Messages by Brent Clark (Page 31)
Racial Reconciliation
Introduction Last year, the pastoral team and I went away to plan our preaching calendar for this year. One of the topics we thought we should cover was the issue of racial reconciliation.A couple of months before our meeting, we had seen the reporting of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Images flashed across the television of the response of the people in the community and in the nation. We knew this would be an important topic to…
Can’t We All Just Get Along: Racial Reconciliation
Introduction Last year, the pastoral team and I went away to plan our preaching calendar for this year. One of the topics we thought we should cover was the issue of racial reconciliation. A couple of months before our meeting, we had seen the reporting of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Images flashed across the television of the response of the people in the community and in the nation. We knew this would be an important topic…
The Big Story of God: The Savior
Introduction Have you ever been given a task to plan or a project to oversee only to have your best laid plans go horribly awry? In my previous life, when I was in banking, I had the job of overseeing bank operations. One of the tasks I was charged with was new projects. Back in 2005, our small community bank decided it was time to enter the 21st century and that we would pursue document imaging for all of our…
The Big Story of God: The Law
Introduction This entry is part of a series called, “The Big Story of God.” We are looking at the overarching theme or narrative running in the Bible from the start to the very end. In previous entries, we saw a personal God that creates everything and desires his creation (you and me) to know him. We saw that humanity disobeyed him, destroying our relationship with him, and allowing sin to enter the world. Even then, God’s desire for his creation to…
The Big Story of God: The Fall
From Good to Fallen Earlier, we began a series called, “The Big Story of God.” We started at the beginning of the story. Our story doesn’t begin with “Once upon a time.” It begins with, “In the beginning God created…” As we started looking at the story, we saw from this passage that the most important take-away from the creation story wasn’t the “how” or the “when” of creation, but the “who” and the “why.” We saw that the “who”…
The Big Story of God: Creation
Once Upon a Time “Once upon a time…” These four words bring back good memories for many of us. Perhaps it is the memory of a mom or dad sitting beside you after they tucked you into bed and began to read you a familiar story before you nodded off to sleep, or possibly it is the memory of you saying these words to your own children. These words were just the beginning, introducing a tale sure to capture the…
Faithful: Revealed Faith
Sermon Podcast Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Faith Themes in Second Timothy Today we are wrapping up a series called “Faithful.” We have looked at each of the major themes in a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy. This is Second Timothy in our Bibles. Paul penned this letter while he was in prison. It is the last preserved correspondence we have between Paul and Timothy. In the letter, Paul wants to guide Timothy…
Faithful: Enduring Faith
Commitment One of thehardest things for me as a parent is getting my kids to followthrough with the commitments they’vemade, and even more so on the commitments I have made for them. Maybe you’ve experienced this as well. Your child says they wantto play a sport or do some activity, but after abouttwo days or weeks into it, after a few practices, or after having to get upearly one time for it, they decide they don’t wantto do it anymore.…
Faithful: Persuasive Faith
Sermon Podcast Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Jury Duty Several years ago in Arkansas, I received the dreaded letter in the mail from the county courthouse informing me that I had been given a very special honor. I had been selected for jury duty. What I loved about the letter was that it didn’t really ask if I wanted to be on jury duty; it just said I was. Congratulations. During my “sentence,” I was fortunate enough…
Villains of the Bible – Satan – The Original Villain
Sermon Podcast Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Heroes and Villains I am a self-professed nerd. I love for Star Trek. This love led me at one time to attend a Star Trek convention. One thing I have never had a great love for was comic books or graphic novels. I read a lot already, so reading is rarely a recreational activity for me. But, I do love comic book movies. Batman. Spiderman. Superman. X-Men. The Avengers.…
Living with the Spirit
What it means to be filled with and living in the Spirit.
Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Understanding and experiencing the Spirit leads to empowering by the Spirit for greater impact in the world.