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Continue reading →: “Join Creation’s Choir”: An Earth Day sermon (Psalm 19)
Earth Day Sermon- April 22, 2012 Text: Psalm 19 I. When springtime comes around every year, our family has a routine of cleaning out the house and turning our attention to all of the outside activities that have been missed all winter. We get out the sprinklers, the swimsuits and…
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Continue reading →: Reflections of a pastor’s two-year anniversary
This past Easter, my wife and I observed my second-year anniversary as Trinity’s pastor. Although it seems longer at times and shorter at others, there have been many lessons learned. Some were affirming; others were eureka moments. One of the most affirming things I’ve learned is that the sanctuary of…
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Continue reading →: Sowing the Seed of Discord can Hamper the Good News of Christ
I am convinced that debates over Bible interpretation and theological arguments are the most destructive trends in church life. I would even venture to say that a majority of conflicts throughout Christian history started over differing Bible interpretations. Take a recent Baptist conflict for example. It was just last year…
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Continue reading →: “Death of Pretense”: An Easter Sermon
Preached at Trinity Baptist Church on April 8, 2012. Text: Mark 16:1-8 I. Bible scholars are unclear as to the real ending of the Gospel of Mark. If you look in your Bibles later this evening to catch up on some Easter reading, you’ll note that there are several “endings”…
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Continue reading →: Subterfure or Sabotage: A sermon on being all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:16-23)
In the 18th century, a philosopher-poet by the name of Xavier de Maistre, was sentenced to house arrest for participating in a duel. Since the penalty consisted of being homebound for over a month he decided to go on a journey and write about his exploits. This journey was peculiar,…
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Continue reading →: The apocalyptic Jesus and the urgency of His return
“Eschatological Central Figure.” That’s what a friend wrote on a picture of Jesus he got me for my bachelor party back in 1999. “Eschatology”: meaning, end times. It’s what one of Trinity Baptist’s members would call a “fancy word with too many syllables,” but it’s what Jesus was all about…
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Continue reading →: “Back to Basics”: A Sermon for Lent
Text: Mark 7:1-16 I. Most of you have heard about the tragedy that occurred last month in Afghanistan. U.S. security forces found POW Qurans containing hand-written subversive messages, so they confiscated them and burned them. Whether the burning was intentional or not has yet to be determined, but the “defiling”…
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Continue reading →: “Graveyard Shift”: A Sermon in Three Acts
Act 1: The Tale of Judas. You know ole’ Judas, right? He was Jesus’ treasurer; and like the other disciples, he believed that Jesus was going to overthrow those Romans once and for all. Then Jesus started talking about all of that suffering and dying. That was not the war…
Engaging Heart, Mind, and Soul
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia is a pastor, writer, and chaplain residing in Florida. He is author of three books and regular contributor to Smyth & Helwys’ Formations Series. His articles have appeared in USA Today, Baptist News Global, Christian Ethics Today, TCPalm, and Rockdale Citizen.
Baptist Spirituality explores the intersection of faith and culture incorporating biblical scholarship, culture and the arts, politics, science, and theology.
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