Category Archives: Sermon

The Way of the Cross

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The disciples recognize Jesus as Messiah and Son of God but without realizing all that the Messiah has come to do. So Jesus begins teaching them the way of the cross. And there is resistance from them. They didn’t expect that. But Jesus knows the way to glory passes through the cross. And if we desire to follow Him to glory, we follow His way too.

Matthew 16:21-28

Taught Sunday morning, June 1, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Father Reveals Son

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Jesus could be mysterious at times. So when He asked His disciples questions, it’s a wonder that someone would speak up. Thankfully Simon Peter would speak up. And His answer this time is as solid as a rock, a boulder to be precise. Only the Father could reveal such timeless truth for someone to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Matthew 16:13-20

Taught Sunday morning, May 25, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Hypocrisy Exposed

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The religious leaders were full of hot air, it seems. Jesus condemned their prideful refusal to believe the evidence from God that Jesus was the Messiah sent from heaven. Rather, they stubbornly clung to what they wanted rather than what they needed. And thus they were not ready when the Judge of all the earth examined their hearts and found them lacking. I hope we won’t do the same.

Matthew 16:21-12

Taught Sunday morning, May 18, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Humility and Faith

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This story is uncomfortable for us, and is probably intended to be. We know Jesus is compassionate and not prejudiced but it sounds bad here. Maybe Jesus has more going on here than meets the eye. Maybe Jesus is confronting us more than He is this woman. Do we have what it takes to pass the test of faith? Do we actually have the compassion that He does?

Matthew 15:21-28

Taught Sunday morning, May 11, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Generosity and Gratitude

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The believers in Philippi had given generously to Paul once again. And he wanted to express his gratitude without sounding too desperate yet not unappreciative either. Plus he wanted them to know that their sacrifice was like an offering to God and would be rewarded by the Lord. Thus we get some good sayings to contemplate regarding contentment and generosity.

Philippians 4:10-23

Taught Sunday morning, May 4, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Thoughts and Prayers

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Do we think about what we are thinking? Our lives follow our thoughts. Thus Paul says to direct our thoughts where we want to go. And we can ask God to help us with our thoughts in prayer and thanksgiving. Joy and gratitude and peace result from letting God renew our thinking by thinking on the things of God.

Philippians 4:1-9

Taught Sunday morning, April 27, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Redeemed and Restored

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Isaiah foretold of the Servant of God who would suffer death as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of God’s people. His words remained mysterious for seven hundred years until Jesus of Nazareth accomplished that sinless life and atoning death on the Roman cross. And His followers used Isaiah 53 to explain the significance of Jesus’s death and the reason for His resurrection. Peter applies that truth as the reason for us to live differently reflecting the new life we have in Christ.

Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 1:17-21 and 2:21-25

Taught Sunday morning, April 20, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Triumphal Entry

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Jesus arrives in Jerusalem to cheering crowds, hailing Him as their favorite conquering king. But while He does not silence the crowd, He also does little to encourage the scene. He shows up in humility on a borrowed donkey, weeping. He knows that their worship is superficial. They will deny Him before the end of the week. But He knows how the story ends.

Luke 19:28-48

Taught Sunday morning, April 13, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Pursue the Prize

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Paul has already challenged his readers that he has considered all his prior accomplishments before Christ as worthless in comparison to knowing Christ and being like Him. Now Paul says that it is his one thing he strives to reach – to know and be like Christ. Paul is one of our examples that we might do the same. Put away apathy and complacency in order to make enduring effort to be transformed by Christ. One day, Jesus will complete to work that we might be like His glorious body.

Philippians 3:1-11

Taught Sunday morning, April 6, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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Baptism teaches

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Peter proclaimed that the mysterious gift of the Holy Spirit was through Jesus the Messiah, crucified and risen. But those people could change their mind and ask God for mercy. The physical symbol of their repentance and faith in Jesus would be baptism. And Peter alludes to three things that baptism symbolizes – a physical symbol of a spiritual reality.

Acts 2:36-42

Taught Sunday morning, March 30, 2025 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!

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