Past Sermons
Revisit these past sermons by Pastor Mike when you need to refresh or reflect on your lives and times.
Sermon Series beginning January 11, 2009 Questions Children Ask This series reaches to our deepest questions, the age-old ones we've all asked from the time we were children. March 1, 2009 Why Do We Talk So Much About Jesus? Excerpt: I need things spelled out for me. I relate far better to concrete, tangible, visible reality. As long as God is invisible, it is easy to think all sorts of things about God. It might even be easy to think God doesn’t really exist. It is easy to make conjectures about God, to imagine all sorts of things that are far from the truth. And so it has happened throughout human history. February 22, 2009 Why Does God Have So Many Rules? Excerpt: God’s rules establish what is necessary to enjoy life-riding. Break the rules and you crash. Practice the rules and soon you will be enjoying life. No longer will the rules seem tedious or restrictive. They will become as God intends them: to be the moral skeleton on which we grow abundant life. At some point, we might even thank God for the rules. February 15, 2009 Why do we Have Church? Excerpt: Why do we have church? Why do we get together? Because God loves us and gave himself for us. If we are a part of the church for any other reason, our children will sniff it out. We will not fool them. They can spot phonies a mile off. If we give our children any other reason for being a part of the church, we might deprive them forever of God’s way of blessing their lives. February 8, 2009 Will Our Pets Go to Heaven? Excerpt: There is no doubt that God wants us to enjoy creation and the gifts of grace we receive through it, but God is trying to reach us to turn our attention to the One who died for us and gave himself for us. If our pets cause us to praise God, then thanks be to God for our pets. February 1, 2009 Can Grandpa See Me From Heaven? January 25, 2009 How Can God Hear Us Way Up in Heaven?
Excerpt: Faith is like love. So easy to say it, but so hard to live it. Yet what is love if it is not lived and acted upon? What kind of relationship will it be if love is only a word and never an action? So it is with faith. Faith is belief in action, the expression of our love of God, the foundation of a relationship that is redemptive. This faith changes who we are, beginning here on earth. Through faith, God begins the work of our transformation to become new creations in Jesus Christ. That transformation is completed in heaven.
Excerpt: We want our children to know that wherever we are, God hears our prayers because God knows us and loves us, and God is always, always with us. A Bible commentary says, “Prayer, rather, is a force that promotes restorative life, bestowed on us by a mercifully responsive God (5:16).”
January 18, 2009
What Does God Look Like?
Excerpt: It is okay if our children cannot conceptualize God as infinite being, invisible and yet real. Some of us are still working on that one, too. What we want them to know is that God is real, and that God is like Jesus who cared for the sick, raised the dead to new life, and forgave sinners.
January 11, 2009
When Was God Born?
Excerpt: Whatever else we may be concerned with, whatever else we may direct our lives toward, all our living occurs against the backdrop of eternity. There is more to life than time. Time exists by the will and plan of God. You and I have to live through time. But time is not the whole enchilada. There is a realm beyond time, outside time, and intersecting with time, that is inhabited by God and by all who respond to God through the doorway to eternity we know as Jesus Christ. The Bible says all who believe in him shall have eternal life, life in a new dimension even as we walk this earth in the knowledge that all this shall perish.
Sermon Series beginning November 30, 2008
Where Heaven Touches Earth
"Heaven on earth” has always been a strengthening dream in times of trouble. It gives voice to our hope and confidence in God. Our main anchor of confidence, of course, is the birth of Jesus whom God sent to earth in the fullness of time as a Savior of the world. Come celebrate with us each Sunday the timeless story of hope.
January 4, 2009
Follow the Star
Excerpt: Like the Wise Men, let us all follow the star, give Jesus our hearts, and go home by another road.
December 21, 2008
In Peace that Passes Understanding
Excerpt: Peace happens when we get right with God. Jesus was born to make that happen.
December 14, 2008
In a Sign for You
Excerpt: That sounds like a dependable God, doesn’t it? That’s the point. This God we read about in the Bible and come to worship week after week is always with us, always for us, even if we ignore Him, even when we try to do it my way. No doubt, like a loving parent, he allows us to stumble and fall.
