This message defines what community looks like and how it is played out today from a biblical sense. A community has a common identity and purpose, where each person sells their own individuality and sets aside their own personal desires. They are knit and joined together in affections, their mind, desires, and thoughts. Human nature may desire to be alone, but we are meant to be in a community. Community is to be a means of growth for each person. We all must individually give our lives unto Go...
Aug 14, 2017
Paul in this passage is finishing his third missionary trip and is heading to Jerusalem where he knows that chains and suffering await him. He sends for the leaders in Ephesus to meet him in Miletus to show them the gravity of the time, and the burden he has for the Gospel to be proclaimed. He had seen great works of God when he was in Ephesus, preaching the Gospel to a people who worshipped mythical gods in their large temple of Diana. He did not underestimate the power of the Gospel though and...
Aug 03, 2017
At times, God will awaken us to the brevity of life, and to the reality that we can never take back time that has passed. Moses prays to God that He would teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. As Christians, we have a profound calling on our lives, and this prayer for us is to lead us away from idleness and towards the simplicity of the Gospel. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. We are to be missional--to be sent out. We are to first have an internal love ...
Jul 26, 2017
Paul reflects on his past with a purpose to motivate the church to move forward. Paul had many reasons to boast in his own flesh, but in all of those, there was no hope of salvation. Only faith in Christ could profit him, so he was willing to let go of everything else. He had to count all else as loss so that he could move forward in the work that God called him. As Paul kept walking by faith, he continued to count all things as loss. His desire, above all else, was to be identified with Christ....
Jul 26, 2017
The word of the Lord comes through Haggai during the feast of tabernacles, where the people held feasts remembering how the Lord had delivered them from Egypt. It was about one month since the people had started building a new temple for the Lord, but now they were getting discouraged. They started comparing this new temple with the old temple of Solomon, and were discouraged by the vast difference of the outward decoration and glory of the former temple compared to what they were building now. ...
Jul 20, 2017
The legacy of a leader is seen in the people that he’s influenced. God looks for people who look to serve others and who think little of themselves to be leaders. Paul was this type of leader to Timothy. He challenged Timothy to imitate him as he imitated Christ. And now as Paul was leaving this earth, Timothy had a mission--to carry on the vision that Paul had. Timothy was living in perilous times and Paul instructed Timothy that as Christians, they will suffer the rejection of men, but not to ...
Jul 18, 2017
We’ve all faced strained relationships--with family, co-workers, friends, etc. But when our relationship with God is strained, we experience the deepest anxiety. This is because we were not intended to be separate from God. Being out of union with God is usually due to sin, but God’s forgiveness can enable us to be brought back into a right relationship with Him. In King David’s life, he had sinned, but once he had sincere confession and repentance, God forgave him. David teaches us that God wil...
Jul 01, 2017
The book of Haggai starts at a time when the Israelites had started to rebuild the temple, but because of opposition, they stopped. They were unwilling to work because they thought that the time had not yet come to rebuild the temple. Instead, they were focused on their own lives and houses. Haggai speaks to them the word from God, to stir them up and to have them lift their eyes from the earth, to what God is trying to do. He tells them not to obsess over their dreams, plans or desires, but ins...
Jun 22, 2017
Our faith must be challenged and refined by the Scriptures. We must examine what we believe and allow God to expose areas that must be addressed and challenged so that we may have sound faith and foundational beliefs. In this passage, Jesus challenges what the people believed and what hindered them from embracing God’s intentions for their lives. Lazarus had died, and Martha is troubled. She has many questions because her expectations have not been met. Her understanding limited her from graspin...
Jun 21, 2017
Paul describes to the Corinthian church how the church is the body. Each person is a member of the body and is necessary to the body because each serves a different part. Christ is the Head of the body, and without the Head, the church does not exist. Each member must be baptized into one body--buried with Christ in baptism, and then raised through faith. This baptism brings unity. It doesn’t matter who you were before baptism, now you are a part of Christ’s body. This is why the cure to racial ...
