Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — We, along with Jesus, are living stones that God is using to build his temple, the people in whom he lives. We are also God's priests in his temple, representing God to people and people to God. In these roles, we must live holy lives, and through our living as priests we may have opportunities to lead unbelievers to bring glory to God. Text: 1 Peter 2:4-12

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — The joy we have in Christ is one of the great keys to witnessing effectively for Jesus in an often-unbelieving world. Peter calls the early church, suffering through trials that frequently stemmed from their status as a suspect or despised minority in the Roman Empire, to hold onto their joy and to live holy lives as they live as foreigners and exiles in this world.  Text: 1 Peter 1:1 to 2:3

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — The goal of Christian evangelistic ministry, as Paul expresses it, is not to dominate others or to create a Christian-dominant culture. It is to persuade others about Jesus, that he died for us all so that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us and was raised from the dead. In order to persuade others—and to be excellent witnesses for Jesus—we need to have the proper motives, mindset, ministry, and message, which Paul describes in this passage.  Text: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — As we live as witnesses for Jesus, our speech and conduct must be always full of prayer and grace. Paul urges the church to pray all the time, including for his ministry, even while he's a prisoner—for we are witnesses for Jesus all the time, in every situation. Then he calls the believers to conduct themselves wisely among outsiders, and to always let their conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt. Wise conduct and gracious speech, built on the foundation of prayer, lets us present the message of Jesus in ways that nonbelievers can receive, opening them to the love, hope, and mystery of Christ. Text: Colossians 4:2-6

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Incarnational ministry is taking on some of the identity of the people we want to reach for God in order to make it as easy as possible for them to receive our message about Jesus. It's modeled after what Jesus did for us when he stepped out of heavenly glory, took on human form, became the Son of God in human form (God incarnate), and lived among human beings in order to bring people to God. In this lesson we talk about how to reach out to others through incarnational ministry like Jesus did, and like Paul did as he ministered among both Jews and Gentiles. Text: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — When believers in the young church in Corinth argued over which great Christian leader they followed (Paul, Apollos, Peter, Christ), Paul reminded them how he and Apollos  had ministered to that church: Paul planted the seed of the gospel there and Apollos watered it—but God made it grow. Paul and Apollos, in their common work for the good of the church, always pointed the church not to themselves but to God. If we will do the same, our humility and devotion to Christ will add to our credibility as witnesses for our Lord. Text: 1 Corinthians 3

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — In his Great Commission, Jesus commanded his followers to go and make disciples of all nations—yet for a while, they stayed together in Jerusalem and did not go. But when persecution arose there, God used that terrible event to send Christians out into the world, and as a result the gospel message has spread around the world and to us today. We too are called to go—perhaps to go far or perhaps to go near, but always to share the message of Jesus with others. Text: Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 7:59 to 8:40

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — In this new series on letting our light shine to others, we begin to explore biblical tips and techniques for being excellent witnesses for Jesus, drawing others to faith in him. We start with Jesus' own instruction: let your light shine before others by doing good deeds that they will see and respond to by glorifying our Father in heaven. This is what the early church did, especially during the terrible epidemics that hit the Roman Empire in the 100s and 200s. Text: Matthew 5:13-16

Sunday Sermon by Walt Ranta — Persevering through trials, listening more than speaking, doing what God's Word says, loving your neighbor—James calls us to these actions as he reminds us how to live for God. His instructions give us good guidance for the new year, just as they were good guidance for the very early church. Text: selections from James

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — Was there anything better in the story of Jesus' birth than the glorious appearances of the angels? As wonderful as they were, yes, there was one thing even more glorious: the birth of the Son of God himself. Jesus is superior even to the angels, and in all the distractions of life we do well to keep our focus on him. Texts: Luke 2:1-20, Hebrews 1, and other selections