Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this sermon, we explored Psalm 96 where David emphasizes that gladness is meant to be celebrated by sharing it with God and others. While all of creation worships God without words, humans are uniquely created and called to express their gladness verbally through celebration. Keeping our gladness to ourselves can lead to loneliness and prevent us from experiencing the fullness of that joy. However, when we express our gladness through singing, telling, and declaration, our joy becomes complete, and others are invited to join us in acknowledging God's greatness and splendor.

In this sermon, we explored Psalm 22, where David expresses his deep feelings of abandonment and despair. His raw cry reflects a sense of forsakenness by God and rejection by others. Despite his pain, David's honesty about his emotions marks the beginning of hope, which sets the foundation for transformation. He recalls God's past faithfulness, emphasizing that God's presence is crucial, even when circumstances remain unchanged. As we continued, we examined how worship becomes powerful when it is honest, leading to hope that fuels internal transformation and eventually manifests in external change. Like David, we too can be transformed by telling the truth about our current struggles and trusting in God's presence, even before our situations shift.

In this final message from 1 John 5:16-19, we looked at the conclusion of John's letter, which provides guidance on keeping our hearts free from idols. He emphasizes the practical application of brotherly love, urging believers to pray for their brothers and sisters who are struggling with sin. John reminds us that, as God's children, we are anchored in a truth greater than ourselves: that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Throughout 1 John, the overall message encourages believers to live in the light, relying on Christ's eternal protection and the transformative power of God's grace.

In this sermon, we studied 1 John 5:13-15, which reminds us that God desires a deep relationship with His children, inviting us to abide in Him daily through prayer. Prayer is more than just asking for things; it is a way to express our hearts, longings, and trust in Him. In this passage, the Apostle John writes to assure believers that they can confidently approach God in prayer, knowing He hears them when they ask according to His will. This confidence isn't based on receiving everything we ask for but on knowing that God listens, cares, and responds in ways that align with what is ultimately best for us. Prayer invites us to bring our longings before God, trusting that even when His answers don't match our desires, they are always for our good.

In this sermon, we studied the Apostle John's three powerful witnesses that affirm Jesus Christ as the Son of God: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. The "water" points to Jesus' baptism, marking the beginning of His ministry, where God publicly declared Him as His beloved Son. The "blood" refers to His sacrificial death on the cross, where He atoned for the sins of humanity. The Holy Spirit confirms Jesus' identity throughout His earthly life, guiding Him from His miraculous birth to His ascension back to the Father's right hand. Together, these witnesses testify in perfect unity, affirming that Jesus is the promised Christ of the Old Testament and the only source of eternal life. For those who believe in Him, this testimony serves as an anchor for the soul, opening the door to the riches of God's grace and an intimate, eternal relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit.

In this sermon, we looked at how God's love for us fuels our desire to obey His commandments. The Bible warns us against two pitfalls in the Christian life: legalism, which emphasizes obedience without love, and antinomianism, which dismisses obedience altogether because of God's abundant grace that covers our sins. In this passage, the Apostle John highlights that true obedience flows from our relationship with God, rooted in His love for us. We love because He first loved us. For those who are in Christ, the commandments of God are a delight and lead us to an abundant and blessed life. Though we struggle to follow them perfectly, God's love empowers us to keep striving, knowing that His grace catches us when we fall short, and His commandments lead to life and sustain us in hardship.

In this sermon, we studied John's teaching on love and how, as believers, we can confidently live in God's grace. God's love, perfected in us over time, drives out fear of His judgment. When we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, we are no longer under condemnation and are invited into a transformative relationship with Him. As we grow in our understanding of God's love, we gain confidence in facing His judgment, knowing there is no condemnation for those in Christ. God's perfect love drives out fear of judgment, with the assurance of His love and grace.

In this sermon, we looked at how our growing knowledge of God leads to a deep, abiding relationship with Him. Abiding is more than just being familiar with God; it's an active, ongoing connection with God that transforms our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. This connection is grounded in the confession that Jesus is the Son of God. By accepting this truth, believers have access to God's presence, which dwells within us as we make ourselves at home in His love.

In this sermon, we studied 1 John 4:7-12, where John teaches about love. He reminds us that true love originates from God, who is the very essence of love. In this passage, John highlights two main reasons why we should love one another. First, our love for others serves as the true mark of knowing God. Second, loving one another is how God's love becomes visible in the world today. By loving others with the same sacrificial love that God demonstrated by sending His Son to die for our sins, we offer those who have never seen God a glimpse of His love through our actions. Loving others is not just an arbitrary command for us to obey, but an invitation to live as we were created to—in an abiding relationship with God and others, while providing a tangible way for others to experience God's presence in the world today.

In this sermon, we continue our series on 1 John by exploring how to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:1-6 teaches us the importance of testing the voices we hear in the world around us in order to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit.  John provides three ways to test these voices: First, hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit begins with knowing that we are His beloved, as God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit in the way a father speaks to a beloved child. When we listen for God's voice, are we hearing one of condemnation and rejection, or one of acceptance and love? Second, we must assess whether the voice is consistent with the Gospel, remembering that the Holy Spirit's voice will always affirm Jesus' identity as the Son of God. Finally, we compare what we hear to the voice of God in the Bible; the more we read and listen to Scripture, the more familiar we will become with the voice of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. All of this is intended to help us enjoy a flourishing relationship with Jesus, as He walks with us daily and speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.