Eternal City Church Sunday Sermons

Eternal City Church Sunday Sermons

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Eternal City Church Sunday Sermons episodes

  • Psalm 1
    Is happiness possible, if so, how do we get there? This introduction to the book of Psalms starts out with "happy is the man who..." There is a massive claim here that if we were to do what Psalmist is advising we will be happy. Listen in to see what he has to say.
    Psalm 1
    Overview of Psalms
    The Psalms (or Psalter) are a compilation or anthology of Hebrew poetry that have traditionally been used in both Jewish and Protestant circles for singing. As poetry, this series will deal a lot with different literary techniques that the original authors used such as:
    Inclusios: Think of this as bookends where the same phrase or word is used at the beginning and the end of a Psalm or section
    Chiasms: Parallel statements where the central statement is the main point of the Psalmist. Example from Psalm 102:1-2 where line C is the main concern:
    A Hear my prayer o Lord
    B let my cry come to you
    C Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress
    B’ Incline your ear to me
    A’ answer me speedily in the day when I call
    Anthropomorphism/Zoomorphisms: Human or animal attributes or body parts are used to describe God such as the hands, feet, or ears of God or God covers as eagles’ wings.
    Parallelism: This is a literary device where the author uses different patterns to communicate the point. These can be repetition (19:1), completion (1:2), opposite (90:6), or climactic (93:3)
    The collection of Psalms has been edited to resemble the 5 books of the Torah (Gen-Deut) with the Psalms broken up into 5 separate books (1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150)
    Psalm 1 and 2 act as an introduction to the entire Psalter and introduce similar themes found in the OT: law and kingship, covenant promises, and Sinai and Zion
    Psalm 1
    The Psalm begins with climactic parallelism (walk, stand, sit) showing what happy people do not do. The righteous person’s connection with evil will be more and more strongly denied.
    The “way of sinners” in v1 is a metaphor where way refers to the course of life (character), the conduct of life (behaviors), and consequences of the conduct (destiny of the sinner’s lifestyle)
    The phrase “day and night” in v2 is hyperbole for continually meditating on God’s teaching. It is not meant to be taken literally where one’s entire day is spent in constant study
    The verb “planted” in v3 is better translated as transplanted where a plan is taken from a dry place and brought to a well-watered place to flourish. This is a divine passive verb showing God is the one taking the action
    There are twice as many words devoted to the actions of the righteous rather than the wicked. This would seem to indicate that the author’s focus is on the happy path for the righteous person. Any contrast with the wicked’s path is meant to reinforce the happiness found in righteousness.
    From vs1-2, where does someone find happiness? What is the source of happiness?
    54 min
  • Looking Forward
    Is it right for Christians to be ambitious for the expansion of God's kingdom and personal growth in godliness? Is it right for Christians to imagine themselves as "doing the Christian life" out of their own efforts and energies? How should we reconcile this apparent paradox of the Holy Spirit living through us, moving, and energizing us? Let's look forward together to 2021 with our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus.
    Looking Forward to 2021:
    Hope Definition: Biblical Hope- “The confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, the faithful will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.” Lexham Bible Dictionary
    How is Biblical hope foundationally different from the kind of hope the world possesses? What is the main difference?
    Philippians 3:12-16
    The word press in Philippians 3:12 “I press” means “to impel, to set in rapid motion, to hasten, to move rapidly and decisively toward an objective, hasten, run.”
    This word Paul uses clearly shows action, effort, energy, striving. Why do we sometimes get hung up on what is our part in progressing in the Christian life and what is God’s part?
    Paul grounds his action or effort in the gospel, we see this in verse 12b “because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
    Why is it important that we always remember the gospel when it comes to our works or our own efforts at doing good, or performing good works?
    The word “press” dioko shows up again in verse 14 in reference to “the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
    Why does Paul seem so concerned to strive to “attain the resurrection from the dead” (verse 11)?
    How would it benefit you to be “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (verse 13b) as Paul does in his walk with The Lord?
    Romans 15:20-25
    Paul speaks of his “ambitions” to take the gospel to “unreached people groups.” How is this a godly ambition as opposed to a selfish ambition? Is the word ambition a good word for Christians?
    Galatians 6:9-10
    Paul here encourages not “growing weary of doing good.” Faithful effort (planting) then of “reaping” if we do not give up.
    Why would Paul have to say “don’t grow weary” and “don’t give up” when seeking to “do good?”
    Why does Paul make “doing good” to the “household of faith” a priority over “everyone?”
    Of the three focus areas for E.C.C. in 2021: 1. A deeper relationship with God, 2. A deeper relationship with others in your church, and 3. To love and outreach to “outsiders,” which excites you most and why?
    46 min
  • Law and Advent
