Evolution on SermonAudio

The sermon explores the transformative power of the gospel through three movements: fear that persuades, love that controls, and sight that changes. It emphasizes that the reverent dread of Christ's judgment drives believers to earnestly persuade others, while the controlling love of Christ, demonstrated by His death for all, reorients life away from self-centeredness. The text highlights that salvation results in a new creation rather than mere reform, fundamentally altering how one perceives oneself and others. Ultimately, the message asserts that genuine faith is evidenced by a life no longer lived for oneself but for Him who died and rose again.

If you have God's Word… turn with me this morning to Genesis 1. And we're gonna to begin our message…exactly where the Bible begins. We're gonna begin with verse 1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1 HCSB) You know…there are some questions… that almost everybody asks… at some point in life. • Where did I come from? • Why am I here? • Does my life have a purpose? • Is there really a God? • What happens when I die? And folks… those are some big questions. But the way you answer those questions… depends largely on… how you answer another question: How did all of this get here? Where did everything we see come from?

The serpent asked the woman a question he already knew the answer to. Her answer is quite shocking, and it reveals exactly what he had been watching for. Where did the attack on the Word of God begin, and has it changed since? Was the fall a trick played on the man, or was it unbelief? And when the LORD God called the man to account, did he confess his sin? The text answers every one, verse by verse.

The sermon emphasizes the precious nature of time as a divine gift, urging believers to spend it wisely in light of mortality and eternity. Drawing from the creation narrative and the story of King Hezekiah, the message highlights how God ordains our days and calls us to prioritize spiritual disciplines like prayer and obedience. It contrasts worldly distractions with the eternal value of loving God and neighbor, framing daily choices as part of a spiritual battle against distraction. The preacher encourages the congregation to adopt the full armor of God and fulfill the Great Commission by actively engaging in discipleship. Ultimately, the central theme is that time is well spent only when dedicated to glorifying God and serving others according to His will.

All men live by faith, whether it is faith in the purity of the water we drink or the food that we order at a restaurant. We have faith in the financial institutions. Every day we exercise faith. But for the child of God, spiritual faith is different in that it is supernatural in origin. God is the source of our faith, and living by faith is the key for enduring to the end. Hebrews 11 is often called the "Saint's Hall of Fame" or the "Faith Chapter." I prefer to think of it as the "Roll Call of the Great Cloud of Witnesses" of Hebrews 12:1. In practical terms what is faith, and then what is the outcome of faith. Faith is the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith imparts certainty, reality to what is invisible. Faith is living in a hope that is so real that it gives absolute assurance. It is living as if the promises of God are present tense, not future. True faith forms the foundation, the basis for life itself! And those who live by faith please God, and receive a good testimony or report card. To please God we must first of all believe that He exists, and then secondly that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. The "great cloud of witnesses" recorded in Hebrews 11 are examples of those who have obtained a good testimony that they pleased God. The just shall live by his faith!

God has revealed himself in nature as creator, and in Scripture more fully and wonderfully. We see in Psalm 19 God's glory in the skies, in Scripture, and in salvation.

The Lord is the Sovereign King over all creation. 1. He has absolute authority. 2. He is supremely powerful. 3. He does wondrous works. 4. He sets Christ as King.

In this sermon from Exodus 20, Dylan Joyner examines the Second Commandment and explains how the one true God is to be rightly worshiped. While the First Commandment teaches that we must have no other gods, the Second Commandment addresses how God Himself must be worshiped—not according to human imagination, creativity, or preference, but according to what He has commanded in His Word. The sermon explains that God forbids His people from using idols, images, or created things to represent Him in worship. Because God is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, nothing in creation can adequately portray who He is. Any attempt to depict God necessarily falls short of His true glory and character. Dylan also explains how the Second Commandment provides the moral foundation for the regulative principle of worship: Christians are called to receive, observe, and preserve the worship and ordinances that God has appointed in Scripture, while rejecting forms of worship that He has not commanded. The sermon also addresses the use of images of Jesus, arguing that because Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man in one person, images of Christ cannot be separated from His divine identity. Instead of knowing God through images, believers are called to know Him through His Word and through Jesus Christ, the true image of the invisible God. Ultimately, the Second Commandment exposes the idolatry of the human heart and drives us to the gospel. Through Christ's perfect life, death, resurrection, and righteousness, believers are enabled to turn from false worship, love God more fully, and worship Him according to His Word.

The Bible records many times that two or three witnesses must agree on a certain point before it is said to be true. Some of these are: Deuteronomy 17:6, 19;15, Matthew 18:16, 18:19-20, II Corinthians 13:1 and I Timothy 5;19. The Bible gives three undeniable proofs of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 1. The enemies of God. 2. The creation of God. 3. The people of God. 1. The enemies of God include Pilate, Matthew 27:65, Luke 23:4, Matthew 27:23-24. Pilate's wife: Matthew 27;19. Perhaps the most telling is when the soldiers witness the resurrection but were given much money and told to spread it around that the disciples stole the body. 2. The creation of God also testified silently, in Matthew 28:2, by a great earthquake and an angel from God sitting on the stone, which was moved from the burial opening. Matthew 27:45 declares there was darkness over the land from 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM. Matthew 27:51 states the veil of the temple was divided from the top to the bottom. Psalms 19:3-4 tells us that the even though creation cannot speak, their witness goes out all over this world. 3. The witness of the people of God. Matthew 27:52-53 speaks of physically dead individuals raising from the dead and going into the city and appeared to many. Matthew 28:9-10 records that Jesus told women to tell his disciples of a future meeting in Galilee. Matthew 16:9 tells of the first person who saw him, Mary Magadelene. Luke 24:13-35 speaks of two disciples on the road to Emmaus. God has given many witnesses of his resurrection, more than we can mention. God wants you to know his resurrection is real.

There have been hard times in all of our lives when we have wondered, "Where is God?" And even though God's presence is a central theme in the Book of Exodus, where do we see Him here in this first chapter? His apparent absence drives us to go looking for Him, and we do see Him here in several ways. God was busy fulfilling His coverant promises that He gave in the Book of Genesis to His covenant people. He caused His people to multiply, despite the Egyptians' satanic attempt to stop His plan of redemption. He was also fulfilling His original plans for His Creation, which He has not given up on, despite our rebellion against Him. In addition, He was blessing His people with many children, even though that was a motivator of the Egyptians' hatred for them. He was working with ordinary midwives in the ordinary circumstances of bearing children to bring about His purposes. The Lord may seem absent sometimes, but He was there for the Hebrews and He is still there for us now. He has never abandoned us, He has redeemed us through Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the cross, and He still blesses us. Nothing at all can ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ!