Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series by looking at the true light, referred to in John 1:9-13. Last week, we looked at how the Creator became our Redeemer through Jesus coming to earth to be the light that shines in our darkness. In this week’s passage, John proclaims that the true light (Jesus) came into the world and was rejected by His chosen people because they didn’t recognize Him. However, we know that Jesus made Himself available for all to know Him and receive new life by believing in Him.

In this sermon, we began The Gospel of John series by identifying the main character, referred to as the Word. John proclaims to his readers that the Word was with God in the beginning, the Word was God, everything has been created through the Word and, more importantly, that the Word is the light of men that has come to earth to have victory over the darkness. Through John’s Gospel, we see that Jesus is the Word who came to earth to bring light into our darkness. After laying His life down on the cross, it appeared, for a brief moment, that the darkness would win. But on the third day, the light of Jesus triumphed over the darkness when He resurrected from the grave.

In this sermon, we looked at both Old Testament and New Testament writings to see the importance of spiritually investing in others. In differing ways, these passages point out that living, breathing examples of faith, and teaching through word and action, can help grow the faith of others. This spiritual investment, often from the older generation to the younger generation, equips disciples to continue the work of disciple-making. God uses this intentional spiritual investment to eternally change lives and impact the world for Him.

In the final sermon of our Advent series, we looked at how the birth of Jesus ushers in a new covenant in which God promises to dwell with His people: “God with us.” This is first seen in the incarnation of Jesus, fully God and fully man, living among His people. However, this was only temporary because the birth of Jesus was the beginning of His journey to the cross, where He would die, resurrect, and ascend back to the right hand of the Father. All of this had to take place in order to begin God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The Holy Spirit will continue to dwell with us until Christ returns to fulfill the new covenant, making all things new and establishing His dwelling place with man for eternity. Christmas is more than the celebration of one event in history; it is the celebration of one event in history that changed all of eternity: God making His dwelling place with man.

In this third sermon in our Advent series, we looked at how Christmas reminds us that we were meant for a king and a kingdom. With all of our diversity, we were created by God to live in one Kingdom, under the kingship of one Righteous King. In Isaiah, God describes the coming Messiah as a righteous king who would be a wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace. Over 700 years later, the angel appears to Mary and announces to her that the promise of the Messiah will be fulfilled in her womb. Once Jesus is born, wise men from the east come in search of this newborn king. Threatened by the news of a newborn king, Herod attempts to use the wise men to find Jesus so he could kill him. When the wise men find the king, rather than handing him over to king Herod, they worship him as their own king. Just like the wise men so long ago, we celebrate the birth of our King this Christmas!

In this sermon, we looked at the connection between Jesus and the shepherds who first heard the angels’ announcement that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, we see hints of this connection in the prophesies of the coming Messiah. These prophesies pointed to a future ruler, from Bethlehem, who would lead the people of God like a shepherd. This shepherd would be crushed and wounded so that God’s people could find peace and be healed. In John 10, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, whom God sent to lay down His life and take it up again for the sake of His sheep. Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus promises to stand over us and protect our souls from our enemies. As His sheep, we will learn to recognize our Good Shepherd’s voice and trust Him to lead us to eternal life.

In this first sermon of our Advent series, we looked at the hope we have in the promises of “The Long-Awaited One,” Jesus Christ. Since the fall in Genesis 3, God has been unfolding His story of Redemption, while protecting the lineage of the coming Messiah. After 42 generations and deep longing for the fulfillment of the promises of God, Emmanuel finally arrives to defeat sin and death. While Advent is about looking at the fulfilled promises in the New Testament coming of Jesus, it’s also about looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus. When Jesus returns, all things will be made new, and all enemies of God will be put to death. Jesus reminds us that He will remove sin, suffering, and death, and that the former things will pass away. Our eternal dwelling place will be with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at the book of Esther. Though God is not mentioned in the book, we saw that He sovereignly orchestrated the events of Esther’s life to accomplish His purpose. In our own lives, there may be moments when we feel that God is not present or that He has forgotten about us. However, just as with Esther, we can trust that He is always present and working, and that His outcome is for our good and His glory.

In this sermon, we looked at how God called Hosea to do something that seemed completely ridiculous in order to display God’s love toward His people. Through Hosea and Gomer’s story, God reveals what happens when His people pursue idols as a source of abundant life. God warns Israel that if they continue cheating on Him with other gods, they will no longer be His people. However, we also see that God will not keep His unfaithful wife (the Church) at a distance or withhold Himself from her, but sacrificially buys her back, alluring her into the safety of His arms, completely restoring her as His bride. Even today, we may desire God's authority over our lives but often turn our focus towards other gods, inviting them in under the assumption that they will make us happy. Through Hosea, God calls us to drop our false gods and turn back to Him, promising to accept us again as His radiant bride.

In this sermon, we looked at the book of Zephaniah and how God called Judah, and all the nations, to repent to avoid the judgement He is going to pour out on the Day of the Lord. Our good and perfect God is coming to purge sin and its destructive effects from His creation once and for all. Those who are still in sin’s grip will be carried away along with it in the coming judgment. Those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will not taste the judgement of God, but will experience redemption, restoration, and eternity with Him.