Life Under the Blue Sky: The View From Below

PT Forsyth on the Depths

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:46:44 +0000

“The depth is simply the height inverted, as sin is the index of moral grandeur. The cry is not only truly human, but divine as well. God is deeper than the deepest depth in man. He is holier than our deepest sin is deep. There is no depth so deep to us as when God [...]

DA Carson on What Destroys the Church

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:20:10 +0000

This is from Carson’s book The Cross and the Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians. The ways of destroying the church are many and colorful. Raw factionalism will do it. Rank heresy will do it. Taking your eyes off the cross and letter other, more peripheral matters dominate the agenda will do it–admittedly more slowly [...]

Lesson Notes: Psalm 130

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:23:35 +0000

Friends, Here are my notes on Psalm 130. I hope you find them to be a blessing. I relied on resources from Eugene Peterson, Walter Kaiser, JI Packer, and a couple of other commentaries. I have pasted an excerpt below. Thanks for stopping by. Psalm 130: De Profundis PS 130:1 Out of the depths I cry to [...]

That Kind of Faith

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:43:54 +0000

Reflections on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009 “Faith has to do with marrying Invisible and Visible. When we engage in an act of faith we give up control, we give up sensory (sight, hearing, etc.) confirmation of reality; we give up insisting on head knowledge as our primary means of orientation in life. The positive way [...]

Skycast: Ezekiel 37: Waking the Dead

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:37:38 +0000

Welcome to the Life Under the Blue Sky Skycast (podcast). In this episode, you will hear a sermon from Ezekiel 37:1-4. I preached this sermon to my congregation on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009. Be blessed. Access the sermon manuscript from box.net: Ezekiel 37:1-14, Waking the Dead Prophesy to the Bones. And the Lord put words in [...]

Jesus, the World, and Us

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:18:57 +0000

Friends, This is a sermon I preached from John 17:6-19 on May 24, 2009. My congregation has been going through some tough times lately and this sermon was a great way to put those issues in perspective. The battle we wage is not against the flesh; Jesus prayed for and prepared us for the battle that [...]

Skycast: On the Journey With and Without God: Psalm 22

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:06:11 +0000

Welcome to the Life Under the Blue Sky Skycast (Podcast). In this installment, I will explore Psalm 22. You can access the sermon manuscript and lectionary notes here. Here’s an excerpt from the sermon: The Psalm doesn’t end with all the wavering and tossing to and fro. It doesn’t end with the ups and downs. It [...]

Humor Me

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:35:38 +0000

The new preacher moves his things into his new office and comes across the former pastor, taking his items out. The former pastor says, “I left three envelopes in your desk. If you have any trouble, open them.” Well, of course the new preacher thinks he will never have to use them, but in [...]

De-Sanitizing the Parables: The Parable of the Soils, pt 1

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:45:30 +0000

This installment of the De-Sanitizing the Parables series will explore the Parable of the Soil found in Matthew 13. However, before I explore the parable itself, I’d like to give some background on the nature of the parables found in Scripture. To do this, we will listen to two different scholars who give us some [...]

Psalm Lesson: Psalm 1

dangoldfinch@yahoo.com (Jerry L. Hillyer, II) — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:04:31 +0000

Friends, Here are the few notes I made on Psalm 1 for this week’s lesson. They are somewhat hurried, but I think you will find some usefulness in them. There are a few quotes from various authors and commentaries. You can also download the MSWord version at box.net: Psalm 1. Be blessed. [PS--There are a couple [...]