Mitchell Landress

The death of Jesus on the cross means many things. It is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for his creation. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). It would also be true to say that the death of Jesus on the cross proves to us the hatred God has against sin, since the alternative is everlasting torment in hell. On the other hand, it would also be true to say that the cross proves to us our great worth and value, since God allowed his Son to suffer and die in order to redeem us. All of these are true in part. But the greatest or highest meaning of the cross is the holiness and justice of God (Romans 3:23–26). In an act of God’s grace and mercy, he allowed the sins of his children to go unpunished (3:25). But this would mean that he was not keeping his word to punish all who sin. Is God a liar? The reputation of God was at stake until the cross. By sending his own son—both God and man—he became just (punishing sin a...

As of this year, Walt Disney Studios has produced fifty-one animated movies, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Along the way, many of these films have become a part of American life and even part of a worldwide Disney culture. Who doesn’t know the story of Cinderella, Peter Pan, or the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. These stories are captivating to the imagination of children (and adults!) around the world. We have watched these films times without number and know their stories inside and out. But would you ever think of watching these Disney classics in clips? I mean, would these films be as captivating if you broke them down into categories and watched clips from these films by categories? Take for instance, sword fighting. Would watching a montage of Disney sword fights—including classics like Peter Pan and Captain Hook—be as interesting as watching the movie in its entirety? Probably not. Not to mention, we would lose sight of the real story if we d...

One of our college students asked a very good question last week. The question was this: Is giving to the poor the same as tithing? That is, if your tithe for the week is ten dollars and you have given five dollars to the poor, do you give the other five to the church? Or, if ten percent of your income is a hundred dollars, is it the same to give it to a local or national charity as it is to give it to the church? These are good questions and questions that deserve a solid answer from the Bible. From the very beginning the tithe has been an expression of worship. The tithe belongs to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30, 32) and was used to provide for the priests in the temple. But even the priests in the temple were not exempt from tithing, for of all people they were expected to give as a part of their worship (Numbers 18:26). But isn’t all of life to be worship? In one sense the answer to that question is yes; all of life should be worship. So, is it acceptable to worship God by giving yo...

In the sermon last week I tried to encourage our church to live lives of holiness. Holiness is no easy task. It does not come naturally and, unfortunately, sin does. So, any and all attempts to purify our thought life, our words, or our actions will be a fight. Like any fight, the fight for holiness can get discouraging. You battle and battle against sin and it just seems to resurface when you are at your weakest. In those moments we need some encouragement to stay in the battle and not give up. The greatest encouragement in my life to pursue holiness is the presence of God. The Holy Spirit lives inside everyone who has believed in Jesus for salvation. He is God and he is also a person. He can be saddened (Ephesians 4:30) and he can be enlivened (Ephesians 5:18b). Because the Holy Spirit is a person and a person living inside us, we know when he has been grieved by our sin and we know when he is enlivened by our pursuit of a godly life. My point is this, the pleasure and joy of...

Love is the difference between faith and unbelief. Genuine faith loves God, brother, neighbor and enemy. Genuine faith also loves the Scriptures and the church. So, what do you do if you have no desire for these things? A good place to start would be this question: Have you ever loved them? The answer may be no, especially if we are being completely honest. Or, perhaps you are in a bit of a lull. You have loved God, church, Scripture – and in a very genuine way – yet the love seems to have fizzled out recently. The more important question is this: Do you want to desire God more? Do you want to love both God and the things of God? If the answer to that question is “yes,” then we are in good shape, because the Bible holds a great promise for us. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a) “for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10b) The hope in these two verses is tremendous, because Jesus said that “no one can come to me unless the Father who...

There is a saying in church circles – mostly spoken in jest – that a Christian should “never pray for patience.” The reason being, if you pray for patience the Lord will bring circumstances into your life to teach you patience. We understand the point of the joke. We are impatient people and wish to avoid any situation where we might have to be patient. But we must see this as a joke and dismiss it as a joke, hoping that no one actually takes it seriously. The truth of the matter is we should pray for patience, practice patience, and desire to be patient people. Why? Because patience is a fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a, ESV). The fruit of the Spirit is not like the gifts of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are given to believers by the Spirit for the work of the church. Every Christian has at least one. But the fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of the Holy Spir...

As a young boy I was actively involved in the Boy Scouts. Our Troop was located in North-Central Georgia; a prime location for camping. Each summer held the promise of at least half a dozen campouts. But one in particular stands out in my mind. On this particular campout the scouts were to take their dads with them. Well, my dad is no outdoorsman. So as we were packing up the car for a mid-summer campout I thought he was crazy to load the trunk with firewood. But no explanation of mine would faze him. The rear bumper of our Impala was almost dragging the ground as we left on our adventure. We made it to the campground in the Northeast Georgia Mountains just before dusk, pitched our tents, and settled down for the night. As we zipped up our sleeping bags we heard the rain begin to fall. The light rain soon became a heavy down pour and continued until just before dawn. As daylight broke, the battered scouts emerged from their tents to find a waterlogged campsite and an unuasually b...

Webster’s Dictionary defines fellowship as: “community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience.” The church is a community. As we talked about on Sunday night, the church is not a building; it is a group of people. But it is not just any group of people. The church shares a common bond that distinguishes us from all other communities, civic groups, clubs, or organizations. In the First Epistle of John, the Apostle John gives us a good description of the Christian community. He says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This verse speaks to our common bond. First, we are a people who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. To be sure, this means that we share multiple bonds with each other. We are all sinners, all in need of a Savior, all professing faith in Jesus, and all experiencing the new birth that Jesus offers. But the first part of t...