Gulf Coast Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Advent. Joy. Two ideas that might not naturally fit together. Advent involves waiting. Joy is what comes at the end of the waiting. We live in between. Christ has come. Christ will come again. For us in between, Jesus is the guarantee of our hope, so even though we have longing that remains unfulfilled, we have joy in the waiting. Jesus’ guarantee sustains joy in our waiting.

Advent is how the church starts its year. We begin by reminding ourselves that instead of charting our course, we are dependent on the gift of God. Our joy isn’t the result of a big party or rooted in our dedication to doing it right this year. Our joy is rooted in a gift from God.

As we gather to worship this 3rd Sunday of Advent, we will explore the promised joy which Christ brought, the surprising joy which we can experience, and the waiting joy which we are called to live in today.

Join us in worship this Sunday as we sing joyfully to the Lord and explore the truths of joy Isaiah 35, Matthew 11:2-6, and James 5:7-9.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/12/20221211.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

What is peace? Often, we think of peace as the absence of certain things: war, conflict, hostility, bitterness, etc. Is that a good definition? Certainly, there is no peace in war, or in hearts filled with hostility or bitterness. However, if peace is merely the word for the vacuum created by removing other things, then peace is not really a thing at all.

Take light, for instance. Light is not the absence of darkness. Darkness is the absence of light. God created light. Light is the thing; darkness is not. Peace is what existed before war, conflict, hostility, or bitterness. Peace existed because God created it.

Peter describes the Gospel itself in reference to peace: “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news (gospel) of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). What is this announcement of peace and how does it relate to our calling as disciples?

Join us this second Sunday of Advent as we seek to understand peace, its significance to the Gospel itself, and our calling to be peacemakers in the message Peace and the Peacemaking Mission of Jesus.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/12/20221204.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

The Laodiceans were living a lie because they believed those lies. They believed they were rich because they had wealth. They believed they were dressed for success because their closets were filled with the finest clothes. They believed they could truly see as evidenced by the way their lives were going. But, according to Jesus, they were poor, shamefully naked, and blind.

It is striking that Jesus finds nothing good to commend in the church at Laodicea, making his expressed love for them all the more surprising. As we enter the Advent season, our first theme is hope. Hope is what the Laodiceans need—a true hope to replace the false hope for which they’ve been living. When they begin living for the true hope of Christ’s kingdom, their deeds will become healing for the nations.

What about us? Are we prone to live according to lies? More concerning still, are we prone to believe such lies to be true, hence not knowing that we are living according to lies. In what ways might we be blind and need healing salve from Jesus?

Join us in worship as we explore Jesus’ message to the church in Laodicea and to us (Revelation 3:14-22).

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/11/20221127.pdf

Speaker: Ryan Carver

Text: Romans 8:28-30

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Sibling rivalry is an age-old story in Scripture: Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, and we haven’t even gotten out of Genesis! Of course, we can’t forget the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which is about two brothers as well.

Philadelphia, the city in which the church receiving the next prophetic message in Revelation dwells (3:7-13), has a much better history. Its past is a tale of two brothers who got along swimmingly. However, the same can’t be said for the church’s in that place. They’ve run into an older brother who has it out for them.

However, despite the difficulties this has caused for the believers there, this church receives some of the highest accolades from Jesus offered. In fact, he is so excited about commending them that he keeps interrupting himself with promises of what he will do for them.

Join us in worship as we explore Brotherly Hatred in the City of Brotherly Love in our series: The Revelation of Jesus Christ: Worship and Witness in a Winner-takes-all World.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/11/20221106.pdf

Preacher: Jerry Cisar

If one were to go church shopping for a few months, Sardis would be one of those churches among the finalists to be sure. Well, at least if our church shopping were based on what we could see with our eyes. Another ringer for a finalist? Laodicea.

On the other hand, Smyrna and Philadelphia would be among the first two scratched. They were poor and weak. Suffering seemed to be in the atmosphere. Yet Christ assessed them most highly.

