Burnt Hickory | Sermons

We continue on in the book of Luke as we discover more wisdom from the master in scripture. This week, we learn that our obedience is a response, that we keep God’s statutes and laws as a response of gratefulness to the grace that God has given us. We also see some indicators of grace in the lives of believers are uncontrollable passion for Jesus, radical acceptance of others, and tremendous generosity. As we look at the story of the sinful woman saved, the question is – when was the last time you wept over your grace covered sin and salvation? Great love flows from great forgiveness and our lives should reflect the great grace of the Father.

As we begin a new sermon series in the book of Luke, we look at the practical teachings of Jesus as wisdom from the master. Looking at Luke chapter 6, we see Jesus’ teaching on the fruit of the spirit, and we see what distinguishes a self-deceived religious person from a true follower of the master. They don’t bear good fruit, they don’t do what Jesus says, and their faith falls apart in the storms of life. Some of the main areas we see when we aren’t bearing fruit in our lives is in our relationships, finances, career, dreams, bible reading, and prayer. The key takeaway is found in the promise of God that when we fully embrace Jesus with our lives, He will keep us standing, even in the storms.

Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials because the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Sounds great, but why is it that God allows trials in our lives and doesn’t respond or remove them? That’s what Pastor Marty helps us consider today as we look through scripture. Having a right understanding of trials is the beginning of understanding why bad things happen to us. When we are tested, God first shows us His love, faithfulness, and power. Then God tests us to see the genuineness of our faith, and they are always about what we believe about God and how much we believe it. As we are tested and tried, we can understand that trials are necessary and bring grief. But they are also short and in turn, they make our faith genuine. A faith that is worth more than gold and brings glory and honor to God.

This week, we focus on building stronger relationships at Burnt Hickory with our special guest speaker Shawn Stoever. Just like being on an adventurous hike, in life we have to have a guide, we choose our partners for the journey, and we will find beauty on the way. In relationships, the world’s way is the wrong path leading to the need to control others, selfishness and pride, and being influenced by culture. Takin the wrong path leads to taking life too seriously, emptiness and exhaustion. We see in scripture that God’s way and His paths lead to listening and understanding, enjoyment of life, and intimate connections. When we follow God’s plan, we show selflessness and humility, we walk in truth, and we learn to give and share. God’s plan is really so much better than the worlds way in building our relationships.

Special Guest: Shawn Stoever.

This week in our sermon series Moving Forward, we’re looking at what it takes to read and understand the bible correctly. As a Christian, we read the bible, but we also must learn to love and study the bible too. We always need to answer the question of what does a passage say to its original audience and then ask what is the difference between the original audience and me. As we study, we learn to see the theological principles in the text and how the text fits in with the rest of the bible.

As we continue our sermon series Moving Forward, we focus on how personal and corporate prayer are a vital part of momentum in our lives as Christians. As we follow Jesus, the first thing we should do is pray, but usually it’s the last thing we think about. We see in Acts that the early church took prayer very seriously. They prayed regularly and with honesty. They prayed with balance but also specifically for needs. And we see that their prayer got results. Don’t know where to begin, just follow Jesus’ example in Matthew 6:9-13. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”

As we continue to move forward, we look again to Joshua in scripture and the story of the city of Jericho. We learn that resistance to God’s word is a big deal, way bigger that we think, and that not fully submitting to God has serious consequences. Partial submission gives us a false sense of security and keeps the focus on us and not God. When we fully submit to God, it positions God in his rightful place, and produces greater intimacy with God.

We begin our new sermon series Moving Forward, by looking at Joshua and the Israelites journey crossing over the Jordan river. God wants us to move forward on our journey, and we need to stand behind God and seek his holiness. We see in scripture that holiness always precedes God’s movement, and we have to be in continual pursuit of living set apart to accomplish what God has set before us. We also look forward to where God is taking us here at Burnt Hickory as we prepare, plan, and build for the future.

We explore the scriptures today as we look at what matters to God, and why it should matter to us. Pastor Chip shows us that often we try to make God about us and not about Himself, and when we do that, we don’t understand His character fully. We matter to God, and because of that, we need to stay faithful and act like we have been set free through Christ. We need to understand that we’re not a commodity, but a treasure for God, and our lives should reflect that we are loved.

Pastor Alan shares some characteristics of a church in deep water, not being in trouble, but following God’s commands to go deeper in following Him and fishing for men in a lost world. We see in scripture – Luke 5:1-11; that we need to have deep water experiences in our faith, and we need to have them more often. The greatest catch in the disciples’ careers ended in them abandoning everything and following Jesus. In the same manner, we need to abandon everything and follow Christ into deep waters.