From chapter 40 onward, Isaiah’s message is addressed to God’s people after the exile. But God wasn’t done with his people. God’s discipline was carried out in love, and his message to the exiles is one of comfort. In this sermon, Pastor Adam Mabry shows one of God’s major promises to his people—his presence.
Every now and then, a story is inserted into the poetry of Isaiah that acts like evidence for the message. This week’s story is about King Hezekiah. He faced odds that were totally against him, but it turns out chance and odds don’t apply to those who are called to trust God.
A “woe” in the Bible is an expression of dissatisfaction, anger, and sadness from God. In Isaiah 28, God’s woe is directed at the leaders of Judah who have chosen to trust political alliances rather than God. God’s woe against them shows us just how fragile and damaging self-reliance is, as well as what God has done to offer us something better.
Priests were an important part of keeping holiness going for Israel, but they were flawed. Whether or not we realize it, we treat certain people like priests, but any priest we trust is flawed…except Jesus.
How do we measure holiness? Many people think that morality is the measure of holiness. That’s certainly part of it, but Paul describes a holy life as one that pleases God. He also describes where we get the power to live that kind of life.
How can a holy God be around an unholy people? In the Bible, when unholy people get around the presence of a holy God, they die… unless there’s atonement. In this sermon, we explore what the atonement sacrifices from the Old Testament point to, and what it means for how people approach God.
Understanding the holiness of God helps us to see our unholiness and how only God can make us holy. God is not so holy that he wants nothing to do with us. But he is so holy he wants everything to do with us.
How do you feel about God’s plan for the future—scared, excited, indifferent? However you feel about it, we can’t ignore it. This future hope that God has given is meant to revolutionize how we live in the present.
When Gabriel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary, he addressed her as “favored one.” What God does for Mary is a small taste of what he does for the entire world through Jesus. In this sermon we look at how God’s favor impacts Mary, because that same favor is available to everyone who believes in Jesus.
There is a deep longing in our hearts for the promises of God. In this sermon, Pastor Donny shares how God speaks to our longing through Jesus, who becomes for us the proof that God keeps his promises.
We love the idea of being helped by others but have we stopped to consider being a helper to others? In this sermon, we will learn about God’s nature as our helper and how it is the foundation of our love, our hope, and our encouragement.
God is a giver. In this first week of our Big Give teaching series, we look at God’s first gift—life itself. What kind of life has God given us? What response is required of us?
Those who love the lofty city with its promises of immediate gratification await God’s judgement. In contrast, those who remain faithful to God will reap the rewards of the heavenly city. God’s message through Isaiah tells us that what we love today, what gives us joy and pleasure, reveals where we live.
Chapters 13–23 are full of judgment passages against seven different nations. The passage addressed to Egypt makes the target clear—pride. God confronts their pride, yet judgment is the very instrument God uses to transform Egypt into a worshiping nation. In this sermon, we explore what Egypt’s story has to do with us.
We all have our coping mechanisms, and so did Ahaz. When Ahaz ruled Judah, he faced a threat from surrounding kings. God sent Isaiah to tell him that he didn’t need to fear, only to trust. Ahaz chose to trust in something other than God. We face the same choice and the same outcomes.
God promised to transform Judah from something rotten into something beautiful. But how? Instead of getting the “how” we get to the “who.” God promises to use Isaiah in the transformation process. Isaiah’s call informs the call of every disciple of Jesus, and shows us how God uses us in his plan to renew our world.
We kick off season one of a series in Isaiah this week. The first chapter introduces us to the book as a whole, and what we see is a promise of transformation for Judah. It leaves us with the question: How will this Judah become that Judah? And that question leads to other questions: How will this church become that church? How will this me become that me? Isaiah 1 points us to the answer.
Sadness is a fact of life for everyone. But sadness doesn’t need to lead to despair. In this sermon, we look at how the Scriptures equip us to deal with the reality of sadness by hoping in God.
What do you do when there’s a big gap between the person you think you should be and the person you are? That gap is called shame, and handling the wrong way will lead us to self-hatred or arrogance. But there’s a better way, a way to be healed of our shame.
What do you do when there’s a big gap between the person you think you should be and the person you are? That gap is called shame, and handling the wrong way will lead us to self-hatred or arrogance. But there’s a better way, a way to be healed of our shame.
You might not think of yourself as an angry person, but we’ve all been angry at someone. Relational anger is a big deal, and if we mishandle it, Paul says we give “an opportunity to the devil.” But there's a better way—a way made possible by the gospel.
Anxiety is something we all experience. Yet just because it’s a normal experience, the Bible says we don’t need to remain consistently anxious. In this sermon we look at where anxiety comes from and how to ensure that it doesn’t stick around.
Staying in a place that does not feel like home can be difficult and disheartening. In this sermon, Pastor Donnell Jones brings us to the story of the exiled people of God, how he called them to stay awhile in their place of exile, and how they can find strength for the difficult season.
As a church we want to see our city and New England changing to look more and more like the kingdom of God. But how does that happen? And what’s our part to play? In this sermon, we look at what it means to walk in the good deeds God has prepared for his people.
What makes Christianity different to every other faith system in the world? In a word… grace. In this sermon, Pastor Justin explores how grace subverts all our expectations, and how we can bring the good news of grace to others.
What makes Christianity different to every other faith system in the world? In a word… grace. In this sermon, Pastor Justin explores how grace subverts all our expectations, and how we can bring the good news of grace to others.
The gospel is good news because it’s a solution to a problem. If you don’t understand the problem, the solution won’t sound like good news. In this sermon we take a deep dive into the problem the gospel addresses. What we discover is that the problem is worse than we ever imagined. PLEASE NOTE: Due to a recording error, the audio is not the quality we would normally share. Thank you for understanding.
What we listen to shapes our hearts and minds. In today’s world, we are constantly fighting the battle against the wisdom of the world. Pastor Adam teaches that in order to win the war we must sing God’s words and God’s wisdom.
The Psalms are not just all about praise or lament, they also recount the history of God demonstrating his faithfulness to his people. Tikae shares the importance of these psalms in our practice of remembering God’s faithfulness as an act of worship.
The Psalms also contain a collection of emotional outbursts not entirely characterized by praise. In this sermon, Pastor Steve Cabral shares a few points on why and how we should lament as Christians, grieving the grievous as we still praise the praiseworthy.