    As the writer to the Hebrews says: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. God graciously spoke to his people by giving them the law and speaking through prophets and finally, he has come to us in the person of Jesus. He has come with the good news that God is for us and not against us if we will but come to him through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
    Law and Advent
    Exodus 19-20
    Israel’s trip from Egypt to Sinai took around 50 days. Place yourself in the context of the Israelites and consider everything that had just happened (slavery, plagues, crossing the Red Sea, etc). What would you have been thinking as you traveled over those 7 weeks?
    What is the significance of God making a covenant with Israel? What does it reveal about God? What does it reveal about the people of God?
    The word translated as “treasured possession” has the idea of a king who has taken time to store and save his wealth
    Does the context of Exodus 19 being about worship change your perspective on the law, specifically the Ten Commandments?
    What are the descriptions God uses in 19:6 for Israel? What does this say about their purpose?
    God is expanding on who Israel is (a treasured possession) and what they are to be (representatives of God). They would be called to do this by keeping the law. How did Israel fail at their responsibility, and how does Jesus show Himself to be the true Israel as God’s representative?
    John 1
    During OT times, ancient people would seek to hear from their gods by interpreting stars or practicing some kind of divination. Since false gods did not speak, it required people to try to figure out if the gods were happy or angry with them.
    Because of this, it is even more important that God spoke in Exodus by giving the law. John expands this when he calls Jesus the Word. So, the greatest display of God speaking is actually through Jesus, not the law. Consider John 1:14 and Hebrews 1:1
    Read 1:14-17.
    How does Jesus’ coming show grace upon grace and grace and truth?
    Luke 2
    There are numerous theories about where Jesus was actually born since ancient Israel did not have “inns” as we typically think of them.
    Two prominent theories:
    Jesus was born in a cave where people used to keep animals
    Jesus was born in a lower level of a home while the family lived upstairs
    Both options are feasible and fit the historical context. One textual item to consider is that the word in 2:7 translated as “guest room” in the ESV is the same word in Luke 22:11 when Jesus tells the disciples to ask about a place for the Passover. Add the textual evidence along with the fact that it would have been improper to allow Joseph and his pregnant wife to sleep in a cave when he had family available, it seems best to think that Jesus was born in the lower level of a home.
    Compare the response of Israel in Ex 20:18 with the shepherds in 2:9. Why did they respond this way?
    Contrast the Israelites fear of death with the angel’s words in 2:10-12. See also Jn 10:10
    35 min
  • Miraculous Birth
    Many in our culture are divided on the question of the supernatural: for some, there is no such thing; material reality is all that exists; for others, there is almost an over realization of the supernatural. The bible gives us clarity and insight into this question, especially when God intervenes to fix what was marred by the fall in Genesis 3. God shows up time after time to bring life out of death.
    What is Biblical Theology?
    Definition:
    Nick Roark: Biblical Theology:
    “Biblical Theology is an approach to reading the whole story of the Bible while keeping our focus on the main point of Scripture, Jesus Christ. In other words, biblical theology is the scriptural road map that leads us to Jesus…Biblical Theology is a way of reading the Bible as one story by one divine author that culminates in who Jesus Christ is and what he has done so that every part of scripture is understood in relation to him.”
    Miraculous birth through the scriptures:
    Sarai or Sarah
    Genesis 11:30 plainly says “Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
    God promises to Abraham that he will overcome her barrenness and Sarah will have a son by a miracle, see Genesis 18:9-15.
    Questions to consider:
    How Does Genesis 19:14 encourage you?
    How do some people take a verse like this and use it out of context?
    Notice a similar pattern with all these women: God must miraculously intervene to cause childbirth pointing to THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH:
    Rebekah
    Genesis 25:21 implies Rebekah was barren.
    Rachel
    Genesis 29:31 plainly says “ Rachel was barren.”
    Hannah
    1 Samuel 1:5 amazingly says “the Lord had closed her womb.”
    Elizabeth
    Luke 1:7 plainly says “Elizabeth was barren.”
    Mary
    Luke 1:34 Marry says “How will this be, since I am a virgin?
    Questions to consider:
    Why do you think God allows childlessness through the curse of Genesis 3 (brokenness of the world), or to directly intervene in the lives of Sarah through Elizabeth to produce childlessness?
    How do the miraculous births of all these children point forward to the miraculous birth of all God’s new covenant children?
    How do these miraculous births encourage you to look forward to the miraculous rebirth of the entire cosmos (Romans 8:18-25).
    53 min
  • Theology Applied #2 w/Timothy Brindle

    In this episode, Pastor Chris Moran and hip-hopper, theologian, author, and preacher Timothy Brindle continue exploring Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutics through the historical account of the Old Testament prophet Jonah. As Jesus points to Jonah's experience as a sign of His own impending death, burial and resurrection, we see how Jesus and His gospel are everywhere in Scripture.

