New Day Church Sermons

This sermon explains why it is right to commit ourselves to the local church. We’re going to see God’s heart for the church in what Paul said to the Ephesian elders. We see it in the attentive care that the Holy Spirit requires of the elders, and in the staggering reality that God obtained the church with his own blood. No greater love can be conceived than this. Note: Jesus died not only for us as individuals, but he died to obtain the church: the assembly of the saved. Individualized and disconnected Christianity is foreign to God’s intention for us. And part of the reason for that is because of the spiritual dangers that we can only face together, not alone (“fierce wolves… men speaking twisted things…”). Mark closed with an encouragement that our church is known to God, and he his with us and for us as we continue on our path. It is worth committing to.

This sermon centers on Jesus’ teaching that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. Michael connects these commands to the church’s mission of making disciples, emphasizing that evangelism is not merely a program or duty but a natural expression of a growing love for Christ. The sermon’s main theme is summarized as: “Out of love for Jesus, disciples of Jesus love their neighbors who don’t know Jesus.”

The sermon begins with a personal story of being rescued from drowning as a child. This illustration serves as a picture of humanity’s spiritual condition: people are spiritually lost, unable to save themselves, and in need of rescue through the gospel. Christians have been given the privilege of participating in God’s rescue mission by sharing the hope of Christ with others.

Drawing from Matthew 22:34–40, Michael develops two primary points. First, believers are called to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. This wholehearted devotion grows through prayer, Scripture, and gratitude for Christ’s saving work. Michael warns that evangelism becomes burdensome when disconnected from love for Jesus, but when love for Christ deepens, love for people naturally follows.

Second, believers are called to love their neighbors as themselves. Jesus’ command challenges prejudice, favoritism, and self-righteous attitudes. Christians are to demonstrate genuine love both within the church and toward unbelievers outside it. Michael defines a “lost neighbor” as anyone God has sovereignly placed near us—neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and acquaintances. These relationships are viewed as divine appointments through which God desires to display His love and truth.

The sermon explains three reasons Christians should love unbelieving neighbors: Jesus commands it, believers are Christ’s ambassadors, and lost people face eternal separation from God without faith in Christ. Therefore, Christians should compassionately engage others with both practical care and gospel witness.

Practical examples illustrate this principle, including church members building relationships, serving neighbors in tangible ways, answering spiritual questions, inviting people to church events, and patiently sharing the gospel over time. These stories demonstrate that evangelism is often a process requiring prayer, persistence, and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The sermon concludes with a call for believers to pray for greater love for Jesus, greater compassion for the lost, and greater boldness in sharing the gospel. Success in evangelism is not measured by immediate conversions but by faithful love, service, and witness. Christians are encouraged to see their communities through God’s eyes and participate in His mission of bringing people to Christ.

As we revitalize our church and move to a new location, we will begin with the grand vision of where the church is going ultimately. It’s the vision of the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem because of Jesus who makes all things new by his blood and his Spirit. The message divides into two sections: the newness of the world to come, and the newness that has already come (transformation of individuals and the church day by day). We end with encouragement to go forward into the ‘new day’ that the Lord has for us and for those we will reach, because in him every day is new.

This passage is the end of the beginning of Exodus. The Lord brought the people to himself out of Egypt to serve God on this mountain (Mt. Sinai). He expressed his loving intentions that they be his treasured possession. And now it is time for them to meet him. They got more than they bargained for. The Lord descends in fire and smoke and the people tremble in fear. Death awaits anyone who touches the mountain of God. Only Moses the mediator – and anyone the Lord invites to go up with him (Aaron, vs. 24) – has access to God without fear of death. The plan of redemption comes through again, because all who go with Jesus our Mediator can safely go up to God. Jesus is the only safe way into God’s presence. That’s the gospel hope.

This is about the immediate goal the Lord had for Israel in bringing them out of Egypt. It was to invite them into a covenant relationship with him. The stipulations of the covenant will be fleshed out in chapters 20-23, but the nature of it is introduced here. First the Lord recounts his saving acts: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” Then he gives them the invitation to a covenant. “Now therefore…” The covenant consists of what Israel must do (obey my voice) and what God will do (you shall be my treasured possession… you shall be to me a kingdom of priests). It’s a covenant saturated with his love for the people he saves, a unique relationship in the world akin to how a marriage is a love shared with no one else, though we will love our neighbor as well, but not in the same way. I’ll walk through this covenant and end with how in Jesus we are his treasured possession, as Paul says in Romans 1, we “belong to Jesus Christ, are loved by God and called to be saints”.

After all the accounts of desperation and deliverance for Israel, we might start to think that Exodus is only a story about Israel’s salvation. But then someone who is not part of Israel enters the picture: Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. He’s from Midian, a land of polytheism for which he is a priest. Exodus 18 is the account of his visit to Moses, prompted by what he had heard about how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Once there, he hears the details of the whole thing from Moses, and he has a salvation experience in verse 11: “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods.” And then he becomes useful to Moses and to the community by giving wise counsel about his one-man-show judging of the people. This is the story of the church as well: people come in as interested unbelievers, they get saved through our testimony about how the Lord has done great things to deliver us, and the church is strengthened by adding their gifts to the body. The closing exhortation is to make sure we don’t forget the “Jethros” in our lives. Let’s tell others the story of deliverance in Christ and pray for those light bulb moments of salvation to happen.

Dan Luevano returns to preach on Matthew 19:16-26. Using the rich young ruler, he shows that eternal life cannot be earned by human effort—“With man this is impossible”—but “with God all things are possible” through Christ. A powerful call to trust Jesus.

In Exodus 17:8–16, Israel faces its first battle—but victory doesn’t come by strength alone. As Moses lifts the staff and others hold up his hands, God secures the win. In this sermon, we discover why the Lord is our banner, how He calls us to depend on Him in the fight, and where true victory is found.

Based on Exodus 17, this sermon focuses on how God uses trials to reveal what’s in our hearts and how He teaches us to trust Him. When Israel tests the Lord, He responds with surprising grace—bringing water from the rock. See how this points to Christ, our true source of living water, even in seasons of need.

Are you quick to grumble when life doesn’t go your way? In “God’s Grace to Grumblers,” drawing from Exodus 15–17, see how Israel’s complaints in the wilderness expose our own hearts—and how God responds with astonishing patience and provision. Discover a grace that meets us in our failure and calls us to trust Him again.