Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

Sermon, November 27, 2011 Advent 1 Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel Luke 1:68-79 Luke 3:1-6 Luke 1:68-79   67John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:       68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,          because he has come and has redeemed his people.       69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us          in the house of his servant David       70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),       71salvation from our enemies          and from the hand of all who hate us--       72to show mercy to our fathers          and to remember his holy covenant,       73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:       74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,          and to enable us to serve him without fear       75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.       76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;          for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,       77to give his peo

Sermon November 20, 2011 Consecration Sunday Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’ 
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’  Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is b

Sermon, November 13, 2011 Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel Leviticus 27:30-34 Malachi 3:6-12 Leviticus 27:30-34  All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the Lord’s; they are holy to the Lord. If persons wish to redeem any of their tithes, they must add one-fifth to them. All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. Let no one inquire whether it is good or bad, or make substitution for it; if one makes substitution for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy and cannot be redeemed.  These are the commandments that the Lord gave to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. Malachi 3:6-12  For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How s