December 7, 2008
In a Message for All the People
Excerpt: Let me tell you what this means for those who claim to be followers of Jesus. It means they live by a new standard. They refuse to judge people based on their looks. They welcome every stranger who comes along. They are never satisfied with the status quo. They love the diversity of people. They are always looking outward. They never tire of creating ways to reach the world with the good news message God has for all people.
November 30, 2008
In Fields Where They Lay
Excerpt: This story tells us that angels can come any time, any place. Heaven can show up when we least expect it and in places we least expect it. Like in the mundane every day lives we live. Even at work.
Sermon Series beginning September 28, 2008
Habits of the Heart
Have you ever thought of courage or doubt or simplicity as spiritual habits? Come discover and experience the habits that God's Spirit wants to cultivate in each of our lives. These habits enable us to make a positive difference in our homes, communities, and world.
November 16, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Trusting
Excerpt: Life is all about learning whom we can trust, whom we can count on to have our best interests at heart. Every day we have to make decisions based on trust. The hope is that the ones we trust, or the things we trust, will not let us down.
November 9, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Service
Excerpt: Not to be served, but to serve. Jesus came to give us servant hearts. Not “what do I deserve”, but “how can I serve”. Not “what is required of me”, but “what can I do to make your life better”. Do we want to have an impact to make the world a better place? Then let us be servants. Do we want to experience the joy of God’s kingdom on earth? Then let us be servants. Do we want to make God smile? Then let us be servants.
November 2, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Giving
Excerpt: This is a tough time to be talking about giving. But it would be wrong on my part not to tell you the truth. God wants to turn us into givers instead of takers. God wants to free us from the fear that money creates in us so that we can be free to make a greater impact for the purposes of God. This path to generosity is the path for every person who loves God and seeks to follow Jesus Christ.
October 26, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Simplicity
Excerpt: Jesus starts out in verse 25 by telling his disciples, “Do not worry about your life.” Well, Jesus loses me right there. How about you? “I worry, therefore I am.” I try not to worry, but then worry that I have forgotten something I should be worried about. You know what I mean? Who can’t help but worry when the economy crashes or the doctor tells you something you don’t want to hear or there is a new strange noise in the drier?
October 19, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Centering
Excerpt: There is no question that most of us need to give up some things in order to balance our lives. But there is another way that we call “centering”. I believe that before we can balance our lives, we have to get centered. That is a physical law. Think of a see-saw. We need a center point and once we know what that is, we will start to see the whirlwind slow down. We will see the whirlwind from a different perspective.
October 5, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Love
Excerpt: Isn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ wonderful?! John says what you need to know and experience before you try to take the first step out into the big world where love is needed is that God first loves you. God is love. It is God’s nature to love, and God created you because He wanted to share His love with you, and because He wants your love in return. God loves you so much that He proved in His Son Jesus that nothing, absolutely nothing could ever make God stop loving you. Not even your sins. Not even your darkest thoughts, your worst dreams, your misguided life. Not even your efforts to abandon God, to hide from God, to deny God. God pursues you like the Hound of Heaven because you were made for love.
October 5, 2008
The Spiritual Habit of Courage
Excerpt: Do we have the spiritual habit of courage? God wants to break us out of our cocoons so we can fly with the angels. When we fly with the angels, we glorify God. Doing and becoming what we are meant for is the secret to the peace, purpose, and promise that we believe is God’s vision for every one of us and for His whole creation.
September 28, 2008
The Spirit in You
Excerpt: I think I am beginning to understand that. But as we focus on the spiritual life from a Biblical and Christian perspective, I want us to be clear about the foundation for all our talk about spirituality and the spiritual life. The spiritual life we are talking about is the one given to us by Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We are not just trying to be spiritual around here. We are trying to live a Spirit-led life.
Sermon Series beginning August 31, 2008
Ancient Modern Discipleship: Worship Plus 2
How do we recapture the ancient simplicity and passion that instilled hope and empowered followers of Jesus to change the world? How do we do this in a very post-modern world? We will look at the basic practices that can make faith a daily experience of growth and spiritual passion.
