sermon | Craig T. Owens

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Boomerang

January 31, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

I was very hesitant to enter the pastorate. As I look back now, I see God had been preparing me for this all my life, but I was reluctant to take on such a heavy spiritual responsibility.

When I finally submitted, I made a covenant with God: “I never want to preach a sermon where my finger is pointed at the congregation, where I am saying, ‘You people better listen to this!’ But I only want to share what You have been challenging me to do and become. I want the congregation to hear an overflow of the work being done in me.”

I recently read a paragraph from Oswald Chambers that validates that covenant I made—

“It is an easy business to preach, an appallingly easy thing to tell other people what to do; it is another thing to have God’s message turned into a boomerang—‘You have been teaching these people that they should be full of peace and of joy, but what about yourself? Are you full of peace and joy?’ The truthful witness is the one who lets his light shine in works which exhibit the disposition of Jesus; one who lives the truth as well as preaches it.”

My pastor friend, don’t preach it if you’re not living it! Or another way: live it first, then preach it.

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: covenant, Holy Spirit, integrity, Jesus Christ, lifestyle, Oswald Chambers, pastors, preaching, responsibility, sermon. Leave a Comment »

Prayer’s Empowerment

January 20, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Prayer is not about insurance, but assurance. Prayer is not about figuring things out, but about getting God’s mind on a subject.

But how does the faith to believe for that assurance, and the faith to capture God’s discernment come to us? It comes through the Third Person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us; He’s the central part of our prayer life.

Check out what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit’s role in your prayer life (see John 14:15-27).

Assurance—the Counselor [will] be with you forever (v. 16). The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and go, but He abides constantly. Jesus said I will not leave you as orphans (v. 18), but you will be loved by My Father (vv. 21-23). The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in bringing you into this intimate relationship (Romans 8:15).

Discernment—Jesus said a key component of your prayer life was if you remain in Me and My words remain in you (John 15:7). The Holy Spirit helps teach you what the Word says, and He will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14:26). The more you can be reminded of God’s Word, the more you can pray and live with God’s discernment.

Peace—My peace I give you … do not be afraid (v. 27). One of the names given to the Holy Spirit is Comforter. The Amplified Bible defines this title as, “Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby.”

Boldness—when you have greater assurance of God’s Word, deeper discernment into the mind of the Lord, and a more tranquil peace because of prayer, you can pray and live boldly! Want to see boldness in action? Check out how the followers of Jesus lived and prayed after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; 2:14; 4:8; 4:31).

Make no mistake about it:

How we pray is how we will live!

Our prayers and our lives will be more assured, more discerning, more peace-producing and more bold when we let the Holy Spirit empower every aspect!

We will be continuing our series on prayer—If You Will Ask—next Sunday. I would love to have you join us!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: assurance, baptism, Bible study, boldness, Calvary Assembly of God, discernment, faith, God's Word, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, peace, prayer, Scripture, sermon. Leave a Comment »

Be The Sermon

January 17, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

It’s not enough to just preach a sermon, my pastor friend, we must be the sermon, too.

Heed these challenging words from Gregory The Great (ca. 540-604)—

“There are some who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they teaching the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. …

“The ruler should always be chief in action, that by his living he may point out the way to those that are put under him, and that the flock, which follows the voice and manners of the shepherd, may learn how to walk better through example than through words. For he who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is required by the same necessity to exhibit the highest things. …

Every preacher should give forth a sound more by his deeds than by his words, and rather by good living imprint footsteps for men to follow than by speaking show them the way to walk in.”

Posted in Pastoring. Tags: example, Gregory The Great, integrity, lifestyle, pastors, Pope Gregory I, preaching, quote, sermon, video. Leave a Comment »

Smith Wigglesworth On Prayer, Power, And Miracles (book review)

January 14, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Whenever I need a booster shot of faith, or a challenge to believe God for even greater things, or just a unabashed reminder of the power of the Scriptures, I pick up a book by Smith Wigglesworth. By the time I got done reading Smith Wigglesworth On Prayer, Power, And Miracles compiled by Roberts Liardon I was totally fired up!

This book is a collection of sermons delivered by Wigglesworth and articles he authored for various Pentecostal publications. Every one of the chapters is simply saturated in Scripture and the anointing of the Holy Spirit! Each of the articles made we want to dig into the Bible more, believe God for more, and crave the empowerment of the Spirit more!

If you are tired of humdrum church-as-usual, or if you are ready for your faith to be stretched like it’s never been stretched before, pick up a copy of this book and strap yourself in. I promise that you will not think about the things of God the same after these messages have worked their way into your heart.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible, book review, encouragement, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, miracles, prayer, Scripture, sermon, Smith Wigglesworth. 4 Comments »

If You Will Ask

December 31, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Prayer is powerful. Ask anyone who has ever had answer from God in prayer, and they will quickly tell you just how valuable and powerful that prayer was to them.

With that in mind here’s a simple question: why don’t we pray more? It seems like prayer is often the thing we turn to when everything else we have tried has failed. Or we pray after we have messed something up, instead of before we attempted it.

The Bible says this—

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14, emphasis added)

Notice that key qualifier: IF we will ask there is an incredible confidence in God’s answer.

