Grace 242

Title: How Christ forms the Crucial Core of Confidence
Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:16-17
Series: Bizarre Bible

Do you ever question where true, unshakeable confidence comes from, especially in your spiritual life? Exploring a 'bizarre' passage from 1 John 5:16-17, this sermon unpacks five 'C's—Context, Contrast, Clinging, Confidence, and Christ—to reveal Christ as crucial for confidence. It highlights how Clinging to the one, true Jesus, even amidst Contrast between sin leading to life and sin leading to death, grants believers Confidence in salvation, prayer, and forgiveness, all resting in Christ's finished work. Embrace Jesus today to find an unshakeable confidence rooted in His finished work, assuring your salvation, hearing your prayers, and granting your forgiveness.

Title: How to Wrestle with God
Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-32
Series: Bizarre Bible

Do you find yourself constantly scheming your way through life's challenges? Jacob, a lifelong schemer, finds himself in a mysterious all-night wrestling match in Genesis 32. This encounter becomes an enacted metaphor for his life, forcing him to move from wrestling by scheming to wrestling by trusting God. Ultimately, Jacob surrenders his self-reliance, foreshadowing the ultimate surrender of our Savior, Jesus, in Gethsemane. Choose to wrestle with life's difficulties by surrendering and trusting in God's power, rather than relying on your own schemes.

Title: Breaking the Cyclical Curse
Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:20-29 ESV
Series: Bizarre Bible

What if the bizarre story of Noah and Ham isn't just about nakedness, but a deeper, cyclical sin? This sermon challenges the common interpretation of Noah and Ham's story, through 4 Cs: the Crime, the Curse, the Cycle, and the Cure. Just like Ham, we carry the same cyclical sin in our heart today. How do we break that curse? Look to the only one who can cure the cycle, Jesus. 

Title: BEARing the Burden of Baldness
Scripture Reading: II Kings 2:23-25
Series: Bizarre Bible

Taylor Englund joins Pastor Bill to discuss if Elisha overreacted by cursing 42 boys for mocking his baldness, or if there is a deeper, cosmic meaning behind this bizarre Bible story. This episode unpacks the strange narrative of Elisha and the two bears, revealing it's more than a prophet's overreaction. It explores 4 "P"s: the "place" of Bethel, a center of idolatry, and Elisha as the "prophet," a new Joshua leading a spiritual conquest. The "perpetrators" were young adults challenging God's authority, leading to a divine "punishment" that validated Elisha's role in reclaiming God’s cosmic territory through spiritual warfare. As members of God's royal family, we are called to continue Jesus' cosmic mission, revealing His victory and reclaiming spiritual territory by spreading the good news of His Kingdom.

Title: Bizarre Brides and Bad Beings (Part 2)
Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:1-4
Series: Bizarre Bible

This is part 2 of a message on Genesis 6:1-4, where we continue exploring the W.E.I.R.D. aspects of spiritual beings and humanity. Today we cover Warped Wife-Wooing (spiritual beings mating with humans) and Earth's Expiration (the flood as a consequence of both human and spiritual sin). It unveils the Inhuman Invaders (Nephilim) as offspring, emphasizes the Reality of the Realms (unseen spiritual warfare), and ultimately points to Defeated Demons through Jesus's sovereignty. Embrace the reality of spiritual warfare, find comfort in God's persistent grace, and remember that Jesus has already secured victory over all spiritual oppression.

Title: Bizarre Brides and Bad Beings (Part 1)
Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:1-4
Series: Bizarre Bible

We're exploring perhaps the weirdest passage in the entire Bible through the acronym W.E.I.R.D. The "W" stands for 'Warped Wife-Wooing' where nefarious spiritual beings, referred to as 'the sons of God,' took human women as wives. This act is presented as a great sin and a fall of spiritual beings, paralleling humanity's fall in Genesis 3. The message highlights how both falls involve 'looking and taking,' revealing the expressway-sized connection between our eyes and heart, where envy leads to lust and actions outside of God's will. To combat the anxiety, envy, and unhappiness that arise from covetousness, discipline your eyes and set your mind’s eye on Jesus, who alone brings true joy and contentment.

Title: Is He Spiderman or is He Spiderman?
Scripture Reading: Judges 6:11-24
Series: Bizarre Bible

Today we welcome Taylor Englund for podcast-style message. Taylor and Pastor Bill delve into Gideon's perplexing encounter with the Angel of the LORD, revealing how the Angel of the LORD is often a pre-incarnate manifestation of God the Son. It demonstrates that the concept of the Trinity, or Godhead, is deeply rooted in Old Testament scripture. Embrace the thoroughly biblical truth of the Trinity, understanding that God, in His complex and powerful nature, uses the weak to display His glory and deserves our exclusive worship.

Title: Are You Someone God Will Use?
Scripture Reading: Exodus 4:24-26
Series: Bizarre Bible

Are you someone God will use to accomplish His mission? This message delves into the bizarre biblical account of Moses’s encounter with God, exploring Moses's Compromise and reluctance to fully embrace his calling. Discover Zipporah's Urgency as she acts decisively to save Moses's life through a proxy circumcision, demonstrating her faith. Finally, uncover God's Tolerance and graciousness in sparing Moses, ultimately showing that God seeks obedient, repentant hearts for His mission. Embrace a circumcised heart of obedience and repentance, allowing God to cut away sin so you can be a willing and effective vessel for His work.

Title: How Fishy Funds Form Faith
Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:24-27 ESV
Series: Bizarre Bible

What does a fish's mouth have to do with your finances and faith? This sermon explores Jesusy generosity through the bizarre temple tax story in Matthew 17. We learn that true generosity begins with paying our obligations, moves into blessing others by going above and beyond what is required, and is ultimately rooted in trusting God for all provision, even through miraculous means. Embrace Jesusy generosity by faithfully paying your dues, intentionally blessing beyond expectation, and confidently trusting God to provide for every need.

Title: Weddings and Walgreens
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
Series: Salt

Are you treating the people around you like background characters in a video game or as souls invited to a royal banquet? Jesus illustrates the Kingdom of Heaven through the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, warning against the eternal consequences of rejecting God's invitation for worldly excuses. Believers must stop viewing neighbors as NPCs (non-playable characters) and instead embrace the command to invite everyone they encounter to the feast of Christ. Stop seeing people as background characters and intentionally invite someone in your daily life to experience the grace of God.