Sunday Sermons

The Bible did not create Christianity. Christianity is the result of an event (the resurrection of Jesus) that created a movement (the church) that produced sacred and reliable texts that were collected and bound into a book (the Bible). But how do we approach not being at peace with everything we read in the Bible? Well Paul—once a Pharisee turned apostle, author, preacher, who became one of the biggest church planters in history, offers us clarity and confidence to move forward.

The Old Testament. Is it a rule book something else? Do we align our lives around it or simply know it? What is it? Simply put, the Old Testament is the backstory to THE Story. It chronicles God’s redemptive history. It’s a fabulous, gritty, epic history of the Hebrew people. One that presents the history of God preparing the world for a Savior.

“In the beginning…” can be a loaded phrase – one that forces us into debate and doubt. But maybe we’re missing the point of Genesis 1:1- a point Moses made to a world where the violence and injustice of the gods justified and legitimized the violence and injustice of human rulers. Many civilizations had creation stories that supported the idea that the human race was an afterthought. Consequently, throughout history, individuals had no rights, hope, intrinsic value… until Moses introduced a radically different, unparalleled, and untested worldview.

Most of us are familiar with some stories in the Bible, but many of us are unfamiliar with how we got the Bible in the first place. As the purpose of the Bible is for our transformation, grasping the reason we even have this “Good Book” is key to understanding the stories written in it.

The Bible is probably the most misunderstood book in history, yet it has powerfully shaped human history for the past 2,000+ years. For many, the reality is that our approach to this “Good Book” is influenced by our past experiences and issues with the Bible. So, if all of our individual issues are different, how can we know its primary purpose?

The kingdom of this world won’t provide you with what you really want. It will distract you from what really matters. It will rob you of what you value. What you were created for is connected to WHOM you were created by. The way to get what you really want is to surrender to your heavenly Father and renew your mind.

What do you want? What do you really want? We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. And what we naturally want is often in conflict with what we ultimately value. So, in order to figure out what you really want, you have to figure out what you value.

We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. But choosing what’s valuable doesn’t come naturally. We’ve all had the experience of getting what we naturally want, only to discover it’s not what is most valuable—it’s not what we ultimately want. But how do we avoid being deceived by our short-term desires?

We all have wants, and life can feel like a constant pursuit of those wants. We want to do what we want to do. And we want what we want now. But actually getting what we want can lead us into a dangerous cycle of wanting more and more. So, what do you want?

INTRODUCTION:

We’ve all been interrupted by something unexpected like illness, relationship issues, or financial hardships. But what if these interruptions were actually invitations into something greater? This Christmas season, we praise God for interrupting the world 2,000 years ago with the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Will you accept His invitation?

MAIN POINT:

God’s greatest invitations come through life’s biggest interruptions.

KEY VERSE:

Matthew 1:18

ALL SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

Matthew 1:18-21, 24-25