Jun 10, 2017
In Matthew 23, Christ ends His ministry to the Jewish leaders by rebuking them because they are unwilling to come to Him. In the next chapter, Jesus leaves the temple because God has deserted it. Jesus’ disciples, however, were still focused on the exterior things and wanted to show Jesus the temple because they didn’t realize that God had abandoned it. When God calls us to something new, we cannot get stuck in what has always been. We must move on in obedience to the call of God. Christ tells H...
Jun 03, 2017
This sermon describes the ongoing preparation and transformation in our hearts by the Gospel. The Gospel challenges our desires and thinking into an intimacy and conformity to Christ. Our own desires keep us from God and from embracing the call of Christ, so we must have our desires realigned. In the passage, Jesus challenges those listening about what they are satisfied by. We must allow this exposing to take place, and then to allow the Gospel to transform those desires into God’s call for us....
May 27, 2017
This sermon describes Christ’s journey to Jerusalem. He journeyed to the cross with joy, not for death, but for the glory that would follow. He set out resolutely, not afraid of what He would face. Christ’s disciples also journeyed with Him, but they went with the spirit of pride, wrath, vengeance, and self-preservation. Christ went with the desire to be poured out for others, and with humility, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and love. As you are being called into ministries, be sure you do it in ...
May 20, 2017
Paul describes the role of the Gospel in one’s life to expose sin and wrong thinking. We are to come into the light and allow the Gospel to show us our imperfections and redeem how we define our own lives. The redeeming power of the Gospel reveals to us that we are now bondservants to Jesus. Our lives are common pots of clay, and it’s through the acceptance of this lowly position that the greatness of God is revealed. God shows who He is through those who are willing to be nothing. The challenge...
May 13, 2017
Paul writes to the church at Ephesus to preserve the unity between the Jews and the Gentiles. It is only the Gospel that brings unity between God and humans, as well as between humans. Paul describes the benefits of unity which include blessings and graces of the Holy Spirit, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. The work of God starts with, and continues, by faith. A necessary fruit of true saving faith is love for the saints. Love leads us to pray for one another, interceding for each other...
May 06, 2017
What is unity? It is the state of harmony and oneness, where we forsake our differences and abandon our prejudices in order to be friends. This type of unity must be worked for with effort. Jesus calls us to this unity with Himself, and with the body of Christ around us. He establishes the role of believers with Himself, describing our submission to Him where He is our Source, Leader, and Teacher. Submission to Christ is the groundwork, but we are also to submit to each other. We are by nature b...
May 01, 2017
Jesus’ resurrection shows us the power of redemption. His empty grave is an invitation to new life, but this new life comes at a cost. If we want to have fellowship with Christ in His glorification, we need to have fellowship with Him in the cross. We must come to terms with the cross in order to know the resurrection life. Will you accept these terms? Will you accept the cost? Only through death and suffering comes life—this is the Resurrection message. The empty grave shows Christ’s triumph—an...
Apr 21, 2017
The passage begins in the second year of Saul’s reign. The Philistines were oppressing the Israelites, so the Israelites waged war against them; however the Philistines came against them with a large army and surrounded them. Before the battle, Saul had made offerings to the Lord that only the high priest Samuel was suppose to offer. Samuel rebuked Saul for his disobedience, but Saul blamed others for his sin. He was unrepentant and refused to admit his own sin. He was not looking to God so he h...
Apr 15, 2017
The Israelites desired a king like all the other nations. From all outward appearances, Saul was the perfect choice for king. Samuel knew, though, that this would divert their eyes from looking to and depending on God, but the Israelites were resolved to have a king. Sometimes God frustrates us in His love by not giving us something we desire, and other times He gratifies us in His wrath by giving us what He knows is not best for us. In the passage here, God tells Samuel to give the people what ...
Apr 06, 2017
Jesus challenges the intent of the heart of the people He is speaking to. He addresses the expectations of their ideas of what the Kingdom of God is, as well as our vulnerability because good soil has to be soft to receive and take anything in. To hear the Gospel is to comprehend or understand. God grants the ability to hear to those who are willing. What you are expecting from the Kingdom of God affects how willing you are to be involved in the Kingdom. If you have any other intent than God Him...
