Trying To Clear My Backlog...

Here's some lessons since I haven't posted in a while. Sorry!


John 14(1)

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John 14(2)

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John 15(1)

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John 15(2)

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Acts 9

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Did I Tell You We Went To Israel?

Yup! We sure did...and it was a blast!
Click here to check out the videos from the trip...

Sheep or Goat? - Matt 25

Did you know it's kind of hard to tell the difference between a sheep and a goat? That's why the shepherd in Matt 25 has to separate them.
Listen to this lesson to see which you might be - and the consequences!


Sheep or Goat? - Matt 25

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Foolish Servanthood - Phil 2:5-11

It's that campaign time of year again! Each year during the months of March & October our church rallies together and gets unified in our evangelistic efforts here in Hampton Roads.

The theme this October is "Fools For Christ" (hint: check out the picture)

This Sunday's sermon was on Foolish Servanthood. I bet you've never thought of Jesus as actually putting effort into making himself nothing -- even less than nothing.

Listen to this sermon as we walk through Phil 2:5-11 and are challenged to be like Jesus in his amazing humility.

Foolish Servanthood - Phil 2:5-11

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Prayer: The Slender Nerve of Power - Mark 14:32-42

Have you ever read the book "The Hour That Changes The World" by Dick Eastman?
Some of our good friends in Pittsburgh are encouraging everyone in their church to read it this month. I've read the 1st couple of chapters and it's pretty good!

Brett & Genie (our friends) invited us up to Pittsburgh this past weekend and I did a sermon based on Jesus in Gethsemane about 3 powerful ways prayer affects our lives.

Check it out!

Prayer: The Slender Nerve of Power - Mark 14:32-42

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Grand Canyon Anniversary Trip!

If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, it's a sight to BEHOLD!!
Leslie & I just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary at the Grand Canyon and it was amazing! Check out the video clip...

Mary's Foolish Worship - John 12:1-8

As Jesus was on his way to the Passover Feast (and ultimately the Cross),
he made a stop in Bethany before he got to Jerusalem for a "Thank You"
dinner held in his honor at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Mary did something incredibly 'foolish' that caused Judas to be indignant.

In the end, Jesus judged between the two and revealed a very important lesson for all of us...listen to this sermon to find out what it is!

Mary's Foolish Worship - John 12:1-8

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Seeking Refuge Under God's Wings - Ruth 2

Ruth's amazing character is displayed in this lesson & we (men) also pick up some good tips on 'manliness' from Boaz.

Listen and be inspired!




Beneath God's Wings - Ruth 2

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What Makes You Full? - Ruth 1

Sin is very deceiving...it makes us think bad things are good and good things are bad.
We're starting a short series in Ruth & tonight's lesson is primarily about Naomi and the deception in her life.
Listen to learn how she was deceived in what filled her & ask yourself -- what makes you full?



What Makes You Full? - Ruth 1

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Falling In Love - Ruth

Leslie & I were asked to speak for the Charlottesville marriage devotional this past weekend. We had a good time meeting and spending time w/ the brothers & sisters up in the mountains!

We were asked to preach on the topic of falling in love...you know, basically treat each other the way we did when we were courting each other - even now after we've been married for a while.

We decided to do the lesson from Ruth, which just so happens to be the same book we'll be covering for the next 2 midweek lessons.

Anyway, here's the lesson - enjoy.


Falling In Love - Ruth

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Do You Have The King? Judges 19-21

In this final lesson in Judges, we see what has to be the ultimate degenerate state of men without God.

From this totally shocking passage of scripture we can learn 10 lessons on what we can become w/o the King in our lives.

Bottom line: We Need God!!


Do You Have The King? - Judges 19-21

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What's That In Your Eye? John 8:1-11

Have you ever had anything in your eye? Could you see anything? Or was your vision obstructed?

The story of the woman caught in adultery has some 'eye-opening' lessons for all of us.

Listen to how Jesus helped to remove the planks from the eyes of the Pharisees and our own eyes as well.


What's That In Your Eye? - John 8:1-11

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More Sermons!

Ok, sorry I haven't posted sermons in a while. My bad! :-)

Instead of telling you all the excuses why I haven't been
on top of it, I'm simply going to post everything below.

