Peter Sees

February 12, 2019 by Kevin Johnson

It’s really important when we read about people from the Bible that we remember their humanity. If you’ve been around church for a while, or you’ve ever watched the history channel, you’ve heard about Peter. He seems to be the most well known disciple of Jesus Christ. Most people remember him walking on water. But Peter was a real person. He was sixteen once. When he was young, he had a first job. He had hopes and dreams of what his life might be like one day. He had a best friend. He even fell in love! But there was a day, a real day, where there was a moment that he met a man who was introduced to him as Jesus. And there was a sort of magnetism about this Jesus. Peter didn’t really know why, but he wanted to hang out with Him.

The Narrow Road

October 02, 2018 by Kevin Johnson

We’ve all heard it before. The simple sentence that makes any class wake up and instantly pay attention. “This will be on the exam.”

There are moments in every class when you know it’s a good time to pay attention.

This morning we’re going to look at a passage where things really get real. In college, I took a computer simulation class, and early in the class the professor told us about the semester-long project that we would be doing in his class. He said that he was going to split us up into groups and the group that did the best would get an A, the second group would get a B and so-on. That was a moment where everyone really perked up! Suddenly, everyone was listening at that point! My group ended up with a B, but we got robbed. That’s beside the point.

In Matthew 7, Jesus is talking to a crowd of people and He says something that I think would perk them up. Jesus begins to talk about what it really looks like to follow Him in Matthew 7:13-14.

Watch Out for the Dogs

May 22, 2018 by Kevin Johnson

You know that moment in a movie or a T.V. show when you hear the record scratch noise and the video stops? There’s usually a freeze-frame and the main character looks confused. You're supposed to ask the question, "What is going on?"

If the Bible had a soundtrack, there's a moment in the book of Philippians where this would have totally happened. If you read through the book of Philippians, you'll read about Paul's experience as a prisoner for the Gospel. He encourages his friends to really care for one another. And then, you get to Philippians 3.

Surprise

May 08, 2018 by Kevin Johnson

As a kid, I loved the story of Jericho because we got to yell in church. Usually, we would build a wall with those cardboard bricks and march around it, pretending to be Israelites. If you were really lucky, you were selected to act as the wrath of God and knock down the wall!

We may remember this story with nostalgia, but I don't think we really think much about how crazy it was. God gave Israel quite the battle plan. There wasn't supposed to be any fighting at all. After the people marched around the city and shouted a great shout, the walls would come a'tumblin down.