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<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:04:36 GMT--><rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0"><channel><title>Sermons</title><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/</link><description></description><lastBuildDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:27:06 +0000</lastBuildDate><copyright></copyright><language>en-US</language><generator>Squarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)</generator><item><title>By This We Know</title><category>Conversion</category><category>Discipleship</category><category>Fellowship</category><category>Godhood</category><category>Judgment</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:25:32 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2012/2/23/by-this-we-know.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:15157997</guid><description><![CDATA[Obedience and doctrinal conformity have a negative connotation among some in these freethinking days of religious liberation and denominational decline. Obedience appears to some people to be synonymous with legalism or an affront to the sacred creed, while doctrinal orthodoxy is likewise deemed too narrow and often confused with the imposition of personal opinion. In a religious world where so many would rather feel saved than experience any intellectual satisfaction about it, we should not be surprised that obedience becomes endangered and suspect. Obedience, however, is essential to the genuineness and endurance of real faith.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-15157997.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>If You Continue</title><category>Conversion</category><category>Denominationalism</category><category>Discipleship</category><category>Evangelism</category><category>Judgment</category><category>Worldliness</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:48:27 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2012/2/15/if-you-continue.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:15049255</guid><description><![CDATA[The Christians in Colossae was not thinking about quitting the church or beginning to have doubts about the existence of God. They were not flirting with a denomination or falling prey to a heightened desire for carnal immorality. When Paul wrote them with special encouragement toward steadfast faithfulness, his concern was that they were vulnerable to false teachers’ promises of deeper insight and knowledge, which actually amounted to erudite error and apostasy. Our own perseverance is likewise conditional upon our resistance of worldly wisdom and the false appearance of religion.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-15049255.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>We Have Left Everything</title><category>Divorce and Remarriage</category><category>Home Life</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:39:21 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/11/17/we-have-left-everything.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:13760342</guid><description><![CDATA[The idea that half of all marriages will end in divorce is a clever bit of statistical fiction, based on numbers that indicate, for instance, that in a certain year, there were 2.4 million marriages and 1.2 million divorces; while that sounds like a fifty percent divorce rate, it ignores the fact that the two figures are almost entirely independent of each other. In other words, of the 1.2 million couples divorcing that year, very few were also among the 2.4 million that got married the same year. The 1.2 million divorcing couples were drawn from many different years of marriages. A statistical judgment on the likelihood of marital failure is difficult to ascertain, but an anecdotal observation of the number of divorces among our relatives, neighbors, friends, and even brethren is alarming enough to compel us to take the subject seriously.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-13760342.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Mercy Not Sacrifice</title><category>Authority</category><category>Churches of Christ</category><category>Discipleship</category><category>Fellowship</category><category>Godhood</category><category>Worldliness</category><category>Worship</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:37:02 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/10/26/mercy-not-sacrifice.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:13473257</guid><description><![CDATA[Ritual has always played a role in religion, but sometimes the ritual literally takes over the religion and becomes its purpose, definition, and goal. When that happens, the heart of religion has been broken by externals, and shallowness and corruption are the result. It is not that the rituals are necessarily wrong, but that, over time, they can be allowed to obscure the spirit of faith sufficiently that they replace any motivation toward the truer exercise of the teaching of Christ, which goes deeper and far beyond ritual. What we must do, then, is learn what Jesus means by desiring mercy ahead of sacrifice.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-13473257.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Celebrating Easter</title><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:36:36 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/10/18/celebrating-easter.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:13326303</guid><description><![CDATA[Although the word “Easter” can be found in a mistranslated passage of the old King James Bible, clearly there is no such annual observance in the New Testament or by the apostles and early disciples. The modern celebration of Easter is a combination of secular bunnies, eggs and chocolate with an often temporary and always misguided religious zeal. Easter does a disservice to the gospel because it drains away its daily glory in order to provide people a once-per-year outlet for their faith and hope.  Easter would be more by being less. Sans the candy, every Sunday is to be a celebration of the resurrected Savior.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-13326303.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Taxed</title><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:35:53 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/10/18/taxed.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:13326207</guid><description><![CDATA[With the exception of years like this one in which April 15 falls outside of the five-day work week, the ides of April is Tax Day, the deadline to file one’s tax return and pay up. The history of taxation follows the history of civilization and naturally finds its way into the histories of Israel and the church. While no one seems to be overjoyed to pay taxes, the will of God regarding them restrain his people from ignoring the edict of the state. And so we pay … and pay … and pay.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-13326207.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Go to Siloam and Wash</title><category>Jesus Christ</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:16:51 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/10/4/go-to-siloam-and-wash.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:13075375</guid><description><![CDATA[The miracles of Jesus were amazing and their authenticity was difficult to deny, even for his enemies who were devoted to his destruction in spite of them. Although the signs and wonders he worked were great, many people insisted upon rejecting his teaching and his authority, just as they do today. Our attitude should always be a rather simple one when we are confronted with the person of Christ in Scripture – we ought to be ready to comply with his instruction, knowing it is in our best interest, even if it compels us to crucify our pride, to risk becoming a spectacle, or to subject ourselves to overwhelming personal change.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-13075375.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Peace on Earth</title><category>Jesus Christ</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:25:47 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/9/20/peace-on-earth.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:12925462</guid><description><![CDATA[In a hymn that is really fitting for any time of the year, we sing about “Peace on earth and mercy mild,” a subject that has special appeal to the rest of the world around Christmastime when Hark! The Herald Angels Sing gets most of its attention. Knowing that Christmas is likely not the birthday of Jesus and that the Bible commands no observance of his nativity is useful information, but it still leaves us curious about the savior’s potential to bring peace on Earth.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-12925462.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>Welcome To Providence</title><category>Godhood</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:20:49 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/9/6/welcome-to-providence.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:12750800</guid><description><![CDATA[The providence of God is one of those Bible subjects that is monumentally important, but perceived to be so mysterious that Christians might be better off ignoring it, lest we be thought like the charismatics. When we study the providence of God, however, miracles play only a small role in the subject, and in fact, we provoke God’s providence every time we pray anyway. It is not only safe to discuss providence, it is necessary to keep us from falling into deism, a belief system that basically portrays God as apathetic and powerless since the morning after creation. In today’s lesson, we shall study about providence and the way that it affected certain Bible characters. We hope that we will come away with a better appreciation for how God answers prayer today, in the wisest way.]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-12750800.xml</wfw:commentRss></item><item><title>My Church</title><category>Churches of Christ</category><category>Denominationalism</category><dc:creator>Jeff Smith</dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:19:59 +0000</pubDate><link>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/2011/8/23/my-church.html</link><guid isPermaLink="false">922129:10732762:12600414</guid><description><![CDATA[When you plan to visit an unfamiliar community, or even just when you are passing through somewhere, it is common to look at the places of worship and identify them according to the way they identify themselves. Many are designated as outposts of some well-known Protestant denomination, while others are clearly Roman Catholic or evidence of a modern form of interdenominationalism. Truly, however, the identity of a religious house cannot be fully known simply by looking at the words on the outside wall, but those words do give some indication of what the people inside would aspire to be. What is the identity of the church that belongs to Christ?]]></description><wfw:commentRss>http://electronicgospel.com/sermons/rss-comments-entry-12600414.xml</wfw:commentRss></item></channel></rss>
