Woodbury Church of Christ Sermons

King & Kingdom - Part 4 - King and Covenant - Patrick Doherty

In a well plotted story there’s usually an “aha” moment where the different parts of the plot begin to come together. The Passover meal was a moment steeped in very specific, ancient tradition. Jesus comes along and simultaneously fulfills and transforms this practice. What emerges is a shocking truth about God’s ultimate plan to create a Kingdom of imperfect people. 

King & Kingdom - Part 3 - Clash of Kingdoms - Patrick Doherty

We all have areas in our lives where we want to have absolute control. But, when we invite Jesus into our lives as King, he's going to want to make some changes. What do we do when our lives and the Kingdom of God come into conflict? 

Join us as we dive into a fascinating story that just about got Jesus arrested as he establish his Kingdom and asserted his authority as King. 

King & Kingdom - Part Two - Storming The Castle - Bruce Goodwin

What Christians have come to know as the Triumphal Entry does look all that triumphant. A donkey and some palm leaves may not have looked like much to outsiders but to people who read the Hebrew Bible this was huge. Jesus was inviting everyone to see him as king and to live under his rule. 

Disciples believe Jesus is the King and has ultimate authority to direct every part of their lives. 

King & Kingdom - Part One - It's All About the Kingdom

You can’t know Jesus without knowing that everything he did and said was about the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom defied easy categorization - it wasn’t a place, it wasn’t a nationality. It was where the last were first and the first were last, where love was the law and forgiveness was the norm rather than the exception, it was all Jesus talked about. ...and it was going to change everything. 

Dr. Russel Pointer - Stuck in Samaria

We serve a God who cares about our "stuckness". No matter how we got ourselves in our situation or whose fault it is, our Father is concerned with getting us back on track. 

When You Pray, Pt. 4 - Unanswered Prayers - Patrick Doherty

Sometimes we don't pray because we're afraid God won't answer. If God doesn't answer it brings up uncomfortable questions about God and faith. We don't quit praying, we just make vague, open-ended requests where, no matter the outcome, we can interpret it as a positive answer. What if we asked more of God? What would we discover about prayer and the character of God if we brought Him everything? 

When You Pray Pt. 3 - Honest with God - Bruce Goodwin

2/17/19

 

God desires for us to bring what we are feeling, thinking, believing to him.

When You Pray, Pt. 2 - Pronouns, Patrick Doherty

Jesus taught his followers about prayer by modeling prayer for them. The way Jesus taught prayer revolves largely around a shift in perspective. Our culture teaches to think about ourselves first and foremost. But the way Jesus taught us to pray focuses us first on God and then on others. Talking to God the way Jesus taught us to is about a reorientation in the way we see and interact with the world. 

When You Pray Pt. 1 - Am I Doing This Right? - Patrick Doherty

2/3/19

 

As central as prayer is, in the entire bible there is arguably only one place where we get clear, specific, detailed instructions on how to pray. We call this section of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount - the Lord’s Prayer. Trying to piece together the different advice about prayer can create a little confusion about how prayer works. 

     Case in point, when Jesus sits down to teach his followers how to pray, he starts off with two recommendations about what NOT to do. How can we get through these questions to a place where we encounter God and His power in prayer?

Change of Heart Pt 4 - Guard Your Heart - Patrick Doherty

What’s is going on when those of us who claim to follow Christ struggle to live like Christ? Jesus said the problem began, not in the moment when we fell short of our own expectations, but much further upstream - in our hearts. 

     The author of Proverbs wrote we have to protect our hearts because what is in our hearts directs our lives. We are often unaware of some of the half-truths, desires and sin that creep into our hearts and shape our choices and, eventually, our lives. What does it mean to guard our hearts?

Change of Heart Pt 3 - Hard Heart - Jordan Tatum

1/20/19

 

It is common in the Bible to read about a hard heart. What does it mean? Does God harden our hearts? 

Change of Heart Pt. 2 - The Shadow Knows - Patrick Doherty

1/13/19

In our day and age, the term “evil” is reserved for big, bad, dark stuff in the world. However, Jesus uses that exact word to describe what is in our hearts. He told us we could identify the evil in the heart by what comes out of us - particularly the words we say.  But we immediately run into a dilemma - our hearts don’t like to admit that there’s even a problem. Jeremiah says, that our hearts will even deceive us. How do we deal with those things that lurk in the dark corners of our heart?

Change of Heart Pt. 1 - Heart Transplant - Patrick Doherty

1/6/19

From the very beginning God has been interested in our hearts. Our hearts are the command center of our lives. We often try to change simply by learning or willing ourselves to be different but, unless our transformation engages our heart, the chances of success are pretty dim. What does the bible teach us about how to transform our hearts? And, what if changing our heart is the key to everything else?

Better Doesn't Just Happen

It would awesome if we woke up one morning and had chiseled abs or a high number in our bank account. Whatever the area of life - better doesn't just happen. This truth works in our discipleship as well. We only get better through intentional partnership with the Holy Spirit work in our lives. 

An Inconvenient Christmas, Part 4 - Unexpected Hope

Try as we might we simply cannot hold God accountable to our expectations. The story of the Jesus' birth and the events of his death teaches us that we simply can't anticipate how God will keep his promises. 

An Inconvenient Christmas, Part 3 - The Promise and the Fulfillment

Following Jesus is often about the waiting period between the promise of God and when that promise is fulfilled. Waiting can wear us down and chip away at our hope. How we handle the waiting is crucial to our ability to have and increase our hope. 

An Inconvenient Christmas Pt. 2 - The Long Wait - Jordan Tatum

12/9/18

 

The faithfulness of a person waiting for a long time can be inspiring. It seems like on the other side of that is the faithfulness of God. May we faithfully await the return of our faithful God.

An Inconvenient Christmas Pt. 1 - The Problem and the Process - Patrick Doherty

12/2/18

 

An angel told Mary that she was ‘favored’ by God. Then Mary’s life immediately got more difficult. The question isn’t only - How do we see grace in the midst of hardship? The question is - How can we see my hardship as God’s grace?

The Secret to Life Pt. 3 - How to Be Generous - Jordan Tatum

11/25/18

 

For those of us blessed with wealth, we must recognize that the possession of wealth will not bring us happiness. Instead, we should see ourselves as having more opportunities to give.

Secret to Life - Part Two, How to be Significant

11/18/18

It’s possible to go through life without living. Scripture teaches us that true life, true meaning and true fulfillment is found by spending ourselves serving others.