Archive for category Sermons
Nehemiah Sermon Series
Posted by Stephen C. Rice in Discipleship, Preaching, Sermons on January 29, 2012
I’ve been preaching for about 32 years now and some books of the Bible have gone virtually untouched in my preaching. Until the beginning of 2012, that was true about the book of Nehemiah. I may have preached one or two sermons from Nehemiah through the years, but I’m not even certain of that. Last year I felt prompted to preach through the entire book of Nehemiah, but I wasn’t sure about the timing. I continued to pray about it and finally began the Nehemiah sermon series on January 1, 2012.
As anticipated, Nehemiah is full of practical, Godly leadership principles. Nehemiah’s quest to lead the Jews to restore the crumbled walls and burned gates of Jerusalem in 52 days was one of the greatest leadership ventures in history. Did you know that originally Ezra & Nehemiah were on one scroll. Later when the Jews divided the scroll they called them 1 & 2 Ezra. The chronological setting for the Books of Ezra & Nehemiah stretches from 537-433 B.C.
Over the next weeks, I will continue to work through this great book. Here are links to the video of each of the sermons in this series:
The Holy Spirit
Posted by Stephen C. Rice in Church Chat, Discipleship, Sermons, Worship on September 15, 2011
After serving as a pastor in Southern Baptist churches over the last quarter of a century, I find that the average Southern Baptist is largely unfamiliar with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, I am preaching a sermon series this fall simply called “Fruit of the Spirit.”
The first sermon in the series examined the following six foundational truths about the Holy Spirit:
- The Holy Spirit God. The Holy Spirit was there in the beginning. He was part of the Trinity as everything was created. Genesis says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
- The Holy Spirit is a person. Throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He or Him.” In John 14:16-17, Jesus said, ”….I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
- The Holy Spirit plays a key role in salvation. (John 16:8-11)
- The Holy Spirit dwells in each believer. Jesus said, “….the Spirit of truth….he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Paul asked, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
- The Holy Spirit is given to us as a deposit. What a glorious truth! The Holy Spirit is God’s down payment indicating that He is good for the rest! Hallelujah! “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 5:5).
- The Holy Spirit produces fruit in the believer. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
I personally believe that the greatest evidence that we are truly believers is the fruit of Spirit. If we have the Spirit as a deposit then we are, without a doubt, a true Christian. If we are a genuine Christians who are in fellowship with God, then we will bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
