For the next several weeks, rather than a long walk through a single book of the Bible, or a thematic series, we’re going to take time to preach through some of the shorter books of the new testament. Two years ago we hit some of the shortest letters, 1, 2, 3 John – for the next five weeks we are going to cover 2 Peter, Jude, and Philemon. We’re starting with 2 Peter this AM and doing about a chapter […]

I. Introduction Today we are going to continue our mini-series on stewardship. We’re going to explore something that everyone in this room participates in, and will participate in — something that is so foundational to our existence that you literally can’t get out of bed without it. You can’t consume food or take a breath without it. It’s something that can be incredibly fun at times and incredibly frustrating at other times. It can result in far-away adventures filled with […]

SERMON POWERPOINT Sunday, January 10, 2021  Brad Barrett Stewardship—Money Slavery.  What an evil sounding word.  We think of slavery in the United States in the 1800’s and before.  Oppressive.  Brutal.  Inhumane.  We might also think of human trafficking today.  People held against their will for unspeakable evil.  People owning people.  A verse I shared in my sermon 2 weeks ago has been ringing in my ears every day.  Titus 2:14 ESV  Jesus Christ…gave himself for us to redeem us from […]

This Sunday is the second Christmas Sunday! We have four days left! Hooray! 🙂 Christmas is the time of year when we, in a special way, remember and celebrate the birth of Christ, and the beginning of his rescue mission to find and save God’s lost sheep.  We carried our Advent series topic, Rescues, on into Christmas as well, because what bigger Rescue is there than Christ’s rescue of us?  Last week we talked about Christ’s rescue mission in offering […]

We all experience moments in our lives where we need a fresh start. A new beginning. The gospel, the story of Jesus Christ, offers a new beginning unlike anything else, a fresh start on life where God forgives sinners and makes them brand new. New creations. How can we experientially walk in this new life?

We all experience moments in our lives where we need a fresh start. A new beginning. The gospel, the story of Jesus Christ, offers a new beginning unlike anything else, a fresh start on life where God forgives sinners and makes them brand new. New creations. How can we experientially walk in this new life?

God was powerfully at work even during the darkest, bleakest period of Israel’s history. The book of Daniel records some of the amazing things God did while Israel was captive in a foreign nation. Some of his purposes in the Exile were to reprove sin, refine faith, rescue from danger, reach the world, and reveal the future. There is a real sense that all of us, like Daniel, are in captivity, exiled from Eden, strangers in a foreign land and far from our true home. Yet God is at work in our lives with the same objectives as we see in the book of Daniel.

Though God may often seem absent to us, he is conspicuously present in our lives to help us. He is our ever-present help in trouble. We will journey through the Book of Esther, and though God is never mentioned directly, his fingerprints are all over this remarkable story of rescue. From this story and especially from the ultimate rescue of Christ the Savior, our faith will be strengthened and our worship increased.

This advent season, we are looking at  stories of God’s amazing rescues of his people through history. This week we are going to examine the life of Joseph as recounted in Genesis. We will see God’s amazing rescue of Joseph, and then using him to rescue the fledgling nation of Israel, and the whole world from a global famine. In this story we will learn that we can find hope and safety in God’s promises, no matter our circumstances on […]

Ever feel like you need to be rescued from guilt, shame, or other problems? From where do we look for answers? God is both a righteous judge and a merciful rescuer, and we know this well through the coming of his Son, Jesus our Savior. In addition, throughout history God has repeatedly shown himself to deliver his people from judgment and death. This Sunday we’ll look at the shocking judgment of the Flood and the merciful rescue of one man and his family, an important picture of the Advent of Jesus Christ.