Category: 2014 Sermons

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Sermon Audio: A Sacrificial Faith
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 7:36-50
Duration: 25:56
Size: 11.8 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
A Sacrificial Faith
Luke 7:36-50

Wordless worship now there is a thought. But her worship was so profound that Jesus uses her as an example to a very proud religious leader.

Her desire is to find Jesus and when her eyes finally rest on Him, the other guest fade into a mist of tears; it suddenly doesn’t matter what these respectable people think about her.

What she did she did remarkably well she worshiped. This woman’s worship was at great personal cost.

Because Simons logic was based on false assumptions it leads him to false conclusions.

There are sinners who know they are sinners and there are sinners who do not know that they are sinners.

1. Just like the two men in the story every one is spiritually in debt.

Some people that we would not touch with a ten foot pole, if they truly met Christ, would put us to shame in their displays of love and devotion to Jesus.

2. Just like the characters in the story we can never repay the debt.

Forgiveness always cost something. When God said, “I will forgive you.” It cost the life of his only son Jesus on the cross of Calvary.

3. Those who come to Jesus He will not turn away.

What the woman does for Jesus though was not mere social niceties; they were acts of repentance and worship.

4. Those who come to Jesus in repentance and faith will be forgiven.

To love because you are forgiven is a natural response to such an undeserved action.

The woman believed that if she came to Jesus as a repentant sinner, that Jesus would not send her away, He could and would save her.

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Sermon Audio: When Life Is Just Not Fair
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 7:18-35
Duration: 24:14
Size: 11.0 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
When Life Is Just Not Fair
Luke 7:18-35

We run into real problems when we try to impose our definitions of fairness on God.

1. God Does Not Have To Work By Our Expectations.

Languishing in prison, John became increasingly perplexed by the reports he heard of Jesus’ ministry because it was not all what he had imagined that the Messiah would do.

2. Honest Doubt Is Not A Sin.

I don’t think that John no longer believed in Jesus, but he did have questions about the style of his ministry and the content of his message.

In John’s case his doubt was not born of willful unbelief but of doubt that was fed by physical strain and emotional turmoil.

3. The Only Valid Test of Jesus’ Message Is the Test of Truth.

The application for us today is clear, examine the evidence, if he is truly the Son of God, if he alone fulfills the prophecies of scripture, if indeed died, was buried and rose again then the evidence demands a verdict.

4. John’s Moment of Doubt Did Not Negate His Years of Ministry.

Jesus did not want the crowd to look down on John so he deliberately paid tribute to John.

Yet John’s greatness is nothing compared to those who are able to enjoy the blessing of living in the age of grace.

5. It Is Not Wise to Play With Your Eternal Destiny.

We too have ideas about how God will work. Some people are never willing to give up and allow God to be God.

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Sermon Audio: Even Death Is Not A Barrier
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 7:11-17
Duration: 21:53
Size: 10.0 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Even Death Is Not A Barrier
Luke 7:11-17

Death is a cruel thief when it strikes down the young.

1. Sometimes life just seems to cave in on us.

When our loved one stops breathing and the heart stops pumping, we say, “That’s it, it is finished!”

These differences illustrate that our Savior doesn’t demand that we fit into a set pattern to receive his help.

2. We serve a Lord who is moved by our needs.

But when Jesus saw her he saw not only her grief but also the social stigma she would have to bear as well.

Jesus told her not to weep because he was about to turn her tears into a testimony.

3. Our Savior is able to conquer even death.

Without even the presence of faith Jesus gave this woman back her son.

He will give our loved ones back to us and us to them, and forever we shall live together in His presence.

4. He that overcomes death deserves our worship.

May I suggest to you that a brush with death will cause us to reexamine our priorities?

Because death could not keep Jesus in the grave we can have the same confidence that the apostle Paul expressed.

Do you believe that those who believe in Him will never die If so what have you done about it?

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Sermon Audio: Amazing Faith
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 7:1-10
Duration: 21:22
Size: 9.78 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Amazing Faith
Luke 7:1-10

Our text today about a Roman soldier’s faith takes us inside true faith and shows how and what faith does.

What are characteristics that made this man’s faith so amazing?

1. The first characteristic of an Amazing Faith was that it caused this man to love across all barriers.

This man loved people who were not just like himself.

2. The second characteristic of an Amazing Faith was that it caused this man to be excited and active in the work of God.

He enthusiastically involved himself in what was the most apparent work that God was doing.

What is it that God is doing that you are excited about, that matters to you, that you are enthusiastically giving yourself to?

3. The third characteristic of an Amazing Faith was that it caused this man to approach Christ in great humility.

This passage reveals two essential components of the Christian faith – an understanding of who Christ is and an understanding of who we are.

This Roman soldier a man of considerable influence and power, was also uniquely humble.

4. The fourth characteristic of an Amazing Faith was that it caused this man to be willing to trust in Christ alone.

Jesus promised a special blessing on people like the centurion and you.

Some think that an amazing faith is the ability to do the miraculous, but miracles are something that Jesus can do any time.