The Church: Sermon 7

In this message, we looked at 3 questions regarding church membership:

The Church: Sermon 6

“We believe a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, joined together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel…The only scriptural officers of the church are elders (also called overseers or pastors) and deacons, whose qualifications and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and to Titus.”

In this message, Pastor Michael unpacks the two offices of the church:

He closes the message with this challenge, "Will you pray for God to raise up healthy leaders in our church?"

In this message, Pastor Michael walks through Matthew 11:28-30 and discusses the heart of Jesus, the invitation of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30

(Please excuse the background noise, this sermon is from an outdoor service at a local park.)

The Church: Sermon 5

The rise of online church campuses during the global pandemic of 2020 has led to an important question: "Is the physical gathering necessary to be a church?" In this message, Pastor Michael argues that it is. In fact, a church that doesn't regularly gather is no longer a church. He then unpacks 5 reasons gathering is essential from Hebrews 10:19-25:

The Church: Sermon 4

Two weeks ago, we looked at the definition of a local church and said that it was an embassy of heaven, but that brings us to a critical question—there are a lot of groups out there that use the term “church” to describe themselves…so how do we know which churches are true churches and which ones are false?

In this message, Pastor Michael looks at 2 key marks of a true church, one that has the authority of a local embassy of heaven:

Mark Dever helpfully explains that these 2 marks are essential because they deal with both the creation and preservation of the church. He puts it this way:

“The first mark [preaching] is the foundation of God’s truth that gives life to his people, and the second is the lovely vessel to contain and display this glorious work. The church is generated by the right preaching of the Word. The church is distinguished and contained by the right administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.” 

The Church: Sermon 3

What is the church like? The Bible gives us dozens of metaphors to help us answer this question. In this sermon, Pastor Michael highlights four of them:

What is the church like? It’s like a bride, like a family, like a body, like a temple, like a flock, like a branch, like a house, and so much more—all at the same time! Pastor Michael closed with a quote from Jonathan Leeman who put it this way, “There’s nothing on earth like the local church—it comes from the end of time!"

The Church: Sermon 2

What exactly is the church? In the message, Pastor Michael looks at Matthew 16 and 18 to show that the church is an embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven. They've been given the keys of the kingdom which enables them to answer two key questions:

This leads to three key applications:

This sermon ends with the challenge to, "Live as citizens of heaven together."

The Church: Sermon 1

Why does the church exist? To answer that question, Pastor Michael walks through the Bible in the following points:

These points lead to the conclusion that the church exists to display God's glory in the world. As the Body of Christ, the church is God's vehicle for bringing Christ to the world. 

Sermon 6 in the Jonah Series:

In this final sermon of "The Gospel According to Jonah," Pastor Michael walks through Jonah 1-4 and highlights:

Because ultimately, the book of Jonah is not about a great fish. The book of Jonah is about a great God.

Sermon 5 in the Jonah Series:

In this sermon, Pastor Michael walks through Jonah 4, highlighting:

He closes with the challenging question, "Does your character and attitude towards others reflects the character of the God you say you worship? Do you see others like God sees them?"