September 21, 2008
Answering the Prime Directive
Excerpt: I have said it many times. Our decision to follow Jesus always leads to deployment in service and missions. A growing, healthy relationship with God always frees us from self-absorption to servanthood, serving others by serving the cause of God.
September 14, 2008
Growing Up on Purpose
Excerpt: God plants the seed of faith in you. But that seed gets planted in ground so hard it has no chance of growing. The soil is packed so tightly no air or nutrients can get to it and it just languishes. It may sit there for 60, 70, 80 years with nothing happening. You can’t loosen up that soil on your own no matter how hard you try. You need others to start breaking up that hard soil so they can water it and add nutrients. They help you see the black spots that form on the leaves. They notice when the plant is turning yellow. They add the fertilizer. They prune. They love you and watch in awe as God brings fruit from your life, as you change before their eyes and miracles start happening around you.
September 7, 2008
The Believers Highest Occupation
Excerpt: But the question is, Did you worship God? Did you open your heart to God? Did you express your praise in some way? Did you bow before him in repentance and receive a forgiving word? Did you listen for his Word to you? Did you hear Him calling you to a new way of life or to a change in your life or to some new service in Jesus’ name? Did you pray? Did He touch your heart in some way? Hopefully, what happens and what is done in the service helps you do all those things. Hopefully, the worship leaders are not just going through the motions. Hopefully, Jesus is at the heart of it. But the question is, Did you worship God?
August 31, 2008
Worship Plus 2
Excerpt: When people tell me they are Christians, but they don’t go in for church, I feel sorry for them. Or when they say they don’t need to grow, I feel sorry for them. I know they are missing the regenerating power of Christ’s forgiving love in their hearts.
Sermon Series beginning July 20, 2008
Locker Life-Savers
This series is aimed at youth and parents as they prepare for another year of school. We will explore what God gives to youth to put in their lockers to help them remain strong, safe, and successful in the crowded hallways of life.
August 17, 2008
Power Aid
Excerpt: Our kids face lots of giants in the crowded hallways of life. The giants our kids face could be lots of things. Things that seem impossible to overcome. The giant might be some unimaginable barrier or hurdle to get over. A shyness. A learning disability. A laziness. A lack of ambition and drive. A perceived inadequacy of some sort. The unreal expectations of parents. A temptation. But here’s the deal. If you belong to the army of the living God, and in your heart you want to serve God and you depend on the living God, you will not fail. You will not fail.
August 10, 2008
The Right Stuff
Excerpt: Someone said our kids don’t need to be molded, they need to be unfolded. That is another way of saying that each of our kids has the right stuff. And all they have to do is to put their stuff in the hands of Jesus. And Jesus will take their stuff and use it to make a difference in the world.
August 3, 2008
Water Wings
Excerpt: Here’s the deal. You can’t walk on water. No one can, but Jesus. The reality is that we all start to sink. Life is tough. None of us can stand up to the wind and waves. None of us can get to where God wants us to go on our own. Peter had to learn that lesson, and I’ll tell you why. Because Jesus was preparing Peter and the others to be leaders of the church that would transform the world.
July 27, 2008
A Party Invitation
Excerpt: That’s a good question. What is this world coming to? Well, I can’t answer for the whole world, but I know what I want our kids to come to. I want them to come to the party like the one the father threw for his son. I want them to know that they have a standing invitation to this party. And I want them to know that this is the greatest party ever given.
July 20, 2008
A Birthright
Excerpt: The Bible promises that if we know God’s Word and do it, we will succeed and prosper in life. Doing God’s Word means following Jesus, doing what Jesus did. Does that mean that we will make lots of money and have everything we want? Maybe. But it means more than that. It means we will live a life of great joy and fulfillment. Don’t let anyone take that from you.
Sermon Series beginning June 1, 2008
Unshakeable Anchors
What are the anchors that hold your life steady in the storms of life? At SBPC, we have identified six “unshakeable” anchors that we call our Bedrock Beliefs. They are the non-negotiable, foundational, and totally dependable truths we fall back on when the storms strike.
July 13, 2008
God With Us
Bedrock Belief: God is always with us.
