Gen 4 “Cain and Abel” Intro: Story—my brother and I quarreling/fighting. Always a limit to how far it would go. -Today, we learn about a dark day in history: the first murder—but even worse: one brother murdering another brother. -But even this great darkness cannot stop God from bringing about His good purposes […]
Author: Tom Schmidt
Christian, husband of Rach, Church Planter,musician,
THE FALL (Genesis 3 Sermon) Preached on 9/21/25 at Cross of Christ Fellowship in Naperville Intro: 3 Worldview questions: 1. What is the human condition? 2 What is wrong with the World? 3 What is the answer? –Secular Humanism: 1 People are good; 2. Need more education, empathy, & programs; 3. We are: we can […]
Guest Post: “Where does our Sense of Morality and Justice Come From?” (Tsouloufis) Religion (true religion) brings a sense of meaning, purpose, and moral order to our lives and our communities. Yet if there is no God, where would we get our sense of right and wrong, or our sense of fairness and justice? If […]
Race is a Darwinian concept. Darwin was, after all, a man of his time, class, and society. He divided humanity into distinct races according to differences in skin, eye, or hair color. He was also convinced that evolution was progressive, and that the white races—especially the Europeans—were evolutionarily more advanced than the black races, thus establishing race […]
Here’s a helpful quote from Calvin on humanity’s fallen state: “For all who are not utterly blind, perceive that no part of us is sound; that the mind is smitten with blindness, and infected with innumerable errors; that all the affections of the heart are full of stubbornness and wickedness; that vile lusts, or other […]
“Created for Relationship” Gen 2:4-25 (Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship church on 9/14/25) Intro: The greatest possible earthly joy: to be known and loved and to know and love another. The greatest possible joy: to know God and experience His love in your heart. -When we are alone—without friends/family/community/separated from God—we wither -When […]
GENESIS 1:1-2:3 ‘Creation of the World’ (Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship in Naperville on 9/7/2025) Intro: Why is there a universe? What is the nature of this world? What is our place in it? -Conflicting Worldviews around us: Spiritualism; Atheism; Agnosticism -Original hearers of Genesis faced same challenge: World is result of cosmic battle; […]
(Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship on 8.24.25) James 5:13-20 “Prayer and Care” Intro: At end of our series in James, it will take a lifetime to learn and put book of James into practice Theme of James: spiritual wholeness. This is what a mature Christian looks like and by God’s grace ought to do. […]
James 5:1-12 “Justice and Hope for the Future” Intro: Longings in every human heart: purpose, love, truth, friendship, significance, peace -Christian Claim: only the one true God—the God of Christianity—can ultimately satisfy these longings. -Today: Only the God of Christianity can satisfy our longing for justice and hope for a future. 1. Justice. 2. Hope […]
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Moo on “Meekness”
James 3:13 calls us those who are wise ‘by their good conduct to show their works in the meekness of wisdom.” This phrase is surprising at first, but I’ve appreciated Douglas Moo’s comments on the concept of “meekness” and wisdom from his commentary on James: “Humility, or “meekness” was not usually prized by the Greeks. […]
