Sunday Sermons

AM - The Gospel and Servant Ministries - Acts 6:1-7

PM - Receive or Reject - Luke 10:10-16

The Gospel Sermon Series

I am in the process of planning a long sermon series on the gospel. As of today I have 32 topics planned. I am not sure they will all make it this go around, and I'm sure more will come to mind as I continue to pray, think, and work through this. Below is what I have so far. I would gladly welcome any thoughts and/or additions to this list. My goal is to first get the gospel out there, with a Biblical understanding of the gospel. After all, Paul said deserting the gospel is deserting Him who calls in the grace of Christ (Gal. 1:6). However, I've also thought much lately about the application of the gospel. If the good news is that we can be saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, then it ought to affect how we live everyday and in every circumstance. That's my hope. Help me out, please!


1. The Gospel Defined
2. The Gospel and God's Holiness
3. The Gospel and Our Sin
4. The Gospel and Our Substitute
5. The Gospel and Our Response
6. The Gospel and Justification
7. The Gospel and Sanctification
8. The Gospel and Glorification
9. The Gospel and Application
10. The Gospel and Biblical Manhood
11. The Gospel and Biblical Womanhood
12. The Gospel and Marriage
13. The Gospel and Children
14. The Gospel and Parenting
15. The Gospel and Singleness
16. The Gospel and Evangelism
17. The Gospel and Mercy Ministries
18. The Gospel and the Nations
19. The Gospel and Urgency
20. The Gospel and Suffering
21. The Gospel and Dying
22. The Gospel and Eternity
23. The Gospel and the Church
24. The Gospel and Elders
25. The Gospel and Deacons
26. The Gospel and Baptism
27. The Gospel and the Lord's Supper
28. The Gospel and Church Membership
29. The Gospel and Worship
30. The Gospel and Church Member Restoration (Discipline)
31. The Gospel and the Holy Spirit
32. The Gospel and the Glory of God

The Gerasene Demonic and Us

As I continue to preach through the gospel of Luke with Cypress Lake Baptist Church, I am amazed at the number of ways my life is impacted. My hope is that our church would know more of Biblical Jesus so we can trust in Him and His work on our behalf. Just recently I added Philip Ryken's Commentary Set to my collection, and I am very thankful already. In preparing for Sunday Evening's message from Luke 8:26-39 I read this quote about the demon possessed man:

The man that Jesus met was in nearly the worst condition that anyone could imagine. He was naked, lonely, violent, and insane; he was walking naked among the dead. Yet even for all his misery, we can see ourselves in his situation, because sin has similar effects on all of us. It exposes us naked in our guilt. It alienates us from one another, leaving us lonely and alone. It makes us violent, at least in our attitudes, if not in our actions. Spiritually speaking, we walk among the dead. Thus the madman in the graveyard shows the wretchedness of our condition outside of Christ.

I can relate to this on so many levels. Apart from Christ I am certainly here. Thanks be to God who has cleansed me through the blood of His Son, Jesus.

Books on Preaching from Myself and Others

I recently posted to get some information and suggestions on 'must read' books for preaching. As I stated then, there is no shortage of 'good' books out there. Below is a compiled list of books that were suggested in either the comments on this blog or on Facebook. I thought this list may be helpful for others who are wondering the same thing.

Preaching and Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper

Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon by Bryan Chapell

Spirit Empowered Preaching by Arturo G. Azurdia III

Why Johnny Can't Preach by T. David Gordon

Dying to Preach by Steven Smith

He is not Silent: Preaching in a Postmordern World by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

Power in the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons by Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix

Positive Preaching and Modern Mind by P. T. Forsyth

Evangelical Eloquence: A Course of Lectures on Preaching by R. L. Dabney

Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching by various authors

Preaching for God's Glory by Alistair Begg

Spirit-Led Preaching: The Holy Spirit's Role in Sermon Preparation and Delivery by Greg Heisler

Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture by Graeme Goldsworthy

Planning your Preaching: A Step by Step Guide for Developing a One Year Preaching Calendar by Stephen Nelson Rummage

Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent Hughes by Leland Ryken and Todd Wilson

There was also an audio lecture recommended: Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World

My guess is there are more. Any other suggestions for 'must read' books on preaching?

