Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this Mother's Day sermon, we looked at how God displayed His powerful love and mercy through the story of Rahab in Joshua 6. On the surface, this story just seems like part of the logistics in how God conquered Jericho. However, when you look closer at Rahab and the way God displayed His mercy toward her because of her faith, we find a powerful message of hope for the church today. After the spies first entered Jericho and encountered Rahab, we learn that she had heard about the nation of Israel and all of the powerful things God had done for them. Rahab feared the Lord and believed He was powerful and good to His people. Although she was unworthy, God chose to spare her life, cleansing her of unrighteousness and adopting her as a daughter in His family. This Mother’s Day, we’re reminded that while motherhood is a very high calling, the first and highest calling for all women is to be daughters of God. All who are in Christ have been washed clean by the sacrifice of Jesus and adopted into His family.

In this sermon, we looked at how God prepares the hearts of His children to receive His promises. In Deuteronomy 8, God gave the nation of Israel specific instruction about how to enter into the promised land, with their hearts postured in humble gratitude and obedience and ready to give God all the praise for fulfilling His promise. God tells Israel to not forget how He has guided them on their journey and provided for them at each step of the way. One of the important lessons that God taught the nation of Israel is that man does not live off of bread alone. Through God’s miraculous provision of manna, water, and protection, He more than showed them, and us, that we need more than what we can provide for ourselves. In Joshua 5, God calls Israel to stop and share in a Passover meal before moving ahead into the promised land in order to remember and celebrate God’s provision over the past 40 years. As a church, we stopped today to take communion and mark the beginning of an intentional time of asking God to prepare our hearts to step into the promise of the new building, asking ourselves the same important questions that God asked of Israel:

In this sermon, we looked at Psalm 19:7-14 which highlights the beauty and importance of God's Word. Because of God’s intimate involvement in the writing of the Bible, we see His character and perfection reflected. Every part of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, proclaims Jesus and it is because of the centrality of Christ in the Sacred Scriptures that we can see His beauty come forth and shine through each page. The whole of the Bible is sweet and good for us because it displays the glory of our King. It also shows us the snares of this world and how to live as believers: Not as people seeking to earn our salvation but as people living under the mercy and grace of God.

In this sermon, we looked at John 13:1-11 when Jesus displayed the love of God toward us by humbly washing the feet of a group of selfish, half-hearted disciples, one of whom had already decided to abandon Him. John tells us that, in Jesus’ certainty that it was time for His death, resurrection, and ascension, He showed this intentional act of love toward His disciples. While Peter was resistant at first, his conversation with Jesus transformed him from not wanting his feet to be washed at all to wanting Jesus to bathe his whole body. Through this dialogue, we see that Christians are every day becoming in practice what we already are in Christ: cleansed from all of our sins and unrighteousness. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as a tangible and powerful demonstration of His love for us. When we turn to Him in faith, He is faithful and just to take even the worst sinners and wash us clean from all unrighteousness.

In this sermon, we looked in John 12:35-42 at Jesus' invitation to walk in the light by believing in Him. Despite the many miracles and signs that Jesus had performed, John tells us that most of the Jews did not believe in Jesus because their hearts were hardened and they loved the glory of man more than the glory of God. Those who did believe in Jesus feared being rejected by their fellow Jews so they wouldn’t confess their belief publicly. All of this helps us have a better understanding of what it means to believe in Jesus with a Biblical faith. Unlike the modern-day version of faith that is more like wishful thinking, Biblical faith produces trust, confidence, and loyalty. It’s not enough to simply say, “I believe in Jesus”; each of us must evaluate our faith and ask if we believe in Jesus with true Biblical faith.

In this sermon, we looked at Jesus' response to a group of non-Jewish worshippers who wished to see Jesus and speak with Him. In John 12:20-32, we see that even before the cross, Jesus was drawing the nations to Himself. Jesus responds to this request from the Greek worshippers by pointing to the necessity of His upcoming death and resurrection. He uses a farming metaphor to explain that unless He is put to death, buried, and comes back to life, no lasting fruit will come from His time on earth. However, through the resurrection, God will multiply His Kingdom, reminding us that God’s plan for salvation has always included nations beyond Israel. The promise of the Gospel is this: anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or social status. When we profess Jesus as our Savior and our King, God forgives our sins, renders us as righteous, and adopts us into His family as citizens of His Kingdom.

In this sermon, we looked at the significance of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In John 12:12-16, we see that Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem the way in which a king would enter their capital city after a significant victory. Ironically, on this same day all over Israel, Jewish fathers were separating one lamb from their flocks and bringing them to Jerusalem to be slaughtered for Passover later that week. While Jesus entered the city as a victorious king, He also entered the city as the Passover lamb that was being led to the slaughter for the sins of the world. As the people gathered along the streets, they laid palm branches and cloaks on the ground and shouted, “Hosanna!” This term, meaning “God, save us,” was both an expression of adoration and desperation. As His people, this should also be our declaration each time we gather in His name: “Jesus, we love you and we need you!”

In this sermon, we looked at how God set up His Church with specific roles for every member in order to see His Church flourish and grow into a beautiful reflection of Christ. In Ephesians 4, Paul explains that leadership roles in the local church exist in order to equip members to serve and minister. Rather than leaving the work of ministry in the hands of church leaders, every member is involved in the ministry of the church based on their specific gifting and calling. This is God’s only plan and design for the local church. When the members of the local church serve and minister to one another, there are three powerful results: The whole church grows and matures together to become a reflection of Christ to the surrounding community, the members will be protected from false doctrine and evil schemes from the devil, and the members will walk in truth and love with one another.

In the second sermon of the Serving All In series, we looked at how all believers have been gifted by the Holy Spirit to be "all in" serving the local church. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see that every Christian has been given a spiritual gift and an area to serve within their local church. When Christians serve the way God has gifted them, their serving will be more than busywork or simply volunteering to accomplish tasks; every act of service, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, that is empowered by the Holy Spirit is intimately connected to the work God is doing to expand His Kingdom and call people to salvation. When Christians serve according to their spiritual gifts, eternity is impacted and their serving becomes a powerful tool through which Christ is vibrantly glorified.

In this first sermon of the Serving All In series, we looked at Philippians 2:1-8 in which Paul calls all believers to find their full joy in being of one mind and one heart. The only way to achieve this is for each member to exchange their personal interests for the interests of others. This requires humility, seeing others as more significant than yourself, and seeking to serve others rather than to be served. Paul says that this should be the mindset of the Church because this is the character of Christ and we are in Christ. When we have this Christlike mind and heart toward one another, our joy will be magnified and lead the church to continue becoming even more unified in heart and mind.