Gulf Coast Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Prov. 29:18 ESV)

Every January thousands of sermons are preached with reference to that verse. Most use the KJV 18a: “Without a vision, the people perish.” The sermons that follow are frequently about anything but a prophetic vision. They often lay out a vision about how you or your church can become greater, more significant, more powerful, or get everything you ever wanted.

Some months back we began a series rooted in Acts 2:42-47 which explores the various habits that characterized the early church. “They were devoted to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.” It describes their generosity and shared life.

This Sunday I want to step back and ask the question “Why?” Why did they live that way? What was it they “saw” that enabled them to imagine of new way of living in conformity to how God created us to live? Since we cannot live what we have not yet imagined, God’s vision must reshape our imaginations so that it can reshape our living.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2021/01/20210110.pdf

Speaker: Ryan Carver

Our world is broken and we all experience the effects of sin. Broken families, broken marriages, and broken friendships are common examples of how we are entrenched in a world that is not the way that it should be.

But, God is renewing our broken world and He is starting where the problem originated, the hearts of men. God promises to use the church, His family, to bring honor and glory to His name. Who we are matters. Family matters.

As we live as a united family we reveal to the world the most beautifully framed family picture ever taken.

What does that look like? How do we follow Jesus in this way? And, why is it so difficult?

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2021/01/20210103.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

How does Christmas call us to live? Our King was born; light has come; a new day is dawning. What does this mean for how we live this world? How does the kingdom that came from heaven “conquer” the kingdoms of this world?

The Beatitudes, which simply means “the blessings,” each begin with “blessed are …”. Jesus’ audience would have immediately recognized this as being from the wisdom tradition. Some more well-known examples are Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked….” Other references include Psalm 2:12b (“Blessed are all who trust in him (the Son)”) and Psalm 41:1 (“Blessed is the one who is understanding toward the poor; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him”).

The point of this pronouncement of “blessing” is to motivate behavior. In other words, the Beatitudes are a call to action. Blessedness is this promised condition (God’s favor and presence) that motivates a disciple’s behavior. The Beatitudes introduce what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, or justice. Put another way, they answer the question, “How does Christmas (the birth of our King) call us to live?”

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/12/20201227.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Psalm 113 calls us to praise Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God)! In every waking moment and in every place upon which the sun sets its light. Always and everywhere, praise Yahweh. Why?

Because He is exalted over the nations? Yes, but, by itself, that does not separate Yahweh from the claims of other gods. If that were the only thing listed, the answer to the question, “Who is like our God?” might well be, “Well, I can name of few.” Don’t get me wrong, other claimants to this position and ability are false, but they still hold people’s minds captive.

However, this call to worship doesn’t stop there. Psalm 113 goes on to identify what is often key to distinguishing Yahweh, the Lord our God, from the gods of the nations. Who is this God? In short, He is the God of the Incarnation.

During Advent we contemplate the need for God to come, but not just any God, a specific God: the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ; the God who heard the cry of His people Israel as slaves in Egypt and came and rescued them; the God who, though exalted High, Humbles Himself to see… to see us in our low estate… to meet us in our need.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/12/20201220.pdf

Speaker: Peter Stonecipher

We’ve all seen images from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1953. An estimated three million of Elizabeth’s subjects descended on London hoping to catch a glimpse of their soon-to-be Queen. Certainly, much optimism and hope for days ahead was shared by Elizabeth’s people as they celebrated their new monarch taking the throne.

While the birth of a future monarch or the coronation of a king or queen is typically an occasion for joy and celebration, this isn’t always the case. For those who would fancy themselves a king or a queen instead of the rightful monarch, occasions such as these are actually ones of distress.

In Psalm 2, we see just such a response from the rulers and kings of the earth as they plot and scheme against the reign of God’s Anointed King. Join us as we learn why the birth of King Jesus is not an occasion for rebellion, but for rejoicing. See you in the morning!

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/12/20201213.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Advent, a Church season designed to recall the anticipation and waiting for God’s coming, is about hope and faith, for sure, but not in the secular sense of optimism. Rather, hope and faith in the biblical sense that we need a miracle and only God give it.

