Redeemer Weekend Sermons

Hopeful Expectation
Through • October 22, 2023
Teacher: Dave Brown

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Matthew 7:24-27 NIV

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 7:25 NIV

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house.

1.  Storms

A storm is anything that puts us in physical, emotional, or spiritual disorientation or trauma.

Give Ourselves the freedom to feel what we feel

Pray the Lament Psalms

Identify Community

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

2. Deconstruction
 

Matthew 7:24 NIV

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” 

A lot of American Christianity is not based in the gospel, so it doesn’t stand up in the storm.

Acts 12:1 NIV

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.  He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

3.  Reconstruction

Crack the door to hope.

What is our hope?

Revelation 21:3-5 NIV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Remember back to when you felt God’s presence.

Psalm 77:6b-12 NIV

My heart meditated and my spirit asked: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Thriving in the Middle of Transition
Through • October 15, 2023
Teacher: John Wenrich

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Life is full of transitions…

1.  Change is different from transition.
2.  Every transition begins with an ending and ends with a beginning.
3.  The stages are cumulative.  

The Middle Zone is the space between where we’ve been and where we need to go in order to thrive.

1.  The Middle Zone is a time of testing. 

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 NIV

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

2.  The Middle Zone is a time of feeling lost.  

Joshua 5:6 NIV

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

3.  The Middle Zone is a time of opportunity.

Exodus 24:4 NIV

Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.

The Middle Zone is a:
1. time of testing
2. time of feeling lost
3. time of opportunity

1. Aviate

Tim Keller

“The Gospel is this:  We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

2.  Navigate

Numbers 9:15-21 NIV

On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning, the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire.  Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out.

3.  Communicate

Exodus 20:1-3 NIV

And God spoke all these words:  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me…"

4. Innovate

Exodus 18:17-24 NIV

What you are doing is not good.  You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/ry55--J4_VQ  

How to Wait Well
Faith IRL • October 8, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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How to Wait Well

James 5:1-3 NIV

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Matthew 6:24-26 NIV

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

James 5:4-6 NIV

Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Brian Rapske

“The murder here most likely is judicial. Whereby the wealthy landowners take smaller, poorer indebted farmers to court, stripping them of their land and thus of their source of income, and then hiring them back again to work their former property as sharecroppers. With dirt-poor wages, unpaid debts might then lead their new landlords to throw them into debtors’ prison, where they could rot for the rest of their lives. Once in prison, making money to pay one’s debts was not an option, so unless some better financially situated friends or relatives bailed one out, that person often died in jail.”

James 5:7-9 NIV

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judgeis standing at the door!

William Brosend

“Christ is coming back, he is coming back soon (at least from God’s perspective), and he will wreak vengeance on the wicked—with absolute justice and equity—something sinful mortals could never do and therefore should not try to do!”

1. Be patient
2. Stand firm
You must wait; strengthen your hearts [resolutely turn your thoughts and feelings in the direction of the Lord’s return].
3. Don't complain 

Craig Blomberg

“Christians often act as though judgment remains far off, a distant future possibility. James argues, however, that Christ’s return lies close at hand, on the threshold of the door way. We ought to behave as people ready for a judgment that has already begun in this life and will culminate quickly at his return.”

To wait (for His return) well: be patient, stand firm, don’t complain.

Enemies of God
Faith IRL • October 1, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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James 4:4 NIV

Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

James 4:1-3 NIV

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:4-6 NIV

You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

James 4:7-10 NIV

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Resisting the devil is accomplished through submission to God.

Repentance includes remorse.

William Baker

“James is ordering us to move beyond merely correct outward actions to appropriate heart attitudes of sorrow for our willful, wicked behavior. Once we realize the grievous nature of our sins and how far away we let ourselves get from God, we ought to be upset, crying at the horror of our sins.”

James 4:11-12 NIV

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

William Brosend

“To do so is to set oneself as superior to the one spoken against, is to deny the claim of the law to love the neighbor, and is to presume a role that can be held only by God.”

James 4:13-15 NIV

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4:16-17 NIV

As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Forest Fires
Faith IRL • September 24, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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James 3:1-2 NIV

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

James 3:3-4 NIV

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

James 3:5-6 NIV

Likewise,the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:7-8 NIV

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James 3:9-12 NIV

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

1. Filter words through these three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
2. Submit your tongue to the Holy Spirit, much like you have your heart, mind, and soul.
3. Speak the truth in love. And speak the truth in love.

Faith's Funeral
Faith IRL • September 17, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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James 1:22 NIV

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 2:14-17 NIV

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:18-19 NIV

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James 2:20 NIV

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

James 2:20-24 NIV

Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

James 2:25 NIV

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

James 2:26 NIV

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:14 NIV

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

Craig Blomberg

“The answer, throughout all the arguments and examples of 2:14-26, has been a resounding, ‘no.’ faith that does not reveal itself in works – in a changed lifestyle that glorifies God and seeks his heart for the world – is dead, lifeless, workless, and worthless. In reality, it is not faith at all; it is only the shell or the corpse of faith.”

Faith without works doesn’t work!

Worthless Religion
Faith IRL • September 10, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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James 1:13-15 NIV

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:16 NIV

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

James 1:17-18 NIV

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:19-21 NIV

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Proverbs 22:24 NLT

Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people.

James 1:22-25 NIV

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Luke 11:28 NIV

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

James 1:26-27 NIV

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Is James Crazy, or What?
Faith IRL • September 3, 2023
Teacher: Adam Barnett

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Is James crazy, or what?

Jim Samra

“James can be a difficult book to teach and preach because of its seemingly harsh tone.”

James 1:1 NIV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

James 1:2 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

James 1:3 NIV

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

ὑπομονή – endurance; constancy; to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ.
ὑπομένω– _hopeful (or cheerful)_endurance; constancy; to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ.

Perseverance is not just a discipline, but also a delight.

James 1:4 NIV

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:5-8 NIV

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-mindedand unstablein all they do.

James 1:9-11 NIV

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

James 1:12 NIV

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

1. Rejoice as you face trials.
2. Don’t interrupt the trial.
3. Ask God for wisdom.

Launch Week: Service & Mission
Launch • August 27, 2023
Teacher: Dave Brown, Amy Cenea, and Alison Myers

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Dallas Willard

Spiritual formation is the process of the transformation of the heart. The heart is being formed in such a way that its natural expression comes to be the deeds of Christ done in the power of Christ.

Matthew 5:16 NIV

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Redeemer exists to see Christ exalted in our church, community, and world.

1. Church

1 Peter 4:10 NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

2. Community

1 John 4:20-21 NIV

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

3. World

Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said,“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Launch Week: Community & Discipleship
Launch • August 20, 2023
Teacher: Dave Brown & Garland Tackett

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Adult Discipleship at Redeemer
1. Men's Ministry
2. Small Groups
3. Sunday School
4. Women's Ministry

Dallas Willard

Spiritual formation is the process of the transformation of the heart. The heart is being formed in such a way that its natural expression comes to be the deeds of Christ done in the power of Christ.

[email protected]
918-497-0484