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Faith in Adversity

December 20, 2011 in Church in the Word with 0 Comments

Photo Credit: John

The following is an excerpt from Patrick Hoban’s sermon last Sunday at Church in the Word. – Admin

“There are some preachers who say that if you go through adversity, it means you don’t have enough faith. That’s not in the Bible.

“What the Bible says, is that faith will cause you to go through adversity, not avoid adversity.

“In our smug, Western world, we philosophize a lot about persecution and what it is to be a Christian, but I believe we have not realy been tested at all.

“Testing for us means someone didn’t say, ‘Hello’ to us on a Sunday morning. Testing for us means that someone didn’t wish me a happy birthday.

“That’s not testing, friend. Real testing is what happened to a pastor in northern India. We just heard about it …”

You can watch the entire sermon here.

Forgiveness

December 13, 2011 in Church in the Word with 0 Comments

Photo Credit: Renee Mortensen

The following is an excerpt from Patrick Hoban’s sermon last Sunday at Church in the Word. – Admin

“Most of the Christian life is inward. It’s a matter of the heart. You’re born again of the heart. It’s not outward baptism that saves you, it’s an inward thing that happens when you … surrender your life, your will, to the kingship of Jesus Christ. It happens of the heart. And everything that happens is of the heart first.

“Faith is a matter of the heart. Forgiveness is a matter of the heart. Love is a matter of the heart. Everything is of the heart.

“That’s why the Bible says, ‘Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life.’ That’s why you have to sow the word of God into your heart continually.”

Watch the entire sermon at Church in the Word’s UStream channel, here.

From “The Revolutionary”

November 8, 2011 in Church in the Word, Theology with 0 Comments

Photo Credit: Tim Snell
The following is an excerpt from Patrick Hoban’s sermon last weekend at Church in the Word. – Admin

A lot of people ask the question: “What was so revolutionary about Jesus?” You’ll hear things like, “Well, He said, ‘Love thy neighbor as thy self.’” That wasn’t revolutionary. You’ll find that in the old covenant.

Or caring for the poor? … If you read Isaiah, [he] talks about caring for the poor. Not a new idea at all.

Or what about non-violence, or the communal nature of believers in the early Church? It was not a revolutionary idea, because they already had it. It was called the synagogue.

So what was revolutionary? What was it? Because if you mistake this … you’ll miss out on the greatest revolution ever, in the history of humanity. What was different, was a profound change in the relationship with the average man and his God. That was the revolution.

Watch the entire sermon here.