Doing God's work, one step at a time

I initially wrote this sermon for Homiletics class, but I have revamped it for Old Stonington Baptist Church. Preached on March 14, 2010. December 31, 1999. December 21, 2012. Horoscopes. Self-help books. Nostradamus. Buddhism. Fortune Tellers. Psychics. What do all of these things have in common? Well, let’s see, two of them are dates that the world will possibly end. Horoscopes, Fortune Tellers and Psychics are all mechanisms for attempting to see into the future. Buddhism is a religion. Self-help books are numerous, pushed by media, and tell us how to fix our problems. Finally, Nostradamus is probably one of the most famous people in History for his “world event predictions”. The one thread through them all is that they are manufactured by man, and therefore faulty. A friend of mine, who was raised in the Catholic Church, and a very spiritual person, went to this area psychic to have her future read. I thought this was a little corny, but thought, hey whatever floats your boat. She ...

My dad worked for the State of Illinois for thirty-two years before retiring a few years ago. His title was Highway Maintainer. He is the one who is mowing grass in the summer and plowing snow in the winter and picking up garbage when there is nothing else to do. Oooooh the prizes he would bring home on the days he picked up trash. Nothing ceased to amaze me on what he would find. One time he brought home a basketball. Another time he even brought home a video tape of a recently released movie. Car seats, tools, even a bike one time. I remember a story one time where dad had said that they had to call the pound because someone dumped a stray out on the side of the road. The things people throw out or lose while driving is staggering. It seemed to pile up in a big state truck rather quickly he said. Something else that piles up in a hurry is the plastic Wal-Mart bags. Holy cow do those things pile up quicker than I can use them. I try to be resourceful and use them in my small trashcan...

How do we know whether we are bearing fruit as Christians? Have you ever pondered this question? Many times as Christians, we wander aimlessly without direction or consideration to the fruit we bear. Imbedded in the story of the clearing of the temple is another story. It is a story of a fig tree that becomes center stage of an issue that we struggle with every day of our lives; authority. Who has authority over us? Do we? Does God? If He does, then how are we showing it? Today we are going to discuss these issues. Our text for today is going to be Mark 11:20-24. I will also be giving some background information in verses 12-14 as well. If you would, please read along with me starting at verse 12 12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat frui...