We're starting a new sermon series to kick off 2025! In the first sermon in the series, Pastor D explores the importance God places on human work as shown to us in the Garden of Eden narrative in the book of Genesis.
Even as our dark night experiences are emotionally straining, by his word Christ shows us that our weakness has an important theological purpose: to showcase his strength in our weakness. When we internalize this word from Christ, our souls are not only healed in our troubles, but we are brought to praise. Our lament is transformed into hymns of rejoicing.
If dark nights of sin and suffering are truly grace in disguise, how do we find hope in the midst of tremendous seasons of hardship that can feel unbearable and seem meaningless?
Sin is a subject that we often want to avoid. Ignoring it may be just as big of a problem as committing it. There is great danger in ignoring sin in our lives but there is unsurpassed joy to be found in repentance.
In response to our dark night experience, Christ does not simply promise to eradicate those difficulties, but instead invites us to himself to learn from him and acquire his character in an apprentice relationship. This is an invitation to discipleship, where we take on the humble character of Christ.
Our difficult and challenging experiences are often referred to as a “dark night” when the effect of them leads to discouragement and places our faith at risk. Even though there is real spiritual peril in the dark night experience, we are usually led into them by God for our spiritual growth. So then, dark nights are actually grace in disguise, and God’s word exhorts us to rejoice in the spiritual benefit that difficulty produces in us.
God’s economy is not based on human effort but is instead entirely fueled by divine grace. In the provocative Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Jesus shows God gracious generosity to those who need him and respond to his call to the kingdom. This is particularly encouraging for those who feel that God’s grace has passed them by. Jesus is clear that far from that, grace is for those who most don’t deserve it think they have missed it. Grace is sweetest when it surprises those who think ther...
God’s vision for the church is grounded in his calling her to be a theological statement about his own glory and wisdom. Indeed, the power of the gospel is seen most keenly in the character of the church. Because of this grand purpose, Christ himself supplies his church with the resources to change the saints into servants with hearts like his so they can serve one another, helping the church to grow into unity and a greater experience of himself.
The Scriptures are the single most important literary resource for the Christian. Yet statistically, many seem to only experience the sacred words of God in an unmethodical way. In a world of constant devices gnawing at our spirit man/woman, we see that the greatest antidote is not based on a set of rules or practices but on how the scriptures help bolster the Christian into true human flourishing. This flourishing does not come without risk, tension, and even loss (at times). We see vividly in ...
Sacred spaces and practices, such as temples or churches, and the ways we serve God there, help us to both encounter and understand the distinctive holiness of God. Sacred spaces enable us to approach God properly, and more than that, as embodied human beings they provide us with concrete ways to experience and worship him.
2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that the Lord relentlessly searches the earth to give His strength to those who are fully committed to Him. What does it look like to be one of those who the Lord will find to be whole-heartedly committed? The 41 year reign of King Asa recorded in 2 Chronicles 14-16 helps answer that question by providing helpful examples of both faithfulness and failure that are worth examining.
The reality of the judgment is something every Christian should be mindful of, and all of Christian ministry is intended to prepare us for that day. In our passage, Paul prays for his Philippian readers to be ready for that by developing discernment or the ability to practically approve spiritual excellence.
Despite the good faculties God has given human beings as his image bearers, human giftedness and wisdom are not sufficient faculties for understanding God's values and aims in this world. We can only adequately understand the gospel and its implications for us through the enlightening and teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The key to being a transformational church is having a gospel culture that is grounded in the priority of peace that leads to expressions of praise and gratitude.
Reverend Rob continues our Grow & Discern sermon series with a message that reminds us who we are and what our fashion choices should say about that.
Despite the common experience of Christians struggling with sin, we are assured by God’s word that we can practically defeat sin. That doesn’t mean that we will be sinless, but by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, sin can be weakened and utterly put to death in the life of the Christian.
If we are going to move beyond spiritual mediocrity, we must take the essential step of "cleaning house" in our lives, those things which detract from the Lord's preeminent place. As we make those necessary changes, we begin to experience spiritual flourishing.
Though spiritual community and relationships are essential to our spiritual growth, we need to cultivate our direct and personal reliance on the Lord through the practice of solitude. God is calling us into a quiet and restful relationship with him, which is how we gain increased confidence in his ability to deliver us from the many things that threaten our faith and our lives. Practicing sacred solitude helps us to feel that keenly and genuinely.
Our brother Luther Fleury blessed us with a sermon on the spiritual discipline of fasting. When seeking God, fasting is either 1) used to cultivate humility or 2) performed organically out of an inner state of lowliness and/or godly sorrow. It is all at once, a tool, a response, and a sign, that reinforces our ongoing reliance on God.
Despite having ample evidence and knowledge of the power of prayer available to us as believers, why do so many of us fall short of the prayer life that God wants to have with us? Rev Rob Weyand explores King David's prayer example shown to us in the Psalms as we continue our "Grow & Discern" sermon series.
It is normal for followers of Christ to find themselves in difficult circumstances, but it is also normal for God to deliver them out of those circumstances. Biblically we see this is one of the ways he proves his commitment to his people. In this sermon, Pastor D shows us how earnest prayer is God's prescribed way of unleashing his deliverance presence and power.
In our latest Grow & Discern sermon, Pastor D looks at a problem many of us struggle with: anxiety. Though it is a common problem, it can also be a soul-threatening problem. The Lord does not intend for us to be bound up in excessive and debilitating worry. His prescription for anxiety is prayer. Prayer in anticipation of our being heard and answered - prayer that is a spiritual balm to the heart and mind.
The power of God's word to change us into Christlikeness is only unleashed when we live by it. This will only happen when we are motivated by a genuine love for God which then leads to meditating on his word, soaking it into our souls. But it is not enough to know this principle - we must also have a plan for practicing it in our daily lives.
Pastor Randall shares a Palm Sunday message of hope about a coming King. We rejoice because our King is a righteous and victorious one!
Out of our longing for Christ, his gospel, and people, God intends to grow us into a glorious house in which he will dwell in this broken world. Our loving relationships and the service we bring to one another and the world will display to those who see in us the power of another world entirely.
We continue our "Grow & Discern" sermon series with Pastor D explaining how confidence is essential to the Christian life and is fundamental to our spiritual growth. We need to be confident of who we are in Christ and able to develop that confidence by taking the necessary actions with the right mindset that moves us toward Christlikeness.
The very presence of Christ is the source and aim of our Christian growth, and in all the activities and practices he has called us into, what are often called sacraments, Christ is present in them. That presence in our lives is most expressed in Christ’s Lordship in our lives.
The Holy Spirit warned believers to guard their faith so that they would avoid being carried away by false teaching or negative influences that could lead to spiritual ruin. Pastor Randall shows us how this involves not only being vigilant to guard our hearts but is also a charge to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If staying in a state of spiritual immaturity is a mortal threat to the faith of Christians, how then do we move forward into maturity? Pastor D continues our "Grow & Discern" sermon series with a message that is meant to challenge and encourage us toward the goal of spiritual maturity.
Pastor D kicks off the Grow & Discern sermon series that will be our focus for 2024. In order to grow in our faith, we must recognize that spiritual immaturity is a mortal threat to Christians - it is vital that we recognize that we will drift away from God if we are not continually growing closer to him.
