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Sermons

The (re)Born Identity of Security: Remembering Who You’ve Become Through Baptism (Col. 2:6-23; Gal. 3:15-4:7)

 “The Bourne Identity” was a 2002 film based on a book by Robert Ludlum.[1] “The Bourne Identity” begins with the crew of an Italian fishing boat sighting a man floating unconscious in the sea. After pulling him out, the crew of the boat discovers gunshots in the man’s back. While treating these wounds, the ship’s medical officer finds a device embedded in the man’s hip. The device contains the number of a safe deposit box in Zurich. Eventually, the man regains consciousness. He doesn’t know where he is or who he is. Over the next few days, the man learns he is fluent in several languages and can perform uncommon tasks like navigating and tying exotic knots. Still he cannot remember anything about who he is. When the ship docks, the man travels to Zürich to investigate the safe deposit box which the item in his hip had indicated. He finds the bank and the box. Inside are several passports containing his picture (all under different names and nationalities), large amounts of assorted currencies, and a gun. He picks the first passport. It claims his name is Jason Bourne. The rest of the movie records Jason Bourne’s search for his true identity.

Read More »The (re)Born Identity of Security: Remembering Who You’ve Become Through Baptism (Col. 2:6-23; Gal. 3:15-4:7)

Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on What’s Right Rather than What’s Not (Phil. 4:4-9)

Sometimes a situation can be viewed in two very different ways. These brief commercials for Ameriquest Mortgage explore how different people can see the same situation but reach different conclusions: (video). Sometimes different people can see the same situation but reach different conclusions.

Read More »Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on What’s Right Rather than What’s Not (Phil. 4:4-9)

Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on Your Purpose Rather Than Your Pain (Phil. 1:12-30) – June 21, 2009

Last week I read the blog of a friend Lynn Anderson, a friend of mine. Lynn has preached in Churches of Christ for decades. He is the author of several books. Now in the final chapters of his ministry he serves as a mentor and consultant to ministers, elders, churches and other organizations. Lynn has preached at Highland and has served as a consultant for our staff and elders. I have never sat and talked with Lynn when he didn’t go out of his way to pray with me or encourage me spiritually. He is in my Christian-Hall-of-Fame. In my short Christian life Lynn Anderson has been a fixture. His preaching and writing are among my earliest Christian memories. And there’s a part of me that has always assumed that Lynn will always be around. But last week he announced on his blog that he needs spinal surgery and that there are very significant complicating factors.

Read More »Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on Your Purpose Rather Than Your Pain (Phil. 1:12-30) – June 21, 2009

Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on the Future Rather Than the Past (Phil. 3:12-14) – June 14, 2009

At a recent Reach Group gathering, a young mother at Highland was telling us how one of her girls has not been to the zoo in many months. The little girl does not want to go to the zoo. Why? “She had a bad experience,” the mother told us. The mom described how, one day, she was at the zoo with her daughter and they were looking at the elephants. All of a sudden the mother heard her daughter crying. She looked over and saw this sight: the daughter had stuck her head through the fence in front of the elephants and now could not pull her head back out of the fence. The mother frantically tried to twist and turn and tug and pull. But the fence would not release the daughter’s head. The mother called her husband and told him to come to the zoo immediately. Emergency personnel had to be summoned. They had to cut and bend that fence. What started as a quiet family trip to the zoo became a public and frantic emergency. Finally, they got the little girl’s head out of the fence. And, it’s for that reason the little girl has not been back to the zoo. “She had a bad experience.”

Read More »Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Focus Your Faith on the Future Rather Than the Past (Phil. 3:12-14) – June 14, 2009