Grace Dover Messages

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Isaiah 55:1-5 & Romans 8:26-34.

We are in the final part of our series on Kinship. In the last parts of Romans 8, Paul teaches that we must live with confidence as children of God since it is God himself that is conforming us to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. And since he has called both Jew and Gentle to be conformed to Christ’s image, we are united into the one family of God.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 86:11-17 & Romans 8:12-25. Last Sunday we began teaching how the Spirit of adoption as sons is where justice is at work in the rectification of all things. With this in mind, some appropriate questions to ask are: Why do you suppose that the gospel is good news? Why would good news become an occasion for suffering? If the content of the gospel is just the forgiveness of sin and deliverance from hell, resurrection from the dead, with an "and they all lived happily-ever-after ending", why would any person, class, or government, deem that worthy of persecution? The truths of the gospel and its implications were shocking to Roman society as it changed the system of class and ended slavery. What did they perceive the gospel to be? The answer to these questions shocked the readers and the culture of 1st century Rome. The truth of this status change, being adopted as sons of God, and the justice that it has wrought, has to shock us before it transforms us. The gospel truly is good news because it is the power of God to bring justice and righteousness into the lives of those who were formerly orphans. And their restoration is the renewal that all of creation is waiting for.

Sermon by Kenny Foster Senior Pastor, from Psalm 86:11-17 & Romans 8:12-25.

Kinship is a matter of justice and receiving the Spirit of adoption as sons is where justice is at work rectifying all things. We don't often see the element of justice that is in the text because we are quick to make individualistic application of the benefits of being adopted. However the text reminds us we are no longer slaves who fall back into fear. Why? Because we have received the Spirit of adoption as sons. The Spirit is at work giving us a new obligation, as it releases us from oppression, shaping our outlook on the present, with the optimism of future salvation. In this message we hope to see the Roman's text through the eyes of a first century slave. These slaves wouldn't have rights, and weren't seen as equals to the citizens of Rome, or the free persons. Furthermore, they didn't have rights over their own bodies. So for that first century man, woman or child, this letter is making some very bold claims! But it is also encouraging them, reminding them that the children of God, who are waiting for justice, and the liberation of all creation, are waiting and working in a certain hope that their Father will make everything all right.

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Isaiah 55:10-13 & Romans 8:1-11.

We continue to explore the glorious gift of being adopted by God and are reminded by Paul that because of the work of Christ, we are no longer condemned by the law of sin and death. Through Christ the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled in us and we have been given life and peace. Thus, we now live with our minds set on the things of the Spirit.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Zechariah 9:9-12 & Romans 7:15-25.

This week we begin a short series titled, "Kinship: The path to and destination of the adopted children of God." Over the next several weeks we are going to take a look at the glorious gift of being adopted by God. Adoption is a beautiful thing that takes one who has no family, or their family has fallen apart, and they are then placed within a new family. Thus adoption begins with rescue. Most people are familiar with the story of Lil Orphan Annie. Annie's story is one of rags to riches. But there is another story that is more befitting for those who are adopted into the family of God. It is Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde." In writing that short story, Stevenson must have read Romans chapter 7, as he aptly describes the human dilemma of the dual natures battling within us and our inability to change. Dr Jekyll describes the plight as "old and commonplace as man...that same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it." Jekyll could have cried, "O wretched man that I am!" The orphaned soul needs rescue! Does God rescue those who are trapped and are powerless in the orphanage of sin? Is there a reply to cry of the wretched person looking for deliverance? Every Christian needs to know the prayer for deliverance is answered by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus we are transformed from prisoners of opposing principles to prisoners of hope...the hope of being like Christ.

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Genesis 21:9-20a & Romans 6:1-4.

As we continue to look at the covenant of God to Abraham, we are met with a part of Abraham’s story that might make us a little uncomfortable. As a result of Abraham's (and Sarah's) mistake, Hagar and Ishmael are forced to leave and survive on their own. Though sad, this part of Abraham’s story reminds us of the love that God has not only for his “chosen” people, but also for those who are "left out" and without hope. It is a reminder that God’s covenant extends to both Jew and Gentile; all those who have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection. It is the great saving work and this new life we have been given, that we celebrate in coming to the Lord’s table.

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Genesis 18:9-15; 21:1-2 & Romans 5:1-8.

Have you every asked why God saved you? Out of the many people in history all of the world, why did God choose to give you salvation? Scriptures teach us that it is only by the sheer grace of God. This is how God shows his love to us: that he gave his own Son, that through Jesus Christ we would be justified by faith and have peace with God. It is on the basis of this grace and faith that we are able to endure in the present until we are glorified in heaven.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Genesis 12:1-9 & Romans 4:13-25.

It is without a doubt that the biggest struggle in the heart of a Christian is the struggle to believe salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. The human heart always wants to do something to appropriate the promise of God. We want to say, "it was our decision. It was the prayer I prayed. It is the effort I make at doing right, being a good moral, decent person. These appropriate for me the promise of God." But the scripture speaks to us of the "righteousness of faith"; a righteousness that depends on grace alone. Paul makes a reasonable and clear argument that the promise to Abraham rests on grace. (Rom. 4:16) The righteousness of faith and the promise that rests on grace wasn't for Abraham alone, but it is for us also. At the heart of the good news of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf is the grace of God. This sermon will demonstrate how the promise is activated in our lives through grace. And for the children of the promise, those who believe as Abraham did, this grace, upon which the promise rests, changes everything.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 8 & 2 Corinthians 13:11-13.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday and our Scripture readings coincide with our church's own Next Gen Sunday recognition. We are focused on the next generation of children that the Lord has placed under our care. And our Scripture passages call our attention to what God has ordained or "established...out of the mouths of babies and infants." This sermon's focus is the end for which God's majesty is in all of creation. In our Scripture readings we discover a transcendent beauty that is majestic, awe-inspiring, and transforming. But through the Fall, we have lost the ability to see the transcendent beauty. Our humanity has lost its sense of awe and thereby its purpose. We cannot answer the question of Psalm 8:4, "What is man that you care for him?" However, by God's grace, the Christian is called to see the beauty and witness the majesty that is in all the earth and to participate in its restoration. For this to happen we must see in the text of scripture the established truth that gives way to an examination of wonder for an esteem that is given because of the end God has for his children.

The beauty is unveiled in the gospel of Christ, where he brings it all together for us. The majestic glory that is set above the heavens are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The exhortation of 2 Corinthians 13 to "aim for restoration...so that the God of love and peace will be with you", is accomplished through Christ, who is our peace. This is the calling of our generation and the "Next Gen" of the redeemed.

Sermon by Jonathan Seda, Assistant to the Pastor, from Isaiah 25.6-9 & 1 Corinthians 11.17-34.