Rose City Baptist Church Sermon Archives episodes:

• July 11, 2024Revelation 2:12-17

  Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from Revelation 2:12-17, the letter to the

  Church in Pergamum:

  “So we find in Pergamum teachers who are advocating compromise with the

  culture around them. As a result they are enticing believers in Pergamum to

  indulge in sexual immorality and idolatry or just compromise with sin in

  general…We cannot soothe our conscience by pointing out that we have been

  faithful in other areas when Christ demands obedience in every area. We are

  to take seriously any compromise among ourselves…”

  (Originally preached on February 4, 2018)

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• July 11, 2024Revelation 2:8-11

  Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from Revelation 2 this morning, the letter

  to the Church in Smyrna:

  “ We might be shocked by the fact that Jesus expected his followers to die

  for him. Maybe you became a Christian because you were told that ‘Jesus has

  a wonderful plan for your life.’ He does have a wonderful plan for every

  one of his followers, but that plan may well involve torture and death.

  Notice what Jesus is doing with the promise he gives to overcomers in

  Smyrna. He is reminding them that death is not what they should fear. It is

  the second death…“

  (Originally preached on January 28, 2018)

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• July 11, 2024Revelation 2:1-7

  Pastor Josh teaches from Revelation 2 this morning, Jesus’ message to the

  church of Ephesus:

  “This letter to the Ephesians, I believe, is one that most clearly speaks

  directly to this church at this time…their passion for what is right is not

  echoed by a passion to share this with all those who have not yet heard

  this message…”

  (Originally preached on January 21, 2018)

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• July 11, 2024Revelation 1:9-20

  “Most of the biggest mistakes in interpreting and understanding Revelation

  are a result of failing to read it in its historical context. Reading it as

  a road map of all of church history…make the book all but worthless for

  those to whom it was originally sent to…If I need a chart outlining the

  last 2000 years of church history to understand Revelation, or if I need to

  have a passing knowledge of modern day munitions and military superpowers,

  it would be nonsense to those John wrote to…”

  Continuing to draw from Dr. Martin Culy’s material for his teaching, Pastor

  Josh adds to the list of important instructions for reading the book of

  Revelation:

  4. We must read Revelation in light of the particular historical context to

  which it is addressed.

  5. We must recognize that Revelation makes use of symbols and symbolic uses

  of numbers.

  6. We need to recognize that Revelation often communicates using Old

  Testament language and imagery.

  7. We must notice and carefully consider Revelation’s internal connections.

  (Originally preached on January 14, 2018)

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• July 11, 2024Revelation 1:1-8

  Pastor Josh begins with a series studying the book of Revelation:

  “Are you compromising so that you don’t receive persecution? The benefits

  that Rome had to offer exerted significant benefits to live like the

  culture around them - to assimilate, either to avoid persecution or to

  enjoy the bounty of what society had to offer. This is a great temptation

  and this is the temptation that is happening to us today. The temptation to

  live like the culture around us so that we can enjoy the things that the

  culture around us enjoys - and also to avoid persecution.

  We are going to explore this - this is so relevant for our church today -

  as we continue through the book of Revelation.”

  Key themes of Revelation

  1. Christians belong to God; they are His bondservants.

  2. Jesus is coming soon.

  3. Christians are to imitate Jesus, the faithful witness.

  4. Death is not the end of the story.

  5. Jesus is the supreme ruler of this world, not Caesar.

   

  Reading Instructions for Revelation

  1. This message is to God's own people.

  2. We must determine what Revelation would have meant to the first

  audience.

  3. We must read Revelation in light of its complex genre.

  4. We must read Revelation in light of the particular historical context to

  which it is addressed.

  5. We must recognize that Revelation makes use of symbols and symbolic uses

  of numbers.

  6. We need to recognize that Revelation often communicates using Old

  Testament symbolism and references.

  7.  We must notice and carefully consider Revelation's internal

  connections.

  (Originally preached on January 7, 2018. The first few minutes of the

  sermon were unfortunately lost. Sermon prepared from Pastor Josh’s mentor

  and friend, Martin M. Culy, The Book of Revelation: The Rest of the Story

  (Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick, 2017).)

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• July 10, 2024John 21

  Tune in as Pastor Josh completes the expository teaching series from the

  Gospel of John, teaching from John 21, the Epilogue of John:

  “Don’t waste your life labouring for things that do not last! It is

  fruitless and unsatisfying. Abide in Christ, abide in his love, and your

  life too will be characterized by fruitful ministry and the fulfillment

  that comes with doing what you were made for…We have a purpose church! And

  there are many who call themselves Christians who do not fulfill the

  purpose of Christians because they do not follow the direction of Christ

  and are not empowered by the Holy Spirit. We need these things. We don’t

  need all the wisdom and talent and intelligence in the world. We need to be

  led by Christ!”

  (Originally preached on November 24, 2019)

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• July 10, 2024John 20:19-31

  Tune in to hear Pastor Josh preach from the remainder of John 20 this

  morning:

  “As Christians, we are commanded to perfect obedience, modelled on Jesus’

  perfect obedience to the Father.  Jesus is not just a Savior to those who

  love him, but a Master.  But our Master does not; cannot require any higher

  expectation than what his own behavior has modelled; he is our exemplar,

  the standard by which we are to judge ourselves. In addition, the Christian

  commission, to make disciples from every nation, also includes teaching

  them to observe all that I have commanded you. Thank God’s grace that with

  this commission, Jesus not only provides the motivation behind our service

  but the power to do it as well!”

  (Originally preached on November 10, 2019)

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• July 10, 2024John 20:1-18

  Tune in to hear Pastor Josh preach from John 20 this morning:

  “John takes pains in this chapter to explain the details regarding who

  believed when and to what extent faith in the resurrection of Jesus was

  realized in the various eyewitnesses. Whatever they need to believe, Jesus

  provides it, whether it is to see logical evidence, hear the eyewitness

  account of another or to personally see the scars in his hands and feet,

  faith is a gift Jesus grants to his own…”

  (Originally preached on November 3rd, 2019)

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• July 10, 2024John 19:16-42

  Tune in to hear Pastor Josh teach from John’s account of the Crucifixion of

  Christ in John 19:

  “Jesus is more than just a good teacher and his death is so much more than

  a good example to those who would follow him.  He is the Passover Lamb (1

  John 2:2) who died for the sins of the world…The Law forbid that any of a

  Passover Lamb’s bones be broken (Exod. 12:46; Num. 9:12)…Jesus dies along

  with the Passover Lambs, but they are merely intended to foreshadow his

  once-and-for-all sacrifice.  As the true Passover Lamb, his bones are not

  broken despite the circumstance that called for it…Jesus’ mission was to

  fulfill what the lamb that day could not: to offer himself as a sinless

  sacrifice for sinful men, so that (Hebrews 2:9) by the grace of God he

  might taste death for everyone. Jesus grants greater freedom than Israel

  could ever imagine: freedom from slavery to sin and the oppression of

  death.”

  (Originally preached on October 27th, 2019.)

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• July 10, 2024John 18:28-19:16

  Tune in to hear Rev. Larry Handford preach from John 18-19 this morning.

  “Which world has your heart? As followers of Jesus, we live in two

  different worlds at the same time: we live in the world of the crowd, and

  we live in the world of the King. We live in two worlds at the same time

  that occupy the same space. We are invited over and over, as we live in the

  world, to choose the King…the Church is going to inhabit the world of the

  King forever and ever. Amen.”

  (Originally preached on October 20, 2019)

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