Category: Commentary
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Will Smith steals the show with Oscar’s slap
I was shocked while watching the Oscar’s last night and seeing Will Smith slap Chris Rock. I immediately rewound it three or four times. “What happened?” “Is that real?” “Was it staged?” I rewatched and Smith looked to initially laugh at a joke that Rock had made at the expense of Smith’s wife. Jada Pinkett…
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Sermon – Are you king of the Jews? John 18:28-36
In this passage, Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor as the Jewish council (the Sanhedrin) seeks his crucifixion. In this passage, Jesus will say that he has a kingdom which is not of this world while he’s being confronted by Pilate, a governor who is representing the Roman Empire. Sermon transcript
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The positive, encouraging message isn’t always the message we need
It’s interesting to me to consider the popular Christian music. It’s almost always easy listening. I was looking at some of the slogans for popular Christian radio stations. Perhaps the biggest in America, K-Love, which plays on 440 stations “positive – encouraging.” The River, which was the Christian radio station in Columbus, “uplifting and encouraging.”…
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Sermon: Christ and the Kingdom of God, Part 1
Throughout the Bible, there is a developing theme of kingship. We see God as the sovereign over all creation in Genesis 1. We see Adam and Eve as his vice-regents who lose the kingdom with which God has entrusted them in Genesis 3. And throughout the Bible, there is a return to the kingdom and…
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Sermon: Jesus, Peter, and the Priest – John 18:12-27
This passage goes back and forth between two simultaneously occurring stories. You have Jesus arrested and taken before the high priest meanwhile Peter tries to follow Jesus, gets cold feet, and denies Jesus three times. It’s a contrast between Jesus standing up to the authorities to the truth of who he is and Peter folding…
Josh Benner 