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Sermons by Gary Albert

Underdogs – Jonah

Sunday, July 26: Underdogs Jonah What makes Jonah an underdog? In my opinion, anyone who tries to run from God, gets tossed off a ship in the middle of storm, ends up inside the belly of fish for a three-day timeout, until he is literally barfed up on a beach, qualifies as an underdog. Everyone knows […]

Underdogs – Ruth

Sunday, July 19: Underdogs Ruth “The providences of God are like Hebrew words: they can only be properly read backwards.” John Flavel Last Sunday we started a new summer study series called, “Underdogs.” An underdog is the opposite of a top dog. In sports, or in a competition, it refers to the team or person expected […]

Bound by the Spirit – Acts 25:1–27

Sunday, December 1: Bound by the Spirit Acts 25:1–27   Every person who wonders about the truth of the Christian faith should answer this question. What was it that transformed a hot-headed, self-righteous, law-keeping, Christian-killing Pharisee named Saul, into a gracious, unselfish, Christian missionary and servant of Christ named the Apostle Paul? What took place to make that happen? The short answer starts with an event recorded in Acts 9. On the […]

Bound by the Spirit – Acts 24:1–27

Sunday, November 17: Bound by the Spirit Acts 24:1–27 Procrastination. There must be ten thousand websites on it, covering scholarly essays, articles in psychological journals and university studies. There are tests you can take to quantify how bad off you are. Apparently, twenty percent of us can be identified as chronic procrastinators. You can even find […]

Generous

Sunday, September 8: Generous If you don’t mind, I would like you to take a short survey. Below are five statements. Please answer with either, True or False.                                                  I have, at least once, spent money unwisely. T or F? I have, at least once, compared myself with someone else financially. T or F? I […]

Psalms – Psalm 46

Sunday, August 18: Psalms Psalm 46 Be still and know that I am God. Some of you might remember an old song from the 60’s: He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands. Don’t try to sing it or even hum it. It can drive you crazy if you can’t get the tune out of […]

Psalms – Psalm 27

Sunday, July 7: Psalms Psalm 27 What would you say is the most common command in Scripture? Before you answer I’ll tell what it’s not. It’s not for us to be more loving. That may be at the center of God’s heart for us but that’s not his most frequent instruction. It’s also not to be less […]

Psalms – Psalm 1

Sunday, June 30: Psalms Psalm 1 The Principle of the Path by pastor and writer Andy Stanley is one of my favorite books. It’s about the many paths available to us in life that lead to various destinations. Some are good. Some are bad. Some lead to joy and others, sadly, lead to pain and heartache. The […]

Moses

Moses – Numbers 16

Sunday, May 19: Moses Numbers 16 We all have a rebellious streak resident within us. The only difference is the size of the stripe. The problem of rebellion against authority is as age old as Adam and Eve sinning in the garden. From then on, rebellion became a part of the human condition. If you […]

Moses

Moses – Exodus 3–4

Sunday, March 3: Moses Exodus 3–4 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14) Last week we left Moses in bare feet, standing in front of a shrub burning with the presence of God, when the Lord […]

Moses

Moses Exodus – 2:11–3:12

Sunday, February 10: Moses Exodus 2:11–3:12 Even for those who are not all that familiar with the Bible, almost everyone knows the story of Moses. If you’re on the younger side, you probably saw, The Prince of Egypt. If you’re a little older, you might remember Cecil B DeMille’s classic biopic, The Ten Commandments. The life of Moses […]

Christmas – Luke 2:1-12

Sunday, December 23: Christmas Luke 2:1-12 And the angel said to them (the shepherds), “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in […]

Lord of All Acts – 13:1–13

Sunday, November 25: Lord of All Acts 13:1–13 Acts 13 opens with the Spirit of God and the church at Antioch setting apart and sending out Paul and Barnabus for what will become their first missionary journey. Together, along with an intern named John Mark, they sail to the Island of Cyprus to tell people about […]

Questions of Jesus – Luke 7:36–50

Sunday, August 19: Questions of Jesus Luke 7:36–50 In our text this week Jesus tells a little story that closes with a question. It’s a real simple story. Two people owe someone money but one person owes ten times as much as the other. When neither person can pay it back, however, both are forgiven of […]

Daily Devotionals Witness

Witness – Acts 4:23–37

Sunday, May 20: Witness Acts 4:23–37 And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 Occasionally someone will ask me the question, “Are you a Spirit-filled church?” I’m always a bit conflicted. The correct answer is, “Yes,” but I know […]

