Peter knelt in the water, intent on washing his nets. Unaware of the crowd of people thronging Jesus, he, along with James and John, continued the task of rinsing grime from the Galilean Sea off their empty nets. The night had been long and fruitless. They had not a single fish to show for their efforts.

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. Introduction: In Colossians chapters one and two, Paul exalts Jesus Christ to His rightful place as the Preeminent One in the universe. He explains that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. Jesus is the Creator of the world, and therefore is sufficient in meeting every spiritual and physical need we have.

As I look at my responsibilities right now, aside from preaching, my biggest emphasis is placed on encouraging the growth of new leaders. I often tell our staff and deacons, who are core leaders in the church, there are three main things to remember as the focal points in our church.

These are alarming times. Financially and economically, the world seems to be barreling down the road toward the precipice. Politically, the country seems to have lost its sanity. Morally, everybody seems to have thrown it all overboard. And Christians seem to have no idea what to do.

Part of the joy of ministry is that of enjoying it with fellow laborers in the work. In the secular workplace, friendship with coworkers is often a corny topic. When your expected ambition at work is to support your family and perhaps also further your career, who cares if you enjoy time with your coworkers? But the work of the ministry isn’t the same as the work of factory.

Have you noticed that there seems to be less unity in fundamentalism than there used to be? It has often been bemoaned that fundamentalism is fragmenting. We have been cut into “camps,” fragmented into factions, and separated into splinters.

One of the sad byproducts of this modern age where “tolerance is king” is that Christians have lost the urgency of the gospel message. We are so afraid of being criticized, ostracized, or marginalized that we oftentimes unintentionally make our presentation of Christ sound like something that can be taken or left with no consequence.

Every few months I have the privilege to teach a three-week newcomers class at our church. I relish this time with our new and prospective members, and I’ve found that they thoroughly enjoy it as well.

Furlough is a time that we as missionaries look forward to, and we should. It can be a great time for families to make memories and to get refocused on serving the Lord. However, like anything else, a good furlough takes planning to be successful. Honestly, sometimes when I have a day off, I fail to plan it well, and always regret it afterward. We can’t let that happen with our furloughs, so here are some tips that have helped me during my last two times back in America.

You know them—they slap your back and say an encouraging word…without really pausing to hear how you’re doing, or if you actually need encouragement, or maybe a listening ear. That’s annoying, but the worst problem with a professional backslapper is not what they do, but what they miss—especially when they are a spiritual leader.