Solid Rock Church Sermons

In the sermon this past Sunday, we unpacked a beautiful hymn of praise to Christ that contained two very powerful statements: He is the firstborn of creation and the head of the Church. For the former, we saw that everything is created through and for Him, He is preeminent over all things, and He is the sustainer of all things. For the latter, His headship over the Church is proven through His resurrection, His deity, and His saving work on the cross. Because of these beautiful truths from scripture, we can know and trust that Jesus is worthy of our worship and our lives.

This past Sunday, we began a series in the book of Colossians. Paul began by encouraging the believers at Colossae. Although they were surrounded by a domain of darkness, along with false teaching and doctrines, Paul reminded the Colossians to remain faithful to the hope of the Gospel and the person of Jesus. As former citizens of the domain of darkness, it’s easy for Christians to be tempted by the things and beliefs of this world. However, through the work of Christ, we are now citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom, that we may be continuously sanctified by the Gospel and knowledge of Him who saves us.

In the final sermon of our Gifts of the Spirit series, we looked at 1 Corinthians 14. In this passage, Paul continues his plea for the church to pursue love as the basis from which they serve with their spiritual gifts, in order that the church may be built up. Paul reminds the church that in order for the gift of tongues to be beneficial, there must be an interpreter who can translate the tongues spoken into a revelation, knowledge, prophecy or teaching. Without translation, the person speaking in tongues will seem like a foreigner to the listeners and the church will not be built up. In this final plea, Paul’s main point is to encourage the church to bring their gifts together and to use them to build up one another, striving for order and peace that reflects the character of God.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how our spiritual gifts must be rooted in love toward one another in order to be beneficial to the Church. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul reminds us that our spiritual gifts are simply like a noisy or clanging symbol without the foundation of love. The Bible defines love as a sacrificial commitment that is directed toward the object of love. How we engage in using our spiritual gifts should reflect the love we have for one another in Christ.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how God orchestrates spiritual gifts among the members of the church in a way that reflects His oneness, accomplishes His purposes, and serves the common good of the church. God has orchestrated the coming together of the members of the church in a way that allows us to accomplish more for the Kingdom than we could on our own. Our oneness also allows us to divide one another’s grief and multiply one another’s joy. When the church walks in loving unity, we complement one another in a way that allows our image bearing of God to shine at its brightest.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how the Gospel sets moms free from the burden of not being good enough. In Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus invites the those who are weak and helpless to come to Him in order to find rest for their souls. We were reminded that we don’t become close to God by impressing Him with how many tasks we complete, how smart we are, or how amazing our Pinterest-perfect our lives are.  In His great love, God chooses to reveal Himself to us despite our inability to be "good enough".  When you are feeling inadequate and like a failure as a mom, Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you rest.” We find rest for our souls when we encounter Jesus at the cross. This is where Jesus meets us in our inadequacy and trades our not good enough for His more than good enough.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at the Biblical for understanding our individual and unique spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Paul reminds the Church that the Holy Spirit empowers every believer with specific spiritual gifts according to God’s will. Spiritual gifts are given to believers to serve the common good of the Church, not the personal preferences or ambitions of the believer. Each spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and equally supernatural, valid and necessary for ministry in the Church to thrive.

This past Sunday, we began our Gifts of the Spirit sermon series. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, Paul begins by calling the church spiritual gifts are a supernatural product of our salvation. The Holy Spirit of God opens the ears of those who hear the Gospel in order that they might believe. Spiritual Gifts are a supernatural outworking, or fruit, of our salvation. The presence of spiritual gifts is a confirmation of the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. 

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how God makes us alive through the power of the resurrection. According to the Apostle Paul, apart from Christ we are physically alive but spiritually dead. It’s only through the power of the resurrection at work in us that we are made truly alive. God doesn’t wait for us to get our lives together because He knows that we can’t. God makes us alive, even when we are dead in our trespasses. He meets us in our fallenness, rescues us from darkness, and makes us alive together with Christ; this is why the resurrection means everything. Through our faith in the resurrection of Jesus, God awakens our souls from the dead and makes us alive in a new and right relationship with Christ.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked in Isaiah 42:5-9 at God’s calling for Israel to become a lighthouse of hope to the world. God spoke to Israel out of His authority as the creator of the universe. He reminded them that He is the Lord and that He was going to rescue them from darkness and send them into the world to be the conduit of light through which He would rescue the nations. In the same way, God has called Solid Rock to be a light of hope in a dark and fallen world. In the Gospel, God has given the church a new covenant that opens the eyes of the blind, sets prisoners free and rescues people from the darkness of this present world.