sufferings – and how God has worked through it
Let’s open to Philippians 1:1-11
Jonah: The final scene in the movie of this book MIGHT open up showing Jonah lovingly tutoring the people of Nineveh…but no. It doesn’t show that. INSTEAD….we see him going out of the city and sitting down to watch from a distance. He wanted to see what would happen to Nineveh.
This is kind of a BIZARRE event…..I mean..we’re all familiar with what happened earlier in the book of Jonah, right? Before we started on this….we all knew that the story of Jonah was that he was swallowed by a big fish—we’ve heard it in Sunday School and Vacatin Bible School since we were little….That’s no surprise.
Today…in chapter 4 we see things get a little weird.
As we jump into the text, I’m reminded of what the theologian, pastor Paul David Tripp says about Jonah: “Jonah is in the Bible because Jonah is like us”.
Jonah is not just a cute story meant to inform us about God…but [...]
What does “repentance” mean? We toss that word around….often with no regard to what it actually means. Sometimes…..people “repent”—they correct their behavior because they’re sorry they got caught. Or their worried that they will be punished. They may agree they’ve done wrong, maybe even apologize for their actions, but then go right back to those actions.
Other times…we see true repentance…where a person not only feels bad, but they genuinely realize their behavior was wrong. They turn from their behavior, and they turn TO a correct mindset. Today, we see a type of repentance, and I’m going to compare it to the other.
As we look at today’s text, try to figure out with me which one is represented by the people in the text.
It’s amazing how things look different when we see things from a different perspective, isn’t it?
I recall an incident once where I was sitting in traffic two cars behind someone turning left across traffic – they had to wait for an opening in oncoming traffic to make the turn. I happened to glance in my rearview mirror JUST in time to see a car slam into the back of my pickup truck. It hit me so hard my truck moved forward into the car in front of me, and that car hit the car that was turning. I recall the person in the car in front of me got out, slammed his door, and gave me a look like he wanted to kill me. He must have thought I was the worst driver he had ever seen!
THEN….he saw the car that had rear-ended me. It was totaled. Her bumper had slid under the rear bumper of my truck, and had barely damaged my truck, but it destroyed her car. If my truck had not been sitting there, it’s likel [...]
Jonah 1
How do we read Jonah? We all know the story…..that he was swallowed by a big fish…we often say it was a whale. There is a tendency by some to say that it’s an allegory – just a story invented to teach a lesson. To some, the story of Jonah might as well sit on the shelf next to a copy of Aesop’s fables……as a story we read to kids…but not really something for US to look to for any kind of lesson in life.
But it’s NOT just a story. This actually happened. There really WAS a man named Jonah – and he really WAS swallowed by a large aquatic creature – be it a whale or a fish….he was swallowed. And there really ARE some good things we can learn from Jonah. Today…we read some of the BACKGROUND to the story of Jonah, and the things leading up to the events he is famous for. We also see that we may not be that much different f [...]
Note: This sermon was in celebration of Village Missions Sunday. Once a year, we talk about Village Missions, a missionary agency whom placed me in Oak, NE as the pastor.
The message is on Romans 10:13-15. After 9 chapters of Paul explaining the Gospel, in chapter 10 he says that one MUST confess Jesus to be saved…but then he has some rhetorical questions to consider — specifically HOW can one confess Jesus if they don’t hear of him, and if there is no one to preach him.
If you’ll indulge me for a moment…..I am a baseball fan. I look back a couple months to the end of baseball season this year. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. That just SOUNDS strange to say that!
The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908. Some might suggest that there is a valid reason for that:
From “Wikipedia”:
The Curse of the Billy Goat was a sports-related curse supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball franchise in 1945 by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis that lasted in a 71-year period from 1945 to 2016. Because the odor of his pet goat, named Murphy, was bothering other fans, Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ home ballpark, during game 4 of the 1945 World Series. Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,”
Now…no matter HOW we view the idea of curses….and I don’t place [...]
Note: There is 1 minute of intentional silence as the beginning of the mesage. You will hear footsteps and me breathing a I took a sip of coffee. This was an idea I borrowed from another preacher as an introduction to make a point.
Every year, the Christian church celebrates the anniversary of the coming of our Lord – of God choosing to step out of Heaven and taking the form of a baby – to be born a human being. Jesus lived, and died as a human being – he is fully God and fully man. He rose from the dead. He died in our place – so that we would not be punished for our sin – but he instead took the punishment for our sins.
So, today, we recognize the 2nd week of Advent Season – so we are looking forward to that special day when we remember that he came.
Today…I want to recognize the special significance of the TIME…of the very moment that Jesus came. Did you know it was not just a random ti [...]
What is truly important in life? It’s interesting…when I was a teenager…I thought I’d live forever. Now as a middle-aged man…I’m starting to think ahead – realizing that in only about 25 years….I’m looking at retirement. Things change.
Talk to an older person, and you might find them looking back on their life….and realizing that maybe they’d have liked to do things differently. Or maybe they are happy with the way they’ve lived their life. Think with me today……what will YOU think about your life someday when you look back on it? What will be your legacy?
Today, we see God’s Word talking about that – the legacy that a young pastor will have left behind. As Christians…we’d do well to consider this – what will WE be remembered for? What is OUR LEGACY?
I really like this chapter of the Bible. We’re challenged to look at our own lives, at our [...]
1 Timothy 6:3-10
A warning about false teachers
Maybe you’ve been going to church for some time. Maybe you’ve known Jesus for some time. Maybe you first heard about the love of Jesus and how he died on the cross for your sins a long time ago. Maybe you’ve grown up hearing about it…and you’ve been a Christian since you were very young.
Maybe…the idea is old news to you. Maybe you are starting to wonder if there is something new to it – Is there something MORE to the Gospel besides being saved from our sins. I heard one preacher say the other day that we have a “benefits package” in the Gospel—just as any employee might have a “benefits package” at their job. These things might include things like guaranteed healing, or riches…or a number of things.
But today’s text reminds us that it’s not about that – it’s about Jesus dying on the cross for us. We need to keep that in mind, and put [...]
1 Timothy 6:1-2 talks about slavery. Some may see this passage as irrelevant to today. Some may suggest that because the Bible even mentions slavery, it’s not something we should adhere to. There are principles that we can gather from this passage, though. Let’s take a deeper look at it.
What is “Church”? Is it a social experience? Is it a place? Is it a gathering that we have once a week? Is it a club? What do we consider church?
The church is made up of you and me, and all believers in Jesus. It’s not a place—but a group of those that believe.
The Church exists to glorify God. It’s why we do church….it’s why we meet on Sunday…it’s why our church is a church.
Did you know that Jesus intended for us to do more than just come to church on Sunday? He gave us a mission. He gave us a plan—something to DO while we were on Earth. He left us a command. Are we fulfilling that command? Are we glorifying God, as a church, by carrying out that command?
This command I refer to is what we call “The Great Commission.” T [...]