Sunday Sermons

Last week, we learned that God is doing a new thing. He is making a new covenant that is based on His grace and that will take a radical heart replacement. Although our relationship with God has been broken, God makes a way to fix that relationship through Jesus. This week, this Jesus whom the Bible has been pointing toward all along enters the scene. And in the first chapter of his Gospel, Mark paints a powerful picture of who Jesus is: The Son of God. As John the Baptist prepares the way for Him, as the heavens are torn open and the Spirit descends on Him, as the Father powerfully endorses Him, as He is victorious over temptation, we cannot help but ask ourselves: Who do I say that Jesus is? Do I know Him? Do I believe in Him?

Last week, we learned that the direction of the king’s heart determines the direction of the kingdom. An imperfect king turns the heart of the kingdom away from God, but we long for a better King in Jesus who never turns the kingdom away. This week, we learn that God is doing a new thing. He is making a new covenant. His people had broken the covenant, failing to keep terms that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai. And now they are facing exile as punishment. So on what basis is God going to make a new covenant when all that people have ever done is sin? He is going to forgive them. And what is this new covenant going to take? A radical heart replacement. This week we learn that our relationship with God is broken, but through Jesus God has made a way to fix it permanently.

Last week, we caught a glimpse of God's ultimate plans for His people. He was forming a kingdom that would one day culminate in a King whose throne would be established forever. In our passage this week, we learn just how important who the king is. The direction of the king's heart determines the direction of the kingdom. David's son Solomon is on the throne, and the people he's surrounded himself with lead his heart after other gods. As king Solomon turns away from the one true God, he is effectively leading the kingdom to do the same. His actions effectively break the kingdom. Solomon's story reminds us that the person we marry and the people we surround ourselves with matter. His story also makes us look for a better King in Jesus who never turns the kingdom away, and who holds the kingdom together.

Message from Patrick Tetzlaff on July 31, 2022

As we saw last week with the Passover, God expects the Israelites to follow His instructions in order to live in fellowship with Him. But after the Israelites failed to follow God’s covenant before it was even ratified (e.g. the golden calf), God graciously gives Moses the terms of the covenant on Mount Sinai again. The rules that Moses is receiving are the rules that Israel needs to follow in order to live with a God who is too holy for them. In our passage this week, we learn what it takes for an unholy people to covenant with a holy God, and we catch a glimpse at how the veil, the boundary between humanity and the glory of God, can be lifted.

This week we are continuing our series “Know The Story” where we are taking a wide view look at the whole Bible to see that it tells one cohesive story, from Genesis to Revelation. In this week's passage, God’s people the Israelites, the sons and daughters of Abraham, have been made slaves in Egypt. But God has a plan to rescue them. In His final plague, He will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down all the firstborn. In order to protect the Israelites from this judgment, God tells them to slaughter a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts of their house, so that the destroyer might pass over them. This is their Independence Day. And every year they are to celebrate it every year by remembering what God has done.

In our passage this week, we find the dynamics of the temptation and fall into sin. While last week we found God’s original design for His creation, this week we find the breach of that design and God’s response to that breach. We find the origin of the pattern played out in the rest of Scripture: Why is there struggle and toil? Why is there fear and shame? Why are the relationships with creation, each other, and God so broken? Why must we die? In this story we see the beginning of God’s redemptive plan for humanity: The man and the woman ate from the tree which God commanded them not to eat. The effects of this sin were severe. Yet God came to find them, made a way for them to get back to Him and paradise, and provided a solution for their nakedness and shame. In the temptation and fall of the first man and woman, how might we see ourselves and our circumstances today?

This week we begin a new series tracing the big picture storyline of the whole Bible. Even though the Bible is written by about 40 individuals over thousands of years in multiple languages, the story it tells is singular. From Genesis to Revelation, God has woven together one narrative telling of His redemption of His creation for His glory. In our passage this week, we find a detailed and dynamic account of the creation of the first man and woman. And, here, we see God establishing His purposes uniquely for humanity within creation. At the center of His purposes, in this account, we find humanity’s relationship with creation, each other, and with God. At the center of His purposes, we find a picture of unity, peace, and delight. As we read about the Garden, we cannot help but long for this reality and wonder how it can be restored.

In our passage this week, Paul concludes his letter to the Thessalonians with final instructions. For the last couple chapters, Paul has been discussing how the Thessalonians can live lives that are pleasing to God (4:1). Now, he wraps up this discussion with a string of imperatives (see vv. 13b-22 and 25-26 in particular). And while this may seem like a disjointed list of imperatives at first glance, Paul was actually giving them four categories for being a healthy church. The questions he answers for the Thessalonians are the same questions we need answered today: How should we treat leaders? How should we treat everyone? How should we behave all the time? And who is the One who will ultimately bring these things about in us?

In our passage this week, Paul turns from discussing the fate of the Christian dead to the fate of the Christian living. Since the Thessalonians were fully aware that the Day of the Lord was inevitable, yet unpredictable, Paul moved to discuss his primary concern: That they prepare themselves. Knowing ahead of time that this Day would come, they could prepare themselves like an owner of a house would prepare for a thief in the night by keeping awake and being sober. And as they waited, they were girded with the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet of the hope of salvation. Because of Jesus’ saving death on the cross, they could know that they were not destined “for wrath, but to obtain salvation through” Him (v. 9). In the end, Paul’s words to the Thessalonians are the same as they are to us today: We can live lives that are pleasing to God by encouraging one another to be watchful and ready.