Mercy Hill Church Sermons

If you want to be used by God in this world, you don't have to do anything too flashy. Just focus on the fundamentals. Commit yourself to things like prayer, humility, the gospel, and obedience. God can work with that!

We are called to live with hope and to walk in holiness because of the new life we have in Jesus through God's grace!

The food laws in the OT, strange as they may seem to us, serve a profound purpose in the redemptive plan of God. They point to and are fulfilled in Jesus who brings the good news of peace, not just to Jews but to everyone everywhere!

Gospel love is love that arises from and accords with the gospel. It's composed of three basic steps: risk, hope, and act. It's the sort of love that should characterize the church, because it's ultimately the love that's come to each one of us in Jesus. He risks in drawing near to "toxic" people like us; he hopes for us by defining us not by our sin but by his grace; and he acts by loving us all the way to the cross. As we follow him in this, it leads to peace, comfort, and the growth of the church!

Though Paul makes a clear and compelling case for Jesus, his listeners do not thereafter repent and believe. Instead, they plot to kill him. The roots of our rebellion run deeper than we realize. We cannot reason people into the kingdom. The proofs for Jesus are significant, but they are not sufficient to save. God has to do it!

Sermon Manuscript , Sermon Handout

Baptism is a symbol of our death, burial and resurrection with Christ - our union with Christ. It is an expression of our faith in Jesus and His work - not ours. Baptism does not save - only Jesus can and does!

As we see who our God is, it evokes a response.

In our day, it is assumed (falsely) that if you are putting your faith in Jesus it must also mean you are in some ways forfeiting (or "crucifying", if you prefer) your intellect. You are leaping blind in the dark. You are taking steps, not towards the facts, but away from them. But the Bible nowhere tells us to blindly accept Jesus without evidence or good reason. Quite the opposite: much evidence and many good reasons are put forward. Consequently then, what we discover is that real biblical faith isn't opposed to reason . . . it accords with it!

In our day, it is assumed (falsely) that if you are putting your faith in Jesus it must also mean you are in some ways forfeiting (or “crucifying”, if you prefer) your intellect.  You are leaping blind in the dark.  You are taking steps, not towards the facts, but away from them.  But the Bible nowhere tells us to blindly accept Jesus without evidence or good reason. Quite the opposite: much evidence and many good reasons are put forward.  Consequently then, what we discover is that real biblical faith isn’t opposed to reason . . . it accords with it!

As Christians today we live in a privileged position in God's unfolding redemptive story - a position which the prophets (of the Old Testament) and even angels would gladly trade with us!