Tag Archives: Sermons

Free Audio from Family Vacation 2012: Never Roam Alone

20 Jan

For more like this, visit campusministryunited.com’s download page.

How did Jesus’ disciples understand “the kingdom”?

20 Jun

Throughout the gospels the Bible records Jesus “preaching the kingdom”, but what did this mean, and what did the disciples following Jesus in the first century understand this kingdom would be?

This lesson based upon Acts 1:1-11 walks through a few key scriptures in the Old and New Testaments to give listeners a bit of perspective as to the first century Jewish understanding of the coming kingdom, and why their understanding was incorrect.

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In part 2 of this lesson (coming next week), we’ll examine a correct understanding of the kingdom based upon Peter’s sermon in Acts 2.
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How does a person become a Christian?

13 Dec

In continuing through our preaching series on basic doctrines of the Christian faith, yesterday’s lesson at Lake Merced Church was focused on answering this question: How does a person become a Christian?

Here it is:

To listen to further preaching, visit the westcoastwitness.com Sermon Archive.

2010 Campus Ministry United Workshop Audio – #CMUW

15 Jul

As promised, here is all available audio from the 2010 Campus Ministry United Workshop at Harding University:

A few lessons did not make the recording (namely Mitch Wilburn’s, Clint Hill’s [edit: Clint's lesson was re-recorded and uploaded at a later time], and one of Patrick Mead’s) – our recording equipment wasn’t cooperating in the beginning. Sorry about that.

Despite minor technical issues, this was our best workshop yet overall. About 160 very excited people were in attendance, and most left fired up to reach their campuses for Christ. Mitch Wilburn was awesome, Patrick Mead was both informative and hilarious, Monte Cox was insightful, Robert Cox was challenging, and all of our other speakers did a wonderful job.

Benson Hines‘ class on brainstorming proved to be a hit, as did Orlando Henlon’s class on learning to focus on reaching outsiders. Of course, Lynn Stringfellow, Kerry Cox, and Clint Hill brought heat as they always do.

2010 was a great year, and we’re praying 2011 will be even better! Go ahead and mark your calendars now – the 2011 CMU Workshop will be held July 7-10, 2011 on the campus of Harding University in Searcy, AR.

To access audio from all of the past CMU Workshops as well as other CMU events, visit the CMU Audio/Video Page. We’ve developed quite an archive.

Enjoy! :)

REfocus Your Focus: From Moses to the Cross

5 Jul

I had a good time with the Downtown Church of Christ in Searcy yesterday morning.

Have you ever felt as if God has placed a call on your life you simply don’t have the ability to fulfill?

Moses felt that way, but what he learned over time is that fulfilling God’s call on his life wasn’t about his ability – it was about his availability. God is the hero of the Exodus story, and He’s the hero of your story too. Want evidence? Look to the cross.

Don’t ask, “Am I able?” Instead ask, “Am I available?”

You can access this sermon and PowerPoint here:

  • Audio: Wes Woodell – RE:Focus Your Focus (32:00)
  • PowerPoint: Scripture Slides

    • In addition to preaching at Downtown yesterday morning, I also had a great time with the College Avenue Church of Christ in El Dorado, AR, yesterday evening.

    It was a whirlwind of a day, but a good one.

    Fellowship with other believers who believe in and support our mission in San Francisco is always a wonderful thing. :)

    God is Good IF … (I get what I want!)

    20 Sep

    [CLICK HERE TO LISTEN]

    [CLICK HERE TO GET THE POWERPOINT]

    New sermon up – a lesson from Psalm 73.

    Have you ever felt that life was unfair? Have you ever felt like God’s blessings were being reserved only for the wicked while the good people of the world were under some kind of cosmic curse?

    Asaph felt that way, but was he right in becoming bitter towards God as a result?

    Is God like a vending machine?

    That and more was discussed this morning at the Lake Merced Church of Christ in San Francisco … check it out.

    For more westcoastwitness.com lessons, visit the sermons page.

    WestCoastWitness.com/Sermons Page Updated

    4 Aug

    I took some time to update the westcoastwitness.com/sermons page. If you want to listen to some of my preaching, check it out.

    Matt Dabbs recently updated his sermons page to cover the gamut – lessons coming from speakers covering a wide variety of backgrounds can be found there.

    I encourage you to give Matt’s page a visit and bookmark it.

    Want to Listen to Some Great Lessons Online? 2009 Campus Ministry United Workshop Audio Posted!

    30 Jul

    Into Christian ministry?

    Want to listen to some great lessons for free?

    Bookmark this page, and yes - I said *free*?

