The last sermon: There is a season…

There is a time for everything. Discover what it sounds like to take on transition and thrive!

Red Letters: the greatest words ever spoken about forgiveness (week 5)

What did Jesus teach us about forgiveness? Everybody has somebody they need to forgive, the question is what does Jesus tell us to do about it.

Red Letters: What Jesus said to the church (Week 4)

Pastor Mike Hurt continues our learning in Red Letters: the greatest words ever spoken about your life, your relationships, and your future with this message on what Christ said to the church.

Red Letters: Counter culture Christ - what Jesus said about love (week 3)

This week you will learn what Jesus said about love, and other than his claim to be God, this is probably his most radical statement!

Red Letters: Personal Jesus - what can Jesus do for you today? (Week 2)

Learn this week what Jesus promised he’d do for you!

Red Letters: Jesus - Liar, lunatic, or Lord? (Week 1)

In this first message in my six week series about the greatest words ever spoken (the words of Christ) we explored the massive question of whether Christ was a liar, lunatic, or Lord? The issue is important because there is no middle ground. Listen to the sermon here.

Red Letters: The greatest words ever spoken about your life, your relationships, and your future!

I couldn’t be more excited about my next sermon series! It is all Jesus, all the time.  One of my dear friends, Steve Scott, has written a book that is coming out in the Fall of 2008 titled “The Greatest Words Ever Spoken”.  He is the first person to categorize everything Jesus was ever recorded saying.  His book is over 500 pages and it’s literally an Encyclopedia of knowledge about what Jesus said on over 200 topics!

My sermon series will go something like this:

1. Jesus: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?
2. Personnel Jesus: What Jesus can do for you today.
3. Counter Culture Christ
4. Jesus CEO
5. Are you someone Jesus despised?
6. Evolution: What Jesus said about your future.

If you haven’t checked out Parkway Church, then please come say hi in Victoria, Texas.

Transformation through taking care of yourself (week 5)

Is self-care selfish? Learn what Jesus said when he was asked, “What’s the most important commandment?” Listen to Michael Smalley’s fresh look at how to love yourself so you can better love others.

Transformation through serving (week 4)

If you want to experience true transformation in your life, then you need to learn how to serve others through volunteering. Listen to Bard Letsinger’s sermon here.

Transformation through setting your soul free - the unseen battle (week 3)

There is a battle going on that we can not see but it is real and it can negatively impact your life and relationships. Listen to what it takes to recognize this unseen battle and learn what it takes to win.

Transformation through the spiritual acts of silence and solitude (Week 2)

Learn the ancient art of silence and solitude and watch how you can transform your life by getting away and letting go. Listen here.

Transformation through silence and solitude - The sermon notes (Week 2)

Here are my notes on last Sunday’s sermon. Please feel free to download a PDF version here or simply copy what is contained in this post:

Week 1: Transformation: your tomorrow begins today!
Transformation through silence and solitude

START OFF WITH 3 MINUTES OF TOTAL SILENCE

In our noisy and chaotic lives, we need to take a moment to breathe in and be still.

Psalm 131:2 (New Living Translation)
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Why do we need silence and solitude?
1. Because Jesus did it
Matthew 14:23 (The Message)
With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

Mark 1:35 (The Message)
While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed.

Luke 4:42 (The Message)
He left the next day for open country. But the crowds went looking and, when they found him, clung to him so he couldn’t go on.

John 6:15 (The Message)
Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

2. Because we need God’s direction
EVAN ALMIGHTY CLIP
“I commend solitude to any of you who are seeking salvation, first, that you may study well your case as in the sight of God. Few men truly know themselves as they really are. Most people have seen themselves in a looking-glass, but there is another looking-glass, which gives true reflections, into which few men look. To study one’s self in the light of God’s Word, and carefully to go over one’s condition, examining both the inward and the outward sins, and using all the tests which are given us in the Scriptures, would be a very healthy exercise; but how very few care to go through it!” (C. H. Spurgeon)

C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity says, “God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

3. Because our mind, body, and spirit need it
Mark 6:31 (New Living Translation)
Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