There was a lapse of a few weeks when I loaned out my
recorder, so some weeks/sermons are missing -- sorry. :-(


Gideon - Judges 6

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Judges 8

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John 2 Sunday Sermon - "Not In My Father's House"

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John 4 Sunday Sermon - "Better Than Dasani"

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Judges 17-18 - "Without The King"

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Deborah & Barak's Song - Judges 5

After Israel's great victory against the Canaanites and Sisera, Israel celebrated with a song of victory.

Listen to hear how God reveals himself even through song/poetry in the scriptures.


Deborah & Barak's Song - Judges 5

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Women & Men In Leadership - Judges 4

As we look at the most prominent female leader in the Bible, there are some great lessons for women (& men!) on learning how to lead in a godly way with a male partner.

Check it out.


Women & Men In Leadership - Judges 4

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Jimmy Baker Gets Baptized!

Our newest brother Jimmy Baker was baptized last night at our midweek service!

Congrats Jimmy!

A Never-Ending Cycle - Judges 2

Tonight we break down the vicious cycle Israel repeated for roughly 300 years during the time of the Judges.

First they would forsake the Lord, then be oppressed by foreigners, go into distress, and finally be delivered by the Lord.

Does your life copy this pattern? Listen in on this lesson to see where you fit and what to do about it.


A Never-Ending Cycle - Judges 2

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Never Lose Focus On The Mission - Judges 1

Have you ever lost focus on a plan, dream, or goal? That's exactly what happened to Israel once they entered the Promised Land and Joshua's generation died off.

Just like this picture, we can lose focus too.

This week we start a new series in the book of Judges and get focused on God's mission for us as WE have entered the 'Promised Land'.


Never Lose Focus On The Mission - Judges 1

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Accept One Another - Romans 14

This week we continue our study in Romans with a timely topic: acceptance.

With our current culture that preaches 'accept everything', what things should Christians accept and not accept?

This lesson was done at our Wednesday midweek service & then preached again at the following Sunday service (with a little more juice!).

Both recordings are below for you to listen to and grow from.


Accept One Another (Midweek Service) - Romans 14

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Accept One Another (Sunday Service) - Romans 14

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Easter 'Egg'spectations - John 20

What were Jesus' expectations on the 1st Easter Sunday? What would he expect of us as we observe Easter each year?


Listen and find out...


Easter Eggspectations - John 20

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Joe Strange's 40th Birthday Party

We had a blast celebrating Joe's 40th. Be sure to watch all the way to the end to see the *special* performance!

Eric Weston's Baptism

After much prayer and perseverance, Tina Weston's husband (Eric) got baptized!

Check it out!

Destiny's Baptism...

For such a young girl, she's got an amazing amount of maturity...

Congratulations Destiny!

Never Stop Praying For Your Children...

Tonight we watched Reggie & Deb James baptize their daughter Kim.

There wasn't a dry eye in the house after seeing how much Reg & Deb love their daughter.

Congratulations Kim!

Frank Owens Gets Baptized!

Just a little over a year ago, Venita Owens was baptized into Christ.

Today, her husband Frank joined her! (they had to keep him under a little longer than usual to be sure all the sin was gone! :-)

Jose Palacios' 50th Birthday!

This was one of the funnest parties I've been to in a loooong time.

My father (father-in-law) Jose turned 50 this week and we celebrated "Steelers" style!

Do You Know What A Minister Does?

Today I had the chance to go to my son's Kindergarten class and tell the kids what I do.

It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to explain ministry to 6 year olds.

When they found out, one of them said I didn't have a "real job"! What in the world?!

Anyway, check out the video because kids say the craziest things sometimes including "Jesus freed the elves" and "when people don't love, you have to use pepper spray".

The Jesus Dare!

Each Spring and Fall we hold an evangelistic campaign. Of course we're always evangelizing as disciples of Christ, but 2x/yr we get unified about our evangelistic efforts.

This Spring our campaign is titled "The Jesus Dare". If you've ever seen the movie "Fireproof" then you're familiar with the "Love Dare". Well, our campaign is similar in that each day in March there's a dare we're taking to be more like Jesus (you can sign up to get the dares here).

If you feel that your evangelism is weak, I "dare" you to join us in this campaign!