    That’s right - Campus Ministry United does NOT charge 6 or 7 bucks a pop for lessons from our workshops. We release them for free, and, Lord willing, always will.

    Of course we understand workshop overhead must be covered, but we prefer to take care of that in ways other than charging people for listening to the lessons.

    We want these lessons to help as many people as possible, and believe charging for them hinders that.

    I wish those in charge of other workshops and seminars would follow CMU’s lead in this!

    Anyway, let me step off my soapbox for a moment and share these links with you:

    1. Wes Woodell – “2009 Workshop Kickoff & Planter Interviews” (31:09) (Scriptures & Interview PowerPoint)
    2. Anthony Wood – “How Evangelism to the Poor Can Equal Evangelism to Your Campus pt. 1″ (59:42)
    3. Anthony Wood – “How Evangelism to the Poor Can Equal Evangelism to Your Campus pt. 2″ (36:16)
    4. Kerry Cox - “Curriculum Planning Mini-Workshop pt. 1″ (51:18)
    5. Kerry Cox – “Curriculum Planning Mini-Workshop pt. 2″ (32:33)
    6. Buddy Bell – “Displaying Strange Behavior: The Value of a Holy Life” (55:12)
    7. David Weidner - “Men’s Session: Real Sexual Purity in Campus Ministry pt. 1″ (63:44) ( David’s Purity pt. 1-4 PowerPoint)
    8. David Weidner – “Men’s Session: Real Sexual Purity in Campus Ministry pt. 2″ (61:29)
    9. David Weidner – “Men’s Session: Real Sexual Purity in Campus Ministry pt. 3″ (61:33)
    10. David Weidner – “Men’s Session: Real Sexual Purity in Campus Ministry pt. 4″ (68:06)
    11. Robin Weidner – “Women’s Session: Staying Secure & Sexually Pure In Your Campus Ministry pt. 1″ (41:07) (Robin’s Purity pt. 1-3 PowerPoint; Full Class Notes )
    12. Robin Weidner - “Women’s Session: Staying Secure & Sexually Pure In Your Campus Ministry pt. 2″ (41:47)
    13. Robin Weidner - “Women’s Session: Staying Secure & Sexually Pure In Your Campus Ministry pt. 3″ (24:15)
    14. Buddy Bell – “Effective Small Groups In Campus Ministries pt. 1″ (56:07) (Effective Small Groups Class Notes )
    15. Buddy Bell – “Effective Small Groups In Campus Ministries pt. 2″ (46:14)
    16. Wes Woodell & Marvin Crowson – “Fundraising: Seven Principles Behind Effective Fundraising for Ministry Planters” (36:41) (Fundraising Class Notes Outling 7 Principles; Example Fundraising DVD; Example Fundraising PowerPoint; Sample Fundraising Info Packet )
    17. Wes Woodell & Marvin Crowson - “Fundraising: Group Discussion on Fundraising for Smaller Events” (34:00)
    18. Kerry Cox – “Communicating a Strange Idea: Sharing the Gospel with Strangers” (52:19)
    19. Rita Cox – “Women’s Session: Ladies Leading In Campus Ministry pt. 1″ (48:16)
    20. Hannah Cox - “Women’s Session: Ladies Leading In Campus Ministry pt. 2″ (51:53)
    21. Seth Simmons – “Strange Behavior: Spiritual Disciplines pt. 1″ (67:13) (Spiritual Disciplines PowerPoint )
    22. Seth Simmons – “Strange Behavior: Spiritual Disciplines pt. 2″ (69:43)
    23. Gary Lambrecht & Lynn Stringfellow - “Healthy Elder/Campus Minister Relationships pt. 1″ (71:51) (Connection PowerPoint )
    24. Gary Lambrecht & Lynn Stringfellow – “Healthy Elder/Campus Minister Relationships pt. 2″ (57:13)
    25. Lynn Stringfellow - “Strange Criticism: Responding to Criticism & Persecution” (47:57)
    26. Robert Cox – “Avoid Strange Teaching: Clear Doctrine in an Unclear World” (39:57)

    To easily access these lessons anytime, visit the Campus Ministry United Audio/Video Page. There you can download all of the lessons from the 2009 Workshop as well as all available audio from previous CMU years (that’s four years worth of great content at no cost to you).

     

    CMU Workshop in blogs and Facebook notes:

    (If you’ve written a blog post or Facebook note about the CMU workshop, leave a comment with the link and I’ll add you to the list)

    Faith IN Works, or Faith THAT Works?

