Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast

In today's text, Jesus says there are only two gates, there are only two paths, there are only two trees, and there are only two fruits. When you choose your gate you have chosen your path, as well as your guide (the good tree or the bad tree), and thereby sealed your destiny but each of us must choose one or the other and there are consequences to the choice we make. Why is it always two choices? Why not three?

George Buttrick, the late professor of Christian Morals at Harvard, wrote that prayer often seems “like a spasm of words lost in cosmic indifference.” If my prayers go unanswered perhaps I didn’t use the correct formula or I wasn’t persistent enough or I didn’t pray with enough faith without any doubting. Is there a key out there somewhere that will open the lock to God’s blessings and all I have to do is find it? Some say the key to answered prayer is found in our text today.

Is there a difference between being discerning and being judgmental and if so, what is the difference? Is it possible to be discerning and still not come across as judgmental? Is there a difference between the types of judging Jesus condemns and the types of judging He encourages? In today's text, Jesus specifies the difference.

Are you stressing yourself out with worry over situations where you seem unable to find a solution or situations that are beyond your control? Is there some problem in your life that greets you every morning and will not release itself from the grip of your mind every night? Today Jesus says there is a better way to spend your time than worrying about things over which you have no control.

Is fasting a proper spiritual discipline? What does the New Testament say about fasting? Will fasting help a person to become more spiritual? Is fasting and praying better than simply praying? These and other questions are addressed in this sermon.

In today's text, all's well that ends well...but not as far as Jonah is concerned.

In today's text, the people of Nineveh repent and the Lord relents.

In Chapter 2, Jonah has been swallowed by the fish and what do you know? Suddenly he is all motivated to obey because the Lord has given him an attitude adjustment.

God calls Jonah a rebellious prophet to be a prophet to the wicked city of Nineveh, but Jonah rebels and flees across the sea in the opposite direction. When God sends a storm to stop Jonah, the prophet is thrown overboard where he is swallowed up whole by a large fish.

Are you ever confused about the finality of forgiveness? When you became a Christian did Christ forgive you of all of your sins meaning all the sins you would ever commit? Or did He only forgive you of all the sins you had committed up to the point when you became a Christian? When I was a kid it seemed like on some occasions I heard sermons about how all my sins were forgiven in Jesus Christ and on other occasions I was taught I was still in need of God’s forgiveness in some way. I found this confusing (we’re all my sins forgiven or not) and it sometimes resulted in insecurity about my standing before God and worries about God punishing me for unforgiven sins. Such insecurity cannot help but create an emotional distance from God.

The passage we get into today is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer; however, this is not a prayer Jesus would have prayed. Why not? Well for one thing He would never need to ask to be forgiven His debts. This prayer is more accurately called a model prayer or a sample prayer. Jesus had just finished saying how not to pray and now He says, “Instead, pray in this way.” Again I want you to note the prayer is short and to the point and yet it touches upon the main things we are to address in our prayers. It begins with worship and adoration then transitions to petition and supplication. Note how the petitions begin with God’s concerns and will and not our own concerns and will. There are six separate petitions in this prayer and the first three of them address God’s concerns. The idea is His interests trump our interests.

In this Father's Day Sermon Pastor Jeff explains the indelible marks left on his own father's heart caused by his father abandoning him at the age of 10. From there he explores the biblical qualities of a good father.

Some say that it is not true that "God loves the sinner, but hates the sin". They argue Psalm 5 and Psalm 11 make it clear God hates sinners. Is that true? And if it is, does that mean we can hate sinners as well? How would we reconcile such a position with this exhortation in the Sermon on the Mount to love our enemies?

Are we people of our word? Do we really feel we must fulfill the vows and oaths that we make? It’s easy to swear oaths that you don’t really expect you will have to fulfill or truly intend to keep in the first place. And this is what Jesus addresses, this tendency to make vows that when push comes to shove we really don’t think of as binding.

If you divorce your spouse are you forcing them to commit adultery? If you marry someone who is divorced have you committed adultery? Jesus seems to say so in this text. Divorce has always been a controversial subject in the Christian community. How do we navigate through what Jesus says here and what He says elsewhere about divorce? Is adultery the only biblical reason for divorce? These questions and others are addressed in this sermon.

We like the temptation of lust…there is a sense in which we say to this temptation, “Go ahead, torture me all you like.” Because we like this particular kind of torture. Most of us like to think we keep and have kept at the very least two of the Ten Commandments. We may reluctantly admit that we have lied, stolen in some form or fashion, or coveted someone else’s possessions, but we have never murdered or committed adultery…at least we have been able to keep those two. And now here comes Jesus saying. “Au contraire…turns out you haven’t even kept these two really.”