Scripture: Romans 9:1-16 Key Takeaways: 1. God did not promise salvation to every ethnic Israelite, but only to those he chose to be recipients of his saving love ( Romans 9:6-29 ). 2. Generally speaking, Israel did not respond to Jesus in faith ( Romans 9:30-10:21 ). 3. God faithfulness to Israel is seen in that there is a believing remnant ( Romans 11:1-10 ). 4. God’s faithfulness to his promise to Israel will one day be seen in greater measure when God saves Israel in great numbers ( Romans 1...
Apr 21, 2024•42 min
Scripture: Romans 9:1-13 Key Takeaways: Romans 9:6 Romans 3:20-25 Romans 5:1-5 Romans 8:1 Romans 8:28-39 Does Israel’s spiritual condition mean that God doesn’t keep his promises or that God can’t accomplish his purposes? Romans 11:33-36 Not every physical descendent of Israel truly belongs to Israel. Romans 11:1...
Apr 14, 2024•45 min
Scripture: Luke 6:46-49 Key Takeaways: Matthew 28:18-19 Ephesians 1:20-23 “Our commitment to Jesus can stand on no other foundation than a recognition that he is the one who knows the truth about our lives and our universe…Could we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb? Or uninformed? Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person ...
Apr 08, 2024•37 min
Scripture: Luke 24:1-12 Key Takeaways: 1 Corinthians 15:3–9 1 Corinthians 15:14 1 Corinthians 15:30–32 Jesus did rise from the dead and Christianity is true, and you must honestly face it. OR Jesus did not rise from the dead and Christianity is false, and you can completely forget it. Jesus did not die. (“Swoon Theory”) The disciples were deceived. The disciples were deceivers. You won’t find Jesus among the dead. You won’t find life away from Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:32...
Apr 02, 2024•32 min
Scripture: Isaiah 55:19 Key Takeaways: The greatest things we need are found in a relationship with God. “What causes us to be fickle is the realization that our present pleasures are false, while failing to realize that absent pleasures are also vain.” Blaise Pascal. The Greatest things we need are completely free. John 6:35 John 7:37–39 Anything that would lead you away from God, or rise above him, is an enemy to your joy. “...in the past couple of years, I have noticed a happiness pattern tha...
Mar 25, 2024•39 min
Scripture: Genesis 3:1-15 Key Takeaways: James 1:13–15 Hide from God Jonah 1:3–5 Psalm 139:7–12 Cover Up Make Excuses and Shift Blame Genesis 3:21 Luke 19:10 Face Ourselves Face God Luke 15:20 Receive Grace Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and pow'r. I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms In the arms of my dear Savior, Oh, there are ten thousand charms. – Joseph Hart (1759)....
Mar 18, 2024•34 min
Scripture: Romans 8:31-39 Key Takeaways: God is for us and is greater than anyone or anything against us. Romans 8:1 2 Kings 6:15–17 God will give us every small thing we need, because he has already given us the Greatest thing we need “Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; —but the Father, for love!’ Octavius Winslow Romans 8:32 God will always accept us in Jesus no matter what accusations are brought against us. Isaiah 61:10 Revelati...
Mar 10, 2024•42 min
Scripture: Romans 8:28-30 Key Takeaways: The bad things will all be turned to good. Romans 8:18 John 11:33-35 John 11:38-39 The good things can never be taken away from you. John 6:44 Jeremiah 32:38-41 Ephesians 1:4-6 “What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it—the fact that he knows me.. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort—th...
Mar 03, 2024•39 min
Scripture: John 16:20-28 Key Takeaways: Prayer is a Privilege secured for us by Jesus. Hebrews 10:19–22 “God is radically committed to my life of prayer. He shed the blood of His Son so that I might be cleansed and rendered fit to stand before Him in love. He also permitted the brutal rending of His Son so that I might now have a way to enter into the Holy Place through the torn flesh of Jesus. ‘Draw near,’ he says… How can I not feel the infinite sincerity of these invitations, especially when ...
