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Weekly sermons from Elizabethtown Mennonite Church. Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
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This is a podcast of the sermons from the Alliance Church of Elizabethtown Pa
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Sermons that help us fulfill our purpose - To bring people into a spiritual community that honors God and builds authentic relationships by nurturing growth into the image of Jesus.
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EC-Cast (A Sporadicly Produced Podcast of the Communications Program at Elizabethtown College)
Colin Helb & Students
Originally launched as a podcast project during Covid-19 lockdown...Like students all across the United States and the world, the students of my audio production course are (for the most part) quarantined at home with their family as we all "practice social distancing" because of COVID-19. This limited series will present their stories of isolation, family, normalcy, joys, and pains in an attempt to provide some solace to themselves and others (and fulfill some basic requirements of an audio ...
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Text: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 There are so many divisions in the church over how to and who should govern the church. Paul, in stark contrast, is encouraging Timothy to select leaders who will bring the church together. The main issue, strong moral character that speaks to the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of a potential leader and the false leadership th…
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Text: 1 Timothy 2:1-15 So often the reader of the Bible will get to chapter 2 of 1 Timothy and forget that Paul is still cleaning up a mess perpetuated by a group of Christians who have incorporated elements of pagan Ephesian society into the church. So, how can the church return to a peaceful and respectful gathering? Paul provides a blueprint tha…
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Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-20 Synopsis: Wouldn’t it be nice if people who want to do damage to our faith and our trust in other people would just announce it at the beginning? Of course it would. Yet, what I find is that our most beloved leaders can be warped in their motivations and can suffer “shipwreck of the faith.” Paul makes clear that those who wa…
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Text: 1 Timothy 1:1-11 Synopsis: A healthy diet is important to living a healthy life. This is true when it comes to our spiritual walk as well. This sermon will look at what Paul means by “sound doctrine” and will contrast that notion with what Paul calls “false teachings” in the Pastoral epistles. Timothy, and Titus, are called upon to move the c…
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I look back over the 10 years at GracePointe Church of Christ.Av Jonathan Woodall
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Text: Daniel 12 Synopsis: Daniel 12 wraps up the book, and so doing it provides a glimpse of the end in which God’s people, because of God’s power will experience new life in the fullest sense. In this great divine reversal, those who have had their time of glory will be defeated, and those who have been oppressed and downtrodden will be rewarded. …
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Text: Daniel 11 Synopsis: Daniel 11 is a description of unending human conflict, as a king rises to power and fights another until defeated, each king living in a self-honoring fashion. The text of Daniel 11 is somewhat easy to understand but also very descriptive…Rise, Fight, win, defeat, rise of another, destruction, glory, defeat, rise of anothe…
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Text: Daniel 7 Synopsis: Daniel 7 is a two part vision, in the first part we see 4 beasts emerge from the chaos of this world to destroy, kill, and show their power over the people of the earth. In the second scene, the Son of Man comes as a cosmic hero to save the people from these beasts. With a parallel verse in Revelation 13, we see that human …
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Text: Daniel 5 Synopsis: This story should provide the readers of Daniel with a little “deja vu” with some very important variations. The new king, Belshazzar, seems to belittle Daniel and his God, not bearing in mind the ways that God had blessed and helped the kings of Babylon in the past. The story is marred when the king brings out the very ves…
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Text: Daniel 4 Synopsis: The King of Babylon was the most powerful human being in the world, and he mistakenly thought that the greatness and security he lived in was due to his own achievement. Boasting of his success and walking around with an inflated sense of pride, the King has another dream. Daniel provides an interpretation of that dream - T…
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Text: Daniel 3 Synopsis: This story isn’t about three people who have so much faith that God saves them from a fire. This story is about the power of God that surrounds us and is present with us through deadly experiences. Whether these three men walk out of that fire or not, God was present in their lives and would be there through their deliveran…
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Text: Daniel 2 Synopsis: Only God’s wisdom can reveal the mysteries of life. In other words, it is not the content of the revelation of there future that is primary; what is most important here is the fact that it is only Daniel’s God that knows the future. And God’s knowledge of the future is particularly important to a people in exile and under o…
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Text: Daniel 1:8-17 Synopsis: In Daniel 1, spiritual defilement doesn’t come from the education offered or the new names given. Defilement would be forgetting who is ultimately in control of the situation facing Daniel and his friends. Quietly and privately, Daniel participates in a spiritual practice that reminds him that God is in control even wh…
