By Bob Schneiter on
8/29/2010
Ephesians 6:10-20
James says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!”
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By Bob Schneiter on
8/22/2010
James 5:16-18
Prayer is the most powerful tool that God makes available to the Christian. Prayer unleashes the power of God. Someone once said, “If we do not pray, God will not act.”
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By Bob Schneiter on
8/8/2010
Romans 8:3, 4
Traditionally, the third week of August is the annual backpack trip to the Mallard-Larkins wilderness area. So much of what happens on a backpack trip has parallels in the Christian’s spiritual life. The trip begins with a sense of excitement and anticipation. There is also a little bit of fear on the part of some as to whether or not they are up to the challenge.
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By Bob Schneiter on
7/4/2010
Matthew 6:1-4
We need to put this passage of Scripture in context. Christ is dealing with a people who are incredibly religious. They had taken “religion” to the limits of its expression. But it was all pretense and appearance. Their religious leaders led the way by walking around pompously in long robes of the finest materials. What had once been meaningful practices to remind them of the holiness of God had now become a “dog and pony” show. It was “religion” and not “relationship”
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By Bob Schneiter on
6/20/2010
Romans 7:5-8
Many of us have a mistaken idea of God’s love and of His plan for our lives. Oftentimes the most prominent thing on our minds is our sinfulness and God’s salvation. We don’t want to go to a place of eternal torment. We don’t want to burn in Hell. So, when we give our lives to Christ, we are thinking fire insurance. But that is only a small, small part of what salvation is all about. In the verses leading up to today’s passage, Paul talks about us being fruitful in God’s kingdom
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By Bob Schneiter on
6/13/2010
Matthew 6
We live in a society where success is the name of the game. Our forefathers came to this country, the land of opportunity, to seek their fortune. It was the land where rugged individualism won out over class struggle. The pioneering spirit pushed the entrepreneur to new heights, and the carrot at the end of the stick was always success and a higher standard of living. People literally gave up their family structure and values that had been held dear for centuries in order to pursue their dreams of making it to the top and being rewarded with the “good life”. Lifestyle became more important than life principles, and we became consumed with the present and simply didn’t weigh future consequences in the balance
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By Bob Schneiter on
5/30/2010
Romans 7:1-6
Tree husbandry has always fascinated me. Even the term “husbandry” is interesting. In general application, it means management. In modern terms, we would think of it as quality control and getting the most out of what we have available. I am planning to go out tomorrow and prune back my grape vines, and it kills me to do it. The year before, I carefully cultivated the plants, and they grew down the fence line with lovely, long vines that are healthy and robust. They are beautiful vines. But I’ll go out tomorrow with my pruning shears and cut each of the vines back to just two new buds, and then I’ll gather the beautiful, healthy vines I’ve cut off and put them in the burn barrel and destroy them. How sad!
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By Bob Schneiter on
5/23/2010
Romans 7:1-6
We need to go back again and put things into context. The day of Pentecost was a great benchmark for the Christian faith. It is considered by most scholars to be the birth of Christianity. On the day of Pentecost, people from all over the known world were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Harvest. What they saw and heard that day had a profound effect on the future of the Church. Many of those who “experienced” Pentecost were wealthy Jews from the capital of the world, Rome. They went back to Rome on fire with the newly discovered Holy Spirit driving them to “...go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
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By Bob Schneiter on
5/16/2010
Matthew 5:43-48
Once more we need to put this segment of the Sermon on the Mount in context because it is the heart of Christ’s message to the Jewish people. It contains the most concentrated expression of the new standard Christ was asking them to practice in all of their personal relationships. And it was radical. The Jews hated their enemies…passionately!
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By Bob Schneiter on
5/9/2010
Proverbs 31; Ephesians 5:25-27; I Peter 3:7
This may be one of the strangest Mother’s Day sermons you’ll ever hear. In fact, it’s really not a Mother’s Day sermon as much as it is an “honor women” sermon. All across America today pastors are dusting off and re-polishing their expositions on Proverbs 31, known as the “virtuous woman” chapter of the Bible. By the time they have finished, they will have painted a glorious picture of what the virtuous woman should look like...(see the video)
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