Feb 25, 2024•39 min
Summary: Scripture: Romans 8:26-27 Key Takeaways: Romans 8:1 Romans 8:2–4 John 14:15–17 + Presence Isaiah 41:10 Isaiah 43:1–5 Psalm 23:4 Psalm 34:18 + Prayer 2 Corinthians 12:7–10...
Feb 19, 2024•38 min
Scripture: Romans 8:18-25 Key Takeaways: + Cry Out Genesis 3:17-19 +Look Forward 1 Peter 1:4 The firstfruits of an incoming harvest were, literally, the first batch—and they were a foretaste of what was to come. Currently, the spirit is making us internally alive (v 10); giving us gradual, internal freedom from the effects of sin and death, making us slowly more like Christ (v 29). But this is only the firstfruits—just a taste of the complete, total freedom from the effects of sin and death in o...
Feb 12, 2024•37 min
In this sermon, Minister of Care, Scott Berry, focused on our identity as adopted children of God. He highlighted our identity as conquerors empowered by the Holy Spirit and heirs through adoption, emphasizing the significance of engaging with the Word of God and walking in step with the Spirit. Key Takeaways: + We are killers - We fight by the Holy Spirit - Word of God - Walking with the Spirit + We are adopted + We are heirs...
Feb 05, 2024•31 min
Text: Romans 8:5-11 As we continue in Romans, Pastor JR Vassar examines the profound contrast between living according to the flesh and living in the Spirit. Key Takeaways John 3:6 Galatians 5:19–21 Galatians 5:16–17 • Focus on Jesus • Devote time to the Word and Prayer Romans 12:12...
Jan 28, 2024•43 min
Text: Romans 8:1-4 Notes: + In Jesus you have all the acceptance you will ever need. - John 12:42-43 - 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 "To please God… to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness… to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son- it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is." — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory. “We all automatically gravitate toward the assumption that we ...
Jan 22, 2024•42 min
Text: Romans 8:1-2 In Pastor JR Vassar's sermon on Romans 8:1-2, he emphasizes humanity's vital need for reconciliation with God, exploring universal guilt and the transformative power of faith in Christ. The book of Romans acts as a catalyst for reshaping lives and evoking profound spiritual responses. + Why are we studying Romans? + The greatest need we have is to be put in the right with God. + We want to experience the new life we have in Christ. + We are concerned about the condition of thi...
Jan 14, 2024•40 min
Notes: Text: Acts 2:41-47 “Beethoven has the real goods, the stuff from Heaven, the power to make you feel at the finish: something is right in the world. There I something that checks throughout, that follows its own law consistently: something we can trust, that will never let us down.” – Leonard Bernsetin, Composer +Spirit-Empowered Community is a place where people grow +Spirit-Empowered Community is a place to invite “The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not su...
Jan 08, 2024•35 min
Notes: Text: Hebrews 1:1-3 +The baby in the manger is God’s message to us. +The baby in the manger is God’s savior for us. +The baby in the manger is God’s king over us.
Jan 02, 2024•21 min
Notes: Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 +A follower of Jesus is no longer a prisoner to death. +A follower of Jesus is a new creation. +A follower of Jesus is sent. “Plainly, if Paul’s conclusion is to be drawn, the ‘for’ must reach deeper than this mere suggestion of our advantage: if we all died, in that Christ died for us, there must be a sense in which that death of his is ours; He must be identified with us in it: there, on the cross, while we stand and gaze at Him, He is not simply a person doi...
Jan 02, 2024•37 min
Notes: Text: Exodus 25:1-9 “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became man.” – C. S. Lewis + Image of Tabernacle in the Encampment of Israel +The Tabernacle was a Place of Glory +Image of Book Immanuel +The Tabernacle was a place of Grace +Image of Ark of the Covenant +Jesus is the Truer and Better Tabernacle + In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1 ESV +Jesus is the Place of God’s Glory +Jesus is th...
