When the Lord Drove

Sermon based on Exodus 14:19-31, where God and Moses bring the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and into freedom, crossing the Red Sea. There are several powerful points for us all in this scripture. Watch and see for yourselves.

Don't Remain Silent

Sermon delivered on September 3, 2017, exploring  the scripture Luke 18:1-8. This sermon reminds us we must be as persistent as the widow seeking justice from a corrupt judge. See how prayer play into that persistence and what it has to do with us in this day and age.

As time was limited, we didn't get into some of the other ways Christians are working for justice. We prayed for and provided guidance to all interested in helping the survivors of Hurricane Harvey during our announcements and pastoral prayer time.

For another perspective on persistence, see: https://lansdownebaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2017/08/persistence-is-key.html

Siblings

Sermon based on Genesis 37:1-4, 18-38, showing us the dysfunctional, grudge poisoned, hateful relationship between Joseph and his brothers. We explore how to equip ourselves against dysfunction and hate in our own day and age, like the hate so prominently on display at the race riot and terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 11-12, 2017. Being so equipped, we must work all our lives against letting hatred consume us.

If you doubt your small efforts or talents can be any use in fighting against human hatred, intolerance, racism, etc., take a look at the following sermon and rethink: https://lansdownebaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2017/08/against-all-expectations.html

For specific reactions from our denomination to the race riot and terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, which I heartily agree with and endorse, see the following posts: https://lansdownebaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2017/08/american-baptist-home-mission-societies.html and https://lansdownebaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2017/08/abcusa-general-secretary-speaks-to.html

Against All Expectations

Sermon based on Matthew 14:13-21, in which we discover just how completely Jesus will defy our limited expectations where we are willing to work with him. There is a challenge here for us all.

Wonder Woman and Mission

 Sermon based on 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, the last of the July 2017 Summer Blockbuster series relating what superheroes can inform us about various aspects of Christianity. In today's sermon, Wonder Woman, ambassador of the Amazons to the US and the UN gives us insights on being faith ambassadors for Christ.

Son of Man and Son of Krypton

Sermon based on John 1:1-13 during my Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series dealing with comic superheroes and various aspects of the Christian faith. In this sermon, we check out key characteristics of Superman and how we can use them to speak clearly and engagingly about Jesus. Take a look and see for yourself.

Go and Learn

Sermon based on Matthew 9:9-13, asks us all to follow Jesus' instruction to go and learn. Will we be sticklers for rules in ways that ruin the game Mousetrap? Or are there alternatives?

Nothing Too Wonderful for God

Sermon based on Genesis 18:1-15, focusing on hospitality, Abraham, Sarah, and God. Exploring closely how God's insistence on hospitality impacts upon all of us today during incredibly tense, inhospitable times. Includes current crises playing out in our community. Please watch, share, pray, and act.

How Do We Go

Sermon based on Matthew 28:16-20, where Jesus bestows the great commission upon his disciples and all Christian disciples of all ages. The question arises, how in the world to we fill this tall order? Well, we can turn as a congregation to a surprising source for modeling cooperative efforts. What source this that? Watch and see. I hope you'll have some fun with this one.

Special thanks to my wife, who films these sermons, for going above and beyond the call of duty by holding the camera in hand when the tripod failed. That's fantastic dedication. I can't thank her enough. 

Catching Fire

Sermon based on Acts 2:1-13, telling the story of Pentecost and the power of the Holy Spirit. Be careful watching this one: the Holy Spirit goes where the Spirit wills, and powerfully!

Troubled Hearts

As recorded in John 14:1-14, in the face of all Jesus told his disciples about his imminent betrayal and death, he cautions his disciples not to let their hearts be troubled. How were they ... and how are we ... to manage that feat? Listen and discover the answer. This sermon was given on Mother's Day, 2017.

Living Between Expectation & Experience

Rev. Dr. Harold Trulear spoke to Lansdowne Baptist Church about how we may assist individuals who have been incarcerated and their families. It is an important and powerful message. He also has something to say to those who would dismiss prisoners as "bad people" who should be ignored. Please watch.

At the end of the sermon, Rev. Dr. Trulear invited individuals with family members in prison to come forward for a prayer. This was a powerful moment for everyone as ten people came forward. One person was in tears, feeling until that moment that she was suffering alone. That prayer is not recorded here as those people were not asked in advance if they cared to be filmed.

Scripture Reading for Sunday, May 21, 2017

Today's Scripture reading is Acts 17:22-31. In the sermon we will explore what we can learn about communicating with others from Paul's short sermon to the philosophers of Athens. There's a lot of ground to cover there, especially in a divisive age.

Acts 17:22-31: Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ²³For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. ²⁶From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ²⁹Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

Intrigued? Join us at 11 this morning to discover the secrets in plain sight here. 

