12 November, 2024

The Best Sermon I’ve Ever Heard (17)

by | 31 October, 2016 | 0 comments

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.

11_bestsermon_jn2Barry Cameron 

Barry L. Cameron has been senior pastor of Crossroads in Grand Prairie, Texas, since 1992 when the church was averaging 188 in morning worship. Today, more than 7,500 people call Crossroads their church home. Cameron is a second-generation pastor. He and his wife, Janis, have three children: Katie, Matt, and Kelli, and a daughter-in-law, Lindley. They also have two grandsons, Will and Levi. He”s the author of the bestseller, The ABCs of Financial Freedom. He also wrote Contagious Generosity and The Financial Freedom Workbook. The Cameron family has been completely debt-free since November 2001.

Barry”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve ever heard on playing hurt was delivered by the late Wayne Smith. It is available at http://bit.ly/2crlaV3.

Why Barry likes this sermon: “This message by Wayne Smith makes it impossible for anyone to give up and quit . . . in fact, you”ll want to get back in the game!”

Trevor Sill

After growing up in the church, Trevor Sill became a Christian in high school when a youth minister showed him what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. Trevor is a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri, and is finishing up his degree in student ministry. Currently, he is spending the summer as an intern in the youth program at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado.

Trevor”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I have heard on hope was preached by Chad Ragsdale, a professor at Ozark Christian College. It can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2d5cTon.

Why Trevor likes this sermon: “The context of this sermon came just days after the OCC family lost a student in a car wreck. The way Ragsdale speaks truth into the lives of broken, hurting people is unlike anything I have heard. He highlights how even though we hurt, we don”t hurt like the rest of the world because we have the hope of Jesus Christ.”

Mike Harshman 

Mike Harshman grew up in the Pine Lake Christian Church in Sebring, Ohio, and graduated from Cincinnati Christian University in 1995. He”s held ministries in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and recently closed out a 12-year ministry in Florida and has become senior minister of the Shelbina (Missouri) First Christian Church. He”s been married to Kristi for more than 18 years and has four children (one in Heaven).

Mike”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I have ever heard on Hell was by Dave Stone of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. It can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0brjhW5fBf4.

Why Mike likes this sermon: “Dave Stone provides a humble, compelling, and balanced look at the topic most would want to avoid, but need to hear. It”s a sermon that provides the bad news, along with the good news. It would be easy to avoid this topic for fear of being judgmental or thinning out a crowd, but this message is well developed and presented in a way that helps one understand the necessity of the “˜whole counsel of God” that serves an encouraging warning.”

Seth Byrd

Seth Byrd has been the preaching minister at Lake City (Florida) Christian Church for the last two years. He had been youth minister there for two years and never intended to become a preacher, but God had other plans. He has been married to his wonderful wife, Erin, for six years and they have twin 4-year-old girls, Danielle and Kylee.

Seth”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I have heard on listening to God is by Preston Free of South Lake Christian Church in Groveland, Florida. You can hear the sermon at http://slcc.church/sermon/listening-to-jesus/.

Why Seth likes this sermon: “Preston uses Mark 4, the parable of the sower, as the basis for his sermon. He mentions how we can”t put our faith on cruise control but must put forth effort to strengthen our faith. We can”t be content with having a surface-level faith. But by continually digging into God”s Word, we can mature our faith. He said a great way for us to practice listening to God is to allow pause points in our daily life. A pause point is where we step back, pause, and do a spiritual checkup to remind ourselves who we are in Christ.”

Arron Chambers, a CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor, serves as lead minister with Journey Christian Church, Greeley, Colorado.

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