Pastor Dale E. Austin Luke 3:7 – 18
Humans are masters of self-deception. We can convince ourselves of all sorts of things that aren’t really true, especially if these things are about ourselves. Continue reading
Pastor Dale E. Austin Luke 3:7 – 18
Humans are masters of self-deception. We can convince ourselves of all sorts of things that aren’t really true, especially if these things are about ourselves. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged actions, Advent, community, God's love, intentions, Jesus, Luke, neighbors
Pastor Dale E. Austin John 14:1-14
There are very few verses in the Bible whose meaning is more hotly debated and even argued than when Jesus responds to Thomas’ question in the sixth verse of today’s reading. When the disciple asks to know the way to God, Jesus responds by telling him that he is “the way, the truth and the life.” Then he adds that most controversial of all comments, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Now just what did he mean by that? Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized, Worship
Tagged actions, Christian, discipleship, God, Gospel, Jesus, John, mission. witness, service, spirituality
Pastor Dale E. Austin John 10:1-10
One of the catchphrases which we hear batted around in our churches in recent years is “Servant Leadership”. Supposedly, it’s leadership based upon the model of Jesus Christ’s life and example, who by his own admission came to serve and not to be served. Unfortunately, for as much as we hear this phrase voiced over and over, I don’t see it being modeled very much among our denominational hierarchy. It reminds me of a conversation which I had with our District Superintendent not long ago, in which he was reflecting upon some of our churches where there is a lot of activity. He noted that a lot may be going on, but he couldn’t help wondering aloud, “is it being done in the name of Jesus Christ, or is it just a country club pretending to be a church?” Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized, Worship
Tagged actions, Christian, church, church family, community, intentions, John, mission. witness, missions, neighbors, service
Pastor Dale E. Austin Matthew 5:21-37
We’re fond of giving names to things so that we have a quick reference. Ever since the early 70s and the Watergate break-in, everything has been “Something-gate” so that we know what we’re discussing, without having to go into great details. It’s a convenient shorthand which gets everyone on board with the discussion quickly. Continue reading
Tagged actions, intentions, Jesus, righteousness, Sermon on the Mount