Sermons
Godly Sorrow vs Worldly Sorrow
[INTRO YOURSELF] [ANNOUNCEMENT: ONE SERVICE NEXT SUNDAY] [HAND OUT BIBLES] HOOK It might surprise you to learn that I was not a very good student in high school… that probably why I ended up in Bible College rather than a real school. Anyway, one class stood out above the others in my grade school career.... Read More →
The Advent of Grace
HOOK [Introduce yourself, get a Bible, turn to Titus, Pastor Joel is sick] In 2005, a small, neglected painting was put up for auction in New Orleans. It was a modest piece—darkened with age, overpainted to the point of obscurity, and regarded as little more than an above-average attempt to copy of one of the... Read More →
The Unforgivable Sin
Introduction and Welcome Welcome to Mountain Springs. The more astute among you may have noticed that I am not Pastor Joel. I appreciate no one ducking out the exit when you realized it wasn’t him—thank you. He wanted to be here this morning to kick off our series in 2nd Corinthians, but due to a... Read More →
The Church As… the People of God
1 Peter 2:9–10 HOOK [[ The crazy driver with the Jesus Fish / A terrible Witness ]] BOOK (1 Peter 2:9–10, NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous... Read More →
Perishable, Imperishable, and Destructive
HOOK High School english class. (Hand out Bibles) Just the thought of it conjures up images of Ben Stein from The Wonder Years or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But despite my general lack of interest in learning the nuances of the language I spoke every day, I still discovered some works that stick with me... Read More →
The Mystery of Prayer
Intro Does everyone know what a Rube Goldberg Machine is? Many of you probably do, and I thought I would try to explain it, but I think — to be truly appreciated — these must been seen. So if you’ll kindly indulge me, I would like to show you a brief video to start our message... Read More →
Reclaiming the Wilderness
Note: This is a repeat of an earlier sermon. Introduction and Welcome Good morning, everybody. My name is Pastor Conrad—I guess my first name is now Pastor. I’m excited to be here with you this morning. This might be one of the largest crowds I’ve preached in front of. That’s fine; I’m not nervous. I’m... Read More →
A Cheap Knockoff of Your Life
Greeting You know, whenever the Sunday school gets dismissed and the teens go with them, I’m always like, Who’s left? I got my tech team. I got Brian and Anna. Kim is still here. You know, it’s a good sign. It’s a good sign that we have so many young people at our church. But... Read More →
Life Lessons from a Madman
Greeting I always enjoy that boom at the end. It’s a very, uh, Nolani, Christopher Nolani. Anyway, um, yeah, my name is Conrad. One of the pastors here. Happy Sunday. Personal Story: Busy Baseball Season So despite the rain, it actually has been a very busy baseball season for my kids. They’re both in ball... Read More →
Unlocking the Parables
Greeting Hello? Hello? Michael correctly observed that the mic was off. It would take a mic to know a mic. Thank you. I am a dad. Dad jokes are part of the thing with me now. Anyway, my name is Conrad. I’m one of the pastors here. I’m grateful to be in front of you... Read More →
The Unforgivable Sin
Greeting Well, good morning, everybody. My name’s Conrad. And you have the special privilege of if you’re here with us live in person this morning. You don’t get a screen. Yeah, it’s a good time. So now instead of me running around frantically and sweating, I’m going to leave it to Mike and Graham to... Read More →
Devotionals
Don’t Do God’s Job
God made two promises to Abraham. One was that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky. The other was that he would be given the land of the Canaanites to possess. Both promises were clear. Both were weighty. And both required waiting. Abraham and Sarah wanted a son so badly they could almost... Read More →