Sermons

Pastor Justin Deeter preaches from Isaiah 59, where the prophet exposes the sin that separates us from God and corrupts our society. Yet when the Lord found no one to intercede, his own arm brought salvation. Jesus, the Divine Warrior and Redeemer, comes to judge the impenitent and redeem the repentant.

False religion seeks pleasure from God, using fasting and religious effort to get blessings while oppressing others. In Isaiah 58, God defines true religion: justice, mercy, and delight in him. Only Christ, who proclaimed liberty to the oppressed, makes that possible for sinners like us.

Pastor Justin Deeter preaches from Isaiah 56–57, showing that God’s people are defined by humble faith, not lineage. Foreigners and outcasts are welcomed, proud leaders and idolaters are rejected, and the high and holy God revives the contrite with his promise: “Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.”

Isaiah 55 opens with God’s free invitation: come, buy without money. We’re called to seek the Lord while he may be found and receive abundant pardon. God’s Word never returns empty. It accomplishes his purpose, bringing joy, peace, and a renewed creation. Come to the feast Christ secured.

Can the barren one sing? In Isaiah 54, the Lord answers exiles with three promises grounded in the Suffering Servant's work: a womb opened, a marriage restored, and a city rebuilt. Because Christ has borne our sin, God's people have every reason to sing.

After months in Isaiah, we reach the passage the whole book has been building toward. The fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 52:13–53:12) answers how God will make scarlet sins white as snow: the Servant is pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and raised to make many righteous.

Israel cried out for God to wake up and save. God answered by telling them to wake up. Isaiah 51:9 through 52:12 shows the Lord comforting his people, removing the cup of his wrath, and publishing his salvation to the ends of the earth. The sleeper is not God.

Our deepest problem is spiritual deafness. Isaiah 50 presents the Servant who heard God perfectly and obeyed him fully, giving his back to the strikers and his face to the spitters. Because he was vindicated, all who hear and obey his voice are sustained by promises that outlast the world.

Zion cried that God had forsaken her. In Isaiah 49:14–50:3, the Lord answers: he desires to redeem, he is able to redeem, and her exile came from her own sin, not his abandonment. The question left is whether we will answer when he calls.

In this second Servant Song, we hear the "new things" God promised to announce: the coming of the Servant of the Lord. He is called from the womb, his mouth made like a sharp sword, and though his labor will seem to be in vain, the Lord commissions him as a light to the nations, that his salvation may reach to the end of the earth. In this message from Isaiah 49:1–13, we marvel at the Servant's calling, his commission, and his covenant, all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now is the day of salvation! May we respond with exuberant worship and proclaim this good news to the nations.