Category Archives: sermon podcasts

Tina Turner was wrong. We need LOTS of heroes…

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I’ve enjoyed watching the TV series, Heroes. But those people are not heroes – at least not most of them. Heroes are people who care for others — the others that God’s placed in their sphere of influence.

As I speak of heroes, I am not talking about being a hero to your family. That’s twentieth century thinking. We’ve been taught that you need to be a hero to your family. To your wife. To your kids. To your husband. You do. But I have come to see that if I am only a hero to my family, I am a pretty selfish person. God’s given you more people to look out for than your family.

Can you think of others God has given you to influence? To care for? What about the people you work with? Do they need a heroic influence in their lives? I would say they desperately need a real hero. If you, as a Christian, are not influencing them, who is? There’s a need for heroes in the workplace. What about the people in your church?  The people you go to school with. The people you hunt with. The people you hang out with. Can you be a hero to them?

As we consider this concept of heroes, I want to look to my favorite hero. I have a lot of heroes. Jack Lambert was a hero. Few men played linebacker like Lambert. He’d be banned from the game of football today. Tony Dungy is a hero. Tony is one of the strongest men I’ve ever encountered. The way he faced the suicide of his son was life-changing for those who looked on.

But the most heroic person in my life is Jesus. You knew I’d say that, right?

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Escaping a Prison of Unforgiveness

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Do you know what a litany is? A litany, in Catholicism is a form of worship or prayer used in services or processions. It’s generally memorized. It’s something you say over and over in worship. We use that word figuratively to speak of anything we recite again and again.

I remember a woman I knew some time ago who had experienced a great deal of pain. Each time I spoke to her she would tell me the same stories over and over: My daughter’s done this to me. My mother did this to me. My son’s done this to me. The church has done this to me.

One time I was remarking to an elder how this poor woman had such a keen memory for past hurts. He said, “Pastor Steve – she remembers those hurts because they have become a sort of litany. A litany of woes. She recites them to herself and to anyone who will listen.”

That’s what Peter is taking about in Matthew 18 – memorizing many hurts a person gives us.

Matthew 18:21(NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

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The Importance of Prophecy at Christmas — and in OUR Lives…

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In Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is an evil man, whose only love is himself and his money. When confronted by the outcomes of his evil life, past, present, and future Scrooge is repentant. He isn’t just sorry – he wants to change, to make amends. He tries to do so with the little time he has left, by investing in the Cratchit family. In a sense, he’s trying to redeem himself.

Even when I was a little kid, watching that in movie or cartoon form, the same thought occurred to me. Ebenezer, what makes you think that these last half-dozen or so years of your life can make up for the decades of evil you’ve done? It is impossible for you to redeem yourself.  That’s true of Ebenezer. And it’s true of you and me.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is our Redeemer. He is the One who can pay for the evil we’ve done. It says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

While all of us know this deep inside, the Bible is what makes it crystal clear to us. As the prophecies concerning Christ’s advent in Bethlehem lit the way for those seeking him, so God’s word lights the way for us.

Please forgive the sound of my voice in this message. I could barely talk. ~Steve

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