Sermons on Humility
Responding Rightly to Jesus the Lord (Acts 2:36-40)
Peter urged the men of Israel who participated in the crucifixion of Jesus to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. Responding rightly to Jesus as Lord and Christ means repenting and being baptized in his name for the forgiveness of sins, effectively orienting one’s life to God through…
The Exalted Servanthood of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11)
The path to gospel-worthy living comes by reflecting Christ’s own behavior toward one another. Furthermore, gospel-worthy living comes not by sheer willpower or discovering one’s innate potential, nor by conformity to law or tradition. Gospel-worthy living comes as one understands what has been…
Clinging to the LORD (Genesis 32:22-32)
We are nearing the end of Jacob’s exile narrative, that occurred over the period of 20 years, and began back in chapter 28. On that day, Jacob, a greedy, deceitful, conniving man, fled empty-handed and alone from the promised land to the pagan land of Haran. On his way out, the LORD appeared to him at Beth-el with a promise to return him to the land. Upon receiving this…
The Blessing of the Birthright (Genesis 21:8-21)
So though they remained children of illegitimate birth, had they understood how God’s promises come to those of legitimate birth, they could have humbled themselves under the covenant promises, and laid hold of them by faith. Just as Ruth believed by faith a Moabite could find a home in Israel and…
A Misplaced Priority and an Eternal Rejection (Luke 14:15-24)
In this passage, a man refuses to accept Jesus’ hard words that only the humble will sit at the eternal Kingdom table with Jesus. He assumes that he will be an honored guest at the table. But Jesus says that people like him will not enter because they have in fact rejected the dinner…
Exaltation for the Humble, Shame for the Proud (Luke 14:1-14)
On the Sabbath, in the presence of the Pharisees, Jesus heals a man with a dropsy, a physical condition where the soft tissue of the body massively swelled with water probably due to severe heart disease (perhaps liver or kidney failure). Jesus uses the opportunity to reveal that the Pharisees are…
The Greatness in Humility (2 Kings 5)
A look at Naaman and the Israelite slave girl in 2 Kings 5 from the perspective of the disciples. They had asked Jesus who could be the greatest in the Kingdom (Matthew 18:1). Jesus said one must become as humble as a little child (18:3). The slave girl teaches us true humility and how it expands the Kingdom of God.
