Adam's Podcast

April 4, 2010 – Matthew 28:1-20 – Easter – “Go!” It is widely known that Thomas Jefferson could not accept the miraculous elements in Scripture. With a pair of scissors Jefferson edited his own special version of the Bible in which all references to the supernatural were deleted. The closing words of his Bible were: “and [he] placed [Jesus’ body] in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.” Jefferson’s understanding of Jesus ended with an occupied tomb. Our understanding of Jesus BEGINS with an empty tomb! Our understanding of Jesus MUST begin where the world’s understanding of Jesus leaves off - with the Empty Tomb of Easter which we study and celebrate today. HE IS RISEN! He is Risen Indeed!

February 21, 2010 – Essential - Corinthians 12:21; Ephesians 4:11-16 You know the feeling, you get to the end of the driveway, or the end of your street and suddenly realize you left your cell phone in the house. So what do you do? You stop the car, turn around, run in the house and get it. Now the funny thing is that all of us just a few short years ago used to drive EVERYWHERE without a cell phone. BUT NOW? Now we can’t even run to the corner store to pick up a gallon of milk without knowing our cell phone is in the car with us in case of an emergency. What happened? Our cell phone has become ESSENTIAL to us - something we just can’t imagine being without! These things are essential to us. So why is it that church so non-essential to so many? For those who profess to be Christians, most of them count their cell phones as ESSENTIAL and yet, many of those same people treat church as NON-ESSENTIAL. Why? Because my friends, things that are USEFUL and HELPFUL we keep, we seek, we inconvenience ourse

February 7, 2010 – Matt. 7:15-23 – Win! The success or failure of a baseball team is not measured just by ACTIVITY but by achieving the GOAL - having the most players cross home plate. Did you catch that principle? Success is not measured by activity but by achieving the win. If your team’s players don’t cross home plate it doesn’t matter how beautifully the individual players played, or how hard the team worked, or how great the camaraderie on the field. Everything is measured in light of the win. So what is OUR win? What is our win here at Chestnut Street Baptist Church? How do we know we’ve been successful? Where is our home plate? What scoreboard should we be looking at to determine whether or not we’ve won? Because there is a difference between a lot of activity – no matter how good that activity is - and achieving a win. What is OUR win? The win in light of which all our other activities might be MEASURED and towards which all of our activities should MOVE us?

January 31, 2010 – Simple – Matt 11:28-30; 22:36-40 While the skeletal system might not be the most important system, the structure that the skeleton gives to the body is necessary for the overall functioning of the Body. The structure of the skeleton allows correct functioning and growth of the other more important systems of the body Structure is NOT the most important thing, but it IS important because it allows our bodies TO DO the most important things. Why the anatomy lesson? Because what is true of the Human Body is true of the Body of Christ. Our church is engaged in a process of evaluating our church’s structures: First, HOW we are organized governmentally; Secondly, HOW we are organized for ministry. Is this because the leadership thinks structure SO important? NO! My friends, this is because what we DO is SO important that we want our structure to allow us to do it to our very best!

Jan. 24, 2010 – “Defender of the Weak” - Dt. 10:18; Ps. 68:5; 82:3-4; Prv. 14:31; 19:17; 31:8-9; Isa. 1:15-17,23; Jer. 22:16 We LOVE stories about “defenders of the weak” - those who defend the cause of the weak, the vulnerable, and the hurting. WHY does this idea so resonate with us? WHY is it that we seek out and retell stories about these defenders of the weak? WHY is it do you think that we find countless myths throughout human history heralding those who are defenders of the weak? My friends, I believe it is because we humans are created in the Image of God, who is revealed as a defender of the weak. As such, we unconsciously hold in high esteem those who defend the weak, for those people are reflecting God Himself. He is the “defender of the weak” and so we too are to be “defenders of the weak” There could be no more appropriate theme to discuss on this day - Sanctity of Life Sunday. Human life is sacred and precious in all its stages and conditions - and most worthy of our defense. So today

January 17, 2010 – Romans 12:1-8 – Formed to Fit Cal Ripken Jr. is considered to be one of the greatest individual players in baseball history. However, when interviewed about his view of success, this what he said: "I'd much rather be referred to not as an individually great player, or someone who tore up the record books, but someone who came to the ball park and said: 'Okay, I'm here. I want to play. What can I do to help us win today?'" My friends, THAT must be our attitude. What can I do to help US win today? It is not about YOU and it is not about ME. It is about US. He wants to mold us and shape us - forming us to fit perfectly as part of the Body of Christ.

