Woodbury Church of Christ Sermons

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.

 

The Secret to Life - Part One - How To Enjoy Life - Patrick Doherty

The secret to life isn’t really a secret. It’s just that it’s difficult and feels dangerous and most of us want to play it safe. Most of us get that life isn’t about financial security. Happiness isn’t about stuff. But, for a variety of reasons, most of us still get caught up wanting more money and more stuff. Or, just as bad, we find ourselves clinging just little too tightly to our money, or valuing our stuff just a little too much. This manifests itself in working just a little bit longer than we should and keeping other people at arms length. And, before we know it, we’ve missed out on life.

God's Mission - Bruce Goodwin

11/4/18

 

Bruce brought the message about why we support international missions. 

Ezekiel 37 - Dr. Jerry Taylor

10/28/2018

 

Ezekiel prophesied in the valley of dry bones. Where do we need the breath of God?

Abundantly More - Jordan Tatum

10/21/18

 

The first 3 chapters of Ephesians are full of some of the most significant truths about what it is to be in Christ, and it culminates with Paul's beautiful prayer for this church. This sermon time is meant to be a reflection on that portion of Scripture.

I Have Decided, Part 2 - Cannonball - Patrick Doherty

If you've been around the Church of Christ you may have noticed - we like baptism! But sometimes, lost in the endless debates, is the reality of a relationship with God. God lives in us!

I Have Decided Pt 1 - Prepare to Meet Thy God - Jordan Tatum

10/7/18

Baptism has a long rich history in Scripture. The New Testament in particular use some fascinating words to describe what happens to people who “put on” Christ. Words like “wash”, “bury” and “clothe” all point toward a significant transformation that takes place in the life of follower. Sometimes the simplicity of the act gets lost in endless debates. What if we took back this simple beautiful act of obedience? What would that look like? 

Follow Pt. 4 - Light - Patrick Doherty

9/30/18

 

The truth about who Jesus was and what he taught about life has the power to transform anyone. It is unlike anything else the world has ever seen. Like Peter said, there’s no where else to go, Jesus has the “words of life”. 

Follow Pt. 3 - Known - Patrick Doherty

9/23/18

 

We often conceptualize God as something distant and other. If we want to know what God is like our best chance to get to know Jesus. He was the in-the-flesh walking, talking vision of God.