fear on SermonAudio

Paul's companions and other believers who loved him did not want Paul to go forward and go to Jerusalem. It meant danger, trouble, even death. But Paul felt the Lord's direction to go forward, and face the conflict as an opportunity to further the work of the gospel.

In Joshua 10:1–11, we witness a powerful demonstration of God's sovereignty, faithfulness, and judgment. When five Amorite kings unite to attack Gibeon, Joshua responds to the Gibeonites' desperate appeal for help, honoring Israel's covenant despite the deception through which it was established. God reassures Joshua, commanding him not to fear and promising victory. Joshua marches through the night, but the resulting triumph belongs entirely to the Lord. God confounds the enemy and sends devastating hailstones, demonstrating that victory comes not through human strength but through divine intervention. This account teaches believers the importance of keeping their promises, trusting God's Word, and depending upon His power rather than their own abilities. Just as God sustained Israel in battle, He sustains Christians in their continuing struggle against sin through His Word and the Holy Spirit. The destruction of the Amorites also reveals God's righteous judgment against persistent rebellion and foreshadows the final judgment awaiting mankind. Joshua 10:1-11

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This sermon explores the human longing for acceptance and status, framed as a desire to enter an "inner ring," and argues that this drive is ultimately a reflection of the soul's need for belonging to God. By examining the context of Jesus' passion prediction in Matthew 20, the message highlights how spiritual pride and ambition often blind believers to the cost of discipleship, contrasting the world's exclusive hierarchies with the inclusive nature of the Trinity. The central theological claim is that Jesus, through his substitutionary death and resurrection, paid the price to open the way for believers to enter God's eternal fellowship, satisfying the deepest human desires that worldly achievements cannot fulfill. The tone is pastoral and encouraging, urging the audience to find their identity and security in Christ rather than in social or professional validation. Finally, the sermon calls believers to use their secure position in God's kingdom to serve others humbly, sharing the gospel and working for the common good without fear of exclusion or failure.

Pastor Mark Hogan teaches on baptism as a central ordinance for worship and discipleship, citing Matthew 28, Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 to show it accompanies repentance, faith, and incorporation into the church while confirming rather than independently accomplishing regeneration. He emphasizes its dual significance: both for personal soteriology and for church membership, and argues from Acts 8, 10, and 18 and Romans 6 that only those who credibly profess repentance, faith, and obedience should be baptized. He further contends that immersion is the proper mode, supported by Colossians 2:11–12, the lexical meaning of baptizo, New Testament examples such as Jesus' baptism and the Ethiopian eunuch, and historical witnesses including Calvin, Luther, Bavinck, and early baptistries. Baptism portrays participation in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection and should be performed with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear as an act of worship. He applies this by urging professing Christians to be immersed as an outward sign of inward reality, to pray for conversions, celebrate baptisms, and remember their own baptism as a call to walk in newness of life.

This sermon examines the narrative of Abram's rescue of Lot in Genesis 14 to challenge a passive or overly sentimental view of Christian manhood and church culture. By contrasting Abram's tactical courage with the image of a gentle, non-confrontational faith, the message argues that Scripture presents believers as warriors who actively engage in spiritual conflict. The central theological point identifies Jesus Christ as the ultimate warrior king who subdues enemies and rescues captives, a role modeled by the early apostles through their bold witness and martyrdom. The sermon calls the congregation to embrace a 'holy violence' in spiritual warfare, urging them to rely on the Holy Spirit to overcome fear and actively pursue the lost in their communities with the gospel. Outline: 1) The City of Man Wars Against Itself 2) Abram the Warrior 3) __________ the Warrior

Revelation 2:8-11