Sermons by Jonathan Romig (Page 18)
What We Believe: Sin & Mankind | Genesis 1:26-27; 3:8-9
Bernie shared a little story with me this week about a farmer who never wanted to go to church, in spite of being asked by his wife over and over again. One day, when his wife was just too tired to go, he decided to make her happy by going to the service. When he got back, his wife asked, “How was it?” The man replied, “Good.” So she asked, “What did the pastor preach on?” He answered, “Sin.” She…
What We Believe: The Holy Spirit | 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:4-11
Next week I’m going to our denomination’s (4Cs) annual conference in Pittsburgh, so I asked Bernie to preach. I gave him two options. Option A. The Holy Spirit. Option B. Satan. Bernie chose Satan. I was hoping he would choose the Holy Spirit because I’m more afraid to preach on the Spirit than on Satan. Because of this I’ve done more reading than I usually do. I read a whole book, Forgotten God by Francis Chan, I read a chapter…
What We Believe: The Son | Philippians 2:6-11
Paul Little, in Know What You Believe, starts his chapter on Jesus Christ by pointing out how important Christ is to Christianity. You can lose Buddha, and still have Buddhism. You can lose Muhammad and still have Islam. You can lose Confucius and still have Confucianism. You can lose millions of Hinduism’s 330 million gods, and still have Hinduism. But you can’t lose Christ, and still have Christianity. Jesus is: the hero of the Bible’s story (John 3:16) the founder…
What We Believe: The Father | John 14:8-10
I lead a small group study this last winter called Life Explored. The second session opens with a quote by the pastor and author A. W. Tozer. He said, “What comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you.” Barry Cooper, the teacher leading this session, says this: What we think about God, positive or negative, determines if we want to know him. So when someone says, “I don’t believe in God” I say,…
What We Believe Matters | Jude 3-4, 20-21 (Doctrine)
“What matters is not what you believe, but that you believe. It’s great that you believe. We should all believe in something. Belief is what is really important.” Have you ever heard those words? I’ve had strangers and friends tell me words just like that several times. I’ve heard them when I’ve shared that I go to church or that I’m a pastor. And honestly, I struggle because I do not believe them. Today we’re starting a new sermon series…
The Way of God’s Presence | Exodus 40:34-38
Last week we talked about “The Gift of God’s Presence.” I spoke on why God’s presence matters for our lives and church, and how we can have God’s presence because of Jesus and grace. This week we’re looking at “The Way of God’s Presence”—the way God’s presence has come from Old to New Testament to today, and the way we long to know God’s presence now. Looking at the story of God’s presence from Genesis to Revelation helps us realize…
The Gift of God’s Presence | Exodus 33-34
If you could have anything you wanted, would you take it? Imagine for a moment that God is offering to give you whatever you want. You can have the husband or wife or kids you always wanted, and you can have the house, business, and career too. This blessing doesn’t stop with you, but everyone else in here get’s it too. We as a church can all have whatever we want. We are guaranteed a successful children’s ministry, a beautiful…
Tithes & Offerings | 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Money is a serious topic. ABBA is serious about Money, Money, Money. After all, money can buy a white toga covered in rhinestones, or if you have money, you’ve got lots of shiny coins, or even better, if you meet a rich man, you can ride in his red convertible and throw back your head and just laugh and laugh. With money, life is better, or as the singer puts it, “Always sunny in the rich man’s world.” At some…
Life After Conflict | 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Today we’re finishing our sermon series on Conflict & Peacemaking. We’ve followed the Four Gs of Peacemaking from Ken Sande’s book The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, and are going to wrap up by looking at the last G. G1: Glorify God G2: Get the Log Out of Your Eye G3: Gently Restore G4: Go and Be Reconciled Last week I asked you to recall to mind a name or relationship you are in conflict with and…
Gently Restore | Matthew 5:23-24, 18:15-20
Today I want us each to recall to mind a relationship we have trouble with. I want us to think of the name of an individual, a person, who we are currently in conflict with, or have been in conflict with before. Think of a family member you love but keep fighting with, a neighbor you keep arguing with, a coworker or supervisor you can’t work with, or a brother or sister in Christ who just rubs you the wrong…
A Peacemaking Process | 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1, Luke 6:41-42
Why are we as a church going through a sermon series on Conflict & Peacemaking? I brought this series to our leadership team and am bringing it to you for two reasons: Autonomy: For those of you who don’t know, Cornerstone is the daughter church of Immanuel in Chelmsford. This summer, we’re hoping to become our own legally autonomous non-profit church. We’ll have more ownership and more responsibility, which are both good, but can produce conflict because we’re just that…
A Family in Conflict | Luke 15:11-32
Who here has experienced conflict? Who here has experienced conflict in your family? Who here has experienced conflict because of the youngest child in your family? I’m raising my hand because I’m the youngest child in my family. This week Facebook reminded me to celebrate national sibling day. To commemorate this special holiday I shared this picture of my family on Facebook. It’s a picture of my three older brothers, my parents, and me. Now I love each of my…