Excerpt: Our Bedrock Belief refers to a specific God who is present with us in His written and proclaimed Word. We know this God through His Word. We cannot know Him apart from this Word. It is amazing how many people claim to know God and even what God is thinking and yet seldom open these pages.
July 6, 2008
Unswerving Hope
Bedrock Belief: God gives us hope.
Excerpt: Disciples of Jesus have an inside track on the right kind of hope. I don’t know how you can follow Jesus and grow in discipleship without brimming over with hope. The more you get to know him, the greater your hope because nothing is impossible through him. That is why our mission is to make and grow disciples of Jesus Christ who give their lives to make a difference in the world. We want others to experience the hope we experience in Jesus Christ so God can use them to make a difference in the world.
June 22, 2008
A Life Purpose
Bedrock Belief: God has a purpose for each of us.
Excerpt: Our Bedrock Belief says we want to make an eternal difference. Whether we are CEO’s or waiters in a restaurant, whether we are doctors or scrub nurses, whether we are physically fit or the prime example of the 90 pound weakling, whether we are the most popular kid on the block or the nerdiest nerd from nerdsville – no matter what we are doing with our lives, our focus is God’s eternal purpose for us and the difference we can make that lasts for all eternity.
June 15, 2008
Life-Changing Prayer
Bedrock Belief: God changes lives through prayer.
Excerpt: I used to try to tell God in my prayers what I wanted God to do. I had long lists of people to pray for. Thought God might need some help in that. It is okay to do that. God doesn’t mind. It is just that God has so much more for us than we can ever imagine or think to ask for. Prayer is more about surrender. It is about listening for the heartbeat of God in every circumstance. It is about being in love with God. It is just saying, “Here I am Lord.” I am hurting, or down, or disgusted, or bent, or broken, or angry, or confused, or doubtful, or lonely, or crazy – but here I am. I am yours.
June 8, 2008
Forgiven
Bedrock Belief: God forgives every sin through Jesus Christ.
Excerpt: I think we have enough resentment, revenge, and anger in the world, don’t you? God calls his church to be the exception. And at SBPC we are committed to being the exception. Because we know what Jesus did for us, how much he paid for our forgiveness, we want to be warriors of forgiveness. God put us here to go to our brothers and sisters, to tell them that their lives can be different, their problems solved, their hopes raised because God forgives every sin through Jesus Christ. This is the path to the peace, purpose, and promise we all long for.
June 1, 2008
The Love Factor
Bedrock Belief: God loves us no matter what.
Excerpt: Anchors are so important. And yet how many people have thrown their anchors over the side? How many people are fishing for life in the wrong spot because they have no anchors? How many of us try to navigate the storms of life without anchors to hold us fast?
Sermon Series beginning May 4, 2008
Love Shouldn't Hurt!
This series examines the relationships in our lives -- spouses, children, friends -- and what it means to love in God's plan.
May 18, 2008
When Trouble Begins
Excerpt: What I am saying is that Jesus has set a standard for Christians, a standard that raises the determination of husbands and wives to stop the downward spiral before it goes too far. Not simply because marriages should last forever. But because there is so much more God wants you to get out of your unique union and so much more God wants from you as a model of Christ’s love for his church.
May 11, 2008
What Are Children For
Excerpt: I started by saying that it is by the grace of God our children survive our parenting. And as parents, we have an awesome opportunity to prepare them for their purpose in life. All of us can do better, but in the final analysis it is God’s purpose at work, and they are in God’s hands. We do the best we know how. And then, at some point, they are responsible for their own decisions and their own relation to God and their sense of calling in life.
May 4, 2008
Love is Not Enough
Excerpt: If marriage is to reflect Christ’s relationship to his church, then I have to believe God doesn’t want boring, convenient, contentious, straightjacket, merely tolerated marriages. What would that reflect about God? God is into excitement, adventure, creativity, achievement, sacrifice, excellence, true intimacy, and purpose.
April 20, 2008
Motivation for Giving
Excerpt: This is a remarkable perspective and one that governs our relationship with God. We can call it “return to sender”. We don’t own anything in the sense that we can never take credit for what we have. I know we all work hard for what we have. We put out a lot of effort to support our families. We feel the pinch when the economy goes down and jobs go away. But the Biblical perspective is that God owns it all, and God gives us the skills and tools and jobs that enable us to produce whatever we have.