Christmas is about light coming into the world. Not just any world, a very dark world, the “present evil age,” as Paul put it, or “the whole world” that “lies in the power of the evil one,” as John put it. In contrast to the commercial Christmas music insists that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” and advertisers wanting us to “feel the merry” (in order that they might feel the profits), Fleming Rutledge rightly notes that “the disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterize life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. In that Advent tension, the church lives its life.”

Advent must shape our message. Any good politician knows that the best way to defeat an opponent is to get them off-message. The church has a message that speaks to “the disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterize life in this present world.” Too often we’ve allowed the enemy to get us off message… into thinking our message is that we need to be greeted with “Merry Christmas” at the shopping center instead of “Happy Holidays.” God help us!

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/12/20201206.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

John the apostle is the J. R. R. Tolkien of the NT writers. My sermon title might more readily be applied to a sermon drawn from Ephesians 6:10-18 where Paul describes what is often called the “armor of God.” There, Paul uses blatant metaphors for spiritual warfare which can’t be missed. This Sunday, I want to propose that John, although the metaphors aren’t as blatant, is also using metaphors for spiritual warfare.

In our text, John is making his closing argument and applying his teaching to some practical truths he wants us to walk away with and actions the believers in his churches must take. In fact, John tells us about 5 things he wants believers to know and 2 things he wants believers to do.

Some might think it impractical to tell us what to know. Why does that matter? For the believer, life grows out of certain things we know. John wants us to know what will lead to living as fearless warriors of life – living free from the bondage of sin and freeing others from the bondage of sin.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/11/20201129.pdf

Speaker: Peter Stonecipher

There are many “ingredients” which could make an ordinary meal into an extraordinary one. Excellent food, a talented or famous chef, a beautiful location, and meaningful company could all contribute to elevating an average meal to an exceptional one.

It may come as a surprise that the Bible shows God is concerned that our ordinary meals be transformed into extraordinary meals. But God’s “ingredients” for these extraordinary meals are quite different from what we might expect culturally.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/11/20201122.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

In a recent poll conducted by Lifeway Research and Ligoneer, 51% of Americans said they believe that Jesus was a good teacher but did not think that he was God. Almost a third of those who gave that response claimed to be Evangelical Christians. According to this poll, about a third of people claiming to be Evangelical are indeed not even Christians!

On a similar note, the general view of faith has taken an interesting twist. While our culture tends to esteem “faith” as something valiant, it largely esteems only a faith in which the object of the faith is faith itself. Accordingly, our culture would be okay with the statement of 1 John 5:4, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” Out of context that would fit perfectly with one of our cultural mantras, “You’re a winner; believe in yourself.” Or another common catchphrase, “Believe,” which should never stand on its own.

John, however, goes on to define “our faith” by specifying the object of our faith: “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5). The object of “our faith” (meaning that of the Christian) is that Jesus is the Messiah (v1), and that Jesus is the Son of God (v5). Having declared the essential object of our faith (1, 5), in 1 John 5:6-12, John explains the basis for such faith.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/11/20201115.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

The Economist published an article asking, “Why shouldn’t parents be treated as badly as smokers?” The author is serious. “Signs proliferate demanding no smoking, no spitting, no parking, even no walking…. The Economist would like to suggest restrictions on a source of noise pollution: children.” Why? Because just as smoking, driving and mobile phones cause what economists call ‘negative externalities,’ so do children; they cost other people too much.

They offer two possible solutions: a tax on parents to offset the cost of the social pollution created by their children or banning children from many public places. They land on a combination: All airlines, trains, and restaurants should create child-free zones, and charge more for children to offset the costs.

Of course, they fail to account for the fact that they did not come into the world as grown-ups. They themselves have imposed “negative externalities” on others. Others had to put up with them in order for them to now be put out by children. If one were to impose such fees or taxes on children, would we not all have to pay a huge back-debt for our own social interference?

There were then and are now disciples who would prefer a version of Christianity with child-free zones. They want to be Christians without sharing life with other children of God.” For John the apostle, you can no more be a Christian and uninvolved in shared life with the other children of God, than you can be a fish and not have fins. Christianity has no room for child-of-God-free-zones.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2020/11/20201108.pdf