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Preaching

Toxic: The Poison of Inactivity (Jas. 1:19-27) Chris Altrock, April 29, Sunday Morning Message

George Zimmerman shoots down Treyvon Martin.  Regardless of your take on the shooting, it’s a tragic situation.  It points to the brokenness of our world.  Syrian forces pillage villages and execute hundreds of their own citizens.  Rarely have we seen such suffering in our world.  As many as a dozen tornados rip through the Dallas/ Fort Worth area destroying homes and businesses.  It is a reminder of the chaos in our world.Read More »Toxic: The Poison of Inactivity (Jas. 1:19-27) Chris Altrock, April 29, Sunday Morning Message

Toxic: The Poison of Partiality (Jas. 2:1-13)

The late Max Cadenhead once shared a confession at the beginning of a sermon:[i] “My message today is on the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Let me start with an illustration.  Remember last year when the Browns came forward to join the church?”  Everyone nodded; the Browns were a very influential family. “Well, the same day a young man came forward and gave his life to Christ.” No one remembered him.  “We worked with the Browns, got them onto committees. They’ve been wonderful folks,” Cadenhead said. “The young man…well, we lost track.  Until yesterday, that is, as I was preparing today’s message on the Good Samaritan. I picked up the paper, and there was that young man’s picture. He had shot and killed an elderly woman.  I never followed up on that young man…”  Cadenhead had eagerly followed up on the influential family of the Browns.  But he had ignored the scraggly and troubled young man who came forward.  The result was deadly.Read More »Toxic: The Poison of Partiality (Jas. 2:1-13)

Toxic: The Poison of Orthodoxy (Jas. 2:14-26)

When my twin brother and I were very young, we found some candy in our parent’s bedroom.  There wasn’t a lot of it, but what was there, we ate.  Unfortunately, we got caught.  Our mom walked in on our little candy-snacking.  Even more unfortunately, the candy turned out not to be candy.  To everyone’s shock, my brother and I had just gorged on my mother’s birth control pills.  She called the doctor and we were rushed to the hospital.  Mom was terrified that we might have just poisoned ourselves.  Thankfully, everything eventually worked out.  But it was a toxic scare.  And, since that incident, I have been unable to get pregnant.Read More »Toxic: The Poison of Orthodoxy (Jas. 2:14-26)

Slice: Making Jesus Your Resurrection and Life (Jn. 11)

In his book Unspeakable Os Guinness tells the story of a Christian leader whose son had been killed in a cycling accident.[1]  Although this Christian leader was devastated he managed to suppress his grief, even preaching powerfully at his son’s funeral. His display of hope in the midst of tragedy led many to admire him.  But weeks after the funeral of his son, the man invited Guinness and a few friends to his house.  According to Guinness, this man then proceeded to speak and scream “not with the hope of a preacher but with the hurt of the father—pained and furious at God, dark and bilious in his blasphemy.”  It must have been a moving and troubling scene: a strong Christian leader screaming at God, dark and bilious in his blasphemy.Read More »Slice: Making Jesus Your Resurrection and Life (Jn. 11)