Sermons

There is no question that parenting is incredibly difficult and incredibly rewarding. As parents, we can freely admit that much of the time we are making things up as we go along. We need grace and we need to give our children grace. When God matters most to us parents will look for moments to inject the Gospel story into redemptive moments. In Ephesians, Paul has a few but very specific instructions for parents that can change the course of their lives and the course of their children's lives. Our goal as Christian parents is to give our children grace by giving them the full story of the Gospel. It is our goal to teach our children to view all of life through the triumph of Jesus Christ as Lord.

What is the secret to a great marriage? It is a constant pursuit of something greater than ourselves? Husbands and wives that pursue Jesus in their marriage will always be pursuing greatness. In Ephesians, Paul says that the relationship that Jesus has with the church is an illustration of a great marriage. Husbands and wives are to treat each other with the same self-sacrificing love that Jesus loved the church with. No matter if we are looking to get married, already married, fighting for our marriage or ready to quit, the Gospel applied will transform our relationships from good to great.

When all is said and done what will you have left the ones that you love on this earth? How will their lives be different because of the investment that you made in them? The older we get the more we think about what our legacy might be. The history books will not remember most of our names but the mark we leave will be felt for generations even by those who have long forgotten we ever existed. How we raise our families now and what we teach our families about God will reverberate for generations. What kind of legacy are you leaving your family? In this sermon, guest preacher, Dr. Chuck F. Betters preaches from the story of Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan River to begin their conquest of the Promised Land. Upon crossing the river they build a memorial consisting of 12 stones. It would be a memorial that would be noticed for generations to come and the story of that historic day would be retold to remind the generations of God's great covenantal love for His people. Each of us are building a legacy, a memorial built not with stones but with values and doctrine. What is your memorial constructed out of?

In Ephesians Paul has some detailed instruction for how families ought to function. But these instructions are found deep into his letter to the church and only come after Paul has revealed the mystery of the Gospel. How we live our lives in the context of family is heavily dependent upon what we believe about God and the implications the Gospel have on our lives and relationships. We matter to God and when God matters most to is the Gospel will inform us about ourselves and the people we live with, it will reform us as we seek to remove sin and prioritize Jesus above all things and it will transform is into humble servants who serve others out of a reverence for Jesus.

There is a tension in which we all live. With each passing minute we know that we are closer to the end of this life. With each battle in life we wonder if there will be a positive outcome. Even when we experience a positive outcome we wonder where the next hammer might fall. We can either succumb to the tension of being a part of the human race or we can trust that God has not only relieved the tension but broken it completely. We can either live in the agony of defeat or the spoils of victory. Jesus has won the victory and his resurrection is the very basis for why the Christian can proclaim, "Jesus changes everything."

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem he did not come as a conquering king but rather as a suffering servant. He came to die for the very race that put him to death. But before Jesus would die on a cross the crowd had to decide what they believed about Jesus. Some ignored him. Some rejected him. Some sought to kill him. Others wanted to wait and see. And others believed he was the King. Each of us must reckon with Jesus. There is no doubt that he changed the world. No matter where we stand we must make a decision - we must come to a verdict. For those who believe that Jesus is the King a real life change will happen. For those who worship the king possess an unwavering confidence, an unbreakable hope, a perfect peace, and life eternal.

God's work in our life does not stop when He saves us by giving us faith in Jesus. His work in us continues until we take our last breath as He makes us more like Jesus. The disciple who is maturing in their faith will desire to participate fully in the plan and mission of God. They will grow in humility and worship. They will be prepared for the moments when life takes a turn. In Habakkuk we see the picture of maturity as the prophet begins the book in complaint against God but ends rejoicing in the God who lives him not matter what the circumstance.

Change is something every human being desires. We want to be better. We want to make a difference. We want to stop being ruled by that which brings us down. Idols are the good things that we have made ultimate things that when put in the place of God they bring us down and rule us. In order to bring about real change we must be able to discern what our idols are, uproot and replace our idols and ultimately silence our idols rule in our lives. Jesus is the only God who can replace the gods we love and bringing about real change.

It feels really good to be the king—to rule and reign over everything in your life. To have people serve you, and love you. But we have some problems with living like this. First, we are no kings at all. Jesus is the true King. Secondly, Jesus is passionate about ridding our life of the sin where we insert ourselves onto the throne of our own lives. When we live for the glory of our own kingdom, we devalue things around us, turning people into objects and objects into enemies. However, the Spirit at work in us can teach us to live for the glory of the true King and teach us to truly love those around us.

We all want to know if we matter. We want to matter to the world, in the workplace, in our community, to our family and to our friends. We often judge a person based on how valuable they are to us or to our objectives. Many of us find all of our value in all of the wrong places. We base our value on our job, our skills or our success. We make the good things and opportunities God has given us into main things and we fall into idolatry. Our worth is not found in what we accomplish but rather what Jesus accomplished for us and has given to us.