November 22, 2009 - “Where are the other nine?” - Luke 17:17 We opened the service watching this video: Did you hear what she said?: "I’m thankful for like the fact that God lets us live and breathe and He gives us beautiful lives and art and relationships. And even though we don’t deserve it, He showers His mercy on us year after year. Even though we ignore Him, He takes care of us. He loves us." We have many excuses for NOT thanking God, but many MORE reasons TO thank Him. Psalm 107:1:“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Nov. 15, 2009 - “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25-34 ONLY 40 Days until Christmas! JUST 11 Days until Thanksgiving! Do you feel the anxiety rising? Worry is an uninvited guest in most of our lives. What worry really is, is a low grade FEAR. We FEAR that something will or will not happen - whether it is a promotion, a raise, an award, an invitation, a proposal, a closing, a deal, an affirmation. OR we fear that we will or will not have something we want or need - whether is money, food, clothing, health, respect, praise, relationship, love. Our fear of not having or of losing makes us afraid Our WORRY always leads directly to what we VALUE most. So today, Jesus invites us to examine our worries, our fear, and the things that we value as he asks us: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

November 8, 2009 - If you love only those who love you, what reward will you get? - Matthew 5:46 The Sermon on the Mount in many ways serves as a corrective to the interpretation and application of the law and prophets by the Pharisees. What had they done? In the words of theologian John Stott: “[The Pharisees] made the law’s demands less demanding and the law’s permissions more permissive.” So we come to the question that Jesus’ asks today: "If you love only those who love you, what reward will you get?" And we find that the demands of the law have been made less demanding. So Jesus' word to us serves as a powerful corrective to our own selfish tendencies.

Nov. 1, 2009 - “Has no one condemned you?” John 8:10, Matt. 7:3-4 Jesus’ questions today should and will cut us to the heart - challenging our attitudes and actions. Hear Him ask you today: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” and also “Has no one condemned you?”

This is the video clip from Facing the Giants that we showed Sunday morning before the sermon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyPkUXGq1S0). October 25, 2009, Questions from Jesus: “If You Can?” Mark 9:23 The coach says, "I don’t want you giving up a certain point when you could go further." Maybe we give up too soon. Maybe we've contented ourselves with the 30-yard-line when He wants to bring us to the End Zone. Maybe we've just chosen to sit on the sidelines while He's trying to get us into the game. Today we will hear Jesus say: "'If you can'? Everything is possible for him who believes." Do we believe that? Do we live that?

October 4, 2009 – “Do you believe this?” - John 11:26 “Do you believe this?” This is Jesus’ question to us today The word, "believe," is a dominant word in the Gospel of John. He uses the Greek word for believe – pisteuō - 98 times. When John explains the purpose of his gospel in John 20:31 he writes: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." So belief is not passive, nor it is mere cognitive assent. Belief is dynamic, active, alive. John uses an action verb to describe belief. So Jesus’ question “Do you believe this?” is a most powerful and poignant questions for your answer and action in response will change everything.

September 27, 2009 – “Do you want to be well?” – John 5:6 Change is always risky and hard - even when the prospect is of changing from something worn, old, past its prime to something new and better. It’s easier, safer, more comfortable to cling to what we know, sometimes, we just don’t want to change. And that truth is at the heart of the question that we hear Jesus asking us today. For beyond the question of our comfortable old shirts, we must examine the comfortable, yet worn out and frayed corners of our lives and hear Jesus asking us: “Do you want to change?” “Do you want to be well?”

