From time to time, we hear and read warnings about scammers in our area. The police or consumer protection groups alert us to the danger, tell us what to look out for, and how to avoid being scammed.

But spiritual scamming is much more widespread and much more dangerous. Many have been taken in and taken away by various spiritual errors in doctrine, worship, and practice.

What should we look out for and how do we avoid being scammed? That’s the question we address in this sermon.

For more, see my sermon notes from my sixth sermon in the Colossians series entitled Complete in Christ (download pdf here).  Scroll down a bit further and you’ll find a one-page sermon summary infographic. Index to previous sermons here.

Sermon Notes

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Recently, I’ve had the great privilege of preaching a series of sermons on Proverbs at First Byron Christian Reformed Church. I’ll post the rest of them here as they become available.

For a video explanation of how I’ve tweaked the Compelling Communicator methodology for preaching see here.

Too Much Information (Proverbs 1:1-7)

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Peers v Parents (Proverbs 1:8-19)

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Who will have the last laugh (Proverbs 1:20-33)

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Is Christianity Worth it? (Proverbs 2)

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The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Gospel (Proverbs 3:1-12)

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Christian Hedonism (1) (Proverbs 3:13-20)

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Christian Hedonism (2) (Proverbs 3:13-20)

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I’ve had the great privilege of preaching a series of sermons on Colossians at First Byron Christian Reformed Church over the past month or so. I’ll post the rest of them here as they become available.

For a video explanation of how I’ve tweaked the Compelling Communicator methodology for preaching see here.

Heavenly Hope or Worldly Optimism (Colossians 1:1-8)

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From People-Pleasing to God-Pleasing (Colossians 1:9-14)

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Restoring the Supremacy of Christ to our Worldview (Colossians 1:15-20)

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Gospel Motives for Gospel Perseverance (Colossians 1:21-23)

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The Danger of Culture Shaped Gospel Service (Colossians 1:24-29)

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Two Defenses Against Scammers (Colossians 2:1-5)

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Welcoming and Walking with Jesus (Colossians 2:6-7)

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Christless Christianity (Colossians 2:8-10)

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You Died 2000 Years Ago (Colossians 2:11-12)

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Spiritual Resurrection (Colossians 2:13-15)

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Freedom From Lawyers, Mystics, and Monks (Colossians 2:16-23)

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Laughter at Christ’s truth, Christ’s people, and Christ’s morals is common, contagious, and catastrophic.

Such laughter can take the following forms:

Public laughing: in the workplace, yard, classroom.

Private laughing: secretly mocking God’s Word or God’s providences

Practical laughing: we may not laugh out loud at God but porning or partying is effectively laughing at God.

All such laughter is a serious problem, but there is a way to good laughs, laughs that last. We are going to look at how Solomon guides us to good laughs and laughs that last in Proverbs 1:20-33.

For more, see my sermon notes from my third sermon in the Proverbs series entitled Wisdom University (download pdf here).  Scroll down a bit further and you’ll find a one-page sermon summary infographic. Index to previous sermons in the series here.

Sermon Notes

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Why is culture-shaped (rather than Bible-shaped) Gospel service so dangerous? My answer is going to consider Gospel ministry in particular. However, the same principles apply to Christian service in general. All Christians are in Gospel service and therefore all Christians are at risk of culture-shaped Gospel service.

So, what happens when ministers are shaped by the culture more than by the Word of God:

• They have wrong expectations.
• They have the wrong message.
• They have the wrong aims.
• They have the wrong power source.

That’s an awful picture, isn’t it? It’s awful not just for the ministers, but for the people they minister to. Culture-shaped service does a lot of damage not just to the servant but to those they serve. There is, though, a much better model of ministry. It’s Bible-shaped not culture-shaped, and it’s a blessing both to ministers and the people they minister to, the servants and the served.

Let’s look at Bible-shaped Gospel service so that we can identify the right expectations, the right message, the right aims, and the right power. We can do that by turning to Colossians 1:24-29, and examining the Apostle Paul’s model of Gospel service.

For more, see my sermon notes from my fifth sermon in the Colossians series entitled Complete in Christ (download pdf here).  Scroll down a bit further and you’ll find a one-page sermon summary infographic. Index to previous sermons here.

Sermon Notes

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Do you fear giving up the Gospel because of hostile opposition to it and to believers?

We are living in times of increasing opposition to the Gospel: verbal opposition, economic opposition, workplace opposition, legal opposition, etc.

Many have given up part of the faith, especially in the area of sexual ethics. Some have given up all of the faith and abandoned the Gospel altogether. Some of them have been well known Christian leaders.

How can I expect to stand in the face of opposition, if they can’t?

This fear of falling has some significant effects upon us:

• It displaces Christ, resulting in man-centeredness. We have our eyes on people who threaten us rather than on Christ’s protection of us.
• It demoralizes us, resulting in sin. We give up doctrinal and moral beliefs resulting in immoral behavior.
• It destabilizes us, resulting in inconsistency. We are all over the place as we respond to attacks from all directions.

This fear of falling and its consequences can be removed and replaced with a confident expectation of perseverance which has some wonderful happy consequences.

How can we persevere when we are so weak and the opposition so strong? Paul gives us three truths. 

For more, see my sermon notes from my third sermon in the Colossians series entitled Complete in Christ (download pdf here).  Scroll down a bit further and you’ll find a one-page sermon summary infographic. Index to other Colossians sermons here.

Sermon Notes

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