Apr 01, 2017
The LORD was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind. Elisha joins Elijah when he goes up from Gilgal. Before leaving he tells Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha responds that he will not. The sons of the prophets at both Bethel and Jericho tell Elisha that Elijah was going to be taken away. They did not see the event in the sacred light as Elisha did. When Elijah asks Elisha again not to continue on with him he makes a very strong oath that he will not leave him. It is likely that he ...
Mar 25, 2017
Christians need to constantly examine themselves to determine where it is that they stand. Discipleship is for those who are willing to set themselves aside for the Kingdom of God. We must be willing to lay aside our lives for the Kingdom of God. We must not give ourselves to the goal of another kingdom. Often, the focus is on an earthly and secular kingdom. Many in the time of Christ saw in the promised Messiah the fulfillment of their own purposes. But Christ came to fulfill an inward and not ...
Mar 22, 2017
Much had taken place in the life of Joseph to bring him to this moment, much suffering, trial, hardship, and difficulty. Upon his command all of his servants leave and Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, and he wept aloud. This was the moment that all of his trials had brought him to, from the moment that his brothers had sold him into slavery 22 years before. Joseph’s brothers are silent before him. They fear that he will take revenge upon them. But Joseph had forgiven his brothers and...
Mar 19, 2017
In every generation God chooses specific people for a specific purpose. They are to arise and enter by faith into the work God has prepared them to do. The time of wandering in the desert was a time of preparation and now they are to cross over the Jordan. Joshua and the people were a testimony of Moses. God had used Moses to prepare Joshua and Caleb and now the people were to enter in. God promised that He would be with them. He had prepared them for this work. Step out in faith to what the Lor...
Mar 15, 2017
Israel was fading into spiritual darkness at this time. It was a time of moral darkness and rebellion. The word of the Lord was rare and there was no widespread revelation. The sons of Eli were corrupt and did not know the Lord. They looked at the priestly office as gain for themselves. Eli was very old and incapable of controlling his own sons. Samuel was young and immature, but he was sincere. Eli could barely physically and spiritually see anymore and the lamp of God was going out in the tabe...
Mar 13, 2017
Paul gave the right to his own life away when he came to Christ. He laid aside the temptations to advance in this life and he let go of the comforts of this world. Paul was willing to count the things of this world as loss for the sake of Christ. He knew he could trust God for all the provision he needed to fulfill the vision God had called him to. False teaching puts the focus of people on the earth and not upon God. Paul at one time had a comfortable idea of what his life was going to be like....
Mar 09, 2017
The response that Christ receives in each area of His ministry was dependent on the people’s response to His grace; it was dependent on faith. In Nazareth the people expected Him to do mighty works there simply because He was raised in their city. When Christ told them He would not do so they attempted to kill Him and throw Him over a cliff. In Capernaum the people responded by faith and Christ cast out demons and healed the sick. Luke then focuses on an individual’s response. Because of the cro...
Mar 06, 2017
Faith has been the source of every work of the Church. Faith grasps the promises of God and holds onto them. Faith is belief in God that forms the substance of our lives, which is produced through testing. If we endure on the path set before us we will have true and genuine faith through perseverance. One man with God is a majority. From one life of faith was born a multitude. This is true of men like Abraham who believed God for the impossible. Even when they did not receive what they hoped for...
Feb 27, 2017
The way of salvation is not closed to us. If we knock the door will be opened. God is willing to forgive all who come to Him. If a sinner comes the way God has shown we will be forgiven. God invites us to accept Him as the Lord of our lives. God simply knocks and gives us the power to respond to His knock by grace. He does not force us but we may resist His drawings. We could be regenerated, restored, and made new that we may love Him freely. If a person desires to enter where God is they must e...
Feb 22, 2017
This widow was faithful to God but still suffered oppression. The unjust judge had no sympathy for the woman. Day after day the widow haunted him. The woman was determined and persistent. She caused a great annoyance to come upon the judge. Men always ought to pray and not lose heart. When life doesn’t make sense we must remember this. Let us not be discouraged even if God takes a long time. Let us persevere. God will avenge. He will even the score and watch out for us. The elect are those who p...
Feb 20, 2017
