Pastor Sherman Burkhead

When it comes to the question of why God saved us it is easy for us to look inward and become very self focused. But the truth is much greater than that. Yes Jesus came and died on the cross in order to set us free from the penalty from our sins. But the reason why, the purpose of that, is so much bigger then just us. Christ did not come to earth simply to set us free. He came for something much bigger and much more important.

Listen to Part 5

The object of your faith must be capable of delivering on the promise that it makes. God promises that we can be forgiven and saved by our sins. And this available by grace through faith. And that is available only in in Christ. Christ is the object of our faith because only He is capable to deliver on the promise of our salvation.

Listen to Part 4

Martin Luther was commanded by the church he loved to recant his view of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he knew that he would condemned as a heretic if he didn't, which meant he could loose his life. But he refused to recant. In fact he said he couldn't recant. What would make a man like Martin Luther stand his ground in the face of such powerful enemies? Martin Luther came out of the darkness of trying to earn God's forgiveness by his own efforts and he stepped into the light of the Gospel where the righteous live by faith.

Listen to part 3

The idea that we are saved by grace alone is perhaps the easiest of "sola" ideas to explain and understand but for some reason it seems to be the hardest one to accept. There seems to be something in us that demands that we participate on some level in our own salvation. We feel we need to "get our life right" or "follow some rituals" or "become religious" in order for God to accept us and save us. But as the Word of God makes so very clear; we are not saved by anything with in us, and we are not saved by anything we do. We are saved by GRACE ALONE! Salvation is the work and the gift of God.

Listen to part 2

500 years ago, on a day just every other, a man in his quest for truth unwittingly set events in motion that would change the entire world. Who could have known that wanting to start a conversation could to have lead to so much change? Not only did the world change but the true Gospel of Jesus Christ was pull out of the darkness of tradition and set before the world once again as the ONLY way to salvation.

Listen to Part 1

The beatitudes are not a list of pithy of statements. They are not a set of things to do. The beatitudes are Jesus' call to his people to live a radically different life because in that life we have a happiness that is radically more than anything the world can offer us. Jesus said “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It is only when you live a radically different life for a radically different happiness will Jesus words make any sense to you.

What about you? Where is your happiness? Is it here? Or is it in the Kingdom of Heaven?

*In todays message we listened to a story about a Martyr named Fatima. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C23vIl0dKw&t=45s

Not only do we want to be happy but we want peace in our lives. But in light of what Jesus teaches the question we should ask ourselves is "What am I doing to get peace"?

As children of God we are not only called to desire peace but we are called to actively get involved and create it.

Listen to Part 5

Blessed are the pure in heart for the shall see God. What an incredible promise that Jesus give us. But what does it mean to be pure in heart? Listen to part 5.

We all want true lasting happiness. But we also seem to want to nurse the grudges and bitterness that we have for those who wrong us. But Matthew 5:7 helps us to see that this is completely inconsistent. It is a contradiction in terms. Jesus says blessed are the merciful not the merciless.

Listen to Part 4

Hunger and thirst and not simply wants. they are needs. You hunger because you need food. You thirst because you need water.

So what is Jesus getting at when he says "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness".

Listen to Part 3