September 20, 2009 - What good will it be for a person if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? - Mark 8:31-38 The economic crisis that we now find ourselves in has brought an interesting phrase into the headlines: toxic assets. Toxic assets are a huge reason why banks are in the trouble that they are in. You see, assets are loans. Somebody owes the bank money that they pay it back with interest. However, as the economy now stands - especially with the mortgage foreclosure crisis - many of these loans have actually become liabilities. People are unable to pay back these loans and the houses that secured the loans have decreased in value - below the amount of the loan. So these loans, instead of being assets, have become liabilities. And any asset that is harmful to the bottom line is toxic. This phenomenon is not just in the banking industry, but in our own lives as well. Often, we consider things to be assets that in the end reveal themselves to be liabilities. Sometimes, like these bankers

September 13, 2009 Series: Questions from Jesus Sermon: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?” Scripture: Luke 13:2 Where were you on September 11, 2001?. Last Friday we paused to remember the anniversary of 9/11 – eight years ago that day. And most of us have vivid images in our minds – sights, sounds, smells - of that day. Often in the wake of tragedy, our fears blind us. We grope through darkness, grasping at answers, looking for understanding. In our desperation, we too quickly and uncritically latch on to answers without adequate reflection as to their veracity. Sadly, all too often, like this man and others like him did, point the finger in the wrong direction. Jesus was confronted with just such a situation. People, groping about in the darkness of tragedy trying to understand “why,” pointing fingers, looking for answers, and desperately latching on to wrong ideas. And so today, we hear Jesus confronting them – and confro

Sept. 6, 2009 - “What do you want me to do for you?” - Mark 10:36, 51 Today we turn to what may be the most frequently asked question of Jesus. It is a question that Jesus seems to ask often, to many different people, and in many different ways: "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked many variations of this question:“What do you want me to do for you?” Mt. 20:32; Mk. 10:36; 10:51; Lk. 18:41 "What is it you want?" Matt 20:20-22 "What are you looking for?" John 1:38 What do we learn from this question to us today?

08/23/2009 Series: Questions from Jesus Sermon: “How many loaves do you have?” Text: Mark 6:32-44 We come to God with all kinds of questions. Often we do so much asking and so much talking that rarely do we listen and consider that maybe God has some questions for us. When we read the Gospels, we find that Jesus was a master at asking questions. One scholar counted 307 questions asked by Jesus in the four gospels. So this fall, we embark on a journey – we will study together some of these Questions from Jesus. What do we learn about the questioner as we study His questions? What do we learn about ourselves as we answer His questions? For if we believe as Hebrews 4:12 declares, “The word of God is living and active,” then these questions from Jesus recorded in the living Word might become to us today questions He is asking of us as well. And so, as we have heard of what the Fall holds for our church. It is most appropriate that we also hear Jesus asking us: “How many loaves do you have?”

C. H. Spurgeon said in one of his sermons: “NATURE is selfish, but grace is loving. He who boasts that he cares for nobody, and nobody cares for him, is the reverse of a Christian, for Jesus Christ enlarges the heart when he cleanses it. None so tender and sympathetic as our Master, and if we be truly his disciples, the same mind will be in us which was also in Christ Jesus.” NATURE is SELFISH - survival of the fittest, every man for himself. However, as Dr. Mead said, the first sign of civilization is not knowledge, not technology, not intellect – but COMPASSION. In the same way, the first sign that Jesus Christ has come into our hearts is not Bible knowledge, not wearing the right clothes or doing the right things, but rather the same HUMILITY and COMPASSION as evidenced in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. COMPASSION is a stubborn refusal to turn away - it is the humility that allows our hearts to grow. Compassion allows that other person’s needs affect me, it makes her problem my problem, it make

Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Maundy Thursday - Matthew 26 A Table for Turncoats, Traitors, and the Timid Tonight we read of the events surrounding Jesus’ final meal with His disciples as found in Matthew 26. As we reflect upon the table that Jesus prepared, consider who were the first to receive the new meal He instituted? That evening, we find that it was a Table set for Turncoats, Traitors, and the Timid. A table set for men and women like you and like me.

Date: April 5, 2009; Series: At the Cross Sermon: False Advertising; Text: Mark 11:1-21 What has been termed "The Triumphal Entry" is one of the few events recorded in ALL 4 gospels - emphasizing its importance. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was a carefully orchestrated parable - in the words of theologian Robert Stein, “For Jesus the triumphal entry was a carefully orchestrated messianic act. It was a parabolic act that could be perceived by those with eyes to see but that was concealed for others.” And those with eyes to see understood the true meaning of this parable: The King is Here! Upon arriving in Kingly fashion, what are the first actions of this new King? Another parable. After His highly parabolic and symbolic entry, Jesus enacts another parable that clearly communicates His intentions of this King: He curses a fig tree and then overturns business as usual at the Temple. Jesus is clearing the way for something new, something better. He’s clearing the way so that men and women - like you and m