"The Parable of the Rich Fool"

Luke 12:13-21

King of the Mountain

Hebrews 9:1-14

"The Heart of Me"

1 Corinthians 3:21-4:5

"Only Human: From God to Man Part IV"

Hebrews 2:16-18

"Sheep & Goats"

Matt.25:31-46

"The Highlights"

John 20:30-31

"Suspension of Disbelief"

John 20:1-18

"Between The Rock & A Hard Place"

John 19:1-16

"Church Hurts"

John 18:1-11

"Guarded"

John 17:6-19

"Heads Up"

John 16:1-15

"God Works"

John 15:1-8

"What is That Supposed to Mean?

John 14:12-17

"Gonna Have to Trust Me"

John 13:1-20

"Wasted"

John 12:1-11

"Here Lies Death"

John 11:1-44

John 10:1-21

"Simple Defense"

John 9:4-38

"Glory Hound"

John 8:48-59

“How to Spot a Con Artist”

John 8:12-30

1. Introduction: Have you ever been “conned”?
   1. Most people have encountered a slick salesman, a fast-talking promoter, or someone with a pathetic sob story
   2. When cheated, we feel foolish that we didn’t spot the con
   3. Many people believe Jesus was nothing more than a con man
2. Con Artists Typically Push Products We’ve Never Heard Of
   1. Con men only present products that we’re ignorant of
   2. Jesus presented a concept that the people were familiar with
   3. The Jewish leaders kept people in the dark
3. Con Artists Want Trust Without Verification
   1. Con Artists are never who they claim to be
   2. Jesus stayed in step with the Father
   3. Jesus offered verification for his identity, but the Pharisees refused to verify his claim
4. Con Artists Capitalize off of Impulsive Decisions & Never Sacrifice Anything of Their Own
   1. Con Artists generally manipulate using time limits against people, but never sacrifice anything of themselves
   2. If Jesus was a Con Artist, why would he go to the cross?
   3. We must be careful not to fall for the real con
5. Conclusion: The Real Con leads us to believe That We Don’t Need Christ
   1. We can’t play the comparison game
   2. We must all recognize our need for Christ
   3. If we fail to recognize our own sinfulness and surrender our lives over to Christ, we have fallen for the biggest con of all time

“Just Give Me A Reason”

John 7:32-52

1. Introduction: Have you ever looked for a reason to dislike someone?
   1. Sometimes we make our minds up and look for the reasons later
   2. Have you ever been on the opposite side?
   3. Sometimes we do this with God
2. Sometimes we make our minds up for reasons we’d be ashamed to admit
   1. Jesus refused to play for the “right team”
   2. So, the Jewish leaders refused him as the Messiah
   3. Because the Leaders rejected Jesus, the people who looked to them as a spiritual authority were led astray
3. When we condemn others, it should show we’re lacking
   1. The last day of the festival was the greatest celebration
   2. Spiritual thirst cannot be quenched by worldly things
   3. Jesus offers living water & in him we will never thirst
4. Everything hidden will come to light
   1. The Pharisees scrambled to stay on the side of righteousness but failed because of their own selfish motives
   2. The invitation was for them too
   3. When Jesus speaks, our walls break down
5. Conclusion: Jesus gives us reason to love
   1. For eternal life
   2. For abundant life
   3. If you really need a reason, you should allow Jesus to speak

“The Divine Timetable”

John 7:1-9

1. Introduction: Have you ever experienced a time when your plans don’t line up with God’s plans?
   1. God has a plan
   2. We can’t change it
   3. How can we make sure we are never disappointed again?
2. This world tells us to go after what we want
   1. This is evidenced in scripture with Jesus’ brothers
   2. When we act impulsively (according to our timetable), we almost always regret it
   3. How can we know when the timing is right?
3. Jesus didn’t ask, “What do I want?”, but, “Father, what do you want?”
   1. Jesus lived on a different time table than his brothers
   2. God brought Jesus into the world at the perfect time
   3. Because Jesus was focused on God’s watch, he was able to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit
4. God will show us his plan when we abandon ours
   1. We must learn to say “Not my will, but thy will be done.”
   2. The smaller times of sacrifice lead to the big ones
   3. Jesus didn’t serve two masters
5. God’s timing is always perfect because his plan is perfect
   1. It’s difficult for us to trust him because we think we know what good is
   2. God doesn’t want us to have what is good or better, but what is best
   3. The only things we have that are truly good are “of God”

“Love in Advent”

1 John 4:7-12

1. Introduction: When you pack for a Christmas trip, what do you choose to take with you?
   1. Most of the time we focus on the essentials, but sometimes we pack things to take with us that we shouldn’t
   2. The Apostle John wrote 1 John to 2^nd and 3^rd generation Christians who had a lot of baggage from their upbringing
   3. We tend to carry baggage from our experience
2. Sometimes we pack the wrong things and carry around unnecessary baggage
   1. The early church had adopted several false doctrines they needed to abandon
   2. When we carry unnecessary baggage, we limit what we can pick up
   3. We can discover what we don’t need by focusing on that which we do
3. Sometimes we don’t pack enough of the right things
   1. The church had love because they had God, however they didn’t have enough love because it didn’t affect the way they interacted with each other (So how should we love?)
   2. Love is displayed by sacrifice
   3. Because God sacrificed for us, we can sacrifice for others
4. Sometimes we pack the right things in the wrong way
   1. There’s a right way to pack the right cargo
   2. Doctrine is certainly important but we must be looking at our doctrine through the lens of love
   3. If our doctrine doesn’t point us to love, it is the wrong doctrine
5. Conclusion: When we have God, we have love!
   1. We have to lean into love, when we do, God will show us the things in our lives that are unloving
   2. In order to love, we can’t keep a safe distance from others because God didn’t give us that example
   3. So, do we really want God and the love He brings or do we want to continue to carry around unnecessary luggage?

“Joy in Advent”

John 16: 16-24

1. Introduction: Today we are continuing our celebration of Advent by focusing on the second major theme, joy
   1. Christmas is a time of season in which we are reminded to have joy
   2. Belief in God doesn’t come from the Bible
   3. Belief in God comes when he reveals himself to us
2. As children of God, we have every reason to have joy, but we often allow the heavy burdens of this life to make us forget that joy
   1. Jesus dropped a heavy burden on his disciples
   2. There is no satisfactory answer for “How long is a little while?”
   3. With joy we can choose to focus on heavy burdens or to focus on the joy that is found in Christ
3. The source of sorrow is the absence of Christ
   1. Jesus doesn’t abandon his disciples to their sorrow
   2. Imagine the great sorrow of the disciples when Jesus was crucified
   3. All our source of sorrow is because of the absence of Christ in our lives or in the lives of others
4. We have the assurance of God himself that our grief will turn to joy
   1. Jesus gives us his disciples four assurances to comfort them and lead them to joy
   2. Jesus leaves another assurance, granted prayer requests when we ask in his name
   3. Asking in Jesus’ name isn’t done by tagging “In Jesus name we pray, amen.” to the end of our prayers
5. Conclusion: God has and will continue to reveal himself until all has been revealed
   1. We won’t have sorrows, we won’t even have questions
   2. This assurance is a great source of joy in the life of a believer
   3. No matter what we face in the night, joy will come in the morning