Author Archives: Jerry Wierwille

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In the Mud of the Jabbok Date: October 25, 2015 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. Jacob is a key figure in the OT, and he is also a character who lives up to his name. The name Jacob means something like “deceiver.” When he was born, Jacob was grasping Esau’s heel, and “heel grabber” is a Hebraism that means he would be “a trickster.” There are several specific instances throughout Jacob’s life where he reveals his true colors as a deceiver and trickster. However, when Jacob is on his way back to see Esau after living with his uncle Laban for nearly twenty years, he ends up in a circumstance where he is once again struggling to get what he wants. But it is only when Jacob is at the end of himself does he begin to realize something about who he is. In Genesis 32:24-32 records […]

The Battle Against Lust Date: October 10, 2015 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. Details: First minute or two is missing. Lust has been viewed as a semi-innocuous, more subtle form of sin that has not been taken very seriously by many Christians by-and-large. When people think about lust, they often envision some sex-hungry person who sleeps around or who hires prostitutes and engages in debauchery and other immoral acts. To the ignorance of many, lust has a much less obvious side to it, but one that is just as corrupting and toxic to us. Lust is like a cancer that begins to grow in one place but then quickly spreads and rapidly infects other areas of our lives. It can be like a silent killer that dwells in the darkness of our soul and then rears its ugly head to cause all kinds of destruction and havoc. […]

Pentecost – The Festival of Shavuot Date: May 16, 2015 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. The festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) is one of the 7 annual festivals of Israel. It is also known as the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest. Moreover, Shavuot is one of the 3 Shalosh Regalim (“pilgrimage festivals”) where male Israelites were required to travel to the temple at Jerusalem. Shavuot is celebrated 50 days after the Day of First Fruits (15th of Nisan) in late spring at the time when the wheat was ready to be harvested. It is a special festival for Israel as it signifies God’s provision for his people following their deliverance and exodus from slavery in Egypt. It is traditionally held that God gave the Torah to Israel 50 days after leaving Egypt, and through the giving of manna and Torah in the wilderness, God provided […]

Connected to Christ! Date: April 15, 2015 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. Christ is the center of Christianity. What that means is that to be a Christian revolves around following one person, Jesus the Christ. However, putting your faith in Christ and following his teachings does not comprise the entire meaning of what it is to be a disciple. The primary significance of the Christian life is being connected to Christ. Everything that Scripture speaks of regarding the life of a believer is always in conjunction with their union with Christ and the reality to which that union is designed to fulfill. But what does it really mean to be connected to Christ? And how is that connection supposed to be present in a believer’s life? The idea of being connected to Christ is closely related to the fact that he is the Lord of our lives. […]

Over the course of the past several decades, a movement throughout the evangelical Christian community has become increasingly popular and in-demand. It is not surprisingly so. This movement, often called the “Prosperity Gospel” (PG), caters to the desire of every God-believing Christian…the desire to see a kick-back in their wallet, lifestyle, or profession because of their faith. I mean, come on…who doesn’t want to mix the American Dream into their Christian ideals? You can get two birds with one stone! (…joke) This movement has marched under the banner of many names, such as “Name it and claim it”, “Health and wealth”, “Positive confession theology”, but as David Brunette aptly states, “The good news of Jesus Christ is not a magic spell that secures for us a healthy and prosperous future.”[1] Actually, the good news of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with our homes, cars, bank accounts, job promotions, peer […]

This post is in reply to the blog of Thomas L. Horrocks. Follow the link to read his post. Yo Thomas, I am glad to see that you are applying some of that Greek knowledge…lol. Luke is not the easiest book to translate for sure. But I checked through your translation and I think it is pretty good. I like it. I do not have any real critiques of your work. Well done my friend!…haha. BTW you should have referenced your translation among the professional ones.  🙂 The “Annunciation,” as it has been commonly called in Christian history,­ is really an amazing part of the Gospel story. I thought about a few different things that I have not considered before as I read through it again recently. One thing that stuck out in my mind was that when the angel proclaimed to Mary that she will conceive a child in […]

“My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we performed well—whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance….Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to ‘try harder.’ We seem to believe success in the Christian life (however we define success) is basically up to us: our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. We give lip service to the attitude of the Apostle Paul, ‘but by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10), but our unspoken motto […]

“Pseudo faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God fails it. Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second way or makeshift substitutes. For true faith, it is either God or total collapse. And not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed a single man or woman who trusted Him. The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For […]

“We Christians are cut from the same bolt as the rest of mankind, and while we have been made partakers of a new nature we have not yet been entirely divested of the old. For this reason we are under constant temptation to lapse into the flesh and manifest the old nature rather than the new . . . Among the purest gifts we have received from God is truth. Another gift almost as precious and without which the first would be meaningless is our ability to grasp truth and appreciate it. For these priceless treasures we should be profoundly grateful . . . And because these and all other blessings flow to us by grace without merit or worth on our part we should be very humble and watch with care lest such undeserved favors, if unappreciated, be taken from us . . . The very truth that makes […]

This post is in reply to the blog of Thomas L. Horrocks. Follow the link to read his post. Hey Thomas, Great post brother! This is an incredibly important issue among nearly every Christian circle. I think that the “It’s cool to be cruel” mindset has its derivative in “I like to be right” attitude. How many people really see anything wrong with pointing the finger or exposing a wrong belief with a little derision on the side? I would figure that even if people would raise their hand and affirm that something is wrong with it, they are guilty of it in practice. I believe there is an undue, detrimental spirit of pride that accompanies inappropriate loyalty to a church, ministry, organization, group, or religion that fuels a separatist ethos which in turn is manifested as an elitist ideology. We see this disposition predominating in conversations where people enjoy […]