Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this opening sermon from our Entrusted series, we looked at how 1 Chronicles 29:10–19 reminds us that everything we have belongs to God and comes from His hand. David's prayer points us toward gratitude, humility, and joyful generosity, reminding us that even our ability to give is a gift from God. Because our lives are brief compared to God's eternal nature, we are called to faithfully steward the time, resources, abilities, and influence He has given us, investing in people and purposes that extend beyond our lifetime. Ultimately, faithful stewardship flows from gratitude for what Jesus Christ has done for us, leading us to offer our hearts willingly to God and use all He has entrusted to us for His purposes.

In this sermon, we explored how we are created to be fully known and deeply loved, but fear often leads us to hide our sin, pain, weakness, and shame. In 1 John 1:5–10, we were challenged to step out of hiding and learn to walk in the light with God and with trusted people. Vulnerable transparency does not mean telling everything to everyone, but choosing to let go of a carefully managed image and allow safe, grace-filled relationships to see what is really happening within us. Because Jesus already knows us completely and has carried our guilt and shame to the cross, we can have the courage to be honestly known. As we bring truth into the light and meet it with grace, we experience greater intimacy, healing, and freedom.

In this sermon, we explored Psalm 42 and what it means to practice emotional honesty by naming what is happening within us and bringing our whole experience before God. We talked about how our emotions can reveal what we fear, desire, need, and value, and how ignoring or numbing them can lead to unhealthy patterns. We were challenged to become curious about what is happening beneath the surface and allow our emotions to move us toward God, healing, and deeper relationships. At Solid Rock, emotional honesty helps us create a culture where people can be known without pretending and where vulnerability moves us toward relationship rather than isolation.

In this sermon from 1 Samuel, we looked at the story of Jonathan and David as a biblical example of an intentional relationship. Their close friendship was clouded by a very difficult circumstance: Jonathan's own father wanted to kill David. Despite this incredible challenge, we see qualities in their relationship over time that illustrate what it means to be in purposeful relationship. Jonathan especially emerges as a person who pursues David with humility, courage and encouragement in his faith. Likewise, David shows incredible love and loyalty to Jonathan. At Solid Rock we value intentional relationships and seek to live out these Scriptural ideals with one another. With these principles from Jonathan and David's friendship, and especially with Christ as our ultimate example, our relationships with one another should be a blessing and a testimony to Christ's work in our lives.

In this sermon, we trace Peter's lifelong transformation from an ordinary fisherman into a Spirit-empowered fisher of men and shepherd of God's people. When Jesus called him, He did not ask Peter to transform himself; He simply said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Peter followed immediately, but becoming the person Jesus called him to be took a lifetime. Through successes, failures, and seasons of suffering, Jesus remained faithful, using even Peter's mistakes as chapters in his transformation rather than allowing them to become the conclusion of his story. Peter eventually became a courageous proclaimer of the gospel who strengthened others with the lessons grace had taught him. His story reminds us that lifelong transformation is not about strong people accomplishing great things for God but about a faithful Savior completing His work in weak and unfinished people.

Expositional preaching is about far more than gaining biblical knowledge, it is about knowing Jesus as He has truly revealed Himself. In 2 Peter 3:15–18, Peter warns that Scripture can be twisted, error can carry people away, and believers can lose the stability that comes from being rooted in truth. His concern is deeply pastoral, because misunderstanding God's Word can eventually distort how we understand God Himself. In this message from the SR Mission & Values series, we explore why faithful preaching protects God’s people from error and helps us grow in both the grace and knowledge of Jesus, leading us toward a vibrant, stable, and increasingly intimate relationship with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at how God carries out his mission on earth through ordinary people who are willing to be courageously available. In Acts 9:10–19, a disciple named Ananias demonstrates courageous availability by responding, "Here I am, Lord," when Jesus calls him to approach Saul, a man he has good reason to fear. Ananias acknowledges his fear without surrendering to it, closes the distance, and trusts Jesus with the outcome. His obedience does not transform Saul, Jesus does, but it allows Ananias to participate in Saul's extraordinary story. In the same way, our fall ministries are not simply programs to fill our schedules; they are places where we can courageously move toward Jesus and one another. As we make ourselves available, join community, serve, invite, invest, ask for help, and initiate difficult conversations, Jesus can use our ordinary obedience to cultivate life-changing relationships.

In this sermon from James 5, we looked at how James closes his letter with a clear call, we are not meant to live the life of faith in isolation. In suffering and joy, we move toward God and one another. When we are sick or weak, we invite the church to pray and care for us. When sin takes root, we bring it into the light through honest confession, where grace and healing can begin. Prayer is not a formula for controlling God or a guarantee of immediate healing; it is confident trust in the Lord who is powerful enough to heal and wise enough to know what's best. James ends with a call to restore the wandering brother, reminding us that because Jesus came after us, we refuse to let one another suffer alone, struggle in secret, or wander without being pursued.

In this sermon from James 5:7–12, we were reminded that faithful endurance is rooted in the hope of Christ's return. We were encouraged to remain patient in seasons of suffering, resisting the temptation to complain or turn against one another. Looking to the examples of the prophets and Job, we were challenged to trust that God is compassionate, faithful, and at work even when we cannot see the outcome. As we wait for the Lord, we are called to live with steadfast faith, love for others, and integrity, remembering that how we live while we wait matters just as much as what we are waiting for.

In this sermon, we discussed how trying to control our circumstances and accumulate wealth give only the illusion of security. To calm our fear and anxiety, we try to control people and circumstances. The idea that we can control the future or the actions of others provides a fragile security that we cannot possibly maintain. Similarly, we may seek our security in money or possessions. It is tempting to think that if we have "enough" we will be free to live out our best. The reality is that the accumulation of wealth does not grant freedom but instead leads to yet another false security that puts money above God and others. The only solutions to our problems with control and money are to pursue surrender to God and a heart of generosity. As Christians, we are called to trust God with our present and future, being sensitive to His greater plan and where it will lead us. We are also called to view our material possessions as a blessing of God’s provision and a stewardship to invest in building His eternal Kingdom.