(Sermon preached on Sunday, September 24, 2017, at Maranatha Church, Cambridge)
Read through John 21:15-25.
As you read this passage, notice how Jesus speaks personally to Peter, and addresses his own heart issues. Jesus does not let Peter shift the focus to John (“the other disciple”), making it clear to him that “you must follow me!” Too often we use the bible to judge others, instead of letting the bible judge us. As far as Jesus is concerned, other peoples’ sins are like ‘specks of sawdust’ to me, compared to my own sins which are ‘planks’ to me (Matthew 7:3-5). At the same time, my sins to others are ‘specks’, while their sins are ‘planks’ to them. In other words, allow the Spirit to deal with your own issues, and let the Spirit deal with others for their issues.
Continue reading ‘Hearing Jesus (He’s talking to YOU!!!)’ »

(Sermon preached on Sunday, September 17, 2017, at Maranatha Chruch, Cambridge)
Read through Luke 24:13-35.
As you read this passage, reflect on how the disciples eventually knew it was Jesus speaking to them. Is it possible that Jesus is speaking to us – like He did these disciples – and yet we are unaware of it? What if instead of judging the sermons we hear (or the bible passages we read) as good or bad, easy or hard, we would ask ourselves the question, ‘what is Jesus saying to me?’ Continue reading ‘Hearing Jesus (even through bad sermons)’ »

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14) What does it mean to you that Jesus is your Shepherd? David gives us a beautiful picture of this in Psalm 23.We can fully trust in Him for protection and provision. He will bring us safely home! In Ezekiel 34, God contrasts good shepherds from bad shepherds. Jesus is not just a shepherd, He is the good shepherd! The good shepherd promised by God to take care of us, His sheep (Ezekiel 34).

As a Jesus follower, I am supposed to trust in His care and follow His lead. But am I actually following Him? Am I letting Him control my life? Letting Jesus control my life does not come naturally. And more than likely, we are being controlled by other ‘voices’. Satan does not want you to listen to Jesus. He is constantly confusing us with the ‘noise’ of distraction, deception and discouragement. He will do whatever he can to take your eyes off Jesus.

Jesus is invisible, but He is real; His Spirit will lead us. He is with us at work. He is with us at school. If we allow Him, He can be a part of our every moment and experience. With the support of other believers, and through prayer and bible reading, He will lead us. Don’t give in to the distractions, deceptions and discouragements of the Enemy. Jesus really is good, and He really will shepherd us through this life to the next.  But am I really following Him… really really?

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be kept safe.” (John 10:9) This text can be translated “will be saved” or “will be kept safe”; most bibles use the first translation. Usually these words are interpreted to mean that Jesus is the only way to be saved. But if you look at the context, Jesus is not talking about saving sheep from sin or guilt. He is talking about saving sheep from life-killers, from thieves and robbers.

Behind these words is Ezekiel 34, where bad shepherds are described and condemned. Jesus uses this prophecy to encourage His followers, who are like lambs among wolves (Luke 10:3). ‘When you stick close to me, I will protect you, I will be your defender, your gate!’ The closer we are to Jesus, so that we know His voice, the safer we will be from the life-killers. By knowing His voice, His way, we will be able to distinguish between good shepherds and bad. “After I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:29)

How do Jesus followers stay safe in this world, how do we discern truth from error, good from bad? By maintaining a close relationship with Jesus, by knowing what He is like and what He sounds like! Then when deceivers come to draw us away, we will be able to tell the difference. Jesus is our refuge, our defender, our gate… stick close to Him!

Thanks for the feedback received last week.
This coming Sunday I am speaking on Mark 3!
You may begin to notice that the sermon passages from now on will be the same as the reading for that Sunday in the bible reading program.
This is intentional!
Instead of picking a passage that I am comfortable with, or want to speak on, I am going to allow the scheduled reading for the day be the passage we use in our gathering.

The reason for this is because I want to equip people for reading the bible every day, hearing from God in every day’s reading.
I believe that every passage that we read each day has a message from God for us.
I also believe that God will arrange the readings and topics in a way that apply to each person present that day.
The outcome of all this, I hope, is that people will be better able to hear from the Lord themselves, and not be dependent on someone else (a ‘trained minister’) to use the bible.

So please share your thoughts, or questions… anything?
Let’s listen together to what the Lord is saying to us in Mark 3.

One of my goals is to involve more people in “preaching the word”.
I believe that preaching is a community function, not just the task of one person in the church.
We are all called to share the good news message about Jesus, and my task includes equipping people in this activity.

You are already invited to be a part of daily bible reading.
Now I would like to incite you to share your thoughts on the passage we will consider together this coming Sunday at our Crossroads gathering.
The chapter I have chosen for this Sunday is Judges 13 (the reading for Wednesday, Aug 19).
I want your thoughts on this passage, your reflections on the basic SOAP questions:

• What questions does this passage raise for you?
• What lessons or truths does this passage convey?
• What are some personal applications that you can make from this passage?

You can leave your thoughts here on the blog, as a comment, or email them to me (norm@crossroadsinajax.org).
Please help me with my sermon…

Sermon series continues. This Sunday Chris Fortin will be giving the message on the theme The Garden of Your Soul  (Matthew 13:1-23). It corresponds to chapter 9 (A Long Time Ago, In A Garden Far, Far Away). 

Mack’s gaze moved over the garden that surrounded them. ‘But it really is beautiful, and full of you, Sarayu. Even though it seems like lots of work still needs to be done, I feel strangely at home and comfortable here.’ … Sarayu stepped toward him until she had invaded his personal space. ‘And well you should, Mackenzie, because this garden is your soul. This mess is you! Together, you and I, we have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive – a living fractal.’ (p.138)

Since I am not giving the message, I don’t know exactly where and how Chris will present this message. But that is part of the mess. This message series itself is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. We’ll see how the Spirit works in and through it! Continue reading ‘the shack series continues’ »

I am preparing for a series of messages based on the top-selling and controversial fictional novel, “The Shack” by William P. Young. These messages, beginning Sunday, Nov 30, will be a part of our anticipation of Christmas, or the celebration of the birth of Jesus. I will post links to the sermons here. Continue reading ‘“The Shack” sermon series’ »

I am planning to change my approach to my Sunday messages.
Since I began speaking in church, I’ve focused on a text, wherever it was in the Bible.
But what I noticed happening was that sometimes, especially in old testament passages, Jesus was brought in as an afterthought.
Recently I forgot my Jesus connection altogether – it was in my notes, but got lost in the presentation – YIKES!
I realized it right after we started singing, so threw it in with the final blessing, but THAT’S NOT GOOD!
Anyway, now I want to bring Jesus, the Word of God in the flesh, front and center! Continue reading ‘Jesus-shaped preaching’ »

This coming Sunday [June 8, 2008] I am planning on speaking on Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. Its one of the readings this week from the SOAP Bible Reading plan (June 4). Feel free to share your thoughts on what the MAIN point of this passage is, or on questions that you might have. By myself I often miss things, but when others help me look at a passage, the Lord speaks in stereo! Continue reading ‘help me with my sermon’ »