This account, at face value, makes God look an angry, mean, and vengeful God. However, after looking at all the events leading up to this, we'll see that God is very graceful throughout this account. Listen as Pastor Doug Van Sice walks us through 400 years of history leading up to the famous "golden calf" event in Exodus 32. By listening to this sermon, you will see that our God is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. A God like this, is a God that we want to put first in our lives.

With this sermon, we will look at the compassion Jesus has for the lost sheep of the world. He does this by asking us to pray for workers and providing and equipping those workers.

There has been so much happening in our nation over the last two weeks: the murder of a helpless black man, riots, violence, destruction. As Christians, we must ask ourselves, "How are we to handle and talk about these things?" God's prophet Micah gives us guidance for how we are to carry out our Christian walk through these turbulent times.

From the moment that God fills you with his Holy Spirit, he gives you power and purpose. He sends you out into the world to be his mouthpiece to the world. He sends you out to boldly tell people about Jesus and what he has done for them. In Acts 2, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly preaches the sermon that gives birth to the Christian Church.

The gift of God comes by faith to all nations. Not a holy life, not acts of obedience, but simple trust in the promise of God brings the gift of eternal life. Abraham believed God’s promise and so became not only the father of a nation, but the forefather of the Promised Seed who would bless all peoples. He had faith in God who justifies the wicked, and so God credited it to him as righteousness. By this same faith, Christ gives righteousness to all who believe and enfolds people like us into the family of God.

Today, there are so many voices claiming to speak the truth. How do you know which one is actually speaking the truth? How do you know which voice you should listen to? In 2 Peter 1, the apostle explains that there is only one voice that speaks the truth. Peter encourages us to listen to the right voice–the voice of God.

Jesus came to free us from sin. He did not come to free us to sin. The commands in the lessons today remind us just how holy our God is, and their dire warnings remind us just how holy he wants us to be. If left on our own, we would not only fail to live this holy life but would live in the constant fear of our manifold failures. Thankfully Jesus came to live a perfect life…not just to leave us an example of what a holy life looks like, but most importantly, to live the perfect life on our behalf. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”

Jesus calls every one of his followers to be salt and light. Not many struggle with the fact that this is what we are called to be. But many do struggle with how to live out these callings; with being who we're called to be. If you've ever struggled with living out your calling as salt and light, this sermon is for you. Listen to learn how to be who you're called to be.

Having the wrong perspective when you are trying to live your Christian life leads to nothing but frustration, disappointment, and discouragement. This is why Jesus, at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, alters our perspective on the Christian life. Because it is only with the altered perspective that Jesus gives that we can understand what it means to live the Christian life.

There is always a story behind the story–locations, characters, details, and prophecies. This is especially true of Jesus' Baptism. The story of Jesus' Baptism and the story behind the story of his baptism--it all comes together to tell a narrative that is all about you: About how God stood in your place to save you from your sins.