Sermon Text: Luke 1:57-80 Theme: Because of His tender mercy for those whom He loves in Jesus, the Lord has brought salvation to His people so that they can serve Him in peace. Structure/points: The Christmas story tells us that the Lord heard the many prayers of His people that He would show mercy to them. And it tells us how He…
Sermon Text: Luke 1:39-56 Theme: The people of God magnify His saving power and mercy because He has blessed the humble and dethroned the proud by means of the virgin’s offspring. Structure/points: The story of Christ’s birth is a story of the mercy of God, how He rescued those whom He loves in Jesus despite their lack of merit and standing. Even…
Sermon Text: Luke 1:26-38 Theme: The grace of God to save the lowly calls for all people to believe the good news that the virgin’s offspring is the Son of God who will reign forever as king. Structure/points: Luke 1:26-28 tells us how the Virgin Mary was told that she would bear the Son of God. But while Mary herself is not…
Sermon Text: Luke 1:5-25 Theme: The announcement of the forerunner’s birth prepared those who prayed to God in faith to believe the good news that their reproach would be taken away. Structure/points: Before the birth of Christ, or even the announcement to Mary herself that she would conceive the Son of God, another announcement had to be made first. The Christ would…
Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 25:23-44 Theme: The Lord restrains His people from sin in order that, free from pangs of conscience, they may have the satisfaction of looking to Him in faith that He will do all that is right and just. Structure/points: If David had been allowed to follow through on his plans for Nabal, it would have been devasting for…
Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 25:1-22 Theme: When David found himself the victim of a fool’s insults, he forgot that the Lord’s anointed must leave it to God to avenge the evil done to him. Structure/points: Previously in 1 Samuel, we have seen David in danger from largely physical sources. He’s fought on the battlefield and been pursued by Saul and his men. …
Sermon Text: Psalm 57:1-11 Theme: Because God will surely save all those who turn to Him for help, the distressed believer should have the exaltation of the Lord always on his lips and in his heart. Structure/points: Psalm 57 was written in a time of distress for David, the Psalmist. He was forced to hide from Saul in a cave and hope…
Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 24:1-22 Theme: When provided an opportunity to seize the kingdom of Israel from his persecutor, David chose to entrust his wellbeing and his future crown to the righteous oversight of the Lord his God. Structure/points: David lived about seventy years, so there’s a lot about his life that the Bible doesn’t tell us. But those things that we…
Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 23:15-29 Theme: Despite the hatred that the sinful world has for God’s people, the Lord will vindicate His people’s faith by ensuring that His word shall come to pass. Structure/points: As we anticipate celebrating Reformation Sunday, we may ask how the Reformation as a movement survived and even thrived. How is that the great rediscovery that the righteous…
Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 23:1-14 Theme: When David sought the counsel of the Lord God according to the means God had provided, God gave His anointed the guidance and protection he needed to accomplish His will. Structure/points: 1 Samuel 23 finds David living as a fugitive from Saul. However, despite David’s peril and his own recent mistakes, the Lord was still with…