Back To School - Luke 5

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Obedience & God's Reward - John 14

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We only got to do 1/2 of the "Watch & Learn" lesson because one of the kids pulled the fire alarm!

Watch & Learn, Go & Try!

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Obedience & God's Reward - John 14

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Roxanne Carter Gets Baptized!

Roxanne Carter was recently baptized at one of our midweek services. It's so amazing to see families united in Christ.

Roxanne's daughter is a disciple in the NY Church and came to Virginia to baptize her mom!

Are You An Impostor? - 2 Tim 3

In Paul's last days on Earth, he wrote 2Timothy from prison to encourage and warn Timothy in the midst of opposition. He also told him to have nothing to do with people who have a form of godliness, but deny it's power.

But how could he avoid them if he couldn't tell who they were? Fact is, there's a lot of people who take the title of "Christian" but don't live it out in their lives and it makes it hard to tell who's who.


Don't add to the confusion by being an impostor yourself! :-)

Listen to this lesson and ask yourself "Am I An Impostor"?

Are You An Impostor? - Romans 11

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The Salvation of Israel Pt. 2 - Romans 11

With the passing of our brother Tom Wilde, we consider where we fit in with bringing the gospel to this lost world. We also see the connection between the gospel and our feet (of all things!).

How should your feet look in light of the gospel?

To find out what this is all about, listen to this lesson!




The Salvation of Israel Pt.2 - Romans 11

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Alex Holas Gets Baptized At The Marriage Retreat!

Isn't it amazing how God works in our lives? Alex Holas is Sheila Holas' husband and he studied the Bible over a year ago.

After being inspired by his wife for months now, here he is confessing Jesus as Lord in the Crowne Plaza swimming pool at the Marriage Retreat!

Congratulations Alex & welcome to God's church.

The Salvation of Israel Pt. 1 (Romans 9)

Of all people on Earth, the Jews should have seen and accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Being God's chosen people, they had His Word and the prophets.

But why did only a remnant accept the message of Christ?

Paul tackles this challenging question in Romans 9-11 & I do my best to make practical application of the lessons for our lives today.

There's lots to learn, so hold onto your hats and click 'play'!

The Salvation of Israel Pt.1 - Romans 9

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Short Article On The Origins Of The "Sinner's Prayer" by Steve Staten

God Is For Us! - Romans 8 (part II)

How would your confidence change if you knew you had a big brother that protected you everywhere you went?

Would you dare to do things you had feared in the past? Would you say the thing to that person that needs to be said?

...think about it.

This lesson shows you that we have that and more in Christ. The question is, how will your confidence change?

God Is For Us! - Romans 8

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I was short on time and whipped off some of the scriptures rather quickly. Here are the sermon notes so you can get them yourself.

God Is For Us! Midweek Sermon Notes

Choose Life! - Romans 8

Tonight we had a guest preacher tonight from our own number! Rodolfo Cejas took the pulpit and preached a fiery message from Romans 8.



Listen to how God speaks through him in this midweek lesson.


Choose Life! - Romans 8

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Life & Doctrine - 1 Timothy 4

When your life (how you live) and your doctrine (how you SAY you live) match, it produces an incredible sound to the ears of unbelievers!

This Sunday sermon covers 5 aspects of our lives to pay close attention to and 3 areas of false doctrine/worldview that we've got to watch out for.


Life & Doctrine - 1 Timothy 4

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Are You A Frustrated Christian? -Romans 7

Being frustrated as a Christian is, well...frustrating.

Paul describes this frustrating way of life in what I call the "Do - Do" passage of Romans 7.

This lesson had to be cut down due to time constraints, but it's encouraging nonetheless!

Are You A Frustrated Christian? - Romans 7

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The Old Is Gone - Romans 6

What happens when we're baptized? Paul says our old selves are crucified and we're raised to a new life in Christ.

So why do we still struggle with sin, and how do we respond?

This lesson from Romans 6 reveals the key conviction Paul challenges us to have and a very practical way to think when we struggle with sin.


The Old Is Gone - Romans 6

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Good News From 2008

While the media laments over 2008, in our church - we're rejoicing at the amazing things God did this year.

There truly have been incredible stories of changed lives this past year & I invite you to listen to this recap of 2008.


Good News From 2008

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