At our Christmas Eve service we let the prophet Isaiah stir our anticipation for and joy in the coming of Christ our Savior. Listen as Pastor Dan and Pastor Brett share exhortations flowing from Isaiah's writings in the hope, faith, joy, and peace of Christ.
According to one source, there have been 117 billion people that have ever lived. There are about 8 billion people currently on the planet. Thinking of all those people, we can feel small and alone. Add in the isolating effects of suffering, and it gets worse. Yet God became one of the 117 billion that we would know our lament is not the last word. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Lamentations 5 for more.
"Which way ought I go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." "I don't much care where." "Then it doesn't matter which way you go." This exchange from "Alice in Wonderland" is worthwhile to consider in our pursuit of following Christ in all of life. If you don't care where you go, you'll never get there. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.
As a young British officer, George Washington addressed the officers under his charge, "Remember that it is the actions, and not the commission, that make the officer, and that there is more expected from him, than the title." Much of the pain in our lives that we lament is the result of our leaders who failed to heed that counsel. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Lamentations 4 for more.
During this time of the year, we can place high expectations on all the things we want to do and get done. However, if we go about all of those good things in such a rigid, graceless fashion, we do them in vain. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation and consider that you might be a Pharisee if ... .
Reading good books draws you into the story and heightens the tension as we experience the drama of the main characters. Sometimes it can get intense for us as readers, leading us to ask, "Why does the dramatic part have to last so long?!" In the Greatest Story God is writing, this is the question we ask in lament. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.
So many of our memories of Christmas are from childhood, and so much of our focus on the Christmas story is on the infant Christ. Yet we overlook the intervening years. Imagine all those years as a boy growing up, living obediently to the Father in the repetitive small things. We too must live obediently in the small things. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.
You see a friend on a Sunday who clearly looks burdened by sorrow. He's a father of six whose infant daughter died five years ago and wife died two years ago. Now, his oldest son may be paralyzed from a combat injury. What do you say to him? How is this happiest time of year when there is still so much sorrow? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon as we learn to lament this Advent.
The cultural phenomenon of "preppers" is grounded in a desire for self-sufficiency. Such a motivation stands in opposition to the biblical call to love God and love neighbor. It is for this two-fold summons that Paul commends the Thessalonians, and thus holds out to us that we might abound in faith and love. Listen to Pastor Dan's exhortation for more.
There are those days that you readily remember with vivid detail—the special days where it is easy to rejoice. But not all days are like that, and it is a battle to press into the deep-seated, enduring hope of the promises of God. 1 Peter 4:12-19 offers five exhortations to help us rejoice in suffering. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.
What do you think of when you consider Jesus' commendation of children? Odds are it is a passive posture. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation to take an active, humble posture that continues to ask questions of God, lest we think we've learned it all.
We are not in a financial position where we are desperate for year-end gifts to meet our expenses, but we are looking ahead to 2022 and beyond and asking the Lord to bless us that his way may be known on earth (cf. Psalm 67).
Before a child tries cake for the first time, you can pull out the most decadent cake and she will think nothing of it. But after having had a bite? "Give it to me!" Psalm 34:8 exhorts us to taste and see the Lord is good. Have you tried cake? Revive your yearning for the goodness of the Lord by fasting from good gifts. Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.
Often, a helpful framework to advance a discussion among a group is to distinguish between principles and practices. Where are there differences between fundamental principles verses the outworking in practices? When looking at 1 Peter 4:7-11, it is helpful to clarify the fundamental principles of coming judgment, implications for living as Christians, and the certainly of the glory of Christ. Listen to Pastor Haakon's sermon for more.
Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor from the 20th century, brought attention to the persecuted church through his own sufferings and writings. He said, "A faith that can be destroyed by suffering is not faith." How do we prepare ourselves to suffer well so our faith is not destroyed? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 4:1-6 for more.
As the end of the year slowly comes into sight, we begin to think about the finances God has entrusted to us. From purchasing gifts and special meals, we must take into consideration two ditches we can fall into as it relates to money. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.
If you have a solid, reliable move to juke around your opponent on the soccer pitch, stick with it. Having only one move can do the trick. Yet beware of sin's one move: deceit. When you give yourself to sin, what lie are you believing? Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation for more.
Why did God save *me*? It's a question that can intellectually challenging and emotionally straining. Why has God blessed me as he has? It's a question that comes to the same answer as the first: that God might be known on earth. Listen to Dr. Paul Akin, Dean of the School of Missions at Southern Seminary, expound on Psalm 67.
Light pollution obscures the natural wonder of a clear night sky that exists to declare to declare the glory of God. Nearly any idolatry or sin can be traced back to a failure to honor God as the one who is the Creator of this splendor. Listen to Brian Wiseman's exhortation for more.
Facebook says social media and "faith communities" are both fundamentally about connection. Really? Is it? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 3:18-22 where Peter makes the connection between what we are fundamentally about and our call to suffer for doing good.
Winston Churchill famously summoned his countrymen to a firm resolve in the harrowing days of the Battle of Britain. While our struggle to press on in the Christian life may not always be as visibly threatening, it is nonetheless far more perilous. Listen to Pastor Jason Harrison, from Redeemer Bible Church, call us to stand firm in the Lord.
Early morning meetings and commitments that go late into the evening can eat away at the margins of our day. And when multiple days in a row are like that, it can be increasingly challenging to make room for Bible reading and prayer. And yet that is the very thing we need—we need to make time to get alone with God. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.
Country music and Christians sometimes can share something in common: a love for nostalgia. There can be the sense of loving how things used to be, when instead we need to look ahead to how they could be. We do that by playing more offense. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.
Christians limp along in this fallen world due to sin and suffering, yet we do so in the hope of a holy Christ. Listen to Jonathon Woodyard, Dean of Admissions at Bethlehem College & Seminary, show from 1 Peter 3:13-17 how Jesus is on our side in the midst of trouble.
Benjamin Franklin notably made an earnest effort at self-improvement by compiling a list of thirteen virtues, keeping tabs each day on how well he lived them out. When we come across a list of virtues or exhortations on how to live, we don't follow Franklin's example. Rather, we make grace-driven effort to apply the gospel by faith to our lives. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 3:8-12 for more.
When a teacher calls on students to pull a piece of paper out for a pop quiz, a common question is, "Will this count for our final grade?" Yes, it all counts. How much more so is it true in the Christian life? Every day, every moment, has an impact on eternity. Listen to Pastor Dan's exhortation for more.
What might camping up north and prayer have in common? Proper expectations are needed for both. Lots of variables come into play when camping, especially with kids. Properly calibrated expectations help the trip go well. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for what expectations we ought to bring to prayer.
There's a Latin phrase that has been said to capture the essence of the Christian life: coram Deo. It means to live as though you are in the presence of God. Live knowing God sees. When it comes to our roles and responsibilities within marriage, we carry them out coram Deo. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 3:1-7 for more.
When the fog won't lift and the joy of the Lord you once knew seems distant, where do you turn? It is for those hard times that we must treasure the Word in the good times. Listen to Pastor Dan's exhort us as an outflow of his months of hardship.
What motivates you to do something you don't really want to do? Reward? Removal of consequences? Internal drive to be the best? Guilt? As Peter makes his second application to how Christians ought to relate to authority, he gives a strong, two-fold motivator by pointing to our calling and Christ's example. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.