    57 min
  • Immanuel: God With Us
    God coming to earth has always been a great and terrible reality. If God is other than us in terms of being and morality and, if God is the source of all light and life then we should expect his coming to be very extraordinary! But, to our surprise, God came humbly and lowly able to be disrespected, disbelieved, and discredited. Yet, God fulfilled all his promises made from centuries past, centralized in Jesus.
    Discussion Guide:
    Background:
    Mathew’s gospel emphasizes the kingship of Jesus, with many references to the Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled.
    Matthew seems to be focusing on a mostly Jewish audience. This is evidenced by his many references to the Old Testament and his opening tracing Jesus’ lineage back to Abraham.
    Gematria is a process by which Hebrew letters correspond with their rank in the Hebrew alphabet.
    In Hebrew, the name David consists of three characters. When added numerically these characters add up to fourteen, this corresponds with fourteen generations before and after the Babylonian captivity in Jesus’ genealogy.
    Observations:
    Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus has many individuals with serious moral failures and others who are unlikely characters:
    Rahab and Ruth are non-Israelites, not included in God’s covenant people by birth.
    Tamar and Bathsheba (identified as Uriah’s wife) all were violated sexually by men in the Old Testament.
    King Solomon took many foreign wives and concubines, King David committed sexual sin against Bathsheba, King Uzziah made unauthorized sacrifices in God’s temple.
    King Rehoboam ruled harshly over God’s people causing a civil war that split God’s people into two separate kingdoms.
    The term Immanuel is a reference to the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14
    The time between God’s promise to David and the birth of Jesus is roughly 1000 years.
    Questions:
    Why do you think God included many failures and unlikely characters in the lineage of Jesus?
    Why do you think God has to constantly remind people in the Old Testament not to be afraid?
    How does God being with us help us deal with things that make us afraid?
    God’s promise to David was fulfilled 1000 years later with the birth of Jesus. What does this tell us about God’s timing? God’s faithfulness?
    Read Psalm 23, which part of this Psalm is most appealing to you? Why?
    Would you be satisfied in a form of heaven or paradise if God were not there? Why or why not?
    45 min
  • Theology Applied #1 w/Timothy Brindle

    In our first episode, Pastor Chris Moran and hip-hopper, theologian, author, and preacher Timothy Brindle discuss Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutics. This method of reading and interpreting the Bible as one unified, coherent story of God's progressive unfolding of His plan to redeem mankind through His Son, enables us to see Jesus in all of Scripture, and arrive at appropriate, Christ-centered applications of Scripture in our modern context.

