By Arron Chambers
Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either.
Steve Malone
Steve has been in the preaching ministry for 24 years and currently is lead pastor at Maple Grove Christian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Steve”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve heard on God”s love is by Jud Wilhite, senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada (www.southeastchristian.org/sermons/pursued-for-relationship).
Why Steve likes this sermon: “In this message, Jud makes the story of Hosea come alive, and he does an incredible job of showing how what God asked Hosea to do illustrates God”s radical, unexplainable, and crazy love for us. No matter what we have done, or how far we have wandered away, God will find us, buy us back, and bring us home””that is the gospel, that is the good news!”
Scott Blount
Scott Blount is an associate minister at Vero Christian Church in Vero Beach, Florida. His primary emphasis is on adult discipleship and worship. Scott has been in ministry for 28 years after a 10-year career in radio and television news.
Scott”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve heard is on the Holy Spirit. This sermon was the first of a six-part series, preached on August 3, 2014, by Rick Atchley of the Hills Church in North Richland Hills, Texas (http://store.thehills.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=02963).
Why Scott likes this sermon: “I chose this sermon because Rick starts off a tricky topic (the Holy Spirit) by examining what Jesus has to say about the Spirit. Rick is clear, easy to understand, and does a thorough job in his exposition on this subject. The six-part sermon series is one of my all-time favorites, and the first message in this series sets the tone in a fantastic way!”
Danny Schaffner
Danny is senior pastor of First Christian Church in Champaign, Illinois. He is also a popular speaker at conferences and conventions around the United States.
Danny”s Best Sermon: It”s by E.V. Hill, longtime pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, who died in 2003. It”s entitled, “God at His Best” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp8r8DumerE).
Why Danny likes this sermon: “[I was] moved by his passion. The message from E.V. Hill about “˜God at His Best” pierced the heart and invigorated me for a greater view of God. I was moved to tears and was literally joining the “˜Amens” at the National Youth Leaders Convention in Joplin, Missouri. I fell in love with God all over again.”
Angel Flores
Angel Flores is founding pastor of Mosaic Church in Greeley, Colorado. The son of migrant farm workers, he was a first-generation college graduate, earning his BA from Trinity Bible College in Sacramento, California, and an MA from The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. He is the author of To the Top and 50 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me about College.
Angel”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve heard on the Good Samaritan is by Rick Rusaw, pastor with LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colorado (http://parkview.aspireonemedia.com/454/4553/14577).
Why Angel likes this sermon: “The message shook me into looking outside the walls of our church and seeing real people with real stories instead of seeing just potential “˜converts.” The dual streams analogy is one of the best I”ve ever heard and changed the way I look at the line we”ve created between the world and the church.”
Arron Chambers serves as lead minister with Journey Christian Church, Greeley, Colorado.
In the mid 1990s, I heard a sermon by an American missionary serving in Davao City, Philippines. He preached how missions is like “the promised land” that Joshua was entering into. At the end of the message, he challenged us by saying, “If you are willing to go anywhere for our Lord, stand up!” After many of us stood, he told us to pray about this commitment.
Admittedly, I didn’t think a lot about all that until about 2001, when God began to stir me to prepare to become a missionary…to the Philippines.
Today, my wife & I are in the very city that that preacher had been serving in.
One of the relatively few things that the Bible records Jesus specifically commanding his followers to pray about is for more laborers to go into the Lord’s harvest.
Interestingly, almost all of the men Jesus told to pray that ended up being an answer to their own prayers.