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Text: John 20:1-29 Synopsis: John 20:1 tells us that when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb “it was still dark.” There is little doubt that the darkness is the darkness of a night of mourning, the darkness of Mary’s un-illuminated understanding, and other things; but in the context of John’s gospel as a whole it is also the dark results of the Old Co…
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Illumination of the Light of God’s Love
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Text: John 17 Synopsis: As Jesus prepares for His departure, this prayer provides insight in the mission that He leaves for those who want to follow Him. He asks the Father to watch over them and to protect them so that they can live the life of faith. In this dark and evil world, we are to be the light of truth for the world to see. Some will reje…
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Text: John 8:12-30 Synopsis: Jesus has been clear about who he is, what he has come to do, and who has sent him; but a group of Jewish leaders are not convinced and continue to challenge him. They refuse to see two things: first, that Jesus is the light that gives true life to those who follow him, and second, that their way of life contributes to …
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Text: John 3:1-21 Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, it’s safer that way for such a high ranking religious leader to approach Jesus. In the conversation Jesus has with Nic, there is a challenge to “see” what God has laid before Nic. So, it is fair to say that Nic is both physically and theologically in the dark, because he is a leader of Israel who…
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Text: John 1:1-18 Synopsis: The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. This is the story of Jesus in a nutshell. The Fourth Gospel starts with a new creation story, one that shows the chaos of darkness that has infected and taken over the world. Even John the Baptist seems to be taken in by some infection of the darkne…
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Habakkuk pleads with God to act in the present like he has in the past, bringing down corrupt nations. What follows is an ancient poem that describes a powerful and terrifying appearance of God through clouds, fire, and earthquake. When the Creator shows up to confront human evil, it will get everyone’s attention. Habakkuk continues by describing t…
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God’s promise is then elaborated by a series of five “woes” that describe the typical forms of oppression and injustice perpetrated by nations like Babylon. The first two target unjust economic practices, like how wealthy people charge ridiculous interest to keep others trapped in debt, building their own wealth through crooked means. The third woe…
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Habakkuk’s 2nd Lament: Why Use Wickedness to Punish Wickedness?
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Habakkuk has a problem with God’s answer and offers up his second complaint because Babylon, the prophet claims, is even worse than Israel. They are even more violent and corrupt; and so Habakkuk asks, “How can such a holy, good, and just God possibly use such corrupt people as his instruments in history?” God responds that He will one day bring Ba…
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Habakkuk’s 1st Complaint: The Wicked Oppress the Good!
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In this passage, we examine the notion that God is good and wonder if there is a time and a situation in which we would possibly question the goodness of God. Habakkuk is facing a complete corrosion of the society he loves, and he sees nothing but wickedness in the power structures and in the behaviors of anyone with power. So, he turns to God. Whe…
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Sermon Text is Hebrews 5:11-6:3Av Jonathan Woodall
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Sermon Text is Philippians 4:4-9Av Jonathan Woodall
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Our desire to help people grow starts with our thankfulness for all at that God has done for us, then moves to all that God can do for others, and we want to connect the powerful, grace giving God to those around us…we pray for people to KNOW…and let’s make sure we are not simply talking about book smarts, but a tangible experience of the Living Go…
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Introduction to our Theme for 2024 - DeepenAv Jonathan Woodall
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A year-end review of our theme for 2023, "Freedom in Christ."Av Jonathan Woodall
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Av Jonathan Woodall
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Av Jonathan Woodall
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Av Gary Damschen
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So what does a church look like when it is being led by the Spirit and stays “in step” with the Spirit? Well, it looks like a balance of giving and receiving from each other as we live the life of the Spirit. We seek to restore with gentleness (a fruit of the spirit) and we bear each other’s burdens as we attend to our own struggles. We realize tha…
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What is Life in the Spirit? Do we trust the Spirit of God as a moral guide for our lives? So many of us, who claim to have the Spirit of God don’t even understand the significance of life in the Spirit and trade in the Spirit of God for some rule guide or catechism that teaches us how to behave as a Christian. Paul clearly says that it is the Spiri…
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We have arrived at the essence of Paul’s message to the Galatians, that in Christ, we have true human freedom. The value of “freedom” is a favorite for our nation, and the American view of freedom has been the foundation for the American dream, a rallying cry for times of war, and plea of those seeking rights. We all want freedom. The biblical view…
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Paul uses an analogy of two sons, one born of Hagar the slave woman and one born of Sarah the free woman. He goes on to assert that while Ismael will never be Isaac, that didn’t stop him from persecuting Isaac. The son born of the slave woman will never be the son of the free woman, and those who insist on legalism will never be the true fellowship…