    59 min
  • Kingship Fulfilled In Jesus
    Our first parents Adam and Eve were given dominion and stewardship of all that God had made on earth. We sadly gave up this dominion and rulership when we allowed the serpent to rule over us instead of us ruling over him, discerning truth from lies. Immediately after this event, God in his grace makes a promise that he will eventually bruise or crush the serpent's head and restore our dominion. He will take back the rightful rulership of not just the earth but of all things. This happened through the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
    Kingship Fulfilled in Jesus:
    How does Genesis 1:26-28 show that rulership or ruling authority (King/Queen) is given to mankind?
    How does Genesis 3:1-7 show that instead of exercising dominion as God commanded, Adam and Eve, rather, gave up this great responsibility?
    How does Genesis 3:15 show that God will redeem mankind’s disobedience?
    How does Genesis chapters 4-12 show God’s continued fulfilling of the promise to the serpent that the seed of the woman “shall bruise your [serpent’s] head, and you [serpent] shall bruise his heel”
    What is the significance of Jacob’s prophecy to Judah about his “Descendant” in regards to the coming of Jesus into the world (Genesis 49:10)?
    David is the first of the kings (from Judah’s seed) in a long line of kings who continually fail to rule over God’s people with perfect wisdom, justice, and equity, themselves not being morally perfect and just.
    How do the continued failures of a long line of Kings from Judah’s descendants give us hope?
    Do you find this evidence compelling or do you think the longer ending is correct? Why?
    What future hope does Isaiah 11:1-5 give us in terms of the kind of kingdom this coming King will establish?
    Notice the description that Gabriel the angel gives to Mary as he announces to her she will birth this promised king: Luke 1:26-27 & 31-33, clearly this is no mere earthly ruler, how do we know this?
    John tells us in 1 John 3:8 that Jesus came to destroy Satan’s work. How does Jesus (by his bearing the curse on the cross) destroy Satan’s work in connection with Genesis 3
    Application Questions:
    How does it encourage you to realize that God fulfills his promises over long periods of time, or to say it another way God is not in a hurry to fulfill His promises?
    How can you be practically encouraged to keep faithfully serving the King while we experience opposition to his reign, even from within?
    47 min
  • Mark 16:9-20
    We as Christians should rejoice in that the modern English Bible translations we know and love are a very reliable source of truth for any who wants to pick up and read. In this message, Peter Rew explains with great clarity why this last section of the book of Mark is not authoritative Scripture. Listen along and learn about textual criticism and some manuscript apologetics. You'll be thankful you did!
    Mark 16:9-20 (ESV)
    Textual Criticism
    Definition: the art and science of establishing the true form of a literary work
    Prior to this Sunday, how much had you been exposed to textual criticism? Does anything stand out about the process that you found surprising?
    Why do you think other ancient texts don’t have similar numbers of evidence supporting them when compared to the Bible?
    The Ending of Mark
    The external evidence (manuscripts) and internal evidence (vocabulary, themes, transition) do not support the longer ending of Mark
    Do you find this evidence compelling or do you think the longer ending is correct? Why?
    Amazement is a common theme in Mark (1:22; 27; 2:12; 4:41; 5:15; 42; 9:6; 10:24; 11:18; 15:5; 16:5)
    Throughout the study in Mark, how has Jesus amazed you? What has stood out about Him that perhaps you never saw before or never saw as clearly?
    Questions:
    How does your response to the gospel compare with the response the women had at the resurrection? Should we expect an emotional response to the gospel?
    How can you be encouraged to have a fresh, renewed response to the gospel? Consider sharing that with others so they can encourage and pray for you.
    56 min
  • Mark 16:1-11
    The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most attested facts of history. Though many try to deny this reality, there are too many historical proofs and current realities that make it impossible to refute. We understand why this is so contested, if Jesus is truly resurrected and alive, then his claims are vindicated and all humanity is accountable to him. For Christians, this truth gives great hope and encouragement for a future re-creation and future resurrection, not only of the Christian's body but the universe as a whole (Romans 8:18-24).
    Mark 16:1-11 (ESV)
    Jesus is Raised from the Dead
    Based on the phrase, “when the Sabbath was over,” it is clear the women had observed the Sabbath rest as was customary. Shops would reopen at 6 PM Saturday night which would allow the women to purchase the spices they were planning to use.
    Anointing was used on dead bodies in order to prevent the corpse from smelling as it decayed
    Based on the details from the text in Mark 15 and 16, Jesus died and was buried on Friday before 6 PM and was raised on Sunday morning.
    Consider the irony in the details that Jesus was “at rest” the day of the Sabbath. The levels of connection between Jesus’ death and resurrection with creation (God resting on the 7th day) and OT law (Sabbath rest) is not an accident but showcases how God has intricately pieced together His word to withstand the toughest of critics.
    Despite Jesus’ prior words that He would rise again (Mark 8:31), the women, or the disciples for that matter, believe His words; otherwise, they would not have been going to anoint His body.
    Mark’s repeated reference to the stone as well as its description as a “very large” stone is there to highlight the supernatural presence of God in the resurrection and the removal of the stone.
    The phrase “had been rolled away” is a divine passive. We have seen Mark use these types of verbs throughout the gospel as He wants to emphasize that God is the one performing the action.
    The “young man” in v5 is an angel. The word literally means “messenger,” as angels are used to proclaiming some truth about God (Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ resurrection, etc).
    The women’s response of amazement in v5 emphasizes that the women were in the presence of a supernatural being
    The phrase “He has risen” is another divine passive. God has raised Jesus from the dead and in so doing has vindicated Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sin and only one able to conquer death. So, at the beginning (1:11), middle (9:7), and end (16:6), God makes a declaration concerning Jesus, the Son He loves. See Romans 1:4 as well.
    The angel makes it clear that the women should tell the disciples and Peter. It is such incredible mercy that the man who betrayed Jesus just a few days before is to be specifically called to hear the gospel of Jesus’ resurrection. How is this same mercy evident in your life?
    Jesus going to Galilee fulfills His words from Mark 14:27-28
    The ending of Mark is disputed among Bible scholars. Some take the position that Mark ends at v8 while others believe it extends to v20. This will be reviewed in-depth in next week’s sermon.
    Questions
    What strikes you about the fact that in the most significant actions, creation and salvation, God and Jesus rest? Is this expected or unexpected? How does still align with your physical and spiritual rest?
    Why is significant that women were the first to see the empty tomb and share the angel’s message?
    40 min

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