“ Moral Purity Requires Honor I ” This is a powerful sermon on the subject of sexual sins. When was the last time you heard this topic preached on either in church or even in a men's group? Yet, we are living in an incredibly sexualized society. The power of lust is a tremendous theme of fallen humanity. Roger Bacon's philosophy stressed the need not to commit the Seven Deadly Sins. Now we're seeing headlines every day about celebrities and politicians groping women, and worse, even raping. There has been a line of public figures over the years who have been dubbed "bad actors" for their sinful behavior. Yet, this finger-pointing response as Jerry Newcombe wrote about in a recent article at americanprophet.org (it's still up)is after the fact, and in contrast with the loose and ever-loosening sexual mores of our society. If it feels good, do it, but at the same time take all the right precautions, and if you are really bad, then don't get caught. So there are reprisals if you are caught abandoning yourself to sin but sin is portrayed as not that sinful. The babies keep being born out of wedlock. STDs are on the rise. Feminism clashes with the ideals of sexual freedom and the demand for government birth control pills and abortions.
“ How beautiful to hear of God's glory ” "Beloved we are now children of God." Pastor Doug tells us passionately that we shall participate in the glory of God, and it is the desire of Christ for us to see, to behold, and participate in His glory. Last week, I heard a sermon saying that Christ was about multiculturalism and painting murals in the hallways of public schools. This sermon is the perfect antidote to that sermon and others like it.
“ God Commands Us To Love, And To Obey His Commands ” This sermon will encourage Christians who have become saddened and discouraged by the widespread antinomianism in the church. Love covering a multitude of sins has been taken to mean "anything goes" for Christians as long as there is "love." Even back in the early '70's, this commenter was studying at Andover Newton Theological Seminary (Congregationalist and United Church of Christ) and situation ethics so-called was beginning to get wide acceptance in those so-called churches. Three of my fellow seminarians were shacking up with their girlfriends in the dorm of the seminary. Nobody said a word. You see, as long as those couples were professing Christians, and as long as they had "love," a reasonable adjustment to their "situation" could be made. "Love" trumps repentance and dog-like behavior, to use a metaphor from this sermon by Pastor Doug. In today's America, too often, much too often, there is no room for duty, honor, or righteousness. Love is a sentimentalized version of Christ's teachings that supposedly covers "a multitude of sins." Fear of self-righteousness has increasingly led to no righteousness. This sermon is rich in meaning, and certainly has more perspective on the real meaning of Christ's teaching than this comment, and I strongly recommend that you listen.
“ Are We Truly Glorifying God? ” This is another sermon where we can walk away knowing that God, Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ, has received the glory. The man blind from birth gave God the glory and ultimately worshipped Him. Are we prostrate before God, overwhelmed with his goodness and kindness towards us? The blind man was kicked out by the Sanhedrin because he insisted that his healing was by one sent from God. That really made them sick. Anything that God does is going to confound those who are circling the wagons to protect their flawed belief system.The blind man's parents were more cautious when they were grilled by the leading rabbis. They did not want to give Jesus the glory as one either sent by God or as the "Son of Man". I was convicted to have a more bold witness to what God has done for me, what He is doing for others, and for the entire Christian Revelation. This sermon is both logical and inspiring. It has a coherence that is often sadly lacking in sermons, a unity of message and exposition. But it is also inspiring because of the passion and goodwill of the delivery. I need both. Don't you? Tonight I am feeling that perhaps the Lord is renewing my calling to preach or to write on Christian themes and Christian history.I must pray about these matters with a worshipful attitude.
“ Do You Love Jesus? ” Jesus challenges the most religious, pious Jews of his time. They are doing all the "right things." Yet, they would like to see Jesus dead. Is there something wrong with this picture? You bet. Jesus is the Living Word. If He is not eliciting a loving response within us, if we justify ourselves before a holy God instead of depending on our holy God to make us more holy, clean up our sins, forgive us and change us, then have good reason to be afraid. Responding to Christ, Pastor Doug tells us, is not simply going to church every Sunday, voting Republican, and driving an American-made car. Rather, our sinful condition must be acknowledged and responded to. As John 3:7 tells us...we must be born again. It's a serious sermon, but if the listener takes it seriously, then it also will be a source of great hope.
