It is to be hoped and presumed that all of us study for our sermons, that we are careful to say what the Bible says and not what we want it to say, and that we give our people good, solid, Scriptural truth. You, like I, however, may have had the experience of preaching a message that is biblically sound, carefully outlined, and seems to fall flat.

One of the great blessings of my life is serving with a team of servant-hearted co-laborers in ministry. In a previous post, I wrote on principles for hiring quality staff. But to develop a quality team, it takes wise hiring and continued investment.

What Christians regard as the great Day of Pentecost happened fifty days after the resurrection of the Saviour, and brought events of significance which are recorded in the second chapter of the book of Acts. The two outstanding features of Pentecost for us are these:

The purpose of church music is to enable the congregation to corporately worship God in one voice of praise and adoration. The word worship means to, “Ascribe worth to something, to show God’s worth.” True worship should come from our hearts.

When Terrie and I first came to Lancaster, we could do all of the administrative work in the church. That was back when the work consisted of mowing the parking lot (over the terribly cracked cement), cleaning the building, and preparing the weekly bulletin.

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. Introduction: The recruiting slogan of our U.S. Marine Corps is “We’re looking for a few good men.” The Marines also have a motto in Latin that states their code of conduct in battle and in their affairs, Semper Fidelis, or “Always faithful.”

Before running a series of errands recently, I took my daughter, Danielle, and her sons through the Starbucks drive thru. When we ordered our drinks, I surprised the boys and added two birthday cake pops at the end.

In the second half of Genesis we are introduced to two primary figures—Jacob and Joseph. These men lived very colorful lives. Let’s look at them and the lessons their lives have for us.

No marriage is perfect. I think pretty much everybody gets that. How can it be? After all, it is the union of two imperfect people. Although we might do so reluctantly, I think each of us who are married can admit that we’ve been the bad marriage partner at some point or another.

Every morning brings fresh opportunities—and fresh challenges. Sometimes the challenges seem to outweigh the opportunities. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the opportunities embedded in the challenges. Sometimes—with or without challenges or opportunities—it’s just a rough day.