Imperfect People are Used In God’s Perfect Plan
In the ancient times of the New Testament, one way to make money was to sell things in the open-air markets in the village. You could sell the fruits of your crops, livestock, pottery and many other goods. Those who sold pottery would take time to diligently preparing an inventory of pottery to sell at the market. However, in...
Finding Confidence in the Way I Was Created
God is a creative and commissioning God. He never lacks a strategic plan, nor the power or ingenuity to make it happen. That was clear in the creation account captured in Genesis chapter one. There is something to notice in God's creation account for those of us who struggle with confidence. Our God did three things that should cause our shrinking...
Starving for Righteousness
A guest post from my dad, Jim Weidmann: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 Hunger and thirst are the body's way of telling us that we are "empty." Our natural response to hunger and thirst is to seek food and water to satisfy our need. Each Christian has an inner longing that...
God’s Love Sustains My Soul
A pastor shares his experience as he was visiting a new couple that started attending his church: As he talked with the parents at the kitchen table, the children were at play not far from where he sat. Suddenly, he heard an animal-like moan come from the other room. It caught his attention, as well as the mothers, prompting her...
The High Calling of Anguish
We are not a wrecked people. We find our comforts close at hand and our convictions deeply hidden. I am beginning to understand that this is terribly wrong. God has a desire for us to feel the weight of His pain but also the relief to know that it is ultimately His to reconcile. This week in a staff prayer time at...
When Brokenness is a Great Strength
At times it seems that the economy of heaven is upside down. We are used to a this fight-to-win-it world which declare loudly that only the weak will fail. Yet, in God's eyes, the only way to succeed is to spend your soul at the deepest level. We are called to lose our life. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will...
Listen to Your Dad and He’ll Listen to You
When I was a little kid, I would play on a merry-go-round at the park with my dad. We would both run around it to get it spinning as fast as we could, and then on the count of three we would hop on. It was fun, but not always easy… many times I would miss the platform and...
When a Joke Goes Bad in Your Sermon
This weekend I opened my sermon with a joke. I thought it would bring laughter at the beginning of what I knew was going to be a heavy sermon. However, the joke didn't work well at all. The reason being, I forgot a key line in the joke. It was a simple line that would have made the joke actually...
5 Keys to a Great Start to Your Day
Mornings are a killer. I am not the kind of guy that usually rises with a pep-in-my-step. I wake up one braincell at a time. This is just the way that I am wired, and as much as I wish I could change it, I really can’t. So I have come up with some routines that help me get...
Sermon and Study Notes for Luke 19:11-27
This is without a doubt one of the hardest of the parables to exegete. I struggled with this passage for nearly twice as many hours as it takes to prep a normal sermon. Therefore, I feel it is all the more important to give my resources away for this sermon. Here are my files: Study Notes For Luke 19.11-27 - A...
Jesus is the Son of God. Proof From the Gospel of John
The central theme to the Gospel of John is that Jesus is the Son of God. This is most evident by the way that John continues to build a case for Christ’s deity from the very first verse to the very end of this book. John begins his gospel by writing, “In the beginning the Word was God and...
God’s Secret to Taking Over the World
Jesus Christ commanded us to “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). The final words given to His the apostles have remained over time as instruction for those of us born into the family of God. This command has not only provided me with a plan and purpose, but it has become my heartbeat. My greatest passion is to make...