UPDATE: I ONLY PLAN TO READ THE TOP 5 OF THESE BOOKS. CAN YOU GIVE ME YOUR PICKS?

Books on Preaching

I plan to begin soon reading through various books on preaching to help sharpen my preaching ability to hopefully be a better pastor for my church. With that being said, I would love to hear from you on your top 3-4 books on preaching. What are the absolute must reads? I know there are several good ones, but I am not enough of an avid reader to read them all. So, here are a few I have read or plan to read.

Preaching and Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper

Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon by Bryan Chapell

Any other suggestions for must reads?

Our Goal

This past Sunday I preached a message that was aimed at helping us think through why we are here in Fort Myers, FL. Obviously, we are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not decide what that means in the ultimate sense, but I wanted to challenge our church to take seriously a few commands in Scripture. I set my message up around what I hope to be our mission: We exist by the grace of God to make disciples of all nations, through treasuring Christ above all things, for the glory of God at all times. If you're interested, you can hear the message here.

Could Use your Prayers

After gathering with FBC on Sunday I started feeling a little rough. It really is probably just a cold, but it has affected my voice as well. Usually on Wednesday evenings I lead our adult Bible Study and then teach the students. I have already asked someone to cover both of those for me tonight. However, I've also been invited to preach tomorrow night at another church (First Baptist Church on Magazine St.) and I really want to preach there since it is a great testimony of diversity coming together to worship God and celebrate the New Year together. Please pray that my voice will gain strength and I'll feel well enough to celebrate Christ with my brothers and sisters.

UPDATE: Since I woke up this morning (Thursday) I have been coughing and have a very tight chest. Preaching tonight doesn't look possible right now. I'll have to make a decision soon so they can adjust accordingly. Thanks for the prayers.

Firm Foundations for your Faith

I am preparing a sermon series at FBC on firm foundations. I am still working through the layout, but would love to hear some thoughts from you. If all goes as planned, I'll probably begin this in February. Here is what I have thus far and may change this list by addition or deletion of what is there. What am I missing? What would you take away?

1. The Word of God (Bible)
2. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
3. Man (creation, Fall, depravity)
4. Christ (Son of God, Substitue, Redeemer)
5. Salvation (grace, faith, repentance, etc.)
6. Church (body, bride, family)
7. Future (Christ's return, judgement, final salvation)

Update: It looks like I have at least 25 sermons working through this at this point. I'm sure some will change. I may combine, delete, or add some still. Thanks for the suggestions.

Also, you do not need to know me to make suggestions. I would welcome any serious thoughts on this subject.

Expository Preaching

Here is another great word from Piper. This one is about preaching and again I like it.

Friday's Question

How do you preach the gospel to yourself? Why do you preach the gospel to yourself?

Missions is at the Heart of God

I am preaching this coming Sunday on missions. I have been preaching on the gospel for the past 5 weeks (4 weeks on personally understanding and applying the gospel and 1 week on taking the gospel to others). This week I will conclude that series with an emphasis on missions. When I use the word "missions" I mean mostly the idea of going where there is not gospel presence to preach to those who've never heard. This is one of my favorite subjects to preach on because I think missions is at the heart of God. Here's why I think this.

1. Jesus began His ministry with an emphasis on preaching the gospel. In Mark 1:15 Mark's first recorded words of Jesus are, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

2. The gospel according to Mark ends with Jesus saying, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15).

3. The apostle Paul didn't want his life to count for anything except to finish his calling from God. Acts 20:24 says, "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received form the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

4. Jesus gave His life so that missions would be guaranteed success. Revelation 5:9-10 says, "And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." Christ has purchased people from the ends of the earth who need to hear the gospel.

So missions is at the heart of the Bible and the heart of God. That is not to say that there is not an emphasis on the church and the need to present the church prefect for her Groom. It is to say that in order for there to be the church, there most first be missions.

If you are anywhere near the Pulaski, VA area we'd love to have you come and worship with us this Sunday.