Sermon Series beginning March 16, 2008
Why Jesus?
This sermon series looks at the reasons and resources that convince us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This is a good series for those who do not understand why we put our lives in his hands.
A King Like No Other
Excerpt: What the people didn’t know was that Jesus came to be a king like no other king. He came to liberate them, but not like any other king had ever done it. Not by raising armies. Not by amassing great wealth. Not by setting up a police state ruling through fear. Not by making political alliances. No, he is a king of a much different stripe. He enters Jerusalem knowing that the only path to peace and prosperity is through his death and resurrection. Jesus knows that what is needed is a spiritual solution. What is needed is an act so bold and so overwhelming that it turns hearts to God and steers life in a new direction.
A Love Like No Other
Excerpt: I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t somehow make a difference in my life. If I didn’t somehow believe that in the cross a new power is unleashed, a new door opened, a new light shining in the darkness. And that light is the love of Jesus that burns in my heart. A Good Friday love. A love like no other. To make me more loving. To love as he loved me. To make a difference in the world.
A Power Like No Other
Excerpt: Resurrection means the door is open. Jesus is a power like no other. The power is the power to get us out of our tombs, the power to cause us to walk through doors that we have cowered behind for too long, the power to turn us into courageous white-hot servants of Jesus. To go where he wants us to go. To send us running to tell others and to work for the healing and peace of the world.
A Presence Like No Other
Excerpt: So, why Jesus? Why do I stick with him? Here is the short answer: Because He is unlike anyone else who has ever lived. And if he is who the Bible says he is, then I would be foolish to ignore him. But how can I ignore him when he is a Presence like no other?
March 2008 series
Living Water for Times Such as These
As a congregation we have adopted the phrase Peace. Purpose. Promise. as our core message. This sermon series speaks to that core message.
Peace That Passes Understanding
Excerpt: The root of Biblical peace - a peace that is true and lasting and creates positive energy for resolving conflicts - is a radical confidence and trust in God. In Jeremiah 26:3, the prophet says to God, Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace--in peace because they trust in you.
Finding Your Purpose
Excerpt: I happen to agree with Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life. “It is not about us.” It is about God. Our purpose comes from God. We cannot create a big enough purpose to sustain our lives, one that calls forth the enormous potential God sees in each of us. We get in trouble when we try. Worship helps us keep our eye on the One who keeps His eye on us.
Promises, Promises
Excerpt: What we are saying is that promise is one of the three most important things we experience with Jesus Christ that others cannot live without. Not the promises we make, but the promises God makes. We want people to know that in Jesus: We receive promises that will never be broken. . .Promises we can count on, forever!. . .Big promises. Important promises. Eternal promises. And in these promises, we experience hope. We live in hope.
January/February Sermons
Sermon Three
Excerpt: Peter went through a three year period of discernment with Jesus before he was ready to realize his potential. He had to learn what I have had to learn over and over in my lifetime. It is not about me. It is not about what I want or what I like. It is about what Jesus wants. I discover what Jesus wants through study of the Bible. And then it is about discerning what Jesus sees in me and wants of me. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is the hard part where many Christians stop growing.
Sermon Four
Excerpt: We may decide to follow Jesus. We may discover what he came to do and what he wants from us. We may even discern our gifts and calling. But until we are ready to tackle the tough challenge of keeping our eyes on him alone and overcoming our fear, there will be very little to write home about. We will sink into the stormy seas of this tempestuous life we live. Or worse, we will drown our potential and someone whose life we could have touched, whose heart we could have opened to all their potential, goes wanting.
Sermon Five
Excerpt: Discipleship reverses all that. Growing disciples never see the glass half-empty. Neither do they see it half-full. It is always overflowing. They never speak of what little they can do. They always marvel at how much God has given them. If God calls them to action, it is always in the faith that God will provide the way and means. Instead of compartmentalizing their lives, they begin to see that every compartment belongs to God. Some need to be scrubbed. Others need to grow. But the bottom line is that they begin to live a life of integrity and purpose that go far beyond just making a living or providing for my family.