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Paul’s impassioned plea to the Galatians is one that we can listen to and learn from as we strive to lead others to Christ with varying success rates. First, Paul asks them to imitate his practices, to learn how to once again renounce the law and seek Christ. The reason Paul does this is because he has a goal in mind, one that contemporary readers …
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This beautifully written passage shows the inclusion of God by calling all people the “sons” of God, which seems like an exclusive term given that slaves, women, and Gentiles are all addressed. But the term “son” goes beyond patriarchal language and biological make-up to show the special relationship that all those “in Christ” (emphasis on baptism)…
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Paul makes the bold claim that we are no longer under the supervision of the law. Those who have put on Christ no longer live in the guilt of their sin exposed by the law, and so anything that creates a way back into that system is negating the work of Christ and the freedom of the Spirit. The law is not the end game, it points us to Christ. As we …
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Paul reads the Bible through a certain lens, and it is important that we understand that lens so we can enter into his letters with an understanding of his approach to the Old Testament. Many readers of the Bible approach it in an individual manner, meaning that we read for personal guidance, growth, and gratitude. This is good and we should do thi…
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Paul makes a claim that we all believe, but few rarely practice. The Gospel is for all people, even the ones we would rather not accept. For Galatia, that meant the Gentiles were accepted like the Jews, without the pre-existing condition of circumcision. As we think about our cultural and social context, we know that the Gospel is for all and finds…
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Paul focuses on the experience of the Galatians in a comparison between obeying the law of Moses and believing what they heard about Jesus…at the center of this is a question about what exactly prompted the powerful outpouring of the Spirit in the congregation. Paul knows it was the acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus and not the strict obedience to …
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Conversion, for all of us, is a movement away from guilt to a status of acceptance by God. Once we understand by reflection on the condition of our sinful selves, and the sacrifice of Jesus, then we can joyfully obtain the forgiveness offered to us by God. We are not saved by God to live a life of lawless wickedness, but we cannot likewise appeal t…
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Paul confronts Peter in one of the most famous moments of accountability in the Bible. According to Paul, Peter behaves in a way that displays his cultural imperialism. In his refusal to eat with Gentiles, Peter upholds practices that are designed to protect the Jewish privileged status before God. Peter forgot, in that moment, that God’s plan for …
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Paul tells of his successful ministry among the Gentiles, and the threat of those who were spying out the freedom they had in Christ. In every generation of the Church there are those who believe they are called to keep the church pure and unstained from the world by opposing innovation and change. The debates over music styles, projection systems,…
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Paul makes clear that any message or effort that seeks the approval of friends, family, spouses, and wins approval from a group of people is not the goal of the gospel. The goal of the gospel, and the goal of ministry is to serve Jesus and please God. If people approve of us, but God does not, then what good is our work. If God approves of us, but …
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The true gospel is the story of God’s work in our world that saves and brings together every nation and tribe and people and tongue. The gospel story pleases God, and many false gospels are aimed to supplement the simple and strange good news of Jesus, and please a particular group of people. In the case of Galatia, it was a group who wanted to uph…
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Philippians 2:5-11 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance …
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The church at Laodicea is completely blasted by Christ for their apathy and lack of any meaningful work. Jesus actually sees them much differently than they see themselves and shows them that unless they actually invite Jesus to come in among them, they really have no connection to Christ. This serves as a warning for Christians who deceive themsel…
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The church in Philadelphia is commended by Christ for their loyalty and dedication to him. Surrounded by all the pomp and circumstance of the Roman Empire, the call of Jesus is to stay connected to him through the daily routines of church life and devotion, thus the call to “hold on” to what they have so they can be rewarded by Christ.…
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Thyatira: Quest for the Perfect Church
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The Church at Thyatira has one of the best commendation statements given to the churches in Asia Minor, but they also are tolerating a false prophetess among their members. Yet, Jesus doesn’t call them to create something new, but to seek repentance and hold tight to their faith. Jesus will judge the church members who participate in sin harshly, b…
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Smyrna: Perseverance through Suffering
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Stripped away of all the pomp and prestige of economic and social well-being, the church at Smyrna is an example of staying faithful when it costs us something, even our lives.Av Jonathan Woodall
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