Rev. Dr. Harold Trulear Spoke Sunday May 7, 2017

On Sunday morning, May 7, 2017, Rev. Dr. Harold Trulear spoke to congregants, friends, and visitors to Lansdowne Baptist Church. He discussed the plight of prisoners incarcerated in our justice system. Rev. Trulear challenged assumptions we have concerning prisoners, reminding us all of some very prominent individuals in the Bible who spent time jailed, including Jesus, who would go on to be executed by the state. We were called upon to realize that God sees people by their whole lives, not a single moment and single mistake. Redemption is possible. Life moves on beyond some moment in which law is broken and a person jailed.

We are called to help those who are jailed and their families, all who suffer through this process. It was an extremely powerful message. At the end of the sermon Rev. Dr. Trulear made an altar call for anyone who had a family member incarcerated. Roughly ten people came forward and a powerful time of prayer followed.

This was a moving, meaningful message that will soon be made available in DVD form for those who need to hear it. Listen for the message concerning Polaroid Land Camera snapshots and DVD's from God's perspective, which makes us consider the span of someone's entire life. It's powerful indeed. The opportunities for individuals and churches to serve are great. 

To explore what might be done, visit the following organization: Healing Communities: http://www.healingcommunitiesusa.com/

To hear the sermon, see this post: https://lansdownebaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2017/05/living-between-expectation-experience.html

On The Road

Sermon based on Luke 24:13-49, the familiar story of the two disciples heading down the road to Emmaus on Easter morning, sure that all is lost. It has a lot to say about how Jesus comes after us when we lose hope. Check it out, especially if you find yourself muttering, "we had hoped" and feeling crushed.

Continuing to Invite the Lansdowne Community

Neighborhood Watch cat
kept watch on me.

Thursday, May 4, 2017, was such a beautiful day, I spent some time out in the community, delivering invitations to worship with us Sunday morning to roughly one hundred homes and apartments. If I haven't gotten to your neighborhood yet, I'll get there. Everyone who does not already have a church home is more than welcome to join us for Sunday worship. 

Lansdowne Baptist Church is part of the American Baptist denomination, which is currently one of the most diverse denominations in the United States. 

This Sunday, May 7, 2017, we have a special guest minister: 

On Sunday, May 7, 2017, Reverend Doctor Harold Dean “Doc” Trulear will provide the sermon for the 11 a.m. service at LBC. He is an American Baptist minister who is the Director at the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Reentry Initiative. Rev. Dr. Trulear will introduce us to how communities of faith may become Stations of Hope, assist families of individuals affected by the criminal justice system, and the individuals themselves. Please come and invite anyone you know whose family has a member incarcerated or returning from incarceration.

Rev. Dr. Trulear explains how faith communities may be trained to provide family support and reintegration and how faith communities may walk with the returning citizens (connect returning citizens to resources that will help set attainable goals), helping them connect with their faith (provide spiritual support), open their hearts to these returning citizens (foster positive relationships), embrace them (extend open and affirming fellowship), provide understanding (collaboration with family and friends to rebuild relationships), and advocate for political change on a local, state, and federal level.

Please join us for this special guest speaker and invite anyone you know whose family has been affected and could benefit from the information provided.

For more on Healing Communities, see: http://www.healingcommunitiesusa.com/

Children of Light

Sermon based on Ephesians 5:8-14 during Lent on March 26, 2017. The Ephesians had been people of darkness before their introduction to Jesus. They were people living in the darkness of ignorance, prone to folly, lies, loss of God's truth, deaf to God's prophets, prone to impurity, lust, greed, hard-heartedness. They were violent and criminal in their responses, living in misery. No longer. They are reminded they are to be children of light. Find out what that means and how we can live in the light too.

City in Turmoil

Palm Sunday sermon 2017 based on Matthew 21:1-11. The question was who did the people of Jerusalem understand Jesus to be. That question remains for each and every one of us today.

Being Holy

Sermon based on Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18, calling us to assist others, care for those who cannot take care of themselves, working to ensure security for the least secure so we may live in peace, and much more. Take a listen and then take the challenge. It can change your life for the better, forever.

Rev. Dr. Harold Trulear Speaking at LBC Sunday, May 7, 2017

On Sunday, May 7, 2017, Reverend Doctor Harold Dean “Doc” Trulear will provide the sermon for the 11 a.m. service at LBC. He is an American Baptist minister who is the Director at the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Reentry Initiative. Rev. Dr. Trulear will introduce us to how communities of faith may become Stations of Hope, assist families of individuals affected by the criminal justice system, and the individuals themselves. Please come and invite anyone you know whose family has a member incarcerated or returning from incarceration.

Rev. Dr. Trulear explains how faith communities may be trained to provide family support and reintegration and how faith communities may walk with the returning citizens (connect returning citizens to resources that will help set attainable goals), helping them connect with their faith (provide spiritual support), open their hearts to these returning citizens (foster positive relationships), embrace them (extend open and affirming fellowship), provide understanding (collaboration with family and friends to rebuild relationships), and advocate for political change on a local, state, and federal level.

Please join us for this special guest speaker and invite anyone you know whose family has been affected and could benefit from the information provided.

For more on Healing Communities, see: http://www.healingcommunitiesusa.com/