Grace Dover Messages

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor from Psalm 130 & 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

We are living in a day when it seems a popular thing to say that one has had enough of being a Christian. Being a Christian has never been easy. From the beginning Christians have been the target of governments, the object of scorn by competing religions, derided by the general populace as narrow. But becoming discouraged in being a Christian is ultimately a question of the truth about where your heart rests. In a time when so much cultural pressure is put upon you to find your own truth, or look within yourself for your eternal bliss, how do you keep faith in Christ that does not lose heart?

This sermon will equip us in knowing how to avoid giving up. To not lose heart, we must evaluate pain and glory, see past the temporary to the eternal, and trust the Architect of your future home. The Apostle Paul and the Psalmist call us to not let present circumstances, no matter how dire they appear, cause you to look to other things or people for deliverance. If you think you've had enough of being a Christian, you have to ask if you've had enough of Christ. You can't have too much of Christ since plentiful redemption is found only in the Lord. (Psalm 130:7)

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Isaiah 6:1-8 and Romans 8:12-17

Isaiah would be considered by most people’s standards to have been a good man. He loved the Lord, did his best to live according to the laws of Moses, condemned evil, and was even a prophet among his people. Yet as he encounters the splendor of the righteous King, he cannot help but include himself in his declaration of the unworthiness and sinfulness of the Israelites. Our only hope of salvation before a righteous King is Jesus Christ. Through Christ, not only are we now considered righteous before God, but we have been adopted as children of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Ezekiel 37:1-4 & Acts 2:1-21

This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost. Pentecost is the time when the Spirit of God is poured out upon all flesh. Notwithstanding the typical divisions of ethnicity, culture and language, gender and class, the Spirit of God is poured out upon all flesh. This pouring out of the Spirit produces a new community in the world with an uncommon unity. The unity is uncommon because it brings together something long dead...human community that is in harmony with God and each other. Pentecost is the reversal of Babel where men sought to be united and reach the heavens, but without God. The Spirit of God interrupts the flow of human history, bringing the knowledge of God into the world through the gospel of Jesus Christ, making alive a people for himself from every nation, tribe, language, gender and class.

How does this square in a time when there are calls for unity, but at the same time everything about us is used to divide us? From the color of our skin, to the suffering and pain of a pandemic. Things about us are used to divide us. How does the church navigate these stormy seas?

This sermon will help us to know what is the Spirit's work. How we can know that he is at work in us. And why Christians should honor it above everything else. The Spirit of Christ is the One who gives us an un-common unity. Even though in our times there are those who would seek to "reach the heavens" with a pseudo-unity that is devoid of the Spirit of God, yet Christ's ascension and his pouring out the Spirit upon all flesh calls us to new life and a unity that resists going back to the valley of dry bones, where there is the appearance of life, but no breath. Breath On Us, Spirit of God!

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Psalm 1:1-6 & John 17:6-11

Do you enjoy the law? Do you delight in the law of the Lord? The book of Psalms opens with an exhortation to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. However, we know that Christ came to perfectly fulfill the law on our behalf. Does this mean that the law is now nullified in our lives? No. We are reminded through Psalm 1 that though we cannot attain salvation through keeping the law, we must continue to rejoice in the law because it reflects the character and will of our God whom we love and serve.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 98:1-9 and 1 John 5:1-6. This Sunday's Scripture readings commands us to "Sing to the Lord a new song". Singing a new song is an oft repeated command in the Bible. However, what subject is so grand and all encompassing that it commands a freshness? Wouldn't it become stale in the constant referencing? This sermon explores the command to sing to the Lord a new song and will answer the relevant questions that are evoked. In order for the command to be fulfilled we have to ask: What is the new song? To whom is it sung? What are its contents? By whom is it sung? In considering these, we hope you will add your voice and efforts to the making of a new and joyful song to the Lord.

Rev. Paul Meiners, MTW, from Ephesians 4:7-16

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Psalm 23:1-6 & John 10:11-18

In one of the most well known psalms, David proclaims that the Lord is his shepherd. The shepherd nurtures, provides, protects, and leads those under his care. How does he do this? We see in the New Testament that Jesus proclaims that he is the good shepherd. He cares for his own by laying down his life for them and taking it up again.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 4:1-8 & Luke 24:36-48

The ultimate question of every heart is asked in Psalm 4:6, "There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?" The questioner is looking for tangible, concrete evidence of good. The most beneficial, most reliable, most satisfying thing the human heart can sink into. The heart cries out for substantive, life-sustaining good.

The trouble is that when good comes to us we find it hard to believe. That is what the disciples encountered in the risen Lord. IN the midst of their grief they were looking for God to show them some good. Not an abstraction, but something tangible. And God, who is the original materialist, loves the material world, and through it God loves to show us the concrete evidence of his goodness. But why a body that isn't a ghost? Ghost's can't experience the sensations of all the goodness God has to offer. (vs36-39) Ghosts can't absorb the truth that they're exposed to.(vs 44) Ghosts don't make substantial witnesses to the things God has done. (vs46b-48) So the answer to the question, "Who will show us some good?" is Jesus; the bodily resurrected Lord. Does it get any better than life continuing after death? Can it be any better than God putting more joy in your heart than if you had hit the lottery? (Psalm 4:7) Matter matters more to God than to the most ardent materialist. It is proven in Jesus rising from the dead. And Jesus' resurrection from the dead is to bring us such deep comfort and assurance that we are ready to face anyone, go through anything, and vanquish every attack, since we know that he has the power of an indestructible life that he also shares with all whose faith is in him.

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Acts 4:32-35 & John 1:1-2:2

Many of us have spent the last 40 days in a season of Lent particularly reflecting on the ministry and work of Christ and even sharing in his suffering. We spent our days greatly anticipating the ultimate celebration of our Lord's resurrection that culminated last week on Easter Sunday. But now what? Where do we go from here? Scripture teaches us that the disciples did not simply go home after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus' resurrection was only the beginning of God's plan for the disciples. By their example, we are also urged to continue to devote ourselves to the gospel of Christ and fellowship with one another.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Isaiah 26:19-21 & John 11:30-44

This Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. We celebrate Christ's resurrection as the end of death. The story of Jesus raising Lazarus foreshadows Jesus' own resurrection that will follow in a few days. The resurrection of Jesus should cause us to exclaim with the Jews, "See how he loved him!" For the resurrection of Christ and his people is the demonstration of the other side of God's love, which is his anger. The exclamation comes as the people witness Jesus' anger in the occasion of Lazarus's death. But it is not something new about the Lord, since he has always been angry at death.

Do you consider the anger of God as an indication of how much God loves you? The crowd certainly did! The anger of God shows us what it is that the Lord values most. If Christ was angry enough to raise the dead, then what is it that he really values?

Our Old Testament reading helps us to understand this more as the declaration of "Your dead shall live; their bodies will rise” comes in the context of the Lord's zealous judgment for his people. It is because of the other side of God’s love, the Lord's anger, that he goes about setting things right. The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the action God takes to bring about justice for his people. This is the outcome of the gospel applied to the hearts of God's people. In the anger of God we see how much God loves us by ending the enemy of death. Therefore we should celebrate Christ's resurrection as we see the reason, right use of, and the redemption of anger that leads to the death of death.