January 1, 2017 | 1 John 2:7-17 |
Are you one of the 45% of Americans who make New Year’s Resolutions each year? Check out our New Year’s Day sermon for 2017 to learn how to view resolutions from an eternal perspective.
Sermons
Resolved
Our New Years sermon for 2017
Christmas Eve
Our Christmas Eve service
The Sign of Christmas
December 24, 2016 | Luke 2:1-20 |
“This shall be a sign to you”…
Why was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes a sign of Christmas?
Christmas at the Movies
Don’t you just love all of the wonderful Christmas classic movies? These are some of the more enjoyable things about the Christmas season. For many families these movies are must-sees throughout the holidays. Many of these classics bring us back to our childhood and give us reason to pile in the living room with our families and enjoy the season. In this series we will pull a few of these Christmas classics and show how their redemptive themes point to the larger Christmas meaning. As we look at Elf, Scrooge, and Grinch we will see how the themes in these movies point to the salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
December 18, 2016 | Matthew 2:1-13 |
We all know this Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! This children’s book was written in 1957 by Dr. Seuss. In 1966, an animated Christmas cartoon was released based on the story, and in 2000 a Ron Howard Film, starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch was released. But did you know that there really was a “Grinch” who tried to steal Christmas? His name was… King Herod.
A Christmas Carol
December 11, 2016 | John 3:16-18 |
Several movies and plays have been based on Charles Dickens’ book, which was first published in London in 1843. The most recent movie version was by Disney featuring the voice-over of Jim Carrey. We learn in this movie that Scrooge doesn’t know how to “keep” Christmas until several spirits visit him and bring about a change of heart. But does the book and movie miss what it means to keep Christmas?
Elf
December 4, 2016 | Isaiah 9:1-7 |
Elf is a classic because of the redemptive Christmas themes found in its story. Themes like: a baby boy that gets adopted, an otherworldly young man whose love and innocence cause him not to fit it anywhere, and a man named Walter who is on the “naughty list” and rejects his son. In the movie, Walter’s priorities are upside down, he puts his job and position ahead of his wife and kids, and he is angry and miserable. The story is really about Walter’s redemption by accepting his son.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of a Son that would be given to humanity that would be the Messiah bringing light to a sin-darkened world and establishing an eternal kingdom of peace in a world filled with chaos and brokenness. We can recognize and receive Jesus as this Son that was given to us to bring us out of darkness and into His kingdom of peace and light.
Exiles
Do you ever feel like an exile? Like you just don’t fit into this old world? How should we live as Christians when the dominant cultural and political forces are at odds with our faith? In this 3-part series, we're going verse by verse through 1 Peter 1-2 to see how Peter instructed the church in what is now modern day Turkey could live as exiles in this world.
Living in Harmony
November 27, 2016 | 1 Peter 2:4-17 |
It can be hard to find a way to live in harmony with the culture around you. Do you feel that it is difficult to be a believer in your workplace, when your with friends or even at home? Do you sense this tension between being an authentic Christian and getting along with others in certain sectors of your life?
In Peter’s first letter to believers in Asia Minor, he tells them that they can live in harmony as exiles in their world by truly becoming God’s people. We too can live in harmony with our world by living as His people.
Living in Holiness
November 20, 2016 | 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 |
In Peter’s first letter to believers in Asia Minor, he tells them that they can live in holiness as exiles in their world as God’s chosen people. In this message, we learn some practical advice Peter gives us to live as a people set apart, or holy.
Living in Hope
November 13, 2016 | 1 Peter 1:1-12 |
Full Transcript Available
How should we live as Christians when the dominant cultural and political forces are at odds with our faith? The apostle Peter’s first letter says that we should live as exiles. In fact, he refers to the first century Christians as exiles three times in his letter. So, over the next three weeks we’re going to look at those three instances. In Peter’s first letter, he told believers who were living as exiles in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) that they could live with great hope in Jesus Christ. We too are living as exiles in a hopeless world and can experience a life of hope through Jesus Christ.
Stand Firm: An Exposition of 2 Thessalonians
In this series, we are going verse by verse through the book of 2 Thessalonians to see how we can stand firm until Christ's return.
Stand Firm…In God’s Work
November 6, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 |
Work. Many of us consider work something we have to do in order to pay for the things we really want to have and to buy the time to do the things we really want to do. Americans have made play a higher goal than work. But that’s a low view of work. It diminishes it to an activity that we have to put up with, rather than a fulfilling and meaningful purpose for living. We place such a high value on entertainment and recreation that it has become a kind of idolatry. We celebrate idleness over work. We have made an idol of idleness!
God has a much higher view of work. As Jesus said, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17). As soon as God made man, He gave him a job to do. And He has a job, a purpose for your life too! In the apostle Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he told them to stand firm in doing the work to which God had called them. We can stand firm in the work that God has given us to do.
Stand Firm…In God’s Word
October 30, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 2:13 - 3:5 |
We can be confident and not easily deceived or shaken if we are rooted in the Word of God. We can be confident in our salvation, and then get a firm grip on sound biblical teaching in order to pass the baton of the Gospel on.