Archive for the ‘Sermon Manuscripts’ Category

May 5, 2013, “Praying Your Way Through Sin”

Sunday, May 5th, 2013
INTRODUCTION
There’s nothing more basic, more vital or more powerful in our relationship with God than prayer.  There is no relationship without communication, and prayer is one of the primary ways that we communicate with God.  And the more we pray and the more effectively we pray, the deeper our relationship with God grows.  And so over and over in God’s Word we are taught to pray.  Places like…
Proverbs 15:8 – The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. 
 
Colossians 4:2 – Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.   (more…)
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May 28, 2013, “Partners”

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

ILLUSTRATION – Nan and I had our wedding anniversary a few weeks ago, and we bought each other cards.  What was interesting was that both of our cards mentioned something about the fact that a wife and a husband are “partners.”  We later commented how as we both were picking out the cards that we almost didn’t buy that particular card simply because of the connotation of the word “partner” today.  Unfortunately the word “partner” is often used to describe relationships that are something less than the biblical pattern for marriage.  But we shouldn’t let the fact that the word is misused and abused when it comes to marriage keep us from celebrating the fact that a man and a woman in a biblical marriage are, indeed, partners.   (more…)

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April 21, 2013 “The Right Stuff”

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

Introduction

It’s been an explosive week, literally and spiritually, in our nation. We have been rocked by violence and by accidents this week, and it reminds us of the need to continually pray for our nation, her leaders, first responders, families, and churches. National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 2, and we’re going to do things a little differently this year. I want to encourage you to pull together a small group at your office, at your school, in your neighborhood, at your gym, or wherever you gather with other people. Invite other believers to pray with you. I’ve prepared a leaders guide for you so you’ll know how to lead the group. We’ll have a group meeting here at the church in the Upper Room of the Welcome Center at noon that day. Our nation is broke in ways only God can fix. Let’s cry out to him.

Now we’re talking about some of the famous couples in the Bible, and also celebrating marriage right here in our own church. (more…)

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April 14, 2013 “Surviving Marriage Storms”

Monday, April 15th, 2013
INTRODUCTION
We’re celebrating marriage this month at our church.  The Sacred Marriage and Sacred Search conferences were fantastic weekend.  And we’re looking at some of the famous lovers in the Bible.  But we also have some famous couples in our church:

EARLY SERVICE – STEVE AND JAN MORGAN (55)
EARLY SERVICE – GLENN AND CAROL HEDGPATH (49)
LATE SERVICE – JOHN AND JANIE MILAM (32)
LATE SERVICE– DUSTIN AND CASEY BURNETT (15)

ILLUSTRATION – Last Wednesday, April 10, was the anniversary of a fateful day in this history of my hometown of Wichita Falls.  On April 10, 1979 a horrible tornado ripped through the city leaving 45 people dead, hundreds injured, and 20,000 people homeless.  Nan and I had just celebrated our second anniversary and we lived in the parsonage that belonged to the church I pastored.  That house happened to be right in the path of the tornado just as it reached its maximum wind speeds … over 200 miles per hour.  (more…)
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April 7, 2013 “Can We Talk?”

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

INTRODUCTION

Open your Bibles to Genesis 24:62. Today I’m beginning a series of messages on marriage entitled, “Famous Lovers of the Bible.” Maybe you read People magazine or another one of the reputable news sources where you get all the news about celebrity marriages. But believe it or not, there were famous lovers in the Bible. As a matter of fact we have some right here in our church. I’ll highlight two couples each week.

Well the Bible contains many true stories about married couples. Some of them were strong and some struggled. And we can learn from each important truths about how to move from struggling to strong marriages. Today we’re going to look at the love relationship between Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was the son of Abraham, and became the father of Jacob. In the Bible God is often called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because they were the first generations of God’s covenant with the Jewish nation from which would come the promised Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And part of that family tree is the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. Let’s read about how their marriage began. Read Genesis 24:62-67. (more…)

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March 31, 2013 “Easter Peace”

Sunday, March 31st, 2013

INTRODUCTION

I invite you to take your Bibles, or the one in the pew rack in front of you, and open it to John 20. As you’re turning let me ask you to take a look at the insert in your worship folder. On one side there’s information about a new series of messages I’m starting next week on marriage entitled “Great Lovers of the Bible.” Throughout the Bible we see marriages … some of them are great, some of them struggled. And we can learn from all of them; that’s what I hope will happen in this series of messages. Now turn the card over. To really give your marriage a boost we are offering the Travis Marriage Celebration, April 11-13, featuring author and speaker Gary Thomas. He is author of the best-seller Sacred Marriage, and for single adults, Sacred Search. You can see details in the worship folder about these events for married adults and single adults. I encourage you to go online and register.

