Sermons by “Rev. John R. Larson”
Love Language
But there is a greater love language than you telling God how much you need Him. The greater language is God telling you that He wants you to know His works that bring His salvation.
Love is costly. Love demands much from you. Love will mean that you will be inconvenienced for another. Love demands sacrifice. Love places another, or others, before you. When the Bible says that “God so loved the world…” He knew about the cost of love. Jesus has shown God’s love for us. Jesus is God’s language of deep love.
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The Bible says that we are born dead in transgressions and sins. The Bible says that by nature we are God’s enemies. The Bible says we are fading leaves, empty cisterns, and flowers quickly fading. The Bible says that we are rebels, prodigals, prone to wander, hard-hearted, selfish, and lost in sin.
View SermonA New Beginning
And what does God do when he comes down? Scold us? Shame us? Berate us? Reject us? Condemn us? No! God cries out, “Yahweh! Yahweh! The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast-love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and lifting up wickedness, rebellion and sin.” A new beginning is totally possible!
View SermonTrapped
People get trapped in all types of problems. Paul was trapped. He was trapped on both sides. He was trapped in despair and he was trapped by his own self-satisfaction, his own self-righteousness.
People can get trapped by hopelessness or by pride.
View SermonStrike the Rock!
We all know what it feels like to have no water. Do we ever! There’s emotional thirst. “It hurts so bad, sometimes it feels like I’m eating glass.” There’s spiritual thirst. “God, if you are so good, why do I hurt so bad? God, why do you seem so far way? God, do you even exist?” And then there’s relational thirst. “When it comes to love, I’ve struck out a billion times!”
View SermonMy Father
You know I shouldn’t have gotten a darn thing. Boy, had I disappointed everyone. I had hurt my father and my brother, and our family name. I was ashamed of myself. But my father took me back. You know me. My name is Prodigal. Means wayward, lost. Screwup. I was just a kid and I came to my dad and I told him that I was leaving, I didn’t want to be connected to this family anymore. I told him that I hated him and I wished that he was dead. I was leaving but I wasn’t going to go empty handed. I demanded my share of the inheritance. I didn’t care that he wasn’t dead yet – he was dead to me, and I demanded my money.
View SermonMy Responsibility; Yours; God’s Pleasure
Do you know that I have a responsibility to you? I am supposed to be a watchman. I am to warn you about sin and evil that can ruin your life now and send you into hell forever. God called Ezekiel to be a watchman. A watchman back then would stand up on the wall of the city and would be looking for enemies who were trying to break through the wall and do harm to those inside. Ezekiel’s job wasn’t to stand on a wall, but he was to watch over the spiritual condition of God’s people. He looked over their souls.
View SermonHow God Changes Us
We live in a society that offers instant change. We watch TV and change the channels just like this—click, click, click! We look at our iPhone and change the screen just like this—tap, tap, tap! We put food in our microwave and it’s ready to eat just like this—zap, zap, zap! Because we change channels and screens and food so fast we think we should be able to change our lives with just a click, a tap, or a zap!
View SermonHeavenly Minded
10 days ago the Pastor’s Conference was over at Pastor Rick’s church – Immanuel in Englewood. We had our study in the room next to his office. As I looked ahead of me I saw two items on the same shelf – a cross and a First-Aid kit. I don’t know if someone did that on purpose, if they were getting ready for the Children’s Message, or if that is where things just ended up – but they do go together. Perfectly. The cross is the Christian’s First-Aid kit.
View SermonStaying Strong
There are certain verses in Scripture that become the strength of Christians. Sometimes they are the words that they use at their funeral, or put on their headstone, or ask that their funeral sermon speak those words. Words like, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21) Or Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Recently, here at Ascension, these words were spoken at a funeral, “The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:6b-8)
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