Dec 18, 2023•36 min
Notes: Text: Psalm 105:37-43 “Hearts on earth say in the course of a joyful experience, “I don’t want this ever to end.” But it invariably does. The hearts of those in heaven say, “I want this to go on forever.” And it will. There is no better news than this.” – J. I. Packer + Awkward Christmas Photos + Forever Life + Full Life
Dec 11, 2023•40 min
Notes: Text: Exodus 12:1-13, 21-28 Typology exists when there is a historical correspondence between events, institutions, and persons found in the OT and the NT. I argue that typology does not merely represent correspondence but a correspondence intended by God. - Thomas Schreiner “J. Barton Payne identified 1,239 prophetic predictions in the Old Testament that involved some 6,641 verses, or 28.5 percent of the total corpus of the older testament...Payne also found 127 personal messianic predic...
Dec 05, 2023•37 min
Notes: Text: Colossians 1:3-14 “To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.” – A.W. Towzer +The Gospel creates a secure community that loves +The Gospel creates a witnessing community that multiplies +The Gospel creates a wise community that pleases God +The Gospel creates a thankful community with one allegiance “You cannot know anything ab...
Nov 27, 2023•43 min
Notes: Text: Romans 7:7:5-6, 14-25 +Who is the “I”? +There are many in the Church who fit the description of the “I”. +There are true believers in the Church who are still trying to live the Christian life by the law and not by the Spirit. - Repent of grieving and neglecting the Holy Spirit. - Acknowledge the Holy Spirit and cultivate a relationship with him. - Surrender to Him daily. - Engage in activities in your life that open you up to his presence and power. + It’s not the script of the law...
Nov 20, 2023•41 min
Notes: Text: Romans 7:7-13 “…these motions of sin are irritated, provoked, and increased, through the law’s prohibition of them; which is not to be charged as a fault on the law, but to be imputed to the depravity and corruption of man; who is like a mighty torrent of water, which rises, rages, flows and overflows, the more any methods are taken to stop its current, or like a filthy dunghill which when the sun strikes powerfully on it, it exhales and draws out its filthy stench; which nauseous s...
Nov 13, 2023•42 min
Notes: Text: Romans 7:1-6 “Men quietly got in touch with Him... and found themselves doing things they couldn’t do, thinking thoughts they couldn’t think, and loving people they couldn’t love. They were a surprise to themselves and others.” - Mastery, E. Stanley Jones + Christianity is a new relationship with Jesus + Christianity is a new purpose +Christianity is a new existence New Master New Husband Effectiveness in the mission of Jesus...
Nov 06, 2023•38 min
Notes: Text: Romans 7:1-4 “On your exceedingly great mercy rests all my hope. Give what you command, and then command whatever you will.” - Saint Augustine, The Confessions +License (Antinomianism) +Legalism +The Principle The law is binding on us while we live +The Illustration Marriage +The Application You died to the law and are now belong to Christ +Jesus motivates us by His love and likeness +Jesus always supplies what He commands +Jesus always forgives when we fail Him +Jesus will never le...
Oct 30, 2023•39 min
Notes: Text: Romans 6:11-13, 19 “Grace is opposed to earning, but it’s not opposed to efforts.” - Dallas Willard • Prayer • Fasting • Service - disciplines of community (giving, generosity, confession)
Oct 23, 2023•44 min
Notes: Text: Romans 6:11-23 + Vision + Intention + Means “There is no need to despair; hundreds of these adult converts have been reclaimed after a brief sojourn in the enemy’s camp and now are with us. All the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favor.” Screwtape Letter, CS Lewis • Solitude • Scripture
Oct 16, 2023•41 min
In this sermon, Pastor JR explains how every Christian is free from sin as a fact, but not every Christian lives in that freedom as an experience. Notes: Text: Romans 6:15-23 + Conversion is a Total Transfer of Loyalty + Conversion is a Total Transformation of Life + Every Christian is equally free from sin as a fact, but not every Christian lives equally in that freedom as an experience.
Oct 10, 2023•41 min
Notes: Text: Romans 6:12-14 + What is the Promise? · You Belong to Christ and Christ Belongs to You. + What are the Practices? • Mortification • Vivification
Oct 01, 2023•44 min
