Gulf Coast Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Matthew 8 – 9 are about Jesus’ authority; not merely an abstract idea of Jesus’ authority—“Wow, he has such great authority!” Jesus’ authority is exerted to bring life. His authority sets people back into right relationship with God and one another, enabling us to start living!

In Matthew 8, Jesus cleanses a leper with a word; heals a centurion’s servant with a word; drives out demons with a word; delivers two exceedingly violent men with a word, forgives sins and enables a paralytic to get up and walk with a word. As Martin Franzmann points out, these people are indeed living by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

The gospel is not just about “having” eternal life, as if it were a possession you might need one day. It is about living in the eternal age now and always! What’s the use of having eternal life if you are not living? Is not the purpose of having life to live? This authority with which Jesus is commanding people, storms, demons, and disciples, brings life!

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/06/20190630.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

What does it mean to have faith? What does it mean to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus? Questions like this are what our series DISCIPLE 1.0 seeks to answer. What, according to Matthew’s Gospel, does it mean to be a disciple? This week’s text gets right to the heart of answering that question. And the answer may surprise you.

On first blush, in this story, Jesus seems unbelievably demanding, even telling one fellow he couldn’t go back and bury his father if he wants to be a disciple. I want to suggest to you that the problem is not with Jesus but with our understanding of 1) Who Jesus is (His authority), and 2) what faith is. Faith and authority are intricately linked!

The centurion in last week’s text (8:5-13) set us up well for what we encounter this week. That was a story about great faith; this week’s is about little, or weak faith. There is a play on words in my title: Jesus is unbelievably demanding if we are unbelieving! (Or, those of tiny faith!)

Would be disciples must understand the relationship between “faith in Jesus” and “obedience” in order to follow Jesus faithfully. This relationship hangs on His authority. Once we understand the authority of Jesus, then suddenly his commands don’t seem, “unbelievably demanding.”

Join us as we explore the authority of Jesus as the foundation of our faith and obedience.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/06/20190623.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Do you consider yourself an outsider? The one who says, “I’m always the kid, my nose pressed against the window, looking at everyone inside having a good time.” An outsider to the presence of God, or the blessing of God, or the people of God?

If so, maybe it is because of your uncleanness. Maybe it’s because of the family you were born into. Maybe it’s because you are a woman. Maybe it’s because you are short, or fat, or weak, or not so beautiful, or poor?

This week’s text, Matthew 8:1-17, tells the stories of three specific outsiders who were as outside as one could get in the Jewish world. One is a leper; another a gentile enemy; and the third a woman! How does the in-breaking kingdom of heaven change their status?

Our text begins when the Sermon on the Mount had just finished—a sermon which makes us wonder, “Can we really live this way?” (We must.) But have you ever wondered what it would look like if God lived out the Sermon on the Mount? If God acted as if the poor, those who mourn, the lowly, and those suffering injustices were the blessed ones… If God loved his enemies—or at least those everyone assumes are His enemies… If God did not worry or judge, but was generous… If God, in human form, lived as God wills… what would it look like?

Join us in worship as we explore events that show us exactly what it would look like.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/06/20190616.pdf

Speaker: Peter Stonecipher

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/06/20190609.pdf

Speaker: Peter Stonecipher

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/06/20190602.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Imagine a parent signs their 8-year-old up for music lessons. The lessons begin and the teacher talks a lot but isn’t having the students play or do anything. Eventually your patience runs out so you ask the instructor, “Are the students going to play their instruments?” To which the instructor responds, “No, your child is not good enough to play or read music. We won’t have them play until they are good enough.” You’d take your daughter and leave.

Musicians don’t practice over and over because they are good enough to merit perfection, they practice over and over because they aren’t good enough to merit perfection. They practice because in the very act of practicing they are formed; they are changed. In performance of the music, they are forced to conform to something other than their own nature, something outside themselves.

Many have envisioned the Christian faith much the same as the instructor described above. As if Jesus is only concerned that we talk about how he wants us to live, but it makes no difference whether or not we do what He says. We’re afraid that if we tell people they have to live God’s will that they will try to be good enough to be saved. But doing what Jesus said is not about earning salvation at all. It’s necessary for the transformed vision of the world, the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is proclaiming, to come!

Join us as we explore the dedication necessary for the culture-changing Kingdom of Heaven to be experienced.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/05/20190526.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

What is the most popular verse in the Bible? Most surveys base their findings on what is searched on Bible apps (John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 23, and Philippians 4:13 top all the lists). But that only measures what is popular among Christians. Greg Laurie, an evangelical pastor, suggested that Matthew 7:1 (“Don’t judge lest you be judged”) is the most popular verse among unbelievers, though they likely don’t know where it is found. He may be right.

Despite its popularity, not many consider how it fits into its context, or do so only superficially. Consequently, 7:1-6 becomes something like: “Don’t judge lest you be judged, because the way you judge is how you will be judged…. But then, be careful to judge people as dogs and pigs lest you cast holy pearls before them.” If verse 6 is a caution to not overdo verses 1-2, the caution fails to give any practical advice and renders verses 1-2 seemingly useless.

Once again, this text did not land in our Bibles, dropped off by a spaceship coming out of nowhere. Context makes all the difference. In last week’s text, we saw that Jesus tells us “Don’t worry; be generous” because worry prevents people from being generous. In this week’s text, Jesus tells us “Don’t judge; be _______________.” because such judging will prevents people from being ____________. (That’s right, once again you have to come to find out!)

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/05/20190519.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Imagine the parents of a 17 year old boy who spends most of his time playing video games sitting down to talk to their son saying, “Do not worry about food, or drink, or clothing. Look at the birds of the air, the flowers of the field… they’re doing just fine. Don’t worry about tomorrow, tomorrow has enough worries of its own.” His response? “I’m not worried about tomorrow. Now can I play my game?”

One missionary considered Matthew 6:25-34 a cruel text to speak to the poor because they have to worry about where they are getting their next meal. Then he thought it should not be preached to the affluent because it could cause some to think that we shouldn’t worry about material needs but only spiritual ones, thereby justifying their inaction to help the poor.

Jesus’ audience was predominantly poor and indeed worried about where their next meal was coming from. And by no means is Jesus telling anyone not to be concerned about how others will eat. In fact, in context, quite the contrary! That concern is necessary! So what is Jesus saying? Why does He say not to worry about food, drink, or clothing? How does context effect our understanding?

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/05/20190512.pdf

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Do you need an eye-exam? They say you should have one at least every couple of years. I never paid attention to that until I noticed that I wasn’t seeing things as well as I should. But I am not really talking about that kind of eye-exam. Do you need a “disciple’s eye-exam”?

Jesus tells us that “If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matt. 6:22-23). It sounds like healthy eyes are very important. What does it mean for a disciple to have healthy, or unhealthy eyes? How do you know if you need corrective lenses (a.k.a. glasses)? Should you just wait until you notice a problem?

Personally, I hate eye-exams. I’m weird, no doubt, but I’d rather go to the dentist and get a filling than have an eye-exam. In the gospels we see there were apparently people who didn’t like spiritual eye-exams either. In fact, in one place it says that they sneered at Jesus! This week we are going to explore Matthew 6:19-24. It is a text that offers us an eye-exam—a disciple’s eye-exam.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2019/05/20190505.pdf

Speaker: Bruce Reynolds