Daily Devotionals Witness

Witness – Acts 1:1–11

Sunday, April 8: Witness Acts 1:1–11 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Samaria,  and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 Last Sunday we celebrated Easter. This week we’re launching a new study series called Witness, based […]

Joseph – Genesis 41:1–57

Sunday, February 4: Joseph Genesis 41:1–57 What God does in us while we wait is as important  as what we are waiting for. Ben Patterson I don’t know about your Bible, but in mine there is about an inch of white space between Genesis chapters 40 and 41. It doesn’t look like much on paper […]

Joseph – Genesis 40:1–23

Sunday, January 28: Joseph Genesis 40:1–23 It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirring of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through […]

Joseph – Genesis 37:1–11

Sunday, January 7: Joseph Genesis 37:1–11 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.Genesis 37:8 A lot of people are familiar with Joseph but for a lot […]

Christmas – Luke 1:26-38

Sunday, December 24: Christmas Luke 1:26-38 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” (Luke 1:30, 31) God is in the habit of doing a certain thing […]

Champs & Misfits Square

Champs & Misfits – Hebrews 11:4–7

Sunday, November 5: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:4–7 In Hebrews 11, the writer introduces us to a long list of people who lived “by faith.” At the same time, these same people, were considered weird, if not crazy, by the world around them.Noah’s neighbors no doubt believed he was certifiable when he began building a […]

Champs & Misfits Square

Champs & Misfits – Hebrews 11:1–3

Sunday, October 29: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:1–3 There are a lot of ideas floating around about what faith is. Some are metaphorical: “Faith is the heart of the soul.” (Anonymous) Some are theological: “Faith is to believe, on the Word of God, what we do not see and its reward is to see and enjoy what […]

Who is This Man

Who is This Man – Philippians  2:3–8

Sunday, August 13: Who is This Man? Philippians  2:3–8 The True Human The great 21st century theologian, Jeremiah Hinton, in his recently released devotional, Who is This Man? writes: “I Corinthians introduces the idea of Jesus as the ‘last Adam,’ a perfectly obedient son who demonstrated how humans should have related to God.”Precisely. The Bible teaches that Jesus […]

Who is This Man

Who is This Man – August 6th 2017

Sunday, August 6: Who is This Man? The Suffering Servant Lord of Hosts. Bright Morning Star. Good Shepherd. These are a few of the many wonderful names for Jesus found in the Scriptures. He’s also known as the: Wonderful Counselor Alpha and Omega Mighty God Emmanuel Messiah Prince King Lion Man of Sorrows Wait. “Man […]

Who is This Man

Who is This Man – John 2:1–11

Sunday, July 2: Who is This Man? John 2:1–11 The Miracle Worker “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God at the time of creation for the […]

Sacred Spaces

Sacred Spaces – Hebrews 7:1–28

Sunday, June 11: Sacred Spaces Hebrews 7:1–28 “The gulf between God and us is still wider than we have so far considered. It is the chasm that yawns between us as rebellious creatures and God our righteous judge. It is not only that we lack the mental equipment to conceive him, but we lack the […]

Sacred Spaces

Sacred Spaces – Hebrews 5:1–10

Sunday, May 28: Sacred Spaces Hebrews 5:1–10 In one of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis, there’s a little girl named Aravis who has a slave girl. She treats her terribly. Aslan, the Christ figure in the Chronicle series, comes to Aravis and scratches her. She asks why he […]

Mother’s Day and Baby Dedication

Sunday, May 14: Mother’s Day, Baby Dedication and a Message for Everyone We get to celebrate Moms and dedicate some babies this Sunday, which is always delightful and meaningful, but we will also have a message based on a story in the Bible. It’s about a young woman who becomes a mother and a mother who […]

Sacred Spaces

Sacred Spaces – Hebrews 4:1–13

Sunday, May 7: Sacred Spaces Hebrews 4:1–13 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. We live in a world that works really hard to wear us down. Perhaps you have noticed. Life, in our fallen […]

Easter 2017

Sunday, April 16: Easter Three year old Nicole was as anxious for Easter to come as she had been for Christmas to arrive. One day, as Nicole and her father stopped at a store to buy her a new pair of shoes, for the tenth time she said, “Daddy, I can’t wait for Easter!”“Honey,” her […]

