Bible and Scripture

https://joshuapsteele.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/01-29-17JSGeetingAheadinGodsUpsideDownKingdom.mp3 [MP3: Getting Ahead in God’s Upside-Down Kingdom] [PDF Sermon Manuscript: Getting Ahead in God’s Upside-Down Kingdom] Opening Prayer God, our Refuge, I ask that your Holy Spirit would move in our lives, so that we would: promote your justice embody your steadfast faithful love and humbly obey Your will, even if it costs us our reputations, and even if it costs us our lives. I ask that this transformation would begin with me....

Good morning! And Merry Christmas! Together, let us pray: O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever....

(A chapel message in a Christian school.) There are a few things you should know about me: I am a student at a Christian seminary. Before that, I went to a Christian college. Before that, I went to a Christian high school, and a Christian middle school. Before that, I was home-schooled, and I grew up in a Christian home. Oh, also: I’m the world’s worst sports fan. I’m serious. The students in my youth group give me a hard time about it....

Readings: Psalm 34; Jeremiah 16:14-21; Mark 1:14-20 Like so many other feast days – scheduled, as they are, on the days of the namesakes’ deaths – the feast day of St. James the Apostle is a strong rebuke to our aspirations. To our aspirations as human beings, and especially to our aspirations as ministers of Christ’s Church. ![Saint James the Greater *oil on canvas *92.1 x 74.9 cm *signed b.r.: Rembrandt f....

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256270902″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] READINGS Ephesians 5:21-33 – Wives and Husbands Psalm 67 – May God Be Gracious to Us and Bless Us Revelation 19:6-10 – The Marriage Supper of the Lamb Matthew 25:1-13 – The Parable of the Ten Virgins HOMILY What makes a great wedding? Is it the fragrance and color of the flower arrangements? The particular grandeur of the venue? Is it the number and camaraderie of the guests?...

What would it have been like, on the first Holy Saturday? What would it be like, tonight, if Jesus has been dead for almost 33 hours? All the hopes and dreams of tonight’s readings – shattered. Blown away by the cold winds of death. Jesus of Nazareth lies in a dark grave, and we, his shell-shocked followers, gather to make some sort of sense of this week’s events – to salvage some sort of hope from this week’s wreckage....

It’s been a grueling past few weeks at Beeson. Our Spring Break happens to coincide with Holy Week this year, and it can’t come quickly enough! Part of the hard work has been preparing to preach three sermons for class. However, the opportunity to study and preach God’s Word is a joy that outweighs the burdens of preparation! I have preached twice in the past month on Psalm 32. First, I delivered a sermon (“The Refreshment of Forgiveness”) designed for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C, for Dr....

There are better preachers out there. So, if you’re short on time, go and listen to them! However, if you’ve got 26 minutes to spare, I offer “The Challenge of Christmas Light” to you, and would love to hear your feedback. I preached this sermon on December 27, 2015 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Mountain Brook, AL, as we celebrated the Feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist....

I. Introduction: The Prodigal Son, Part 2 What a relief, to get out of that house. Ordinarily, Jude would have scoffed at his father’s request to purchase farming equipment from the next city – a three-day journey! But ever since Ethan, that rascal (you might even say that prodigal) brother of his, had returned, Jude could not stand to be in either man’s presence for long. So he relished the chance to forget about his family tension on this farming errand....

What a relief, to get out of that house. Ordinarily, Jude would have scoffed at his father’s request to purchase farming equipment from the next city – a three-day journey! But ever since Ethan, that rascal (you might even say that prodigal) brother of his, had returned, Jude could not stand to be in either man’s presence for long. So he relished the chance to forget about his family tension on this farming errand....