This Sunday we will explore the message from Christ to the church in Sardis. They have a great reputation for doing church right. Indeed, one might call them famous. So what was the rub? Why does Jesus have nothing good to say about them?

Join us in worship as we explore Revelation 3:1-6 in our series The Revelation of Jesus Christ: Worship and Witness in a Winner-takes-all World. You might sum up Jesus’ message to Sardis as, “Wake up, watch out, and get busy!”

Text: Rev. 3:1-6

Themes: Works. Judgment of Christ. Appearances vs. Reality. Name.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/10/20221030.pdf

Preacher: Jerry Cisar

Idolatry can take on many forms. It may come overtly, in the form of an idol one worships. It often comes covertly, disguised as something good, even a part of Jesus. It is the covert idolatries which require the greatest discernment.

In his book, American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon, Stephen Prothero goes in search of the cultural Jesus. That Jesus died is not in question, but Prothero explores the various ways in which he has been culturally resurrected. For many he lives as an “Enlightened Sage,” or the “Sweet Savior.” Then there is the “Manly Redeemer,” the “Superstar,” and a handful more. When we worship pseudo-versions of Jesus they are like golden calves which we rename as “Jesus.”

The image of Jesus presented in the prophetic message to the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29) is one that is not culturally acceptable. It reveals that Christ is every bit as much a jealous God as the Father. Of course, this is because he desires that our worship only what is worthy of worship; that we worship what is true. In so doing we are being true to the nature of things, which is necessary for flourishing.

Join us in worship as we explore the idolatries that were tempting the church in Thyatira, as well as begin to explore how we may be tempted by more covert versions of the same.

Text: Rev. 2:18-29

Themes: Political and Economic Idolatry, Sufficiency of Christ Alone, Call to holiness/separation. Witness in a complex world. Deeds of love, loyalty, labor, and long-suffering.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/10/20221023.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

No community would be comfortable with someone coming to rebuke them with a gun placed prominently on the podium as they spoke. And for good reason. Only the Lamb who was slain for us has the right to come deliver such a rebuke. Indeed, in our text, Jesus has a large sword with great destructive capability coming from his mouth.

That sword sets the tone for the prophetic message Jesus has for the church in Pergamum (Rev. 2:12-17), and it is a discomfiting one. As we will see, this message is about a war of thrones: Christ’s and Satan’s. It raises questions about to whose throne the members of the church were bowing.

In this war, Satan and his beast make war against the saints, the people of God. It’s life and death. There have already been casualties as Antipas has been lost.

Join us in worship as we explore the message from Christ to the church in Pergamum, and pray the Spirit gives us His message for us today.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/10/20221016.pdf

Preacher: Steven Brunson

Text: Psalm 139:1 – 24

Themes: Awe of God; Marvel; Wonderment; Proper Fear of God;

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Christ has a prophetic message for the believers who gather in Smyrna for worship, and it is very meaningful to them. They were suffering tribulation in significant ways, up to and including death because they were obedient, they were faithful. They were also poor. In this message, they discover that true faithfulness brings true riches, despite bringing earthly poverty and death.

This is one of two churches which have nothing for Christ to criticize. Wouldn’t that be something. Jesus shows up to evaluate your church. Among those churches lined up, five receive some severe criticism, despite most receiving praise for what is right. Imagine your church comes up and there is nothing Christ offers to improve upon it. (If so, you are likely going to another church and not reading this email!)

There is a caution for us in studying this message. It would be easy to get the structure, the background, all the OT connections, and even all the exegetically correct meaning of the words and phrases, yet still miss the main point of the text.

This prophetic message to a suffering church had a different purpose to them than it has to us in the West living in relative prosperity. Yet they are related. It is written to them, not us, but it was also written for us. To find out what it says for us, we need to prayerfully consider why the believers in Smyrna received such a glowing commendation.

Join us in worship as we explore Revelation 2:8-11 seeking to hear Christ’s message for us today.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2022/10/20221002.pdf