Sacred Spaces

Sacred Spaces – Hebrews 1:1–14

Sunday, March 19: Sacred Spaces Hebrews 1:1–14 Hebrews has a message for the people of God who live in a world that refuses to acknowledge God: God has spoken. Gareth Cockerill The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who found themselves hanging on to hope by their fingernails. Nero, the cruel despot […]

Jacob

Jacob – Genesis 33:1–20

Sunday, February 26: Jacob Genesis 33:1–20 Jacob is on his way home. Twenty years before, he defrauded his brother and was forced to run for his life to escape his wrath. Esau, in fact, had promised to kill him. Esau is a big, strong, hairy guy with bow hunting skills. To make matters worse, Jacob has […]

Jacob

Jacob – Genesis 32:1–32

Sunday, February 19: Jacob Genesis 32:1–32 If there was ever a man who found himself between the proverbial “devil and the deep blue sea,” it’s Jacob between the day he leaves behind his father-in-law, Laban, and the day he meets up with his brother, Esau.At the end of Genesis 31 Laban is behind him and […]

Jacob

Jacob – Genesis 29:1–30:34

Sunday, January 29: Jacob Genesis 29:1–30:34 As we return to our study in Genesis, Jacob has left home to escape the wrath of his bow hunting brother. Esau would like nothing better than to turn him into a human pin cushion for stealing his blessing. So, out of fear, he walks 50 miles on his […]

Jacob

Jacob – Genesis 28:1–22

Sunday, January 22: Jacob Genesis 28:1–22 There is no event so common place but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not… because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace. Frederick Buechner “There are two great tragedies in life,” […]

Christmas Eve Service

The Whisper of Christmas There was a great and powerful wind, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle […]

One: Ephesians

One – Ephesians 4:1-16

Ephesians 4:1–16 To dwell above with saints we love, That will be grace and glory. To live below with saints we know, That’s another story. In the first three chapters of Ephesians we’ve been learning about the formation of the church, the body of Christ, made up of all Christians everywhere, no matter how diverse […]

One: Ephesians

One – Ephesians 2:11-22

Sunday, October 23: One Ephesians 2:11–22 We are just a couple of weeks away from the Presidential election. Is everybody excited about this? One thing that came up early on in the debates was the idea of building a wall on the border between the U.S and Mexico. It’s an idea that has been both […]

One: Ephesians

One – Ephesians 1:15-23

Sunday, October 2: One Ephesians 1:15–23 It’s been said that, “Prayer is the point at which heaven and earth share contiguous borders, where we take counsel with God on matters of eternal importance.”We often forget that, don’t we? Either that, or we don’t believe it. But the Apostle Paul believed it. When it came to […]

One: Ephesians

One – Ephesians 1:1-14

Sunday, October 2: One Ephesians 1:1–14 What’s another word for Thesaurus? Why is abbreviation such a long word? If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they stick Teflon to the pan? Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Is it possible to be totally partial? If nothing else, those questions remind us we don’t know everything. […]

Generosity 3

Sunday, September 25: Generosity Micah 6:6–8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly before your God.” Micah 6:8 If you have been with us the past few months you know that we did a […]

Plowshares and Pruning Hook – Haggai

Sunday, August 7: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks Haggai “Give careful thought to your ways.” Haggai 1:5 As we have gone through eight of the Minor Prophets so far, there has essentially been a singular theme: “God is back and, boy, is He mad.” To his rebellious kids, God has given way more warnings than they […]

Steadfast – Nehemiah 4:1-23

There is an old Irish benediction that contains the words, “And may the wind always be at your back.” If you have ever done any sailing that phrase needs no explanation. There’s nothing more exhilarating than to be on the water and have a strong prevailing wind at your back with its full force filling […]

I am with you – John 17:20-26

Jesus has finished his sermon in the Upper Room and is now in the process of closing in prayer. So far he has prayed for himself. He has also prayed for his disciples, whom he will soon be leaving behind. But in John 17:20-26, at the end of his last public prayer before his death, he turns […]

I am with You John 16:16-24

“It is the nature of joy that all questions grow silent, and nothing needs explaining.” Rudolf Bultmann. When you read the gospels do you ever have questions about some of the things Jesus says? Would you occasionally like some clarification on statements he makes?That’s the situation with the disciples in John 16:16-24 as we return […]

Christmas Eve

Kindness

Once a year there is a Sunday where either Matt or I get to teach on whatever we want. The rest of the year is all scheduled out. But on the Sunday after Christmas we get to choose. It’s always hard for me to decide what topic to teach on. I’m not good with unlimited […]