John 20:19 – On the evening of that first day of the week… (more…)

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March 24, 2013 “Love’s Last Appeal”

Monday, March 25th, 2013
INTRODUCTION
What an amazing week this is … Easter Week. Wednesday evening at 6:15 we’ll share together in a very special observance of the Lord’s Supper. Good Friday morning is our community Good Friday Service. Friday evening our choir and orchestra, along with our special friends Hue and Elizabeth Priday will present the Easter portions of Handel’s Messiah. Saturday is our children’s outreach Easter Egg Hunt in Capps Park. Then, of course, the climax of the Easter Celebration is Resurrection Sunday. Remember we’ll have our regular worship schedule, but no SMBS to insure that we have plenty of parking for our guests who will be joining us on that day.

Open your Bibles with me to Luke 20.  Today I am concluding this brief series of messages on the life stories of Jesus.  We’ve studied several of the parables that Jesus told during His ministry.  The parable we have before us today is one that Jesus actually told during the week that began with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  So during that week…

Luke 20:1 – One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.

Notice that Jesus was “preaching the Gospel.”  The parable that He is about to tell is in the context of the Gospel, the Good News of God’s salvation, being proclaimed. (more…)
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March 10, 2013 “Taking Care of Business”

Sunday, March 10th, 2013
ILLUSTRATION – Last week Hugo Chavez, the controversial president of Venezuela, died after a long battle with cancer.  According to a news report, the people who were around Chavez when he died told of his last words.  Though he could not speak he mouthed these words, “I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die.”  I don’t know why Chavez was afraid to die.  Was it that he feared what was before him after his death?  Was it that he had not finished his life the way he wanted to?  We simply don’t know.  But what a tragic way to face God at the end one’s life … “I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die.”
Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ came to this earth.  He lived a perfect life, taught perfect truth, and died for our sins on the Cross.  Three days later He arose from the grave, victorious over sin and death.  A few weeks later Jesus ascended into heaven; but before He did He promised that He would come back to this earth, not like the first time when He entered history as a little baby in a manger.  When Jesus returns it will be as a mighty King.  So we are living today in the interval between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus.  This is the age of the Church during which the people of God are to do the business of the Kingdom of God until Jesus returns.  More specifically this is the age in which you and I live and die.  It is this time that we have to accomplish the purposes of God for which we are created. (more…)
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March 3, 2013 “Come to My Party”

Monday, March 4th, 2013

INTRODUCTION

We are moving toward the most important week of the year for us as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It all starts on Palm Sunday, March 24 with our children involved in both services. Wednesday is our Easter Week Lord’s Supper. On Friday we have our Community Good Friday Service as well as our choir and orchestra’s presentation of “Messiah … the Message of Easter.” There are Easter Egg hunts for children on the two Saturdays before Easter. All of this builds toward our glorious Easter Sunday Celebration. We’ll have our regular worship schedule with the Traditional Worship at 8:30am and the Contemporary Worship at 11:00am. Now as you know, due to our construction parking, parking has been a challenge on a typical Sunday. On Easter Sunday our attendance grows by about 50%. So to insure that we have ample parking for our guests and members we will not have SMBS. This will insure that we have plenty of parking for both worship services. This is the greatest opportunity we have each year to invite guests to be with us in church. So we have provided special Easter invitation cards. Grab a handful and give them out wherever you go. (more…)

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February 24, 2013 “Repent … Now!”

Sunday, February 24th, 2013
INTRODUCTION
Well this has been an extraordinary week of ministry for our church. Last Thursday night we had the Men’s Wild Game Dinner. We had nearly 400 men present, and almost half of them were guests. And when the Gospel was shared we had 16 men indicate that they had prayed to receive Christ. This morning at 5:30am our church led out in the Cowtown Marathon pre-race worship service and we had hundreds show up for that. Now ladies, it’s your turn to INVITE. The Ladies Brunch with Mary Jo Sharp is next Saturday. Come and enjoy the fellowship and bring a friend. Today is the last day to get tickets in the Welcome Center.

As a pastor I know that many of you come to church each week beaten up by the world you live in the other six days a week, and you need encouragement and comfort. And my spiritual gifts make me want to give that encouragement and comfort. However, I’m aware that the greatest peril you may be in today is not that you work for a cranky boss, or that you live with an insensitive spouse, or that you can’t pay your bills. Instead, the greater peril is that you or I might have come to a place in our lives where we have grown calloused towards God … living with huge pockets of disobedience in our lives … pretending to be one thing, but we’re really not what others think we are. And the greatest need when we get into that condition is not to be comforted, but to be confronted. Jesus is gracious and merciful to get all up in our spiritual business as He did one day with some people in Jerusalem. Turn to Luke 13. Jesus often used something called “parables” or life stories to illustrate the message of truth He was communicating. We’re looking at some of the life stories of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Read Luke 13:1-9.

Two words summarize what Jesus is teaching in this passage: “Repent … Now!” (more…)

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  • Bio & Introduction

    Dr. Michael Dean has been the senior pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church since 1991, having also served churches elsewhere in Texas and New Mexico. He and his wife Nan are blessed with two married children and two grandchildren. With a keen sense of calling to shepherd the flock of God entrusted to his care, Michael longs to see people become passionate followers of Jesus Christ. His hobbies include long-distance running, golf and hunting.

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