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Articles by Larry Kirk
You Can’t Look Away
Introduction If you haven’t had the chance yet, I highly recommend the Netflix documentary titled, My Octopus Teacher. Yes, you heard that right: My octopus teacher! It’s a beautiful film about a documentarian who finds himself burned out and exhausted. In an effort to regain a sense of direction and purpose, he begins each day by swimming in the ocean like he did as a child. One day, he spots an octopus doing something unusual.
Abortion or Adoption
Introduction In today’s Gospel we have Jesus reading scripture to the people and telling them good news. And they loved it and they loved him. In fact, Luke 4:22 says, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” Then he went on and pointed out some cold hard truths to them and they changed their tune. “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
God's Love for the Unborn
Introduction Several years before I became the pastor here [at Tenth Church in Vancouver, BC], my predecessor was talking to a group of people at the church, encouraging them to host a potluck dinner as a way to connect with our neighbors.
How God Brings Light into a Dark Situation
Introduction Today we will be looking at 1 Samuel 2:12-36, although we'll focus on verses 12-26. About a year ago now, the Arab Spring was just starting, and we've seen the impact of it in a whole range of different places. Even a year afterwards, the rumblings continue. Protestors are not just calling for reform. They're after revolution. They didn't simply want a change in leaders, to get rid of a particular individual, but a change in the whole political system.
Getting Out
Introduction I want us to look at the account of the crossing of the Red Sea. You might call it the climax or epitome of Exodus. It's hard to overstate the importance of the Red Sea crossing for the rest of the Bible. Alec Motyer, the Old Testament scholar, said there are at least two dozen other direct references to the Red Sea crossing in the rest of the Old Testament.
A Heartbeat from Disaster
Introduction In this particular passage of Scripture, the nation of Israel, to the north, has fallen so far from God's desire and purpose that he has given up on them, and they have been defeated and carried off into captivity. Judah, the southern kingdom, is following the same pattern. They have become more and more distant from God's desire. This portion of Scripture deals with Josiah, king of the southern kingdom. Josiah found the temple full of corruption.
What Do We Worship?
Introduction I have a lot of baggage with a specific word, which is probably a little ironic because I “lead it,” and that word is “worship.” So as your Creative Arts Pastor normally I stand right here and I lead us in music because worship can be music and music can be worship. But worship can be a lot of different things, and it's not always singing.
The Danger of Deceit
Introduction Spiritual deception lurks everywhere. It is probably stronger in our country now than at any time in our history. On the other hand, it isn’t new. We saw in the late 19th and early 20th century liberalism take over the mainline denominations in our country. They turned against the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints. Liberalism denied the miracles and the supernatural, the virgin birth, the need for a substitutionary atonement, the inerrancy of the Bible, and so on.
It's About the People
Introduction Recently our church softball thoroughly trounced our opponents. The game ended with what's called the mercy rule: when one team is ahead by 15 runs or more, the officials stop the game before it gets downright humiliating. As we were approaching the point of the mercy rule, we weren't acting very merciful. We were still hitting hard, running hard, and enjoying every minute of it. At the end of the game, one of our teammates scolded us: "Guys, I'm embarrassed by our behavior.
Halloween: Rethinking This Weird Holiday
Introduction Ever watch Sesame Street? Remember the old jingle "Which One Doesn't Belong?" They'd put up on the screen a picture of a beach ball, basketball, and football, and then they'd put up a box. Then they'd sing the song "Which One Doesn't Belong?" The kids are supposed to figure out which one doesn't fit. Well, when we look at our calendar, there are a ton of holidays on there. Picture Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. Now, picture in your mind Halloween. Which one doesn't belong here?
The Satanic Strategy
Introduction I am going to read to you from Genesis Chapter 3, verses 1 to 7. It says, I think it's fair to say that this is one of the key chapters in the Bible. If we don't understand the Fall, we won't make much sense of our world as it is. We won't make much sense of evil and of suffering. We won't understand ourselves and why it is that we feel often we live in a war zone. We won't understand the work of Christ if we don't understand this chapter, nor will be understand the cross of Christ.
The Cleansing God
Introduction Phones are a huge blessing in the realm of communication. We can talk to someone who lives thousands of miles away and it is like they are in the room next to us. Yet we all have received a phone call from a random number that turns out to be a scam. In fact, as technology for communication has improved so has technology to scam and solicit. Scammers are even able to take an actual phone number used by a real person and use it as their own so more people will answer.
Meditate on God's Word
Introduction When my wife and I lived in England, I remember bumping into Stephen Hawking. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics then, a position he held for 30 years. He is a bestselling author and celebrated theoretical physicist. He and I met repeatedly during lunch in my years in Cambridge: maybe five or 10 times, maybe more. Well, I say "met"—we bumped into each other.
Where Are You?
Introduction When I was a kid growing up in Minnesota, my family had a summer tradition. Every Sunday night, all seven kids and my parents would cram into a huge Ford station wagon, and we'd head off to Dairy Queen where I would always order an extra-large, soft-serve, vanilla-crunch cone. But one Sunday evening, the entire family piled into the station wagon and accidentally left me at home. I'm no t sure how they forgot me because I was always loud, annoying, in trouble, and breaking something.
A Festus to Test Us
Introduction Let me ask you a question: As Christians, how do we witness well to those in authority? Like those who govern over us: How do we treat our leaders, especially if we don’t like them all that much? If we are citizens of heaven, then what does that mean about our citizenship here? Do we owe a duty to our nation or is that secondary? Today, we come to a passage that speaks to all of these questions if we are willing to listen to it.
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