Prayer should be first and continual. That’s why l like beginning each year with a renewed emphasis on prayer. This Sunday is part one in our series If You Will Ask, where we will be exploring the mind-blowing things God gives to His children who ask Him … things like insight, patience, power and initiative.

Please join me at 10:30am this Sunday as we begin our reinvigorating look at the power of prayer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, confidence, God's power, prayer, sermon. Leave a Comment »

The Morning Star

December 23, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

This is part three of a 3-part series called The Star Of CHRISTmas. I was going to deliver this message at Calvary Assembly of God yesterday morning, but due to the terrible weather, we had to cancel our services. I hope this message will be a blessing to you. Please leave me some feedback in the comments section below.

Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Calvary Assembly of God, Christmas, First Advent, hope, Jesus Christ, morning star, Second Advent, sermon, video. 3 Comments »

The North Star

December 16, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

In our series called The Star Of CHRISTmas, Pastor Josh reminded us that Jesus is the North Star.

The North Star never wavers, never moves; it’s always constant.

But as Josh reminded us, light pollution sometimes makes it hard to see the North Star. The bright lights of the city, airplane lights, and even street lights make it difficult to know for sure we are following the North Star.

Jesus is the North Star—“I am the way, the truth, and the light” (John 14:6). But there are so many things that bring light pollution to His bright, unwavering, unchanging light. Lights that say, “This is important,” or “This light will get you where you need to go,” or even “All lights are equal.”

In this busy time of year, it’s important for us to take the time to filter out light pollution, and make sure that we are truly following Jesus. David prayed a great prayer, “Search me, O God, see if there is any offensive ways in me” (Psalm 139:23-24). It’s a great prayer for us to pray too.

Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Calvary Assembly of God, Christmas, First Advent, Gospel of John, Jesus Christ, Josh Schram, light pollution, north star, prayer, Psalm, Second Advent, sermon. 1 Comment »

The Star Of CHRISTmas

December 4, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

I’m really enjoying preparing for our 3-week Christmas series called The Star Of CHRISTmas. If it’s not obvious to you by the way I wrote that title, I believe the star of Christmas is CHRIST!

We will be learning how Jesus Christ’s birth in Bethelehem was the…

SUPERNOVA which brings light into the Old Testament’s darkness, and allows other stars (that’s us!) to be born.
MORNING STAR which shines brightest just before the dawn and replaces a feeling of fear with the confidence of favor.
NORTH STAR which helps us keep going in the right direction despite the circumstances around us.

If you are able to join us over the next couple of Sundays at 10:30am, we would love to celebrate The Star of CHRISTmas with you!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Advent, Calvary Assembly of God, celebration, Christmas, First Advent, Jesus Christ, morning star, north star, Second Advent, sermon, supernova. Leave a Comment »

The God Of Luck

November 25, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

‘Tis the season we are supposed to be thankful. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, many people will gather around a dinner table and share what they are thankful for this year, and then quickly move on to the turkey and football. But we never quite finish the thought: Yes, we are thankful, but to whom are we thankful?

Consider some of these clichés we use:

The ball bounced my way.
I thank my lucky stars!
Wow, must be good clean living!
Whew, I caught a lucky break there.
It’s about time something went my way.

In all of these phrases we are saying, “I did something to get what I got. I did the right things, or I was in the right place at the right time.”

God says, “My people shall be satisfied with My goodness” (Jeremiah 31:14). Notice He says MY goodness.

Contrast this with what Moses warned in his farewell address. He said, when you have been blessed make sure you give the thanks to God, and don’t forget all He has done for you. If we forget to thank God, the inevitable result is pride in our own abilities, or in our own luck. YOU may then say to YOURSELF, “MY power and the strength of MY hand has made this lucky break for ME” (see Deuteronomy 8:10-20).

Notice the MY has been changed from God to me. I have made a god out of my luck. Or even worse, I have enthroned MYSELF and dethroned God.

The only guard against this is continual, uninterrupted gratitude to God for His goodness—Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Don’t make a god out of luck, but make sure the One True God is the center of your thankfulness this week, and all year long!

I’ll be wrapping our series A Grateful Heart Is A Strong Heart this coming Sunday, and I’d love to have you join me!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, Deuteronomy, gratitude, Jeremiah, luck, Moses, sermon, thankfulness, thanksgiving. 1 Comment »

Simplicity

November 22, 2013 — Craig T. Owens

Simplicity does not mean watered-down, nor does it mean dumbed-down. Simplicity means as clear as possible.

Sometimes I get so grieved when I hear a pastor trying to “simplify” the gospel message for people. That definition usually means that they are removing any of the parts which might cause people to feel uncomfortable. That is not simplicity, but it’s a sell-out!

Here’s how J.C. Ryle defined it—

“All the simplicity in the world can do no good, unless you preach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ so fully and clearly that everybody can understand it. If ‘Christ crucified’ has not His rightful place in your sermons, and sin is not exposed as it should be, and your people are not plainly told what they ought to believe, and be, and do—your preaching is of no use!” (emphasis added)

Pastor, by all means make the gospel clear, but make sure people do hear all of the gospel.