Sermons by Darryl G. Klassen

BECOMING A PEOPLE OF THE WORD   The great British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was testing the acoustics in a new building erected for his congregation. In his best annunciation he spoke into the empty hall, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” To test the acoustics again, he repeated the phrase. This was in the 19 th  century without the benefit of a sound system. But he was not as alone as he thought. Two laborers were working up in the superstructure of the cathedral, unchurched men who did not follow Christ. One of the men was convicted on the spot when he heard those words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”               I believe this is the power of the Word of God to change people’s lives. Reading the Bible will transform your life. Hearing the words of the Bible spoken will speak to your heart.               From our Vision Statement under “Radically Following Jesus,” is written:  “We envision a community of believers bec

WAITING   Isaiah 40:31 “…they who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”    Waiting.   Waiting can be painful and frustrating. We don’t like to wait. Our cars which are supposed to speed up our lives, end up rushing us to a place where we have to wait. Either we end up waiting in our cars, or we rush to appointments and wait to be called in.               There are three stages to waiting: First, as your car slows to a stop, your brain begins to reel as your progress is impeded. Alarms go off – you need to do something, anything to make the waiting more bearable. Grab your phone and check messages? Play with the radio?    Second, you may begin to think of the cause of this slow-down. An accident? A big truck backing into a shipping lane? Congestion? Construction? Not that it really helps to know.   Third, as you wait longer, your mind moves to anger and blame. How did th

SPIRITUAL WARFARE:                                                           WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS   Spiritual warfare! What does this expression bring to mind? Do you envision angels and demons locked in combat over unsuspecting humans? Do you think of demonic possession and exorcisms? Do we as Christians think of the conflicts of our day as some hint of spiritual interference?              Frank Peretti wrote  This Present Darkness  35 years ago, a novel about angels, demons, prayer, and spiritual warfare. In the story, angels and demons struggle for control over the citizens of a town. I recall reading how a pastor’s car wouldn’t start and he needed to get somewhere in a hurry. Unbeknownst to him, a demon had plunged his sword into the engine block of the pastor’s car. The pastor decided to pray over the engine and an angel came to battle the demon away. The car started.               As a young person, I found the message of these novels to be frightening. To think that dem