Preacher of Habit

Today we begin a 31 week journey known as "The Story." This series is based off the work of the same name by Randy Frazee and Max Lucado. Some of the stories and anecdotes are taken from their sermon manuscripts. My sermons are loosely based on their outlines, but most of this work is original. Enjoy!  The Beginning of Life As We Know It Aug. 26/27  Scripture: Genesis 1 and 3             Little Johnny and his Sunday School class were learning about Genesis and how God created the universe. Johnny was especially intrigued about the story of Adam and Eve, and how God had created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs.   A few weeks later, Johnny’s mom noticed that Johnny continued to rub his side and groan. Finally, when she asked what was wrong, Johnny said, “I’m in a lot of pain. I think I’m having a wife.” (Story offered by Randy Frazee).  Today we begin a 31-week journey known as “The Story.” In actuality, this is simply the grand narrative of the Bible, from the cr

Think Long      July 22/23 Scripture: Daniel 10: 1-14 Today we are continuing the Circle Maker sermon series, and I hope you’ve been just as inspired and challenged as I have. This series is meant to deepen our prayer lives and add an element of boldness to our faith. We’ve been learning to make big, bold requests of God because we believe God gets the glory when those big prayers are answered. And so as we continue today, we’re going to add in a final element to our prayer lives: praying with long-term vision. In his book, The Circle Maker , Mark Batterson recounts another story of Honi the circle I’d like to share with you. One day, “Honi was walking down a dirt road when he saw a man planting a carob tree. Always the inquisitive sage, Hone questioned him. ‘How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?’ The man replied, ‘Seventy years.’ Honi said, ‘Are you quite sure you will live another seventy years to eat its fruit?’ The man replied, ‘Perhaps not. However, when I wa

Dream Big                   July 8 th /9 th Scripture: Numbers 11             Last week we began an exciting new sermon series called The Circle Maker , which is a series that I believe will deepen your prayer life and lead to a faith that is bold and courageous. This week we’re going to talk about “dreaming big, which will both challenge you and inspire you!”             When we first started this series, we kicked off with the bold prayer of an old Jewish sage named Honi. Honi was famous for praying for rain, and his prayers came in handy during an extremely dry season in Jerusalem. Drawing a circle in sand, Honi cried out to God, “Lord of the Universe, I swear before your great name that I will not move from this circle until you have shown mercy upon your children.” Now that’s a big dream! Amidst the suffering of the land, Honi boldly asks God to move in ways only God can. And when I hear the confidence of that prayer, I’m convicted. I want to pray like that. I want