Sermons

In the past 10-15 years we have been witnesses to an historic age of communication development. But along with instantaneous news and video the heart of the world has been laid bare and it's not a pretty picture. We live in an age of unending digital tragedy on an international, a national, and a local level. We have access to the tragic world in which we live. But how are we to live in such a time? Do we ignore the news? Do we try to come up with answers? Or perhaps there is something greater and more eternal that we can learn from the bad news. Jesus offers something better in a broken world of unending bad news.

The pleasure that God the Father has in Christ the Son is reason enough for us to rise and have no fear. The King of kings has squelched any power that death might have over those who have put their faith in Jesus.

Who do you believe Jesus is? This is an unavoidable question that we all must answer. Do you believe he was a great moral teacher and nothing more? Does Jesus himself give us the option to believe he is anything other than the Son of God? In this sermon we discuss who Jesus is and how the power of his identity should inform our faith in our day to day lives.

Most parents at some point in their life wonder if they have what it takes to raise their children right. Most kids at some point in their life wonder why God gave them the parents that he did. We often seem so mismatched from one another. Paul has some simple instructions for the Christian home. Our families are to be distinctively Christian. Children who love Jesus will look for ways to honor and obey their parents even when it's hard. Parents who love Jesus will reflect Jesus to their children in the home.

Paul's message to the Ephesians has implications for all people in all stages of life. In this text, he turns his attention to slaves and masters, those in authority and under authority in the workplace. He gives us the commands us to obey and use our authority in a way that honors our God. He also gives us some future promises that motivate us to use our calling to bring God glory with our vocation.

The idea of the biblical submission of a wife to her husband is not popular in our cultural, but it is often misunderstood. God has designed husbands and wives to complement one another. The Bible teaches the complete equality of men and women as God's image bearers, yet they each fulfill distinct roles in the context of marriage. As husbands are called to lead with a self-sacrificial love, women are called to trust in them to do so. This relationship, while marred by the curse, is of God's good design for humanity. We have to look no further than the relationship within the Godhead to see this beautiful communion of equality and subordinate distinction. And it is in Jesus, our teacher and example, that we see both of these realities lived out in our world.

Husbands have a high calling. We aren't satisfied with a happy wife so that we can have a happy life. We want much more than the status quo. Husbands are called to lead, love and glorify their wives just as Jesus leads, loves and glorifies the church.

There is a war. There is strength to fight the war. That strength is found in the power of the Lord and the armor Jesus has fashioned from his person and work. Christians are called to do battle with the spiritual forces of this world. Behind every human battle there is a cosmic battle. But where the Gospel is the Kingdom of God moves forward in this world. God has given us the and dressed us in an armor and strength that can only come from him so that we might not only survive these battles but become more like Jesus in them.

The Christian life is inherently hard, as we are called to continually put off our old nature and put on the new nature we have in Christ. But we shouldn't despair that we are consigned to a miserable existence. Christian people should be those filled with thankfulness for what God has done, is doing, and will do in the future. Paul understood this as a man who faced both blessing and hardship. If we truly believe that God has given us all things in Christ, it should leave no room for complaint. Thanksgiving is an antidote against the temptation to sin and the fatigue of sanctification, and it is a marker for those who claim to be "children of light."