Author Archives: jmcconnell

Stewardship of Treasure: From Fear to Faith in Finances!
I Kings 17:7-16

By jmcconnell | Published: June 24, 2010
Before going to Europe on business, a man drives his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and asks for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer, taken aback, requests collateral! “Well then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce,” the man says. The loan officer promptly has the car driven into the [...]
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Stewardship of Treasure: Grand Theft Church
Malachi 3:6-12

By jmcconnell | Published: June 17, 2010
Last week I told you that today I would tell you why money is probably the most difficult issue to preach about. I want to make good on my promise, so here it is! Not long after I became a Christian, to my great surprise and delight, my uncle Mark and Aunt Tammy started attending [...]
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Stewardship of Treasure:
An Introduction to Tithing

By jmcconnell | Published: June 13, 2010
As we continue our series on stewardship today, we come to the topic of treasure. That’s right! I want to talk to you about stewardship of money in general and tithing in particular. I want to begin by asking you a question (a sort of pop quiz if you will): What percentage of our income [...]
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Stewardship of Talent: The Gifts of Christian Service
Romans 12:3-8

By jmcconnell | Published: June 6, 2010
Chapter 12 marks the major theological shift in the Book of Romans. In chapters 1-11, Paul explains Christ’s work of redemption. In chapters 12-16, he exhorts us to live as a redeemed people. He begins with an emphasis on belief, then he moves to behavior; he portrays the principles then the practice; he writes about [...]
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Stewardship of Talent: A Good & Faithful Servant
Matthew 25:14-30

By jmcconnell | Published: May 30, 2010
If you knew you were going to die next week, how many of you would make some preparations this week? That’s what I thought! Jesus was no exception. During the last week of his life he made some final preparations. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem amid a myriad of waving palm [...]
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Stewardship of Time: Balancing Work & Rest
Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15

By jmcconnell | Published: May 16, 2010
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a little house. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in. At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted [...]
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Stewardship of Time: Recovering the Rhythms of Creation
Genesis 1:1-2:3

By jmcconnell | Published: May 9, 2010
A number of years ago when I was youth pastoring in Massachusetts, our youth group acquired a djembe, an African drum, to accompany our praise and worship services. We thought one of the kids would either know how to play it or be interested in learning how to play it, but when no one was [...]
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Stewardship & Kingship: Knowing our Place in the World
Psalm 24:1-2

By jmcconnell | Published: May 8, 2010
J.R.R. Tolkien, in his epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings, explores antithetical relationship between stewardship and kingship. On one hand, there is a character named Denethor, who is in the position of steward of Gondor. He is the temporary ruler of Gondor in the absence of the proper king, but he has grown corrupt [...]
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Wisdom & Sex: A Highway to Hell or a Freeway to Fulfillment?
Proverbs 5:1-23

By jmcconnell | Published: April 18, 2010
Maintaining sexual purity is one of the premier challenges of life! It is such an important issue that Solomon deals with the topic 5 times within the first 9 chapters of Proverbs. Like many of the lectures in Proverbs, this section begins with a call for one’s attention. In the first two verses of the [...]
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Wisdom & Friendship: Who to Choose?
(Proverbs)

By jmcconnell | Published: April 11, 2010
English Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw were never exactly what you might call friends. Shaw never missed an opportunity to take a stab at Churchill. He sent him two tickets to the opening night of one of his plays with this message attached, “Dear Winston: Here are two tickets. Bring [...]
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