There is no book like the Bible. There is no one like Jesus. It’s a mercy to have the Bible in English, a mercy to be drawn to Jesus, to worship him, to trust him, to follow him with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Since January we’ve been in the Gospel according …
Category Archives: Sermon Audio
Denny Burk’s Sermon on Homosexuality
On Sunday, July 17, 2011, Denny Burk preached a powerful, timely sermon at Kenwood Baptist Church: “How Do We Speak about Homosexuality?” If you haven’t heard it, you need to give it a listen. Denny had three points: Speak the truth. Speak the gospel. Speak humility. In the introduction Denny tells the tragic story of …
The Manliest of the Theologies: Mark 15:1–39
I opened my sermon this past Sunday with this quote from Mike Wittmer’s book Christ Alone: Critiquing Rob Bell’s Love Wins, Mike Wittmer writes, A real rescue beats an imaginary rescue every day of the week, because it involves actual risk. . . . It’s one thing to pretend that we’re drowning or being chased …
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Accused, Blasphemed, Denied: Mark 14:53–72
If I said to you that God can relate to you when you feel abandoned, falsely accused, misunderstood, attacked, and denied, would you tell me that God is God and it is impossible for him to relate to these feelings precisely because he has all power, all knowledge, and all authority? Is there any way …
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Can You Identify with Judas?
Have you ever betrayed a friend? Can you identify with the bargain that Judas made? Have you ever decided that something else was better than Jesus? I’m not referring to inadvertent mistakes but to moments when one knows what God requires, knows what God has commanded, and chooses something else instead. What is it in …
The Failure of the Disciples and the Brothers Karamazov
On the night in which he was betrayed, Judas sold Jesus for money. When they arrived to arrest Jesus, Peter tried to help in a way contrary to Jesus’ teaching (taking up the sword, when Jesus has been teaching he would go to Jerusalem to die). When he was arrested, all the disciples fled. These …
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Revelation 19:1–10, The Harlot and the Bride
It was my privilege to preach about the downfall of the harlot Babylon and the readiness of the bride for which Christ died, the bride invited to the wedding feast like no other, on June 19, 2011 at Randolph Street Baptist Church in Charleston, WV: Revelation 19:1–10, The Harlot and the Bride This sermon has …
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Justice and Mercy Planned by Jesus and the Count of Monte Cristo
In Alexandre Dumas’s novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Dantes is about to marry his beautiful beloved Mercedes. On the night before he is to be married, Dantes is falsely accused by one man who wants his woman, and another who wants his job. It so happens that the judge is implicated in the …
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Be on Guard: The Point of Mark 13, with some thoughts on ‘this generation’
Mark 13 is not in the Bible to provoke debates about when all things will be consummated – what Jesus meant by “this generation.” Mark 13 is in the Bible to prepare disciples of Jesus against deception, fear, sleepy inattention, persecution, and uncertainty. In Mark 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt to cries of …
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Tenants, Traps, Teaching, and the Meaning of Melville’s “Moby Dick”
In Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, a massive white whale named Moby Dick has bitten off Captain Ahab’s leg. In response to this, Ahab commits himself to killing the whale Moby Dick. Captain Ahab bears the name of an idolatrous king of Israel. Captain Ahab refuses to accept what has been done to him by …
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Shepherd the Flock of God: The Ordination of Ross Shannon
On Sunday, May 22, 2011, it was our pleasure and privilege to ordain Ross Shannon to gospel ministry. Ross has been serving as the Assistant Pastor for Discipleship and Evangelism at Kenwood, and he just graduated from SBTS and was called to serve at First Baptist Church, Lapeer, MI. I had the honor of preaching …
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No Fruit on the Fig Tree or in the Temple
On Sunday, May 15, it was my privilege to preach Mark 11, “No Fruit on the Fig Tree or in the Temple,” at Kenwood Baptist Church. Jesus is remarkably humble in this so-called triumphal entry. He enters the temple, which essentially belongs to him, and he finds no fruit there. That is, the temple custodians …
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Kingdom Greatness
On Sunday, May 8, 2011, it was my privilege to preach Mark 10:32–52 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “Kingdom Greatness.” An excerpt: What are some characteristics of Christ-like service, servant-greatness, slave-first-placeness? It doesn’t do this to get attention, and in doing it, doesn’t draw attention to itself. The consideration of the interests of others outranks the …
Do Flowers Make You Feel Guilty?
Have you ever looked at a flower? This week we went down to Bernheim Forest, and we saw this Quiet Garden full of Peonies. Have you ever thought about how delicate, transient, gratiuitous, and useless flowers are? God has lavished his creativity, resources, energy, mental ingenuity, and power on these things that serve no other …
Mark 9: Motivation To Take Up The Cross
Going into Mark 9 from Mark 8, Jesus has just announced in Mark 8:34 that anyone who wants to come after him has to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow him. Then in 8:35 he said that if you want to gain your life you have to lose it. The last words of …
The Turn to Jerusalem
On Sunday, April 3, it was my privilege to preach Mark 8 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “The Turn to Jerusalem.” To this point in Mark Jesus has been ministering in Jerusalem (Mark 1–7), but after Peter’s confession here in Mark 8, he sets his face toward Jerusalem and teaches his disciples what it means to …
Uzzah and Michal, David and Jesus: 2 Samuel 6
It was my privilege to preach at SBTS chapel this morning. You can watch here or below or download here. May the Lord bless his word.
To the Jew First and Also the Gentile
On Sunday, March 20, 2011, it was my privilege to preach Mark 7:1–37, “To the Jew First and Also the Gentile,” at Kenwood Baptist Church. At the exodus from Egypt Moses led Israel through the Red Sea into the wilderness where they immediately needed water and food. The Lord provided bread from heaven and water …
The Difference Between Jesus and Herod
On Sunday, March 13, it was my privilege to preach Mark 6:1–56, “The Difference Between Jesus and Herod,” at Kenwood Baptist Church. It was daylight savings time spring forward Sunday (a pox on the time change). The combination of the time change and my sister’s family being in town made for an exciting morning on …
Jesus Controls Nature, Demons, Disease, and Death
On March 6, 2011, it was my privilege to preach Mark 4:35–5:43 at Kenwood Baptist Church: “Jesus Controls Nature, Demons, Disease, and Death.” To this point, Mark has announced that the time has come (Mark 1:1–13) and shown a day in the life of Jesus (1:14–45), which prompted five controversies (2:1–3:6). Then Mark summarized the …
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