Psalms 46:10 (The Message)
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”

What prevents us from being silent and alone?
1. Fear of our past or fear of our future (which can turn in to negative beliefs)
CLIP OF I AM LEGEND
2. Our culture
Living the Christ-centered Life Between Walden and the Whirlwind, Jean Fleming observes, “We live in a noisy, busy world. Silence and solitude are not twentieth-century words. They fit the era of Victorian lace, high-button shoes, and kerosene lamps better than our age of television, video arcades, and joggers wired with earphones. We have become a people with an aversion to quiet and an uneasiness with being alone”

How do we do it?

1. Location, location, and location (Find them in your home, around the corner, and for overnight stays.)
2. Start off simple
3. Schedule time away during the year

First, think of silence and solitude as complementary disciplines to fellowship. Without silence and solitude we’re shallow. Without fellowship we’re stagnant. Balance requires them all. (Taken from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney, copyright 1991.)

THE CHALLENGE: TAKE 15 MINUTES THIS WEEK TO BE ALONE AND QUIET.

Transformation through community - God created lonliness then He solved it (Week 1)

Transform your life through building a community of support and encouragement. Listen to Michael Smalley’s understanding of community and how to develop it in your life.

Transformation: your tomorrow begins today

Our newest series began last Sunday and it’s a 5 week discussion on some of the most critical things you can do to transform your life. The upcoming weeks will be:

1. Transformation through silence and solitude
2. Transformation through community: God created loneliness…then he solved it
3. Transformation through setting your soul free – the unseen battle
4. Transformation through knowing ME: Awareness of who we are and who we could become is critical to transforming our life.
5. Transformation through serving

Each week I’ll upload my notes as well as the accompanying audio for the sermon.

Family Ties: Building a bond to last a lifetime

This is the final week (week 4) of Retrofamily and it is a special one.  Click here to learn exactly what it takes to ensure your family sticks together through the good times and the rough times.

Family Ties: Building a bond to last a lifetime

This is the final week (week 4) of Retrofamily and it is a special one. Click here to learn exactly what it takes to ensure your family sticks together through the good times and the rough times.

The three most significant family values you must have

This week’s sermon teaches the three most fundamental values a family has to have if they want to succeed in today’s world.  Listen to the message here.

Retro Family: “Happy Days” - bringing joy into our homes

Listen to this week’s message to discover what it takes to have a family that is truly joyful.  Learn how to laugh, relax, and have fun together as a family.

The coolest Christmas services ever!

Skip Mozisek is our worship pastor at Parkway Church and I must say that his Christmas services idea was brilliant!  It’s been a dream of Skip’s to produce this kind of Christmas service, and I wanted to take time in my blog to thank him and the entire cast and crew for their incredible work on “It’s a Wonderful Life” - a radio broadcast.

That’s right, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, was originally done as a radio broadcast in the 1940’s.  Skip even worked it out to get KICKS 105 fm to carry the show several days in a row…live!  We were able to put the good news of the Gospel on live secular radio during the Christmas holidays.

Recognizing your blessings

The difference between a thankful heart and recognizing your blessings is that ‘blessings’ is a noun, so you are looking for specific things in your life that you can hold up as holy and blessed.

Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and to turn our own sinfulness and the sins against us into blessings! Listen to my latest sermon to hear what it takes to find a blessing in any situation.

Saving your life by serving someone else

When it comes to wanting the best life you can imagine, try starting with charity.  Learn why serving others and giving can be the best medicine for a hurting life.

Attitude

This week’s message is all about attitude.  If you’re going to live a wonderful life, then it starts with the kind of attitude you have toward life.  Listen to last Sunday’s message to discover the three main things you can do to create a healthy attitude in your life.

The art of a grateful heart

Listen to my latest sermon at Parkway Church in Victoria.  If you would like to download my sermon notes, please feel free to do so here.

Why?

What is the reason you go to church? What’s your goal or vision for your church? This week’s sermon highlights the vision of Parkway Church and how we want to reach our own community and the world.

You can download my sermon notes here.