    23 Jun

    [CLICK HERE to listen to this week's lesson]

    [CLICK HERE to get the PowerPoint]


    John 3:16.

     ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 [emphasis mine]

    “All you have to do to be saved is believe. All you have to do is acknowledge that Jesus existed – that He lived, died, and rose again, and you’ll be saved.”

    I’ve heard that message a lot. I remember listening to the radio as I was driving in Tampa a few years ago, and the broadcaster (his name escapes me) said, “If you have ever believed in God – even if it was just for a split second – you will be saved even if you don’t believe in Him now! 2 Timothy 2:13 says that if we are faithless God will remain faithful, and John 3:16 says …”

    I was a brand new Christian at the time. As soon as I got home, I looked up the Scripture the guy on the radio quoted, and was a little confused as to why he hadn’t quoted the verses immediately preceding it … check it out:

    “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13 [emphasis mine]

    Yikes – what that guy was saying verse 13 meant didn’t mesh at all with verse 12, yet he was sharing his version of the message with thousands of listeners. I wonder how many bought it?

    Martin Luther

    I presented a lesson this past week on faith that works from James 1:21-25 and 2:14-26 (see also Hebrews 11; Matthew 7:21-29; John 14:15-24, 15:10; 2 John 1:6; Revelation 20:12)- something that broadcaster apparently hadn’t thought about much.

    Did you know that Reformation leader Martin Luther hated the book of James? He called it an epistle of straw because he thought it contained a message of works-based salvation. In other words, Martin Luther thought the New Testament epistle of James taught people they had to earn their salvation – that they had to be ‘good enough’ for God to love them.

    Luther did a whole lot of good for Christianity in general, but he completely missed the ball when it came to the book of James. That’s because Luther didn’t have the best understanding of what faith in Jesus really is.

    So let’s ask the questions:

    What is faith? Is faith simply a mental belief? Am I really saved if I mentally believe in God, mentally believe that Jesus is His Son, but neglect to follow His teachings? Do I really have faith if I refuse to obey?

    I share what I think in the lesson – what do you think?

    Notes From The Pepperdine Lectures – Monte Cox

    1 Jun

    Notes taken during Monte Cox’s presentation at The 2009 Pepperdine Lectures – “Christ, the Mystery of God” – Tuesday, May 5, 2009 – 7PM. Based on Colossians 2:1-7.

    To download Dr. Cox’s PowerPoint presentation used during this lecture, go to www.harding.edu/cwm and look under the heading “Dr. Monte Cox’s ’09 Pepperdine presentation,” or click here.

    • “Pluralism drives the relativism that makes evangelism a four letter word.”
    • The book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is a good example of how people view spirituality today (pluralistically – just make sure you get a little bit of every religion and you’ll be ok).
    • Ministry in the North American context means you will encounter 1) postmodernism, 2) individualism, and 3) skepticism.
    • “Does the concept of ‘God’ belong in a religion class? Can a Christian teach a world religion class at a secular university? Some would say ‘no’ because of their Christian bias. We do, however, need to critique that question. How is a believer’s bias less valid than an unbeliever’s? The underlying assumption of that question is a biased one.”
    • Colossians 2:9 – “Son of God – fully human and fully divine?” Rejected by postmodern thinkers because that sounds too exclusive.
    • People today aren’t looking for a Savior – they’re looking for a spiritual life coach. They’re looking for a therapist. For many, that’s what Jesus is reduced to.
    • Jesus is seen by many as a highly evolved spiritual coach who can help … if you want Him to.
    • Colossians 2:2,3 – “All mysteries” are hidden in Christ. Not Christ plus something else!
    • Paints a picture of two people. One is a girl who gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and sees nothing but ugly. Another is a young man that gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and sees a suave ladykiller. Dr. Cox says both of them have a self-esteem problem – not just the girl. The problem is they get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see themselves instead of seeing Christ.
    • Recommends Christless Christianity by Michael Horton as a book we all should read. Read the first chapter of this book by clicking here.
    • 1 Corinthians 15:14 – “If Christ isn’t the Son of God and raised from the dead, we have nothing to say! Apart from Christ – the center of our faith and identity – we have nothing to say!”
    • “I do not want to be guilty of drawing lines [in terms of fellowship] where God hasn’t clearly drawn them Himself because I’m too conservative for that!” (Amen to that!)
    • Christ-centric theology is the key to the future of the Churches of Christ. (Amen to that too!)

    Other good stuff from Dr. Cox concerning Church of Christ world missions (PowerPoint presentations):

    1. Around the World in 60 Minutes
    2. Missions and Money
    3. What the World Needs Now
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