“ This Sermon Is 'Must Listening' ” Passion, intensity, and coherence can all be heard in the sermons of Pastor Doug. This one is no exception. Yet, it seemed to me that this sermon contained a unique cry from the heart of God for self-purification. We need to come to our beautiful Lord and Savior not only or even mainly for the many temporal blessings that we often associate with following Him, but for salvation, for eternal life with Him that can be found and accessed only through Jesus Christ. We need to focus more on the eternal aspects of The Gift of Christ given to us by the Father. Yes, I thank God because I already have had a long life, my finances are stable, my health is better than average, and I have my faculties. But these areas of life that engender "my happiness" should not become idols or totems on which to hang my understanding of His grace or my faith. Pastor Doug calls us to look heavenward towards the eternal aspect of our relationship with the Lord, to treasure that dimension of our salvation, for it is indeed for that reason that Christ joined himself to us. Please tell all your friends to listen to this sermon. I have posted it on my Facebook page.
“ Great Sermon! ” Thank you for uploading your sermons here! Even though this sermon is 9 years old, it is still fresh and relevant for today. I plan on listening to more of your sermons here (God willing).
“ Great Sermon! ” This is one of the best sermons I've ever listened to.
I think Pr. Doug should consider putting his sermons on the gospels into some type of written format. Maybe commentary.
“ True Worship Is Explained ” This is not a sermon about how to structure a worship service. His focus is on the purpose and meaning of worshiping the Lord Our God in spirit and truth. He stresses that God is not just a bigger and greater version of ourselves. Thus, although he does not use my term -- anthropomorphic -- God is not to be understood anthropomorphically. He is eternal and unchanging. He is spirit. He is not identified with a specific time and place. That seems to me to be a wonderful starting point for considering the nature of true worship. Further, he stresses that our sincerity or zeal for the worship does not define the meaningfulness of the worship. In saying this, Pastor Doug reminds me of similar passages in Jonathan Edwards' book The Religious Affections, where Edwards tries to disconnect the authenticity and meaning of true worship from the issue of the degree of emotionality exhibited by the congregation. Ptr. Doug gives a marvelous example of the worshippers of the Golden Calf which, although dedicated to the great I AM, was nonetheless wrong, i.e., not prescribed. It was sincere and to the correct God, but it was still WRONG worship. Lastly, Sunday worship, assuming it to be true, affords the worshippers a little taste of eternity as God breaks into time and space.
“ Inspiring Sermon! ” Tonight, again, I had a deep sense of my sinfulness. Again, for the hundredth time, I failed to apply Godly wisdom to a situation that occurs time and again. The Lord in his faithfulness gave me two thoughts: (1) to listen to a sermon by Pastor Doug, and (2) to begin preaching regularly again (I had stopped preaching every Sunday after 8 years about 11 years ago -- just doing occasional guest preaching and 6-8 week series on specific topics). My wife has repeatedly told me that I don't have the patience with other people to pastor. At any rate, I listened to this sermon, and it encouraged me that in spite of my sinfulness and weaknesses, I could still deliver the precious word of God and the delivering sacrifice and love of Jesus Christ to a lost and fallen world. Isn't there a great need for the Word of God today? Aren't we flooded with false teachers? Aren't we drowning in atheism and hypocrisy in our society? I live in New York City. Do you think the dominating life principle of this city is "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy mind and all thy strength?" There are a lot of social workers in this city, but while they are helping the bodies and sometimes the emotions of the people, are they dealing with the souls of their clients? Thank you Pastor Doug.
“ Great Sermon! ” Pastor Jerry. This message was such a great blessing to me, after years and years of illness and disabilities. Thank you so much.
May everyone hear this. It gives a deep spiritual reality to the words of "My grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength is made perfect in weakness....."
Love in Christ, English Rose
11/18/17 6:01 PM
