Grace Dover Messages

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, Isaiah 61:10-62:3 & Luke 2:22-40

Jesus' parents, having brought him to the Temple, and ensuring that the Law of Moses is fulfilled, are hearing a song about seeing the Lord's Christ from an old man (Simeon) at the Temple.  Having one's eyes opened is often referred to as an epiphany. When an epiphany occurs,  a light comes on and what was foggy is now made clear. For those whose faith rests in the One who fulfilled the Law of Moses, their eyes are seeing the Lord's salvation. In a continuation of last Sunday's message, on this Epiphany Sunday of 2024, believers are being challenged to see the Lord's salvation and the consolation it brings to all that the Lord has made. It is the comfort of the law being fulfilled, the expectation of consolation being revealed, and the scope of salvation that's unveiled. The epiphany our hearts are in constant need of is the grace of our eyes seeing the Lord's salvation,  and knowing there is no fall so deep, that the sovereign Christ can't cause you to rise above it.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor from Isaiah 61:10-62:3 & Luke 2:22-40. After Christmas, every Christian has to feed their heart on what this new found salvation means. When you witness the actions of others saving people, it evokes some kind of response. Simeon and Anna are two people who teach us the proper way to respond to the Lord's salvation. Their attitudes and observations help shape our expectations and worship.

This final week of Advent we see that Jesus coming into the world was to provide for his people a home. David, in second Samuel, feels the need to build a home for God, but God tells David that He is planning to build a home for himself wherein he and his people will dwell together forever. When Jesus comes again he will renew the heavens and the earth where we will dwell with him forever. Advent hope is the hope of our true home.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 & Luke 1:46b-55

This is the Third Sunday of Advent and the third sermon in our series on Advent Hope.  The hope of Advent, Jesus’ coming, gives us hope for help and hope for our hearts as we wait. This week we see Jesus’ coming and the hope of healing it brings.

Pain, and particularly grief, is often an obstacle to our obedience. We spend a lot of time trying to avoid grief. But grief is ubiquitous! We find it at every turn. As we consider our Lord’s coming we are looking for healing from all grief and its accompanying sufferings. As Christians we are not immune to grief, but we do not grieve as the rest of the world. Christians grieve with hope. Hope of healing because of the Son who joined us in suffering grief that is unlike any other, so that he might redeem us through grief and bring us healing. The good news is that Jesus comes to make his glories known. But how far does he make his glories known? "Far as the curse is found."

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, Psalm 85:2, 8-13 & 2 Peter 3:8-15

Advent is the promise of Christ's coming. When the fulfillment of a promise seems delayed one can lose heart. Yet, our hearts are strengthened by the Lord speaking peace to his people and promising them salvation. When will this occur? Don't we grow weary in waiting? Why does it take God so long? Peter answers these questions when he says, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, but is patient toward you. Take heart and have hope. Be patient and prepare for his return by being found by him clean and at peace.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, Isaiah 64:1-9 & 1 Corinthians 3-9

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and we are beginning a series on Advent Hope. Each week we will take a look at the hope that the gospel places before us, encouraging us to live lives of faith and love as we wait and watch for the Lord's return. From this week's text we see the hope of help.

The gospel is the good news of the Advent of the Lord, and it reminds us that the we are in trouble. The trouble that we are in is of our own making. We are unable to deliver ourselves from the trouble we continue to make. The troubles seems endless! Isaiah 64 is a cry for help. The prophet has this to say about our trouble, "Behold you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?" Is there any hope of help to save us from the trouble we are in? Like the prophet, everyone who asks the Lord to, "Be not so terribly angry, and remember not iniquity forever", has hope that the Lord will provide cover for the guilt of their sin. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Advent hope builds our confidence as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain us to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Corinthians 1:8)

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, Ezekiel 34:11-16 & Matthew 25:31-36

As we spend this season counting our blessings from the Lord, we remember that all good things come from him. It is only because God, our Good Shepherd, sought us out first and blessed us with eternal life that we are able to live our lives serving him and those around us.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 & I Thessalonians 5:1-11

The anxiety that any Christian might feel about the end of the world, the Apocalypse, the Day of the Lord, or the second coming of Christ is related to their understanding of their identity. Knowing your identity in Christ, by faith should relieve our anxiety about any talk of how the world will end. Who has the right to bring the world to and end? Our readings for this Sunday reminds us that God has wrath reserved for those who sin against him. And in his wrath he exercises his right to end the world, fully and suddenly. But, since we belong to the day, the Lord has a different destiny in mind for his children. While the world of unbelievers are punished in the day of the wrath of the Lord, the child of God can be encouraged that in Jesus Christ they are not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation. This identity shapes the way we live.

Sermon by Daryl Wattley, RUF Campus Pastor at DSU, Exodus 36:1-7 & Philippians 4:2-9

In today’s text, we learn that God is not only sanctifying us individually but also as a community by shaping us int a church that is more peaceful, thankful and excellent.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 & I Thessalonians 2:9-13.

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We are joining our brothers and sisters around the world in prayer as they cry out to the Lord, placing before him the things that they are suffering.

Persecution leaves a person feeling unprotected, without security, impoverished, and hopeless. A city is a place where protection, security, and opportunity to flourish exists. So the image of a city for dwelling is an apt picture of hope and deliverance for those who are being persecuted. In the message of Psalm 107 we find the Lord's redeemed had lost their city, then are led by the Lord until they reach a city, then by his grace, they are established in a city. The persecuted children of God can take courage in this: that, in the past, just as the Lord led his people out of the hand of their oppressors, the insecurities of distress, and the poverty of desert wandering, he will lead them to the ultimate city, whose builder and maker is God, the New Jerusalem where they will dwell with him, and he will establish them forever. This is the foundation of the encouragement that Paul gives to the Thessalonians who were suffering persecution. It is the hope that the gospel of God holds out to those who believe. This hope is guaranteed through Jesus' resurrection from the dead.