Solid Rock Church Sermons

As we celebrate independence and freedom in our nation, it's an important time to reflect on the true, enduring freedom we have in Christ. Jesus' completed work on the cross, His resurrection, and Him imminent return provide us with eternal freedom from sin and death. However, we can be tempted to misuse this freedom, taking advantage of grace and turning to the sin we've been freed from or burdening ourselves with rules and moralism to prove our worth or even viewing our individual freedoms as the end goal. Jesus calls us to something more radical: to use our freedom in Him to humble ourselves and serve others. Rather than using our freedom for our own advantage, we are to lay down our rights in service and love for one another. Jesus Himself exemplified this ideal best by laying down His rights as God to become the perfect example of a servant. Our freedom in Christ allows us to live this way without fear, knowing that we are totally secure in our liberty in eternity with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at the powerful and practical implications of the Gospel for those who are in Christ. In Ephesians 2:11-17, Paul commands the church to remember who they used to be and the hopelessness of their state before they were in Christ. He reminds the Christians in Ephesus that they were spiritual gentiles, born into separation from God and hostility toward one another. Paul emphasizes that Jesus is our peace and only through Him are we reconciled to God and each other.

In this sermon, we looked at how the Gospel leads to a transformed life in Christ. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul reminds the Ephesians that we have a fallen human nature and that God, rich in mercy, love, and kindness, has redeemed us from sons of disobedience to sons of God by making us alive in Christ and adopting us into in His Kingdom. The core truths of the Gospel declare that: (1) All humans are needy and incapable of redeeming themselves, (2) God is merciful, loving, and kind, (3) When we take our neediness to God, He moves us from death to life and raises us as beloved children in His Kingdom.

In this sermon, we looked at how Paul expresses his gratitude to God for the Ephesian believers. Their faith and their service to one another brings Paul joy that he “do[es] not cease to give thanks” to God on their behalf. We also looked at how Paul prays for them to grow in their knowledge of God and in their awareness of all they have in Christ—who is over all things.

In the first sermon of our Ephesians: The Mystery of the Gospel series, we looked at one of the key phrases in the book of Ephesians: "in Christ." These words occur over 35 times and communicate the core of the Christian faith. In Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul describes the spiritual blessings we receive because we are in Christ. This passage reveals the incredible grace and salvation that God has so richly lavished upon us and prompts us to give God the praise He rightfully deserves.

In this final sermon of the Jonah series, we looked at the heart of God. In this series, we've seen how Jonah's pursuit of comfort led to disobedience and his disobedience trapped him in hopelessness. Jonah repeatedly found himself in situations where he was so desperate and without hope of saving himself that he believed death was his only escape. Through Jonah, we see how God sovereignly and miraculously works in the smallest details of our stories to invite us to repent and find mercy and salvation in Him. The story of Jonah echoes the theme of the entire Bible: "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

In this sermon, we looked at the grace and compassion of God, first for Jonah, then for the people of Nineveh. When God called Jonah to go preach a message of repentance, Jonah went the opposite direction. Through a series of events, including having his life preserved in the belly of a big fish, God showed grace and "came to Jonah a second time." This time, Jonah was obedient to what God called him to do and preached to the Ninevites about repentance. When the Ninevites showed true repentance, God had compassion and didn't bring upon them the destruction He had said would take place. Just as God was compassionate toward the people of Nineveh, He shows great compassion toward us and loves us deeply. He created us and, through His grace, desires for all to turn from sin and be reconciled into a relationship with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at how Jonah's psalm of thanksgiving in Jonah 2 declares that the miracle of salvation belongs to the Lord. Jonah begins by summarizing his experience of salvation and indicating that God is a good God who hears when His people cry out to Him for help. After reaching a place of complete desperation and despair, Jonah is finally awakened to see how the obstacles that God used to stop him from running were actually good gifts meant to lead him back to the Lord's presence. Jonah's distorted view of God had caused him to run from God instead of toward Him but, in his despair, Jonah is awakened to the true character of God. He remembers that God isn't angry and vengeful; God is slow to anger and abounding in love. We, too, can find ourselves isolated from God or even running from Him when we have a distorted view of who He is. It’s a miraculous expression of the Lord's loving kindness when He graciously stops us in our tracks to awaken our hearts to who He truly and to bring us back to Himself.

In this Mother's Day sermon, we looked at God's hope for moms who are shackled by the guilt of feeling like they aren't enough. In the story of Hosea, we get a beautiful picture of how God meets all of us in our failures and inadequacies. Unlike the critical voice in our heads or the harsh judgement we feel from the world, God meets us in our failure with a gentle invitation to let Him guide us to a place where He provides everything we need and restores our relationship. When we see ourselves as an unfaithful wife, God sees us as a radiant bride. When we can't seem to get our lives together in our own strength, the Gospel reminds us that Jesus has already done the work to restore our lives and has paid the price to purchase our lives out of our failure. Through the story of Hosea, God reminds us that even when we feel unlovable and inadequate, we belong to Him and He calls us His own.

In the second sermon of our Jonah series, we looked at how God displayed His sovereign power over creation in order to display His prevailing love for sinners. In a moment of desperation in the middle of a storm, the sailors with Jonah cast lots to determine why the storm was occurring. God's sovereign hand guided the lots to fall on Jonah, revealing his disobedience in running from the Lord to be the cause of the storm. In his guilt and shame, Jonah offered himself as a sacrifice for the sailors. While the sailors didn't want Jonah to give his life and tried to save themselves, God made the storm get worse, causing Jonah to be thrown overboard before calming the waters. Jonah didn't save the sailors and the sailors didn't save themselves; God saved them. This passage reminds us of our inability to save or fix ourselves, while also reminding us that the Gospel is about Jesus dying to save us through His prevailing love.