Jude 17–25. I want to remind you of Jude’s point. He reminds the church that they are being kept by God, so they should contend for the faith that has come under attack through false teaching. This false teaching is a distorted form of Christianity that does not submit to the fundamentals of the faith. In this final section, Jude wants to tell us what it means to contend for the faith. I think this is a fitting message as the final one I will preach to you. Your job as a local congregation is to contend for the faith. I have six things I want to show you from the passage. So let’s take a look at the text. Sermon for September 27, 2020.

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Jude 8–16. We have a terrible tendency in the modern world to think that God is controllable or subservient to us. If we are honest, we might think he has to answer to us. We might even say, “He will have to explain this to me when we meet.” Such talk reveals a critical problem. It is the problem of playing God. We put ourselves in the position of God. We can do this in numerous ways. 

This is precisely what the false teachers are doing. They have gone their own way. They have set their own standards, and in doing so, they have placed themselves over God. They are not submitting to him or his Word. They are a lesson for us to keep submitting to God’s Word, to not chart our own path, but instead to return to Scripture. Sermon for September 20, 2020.

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Jude 1–7. The pressure is growing. The world feels so uncertain. Life is absolutely unpredictable. And I know a question on many of your minds is what is the future of the church. Jude writes to a church facing pressure. False teachers are calling them to compromise. The risk is that they will fall away, that they will abandon the gospel. But Jude’s message is simple: God is able to keep you, so struggle for the faith.

In these first eight verses, Jude says to us, “Hold the Line.” The earth may feel like it’s shifting from underneath our feet. The mountains may be quaking. The world may look bleak. The cultural pressures may be building against the church. Hold the line because God will keep those who are his through all eternity. Stay steadfast because eternity is at stake. Sermon for Sept 13, 2020.

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Mark 3:20–30. This is the final part in our four part series on spiritual warfare. There's an amazing promise in Genesis 3:15—a promise that the serpent will be destroyed. Theologians have long referred to this verse as "the first gospel." In this message, we look at Mark 3:20–30 to see how Jesus is revealed as the promised destroyer of the devil. Sermon for Sept 6, 2020.

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The devil aims to destroy God’s good creation through any means possible. He is seeking to devour and destroy. The devil is the catalyst for the corruption of creation, and as we observe the story of Scripture, we see his continued efforts to destroy creation. In John 8:44, Jesus says to the religious leaders, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning.” Jesus characterizes the devil as a murderer. What do murderer’s do? They destroy God’s creation. Similarly, Jesus says in John 10:10 that “[t]he thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Steal, kill, and destroy—that is a description of the devil’s work. So it should be apparent that the devil desires to destroy God’s creation. He can do this through direct intervention as in the case of demon possessions or he can do it through coercion as in the case of Cain or through deception as in the child sacrifices to pagan gods or through suffering as in the persecution of the church. But in spite of all of this, God’s grace will overcome. Sermon for August 30, 2020.

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Genesis 3. The devil devalues humans through the power of shame. The devil desires to devalue humans. I say this because humans are created in the image of God. We are made to reflect and mirror the radiance of God. The devil hates that because he hates the radiance of God. Anything that reflects the glory of God must be smashed and broken. One of the most powerful tools he wields is shame. Shame is the emotional pain of guilt, inadequacy, or worthlessness. Shame does two things. Shame “corrupt[s] our relationship with God and each other” and it fractures our ability to create and cultivate as humans.

God created humans in his image so that they might flourish and display in his goodness in all creation. Listen to how Psalm 8 speaks about humans: “You have made humankind a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands.” But in our broken world, shame begins astonishingly early, and we experience the devil’s devaluing plan. Sermon for August 16, 2020.

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Genesis 3:1–5. I want to begin a new short series on spiritual warfare. By spiritual warfare I mean the presence, activity, and plans of the devil and his demons. Now perhaps such a series isn’t fashionable, but I think it’s necessary, because we have been duped. American Christians, by and large, ignore spiritual realities. We desperately need to hear the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:12: “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers of this darkness, against the spiritual beings of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Yet, American Christians have adopted a secular worldview where we talk exclusively about blood and flesh, about the physical world. I recently heard a quote that the only thing God and the devil have in common are they aren’t content to stay where you are. I think that’s incorrect. The devil is completely content to let us stay where we are—oblivious to his plans, attacks, and goals. This series intends to help us recover a Christian worldview, which means talking about the spiritual war that we are in.

Today, I want to introduce you to the devil’s defamation plan. The devil aims to rob God of his glory by telling lies. He wants us to doubt God’s commands, and he wants us to doubt God’s character. This is all part of the plan to slander and defame the living God. The devil aims to rob God of his glory by telling lies. Sermon for August 9, 2020.

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First Corinthians 12. One of the most difficult things for us to grasp as modern, western Christians is God’s desire for us to be part of his people, part of the Church. This is difficult for us, because in the modern West we are intensely individualistic.

In the NT, the Corinthians were not much different. As one scholar puts it, they view themselves as “spiritual soloists” attempting to play their own concert.[1] This mindset is especially evident when they come together for worship. We, too, may conceive of our Christian life in individual terms. We may think that church attendance and church involvement personal matters—it’s about my desires, preferences; it exists to serve me. Many times, we come to observe an event rather than to participate in a community.

But God does not redeem people and pour his Spirit into them for their benefit alone. He redeems people to be part of a community for his glory. He empowers people with his Spirit to serve that community. This is what the Spirit does then. Through the gospel, he calls us into a  community of believers and empowers us for service. The work of the  Spirit is not for self-benefit but for the benefit of Christ’s church. Sermon for August 2, 2020.

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Galatians 5:16–24. How do we change? It’s a question worth asking because if we are honest with ourselves, there are always things we want to change. We may want to be less critical or angry. Or, we may have a problem that we just can’t control like an addiction.

Christianity teaches that real change is only possible through the Holy  Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is only available to those who embrace Christ. Today I want to look at Galatians 5 and show you how the Spirit empowers us to change. The beautiful thing about this passage is that it strikes a balance between legalism on one hand—that is, following rules—and libertinism on the other—that is, no rules. There is a better way. It’s not based on management strategies where we try to change through restrictions. Nor is it based on indifference where we embrace our worst impulses. It is based on dependence on the Spirit. Sermon for July 26, 2020.

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Acts 2. If you’ve spent any time around the church, you’ve no doubt been told about witnessing and sharing your faith with others. But often this is a guilt trip and it is predicated on methods and getting people to say a prayer. Scripture offers us a freeing alternative. Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit offers us a freeing alternative. Rather than feeling burdened by a requirement to share our faith, Scripture shows us that real witness is built on passion and power. The Spirit produces passion and power to witness. You don’t need a book on evangelism and you don’t need to force people to say the sinner’s prayer with you. You only need to rely on the Spirit. Sermon for July 19, 2020.

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