Sermons by Brad Mills (Page 11)
“The Ninth Commandment: Tell the Truth” (Exodus 20:16)
The Ninth Commandment: Tell the Truth We often times think of telling the truth as a basic regurgitation of the facts. Truth tellers are honest and forthright. They don’t sugarcoat the unsavory details. They don’t downplay anything problematic about an event or belief. But, do we really appreciate such unfiltered truth? I love courtroom dramas. To Kill A Mockingbird, A Time to Kill. But, one of my favorite movies in this genre is “A Few Good Men”. Jack Nicholson as…
“The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal” (Exodus 20:15)
The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal Someone broke into our garage this week and stole our limbo stick. I mean, seriously, how low can you go? Maybe you think this sermon is going to be fairly easy to take after hearing enough conviction the past several weeks considering the previous commandments. Maybe you assume stealing has never really been an issue for you. A survey from Barna discovered that 86% of adults claim to have met the requirement of…
“The Eighth Commandment: Fostering Prosperity” (Exodus 20:15)
The Eighth Commandment: Fostering Prosperity The U.S. is, by any measure, the wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential country in the history of the world. It is not difficult to understand why so many immigrants want to come here to pursue their dreams. The United States is far and away the most likely destination for immigrants (5x more than the second country). That is true of those wanting to come through legal channels as well as those who will risk…
“The Seventh Commandment: The Perversion of Love” (Exodus 20:14)
The Seventh Commandment: The Perversion of Love Marriage was downgraded in America when Ronald Reagan instituted “no fault” divorce as Governor of California in 1969. Legislators argued that it would reduce litigation expenses and animosity between spouses, ultimately, saving more marriages. By 1979, just ten years after the bill was adopted and subsequently passed in the rest of the US, divorce had doubled. There have been over one million divorces every year since then. Roughly 50% of all marriages end…
The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery (Exodus 20:14)
What a cultural reformation would take place if we began to take the seventh commandment seriously. It is not difficult to find illustrations of our radical need for this renewal. We could name prominent figures in every sphere of society that have committed adultery. We could see the breakdown of the covenant marriage, both its biblical definition as well as its value in a secular nation. One of the more obvious ways in which we see the problem is with…
“The Truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:1-14)
The Truth of the Gospel (2:1-14) Paul wrote the letter of Galatians to several churches he had planted a few years prior. A problem arose when false teachers taught a different gospel. In the first chapter, Paul explained that his authority and message came directly from Christ. In today’s passage Paul shows that he was fully accepted among the other apostles. They recognized that he was both called and commissioned by Christ. Two weeks ago we talked about the fact…
“The Call of God” (Galatians 1:11-24)
The Call of God (1:11-24) Galatians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to several churches that he had planted a few years prior in the region of Galatia. Since his last visit, some false teachers came through the region teaching a different gospel. Not only did they preach something that was untrue, but they challenged Paul’s apostolic authority in order to undermine what was true. Paul cut right to the chase replacing his typical section of thanksgiving with…
“No Other Gospel” (Galatians 1:1-10)
No Other Gospel (1:1-10) Over six years ago we held our first public worship services with a series on Galatians. The context of the letter seemed like an appropriate starting point. Paul was a church planter. After his conversion he set out on three different missionary journeys in which he planted churches in the provinces of Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia. After planting these churches Paul wrote letters of encouragement, instruction, and sometimes rebuke. Galatians is probably the first letter…
“You Shall Not Hate” (Exodus 20:13)
The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Hate As we get practical in our application of the commandments, we must always keep in mind the preface, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). These commands were given to a people who had been set free from their bondage in Egypt. Since entering the wilderness God had already shown himself to be faithful to preserve their…
“You Shall Not Murder” (Exodus 20:13)
The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Murder In such polarizing times it is difficult to maintain a godly posture towards those we disagree with. We are quick to allow our political allegiances to determine how we think about and treat others. If we follow the attitudes of many of our favorite radio and cable tv pundits, we may find ourselves not only in fundamental disagreement with our opponents, but we will begin to despise everything about them. What is most…