The Provocative Church-The Society Of The King (2 of 6)
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
NOTE: This Sermon Series is based on Graham Tomlin’s Book, The Provocative Church, and a sermon series done by Rev. John Holland at New Covenant Anglican Church in Oviedo, FL.
We are in the second week of a six-week series on becoming a provocative church. Evangelism is not only fearful for many inside the church, but is also distasteful to many outside the church. We live in a culture where it is a sin to proselytize, where you are welcome to believe nearly anything you want so long as you don’t try to convince another. People make private choices about religion from the buffet of spiritualities on display. There are no longer any grand stories that give us identity and morality and beauty. In this context, Christianity supposedly has been shown up. Pilate’s question to Jesus captures our day well, “What is truth?†(John 18:38 NIV) Read the rest of this entry »
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The Provocative Church-The Kingdom of God (3 of 6)
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
NOTE: This Sermon Series is based on Graham Tomlin’s Book, The Provocative Church, and a sermon series done by Rev. John Holland at New Covenant Anglican Church in Oviedo, FL.
This is the third in a six-sermon series on being a provocative church, an evangelistic church. We’ve seen in the previous two sermons that evangelism works best when we create desire and provoke questions among the unreached. We’ve also seen that we do this by being deeply satisfied with God, by living public, holy lives and by listening obedience. When we live in these ways, we are a society of King Jesus, a provocative church. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Provocative Church-The Gospel And The Kingdom (4 of 6)
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
NOTE: This Sermon Series is based on Graham Tomlin’s Book, The Provocative Church, and a sermon series done by Rev. John Holland at New Covenant Anglican Church in Oviedo, FL.
We are in the fourth week of the six-week series of sermons entitled, The Provocative Church. The main idea of the series is that evangelism has two steps. First, we create desire and provoke questions among the unreached. Second, when they ask about the reasons for our faith and life, we give simple, honest accounts of our trust in Jesus as Lord. In past weeks, we’ve seen that we create desire and provoke questions by being deeply satisfied with God, by living public, holy lives and by listening obedience to our lord. When we live in these ways we are a provocative church, a society of King Jesus. As St. Peter wrote, “…in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.†(1Peter 3:15 NIV) Read the rest of this entry »
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The Provocative Church-Making Provocative Disciples (5 of 6)
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
NOTE: This Sermon Series is based on Graham Tomlin’s Book, The Provocative Church, and a sermon series done by Rev. John Holland at New Covenant Anglican Church in Oviedo, FL.
Last week we saw that the gospel is the good news that, “Jesus is Lord.†It is the royal announcement of a story; the story of how Jesus of Nazareth has ushered in the kingdom of God, of how he has become the world’s true king through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus himself made this announcement both in words and in deeds. His actions and message provoke responses, and they formed a community. And, whenever the good news of his story is told, responses are provoked and communities are formed. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Provocative Church-Evangelistic Community (6 of 6)
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
NOTE: This Sermon Series is based on Graham Tomlin’s Book, The Provocative Church, and a sermon series done by Rev. John Holland at New Covenant Anglican Church in Oviedo, FL.
In the weeks of this series entitled The Provocative Church we have seen that evangelism is most effective when we create desire and provoke questions among the unreached. As St. Peter said, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.†(1Peter 3:15 NIV) Or in the words of Blaisé Pascal, “Make the Christian Faith attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show them it is.†We’ve also seen that evangelism means showing and saying the good news of God’s kingdom arriving in Jesus. His loving lordship must be both demonstrated and declared. God has returned to rule this world through his Son and now in the Church through the Spirit. Read the rest of this entry »
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All Of Life Is Worship-Romans 12:1-2
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
Introduction: When I was finishing my undergrad degree in Philosophy, I had an ethics professor suggest that driving our cars is the greatest laboratory for determining our own ethical system. I think he’s right… Read the rest of this entry »
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Why Are You Here?-Matthew 21:1-11
By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008
ME:
You know, even though my family was not one for church when I was growing up, we still said grace three times a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. We were not really against God, though we certainly held that religion, like other things that could easily be taken too far, should be held in moderation. But even then, three times a year, my mother was careful to remind us of the significance behind these holidays, they all had something to do about God. Read the rest of this entry »
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Are You The One?-Matthew 11:2-15
By Charlie Vensel | June 13, 2008
Our Gospel passage this morning has always puzzled me. The story is pretty simple; John the Baptist sends some of his followers to talk to Jesus, to ask him if he is really the Messiah they have been waiting for, or if they should keep looking. Rather than getting into a bunch of theological jargon, which God’s Son could do better than any preacher if he had chosen to, Jesus simply tells them to look around at what they see going on and decide for themselves. What they see is amazing; the blind are receiving sight, people who haven’t walked in years are playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie, untouchable lepers are hugging and kissing their children, deaf people are standing over there swapping stories, some caskets are lying open over next to a big rock and the contents are up walking around, and the poor are hearing a sermon that makes them smile. It is straight out of the book of Isaiah, our OT reading this morning. This Jesus most definitely is the Messiah! Read the rest of this entry »
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When God Balances His Books: Habakkuk 1-2
By JohnStevenson | June 13, 2008
WHEN GOD BALANCES HIS BOOKS
HABAKKUK 1-2
Habakkuk was a prophet with a problem. It was a problem faced by a lot of preachers in 21 century America. It was the problem of “business as usual.” Read the rest of this entry »
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What’s in a Name?-Matthew 1:18-25
By Charlie Vensel | June 13, 2008
What’s in a name? Naming a new baby is a challenging process. It’s hard to please everybody with a name. Dad wants a name with alliteration in it, something that would sound good on a sports report–Sammy Sousa or Johnny Justice. Mom selects a fashionable name and insists on no nicknames, something like Catherine or Benjamin or Cynthia. Grandpa wants to use a hallowed family name from the past, preferably with “The III†or “The IVâ€. It’s a miracle of diplomacy that a name is ever chosen. Read the rest of this entry »
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