Sunday Sermons

Biblically speaking, peace is a side-effect of total trust in God and living life justly and fairly. Only Jesus can give us peace with God, but it's our choice to let peace rule over the other voices in our heads or not--to listen to our sinful nature or to the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus made it clear that we will face trouble in life, but He is with us.

Series: Peace That Passes Understanding

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

We can only find true peace in Jesus. Biblically speaking, peace is a side-effect of total trust in God and living life justly, fairly—in healthy relationships with God and others. Only Jesus can make this possible.

John 16:33 & 14:6, 27, Romans 5:1 & 8:6

In this world, we will have trouble. God hears and rescues people much more than He shields them from any and all harm. Jesus made it clear to us that we will face trouble—but that's not the end of the story.

Psalm 34:15-19, Mark 4:23-27, Ephesians 6:15

Jesus has overcome the world. The peace of Christ can “rule in our hearts” no matter the circumstances. God uses suffering and even the devil's attacks to make us stronger and more like Him.

John 20:21, Romans 16:19-20, Colossians 3:15

Take heart. We experience peace that nobody fully understands when we fix our thoughts on what Jesus calls good and build our actions on His teachings, regardless of whatever else is happening.

Acts 9, Psalm 119:165, Proverbs 1:33, Philippians 4:4-9, 2 Corinthians 13:11

Lord, I will…

As Christ's body, we must follow His example and relentlessly prepare to serve others, provide what others--especially the rest of the body--need, welcome new people into our family, and empower each other to serve. Since biblical hospitality is focused on those outside the body, we must collectively focus outward.

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

Jesus prepared carefully for His final Passover with His disciples. He made sure everything they needed was provided and welcomed them in a way they would never forget. He included them in the process and empowered them to follow His example.

John 13:1-17

We must prepare to serve others. Even our focus on encouraging and building each other up models God's love to the world. Making new disciples must always be a non-negotiable, core purpose for Christ's body. This requires constant preparation.

Luke 13-15 & 22, John 13:34-35, Matthew 28:18-20,
Acts 1:8

We must provide what others need. No matter what other specific will He may have for various parts of His body at any given time, meeting each others needs and working together to meet the needs of others are always part of Christ's will for us.

Titus 3:14, Acts 2:42-47, Romans 12, 1 Timothy 5:8

We must welcome others into our home. Biblical hospitality includes showing love to strangers. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies and constantly showed us how to love those others consider less and those He considers lost.

Matthew 4:43-48, Titus 1:8, 1 Timothy 3:2, 2 Kings 6:8-23, Romans 12:9-21, Hebrews 13:1-3

We must empower each other to serve. This is why we gather, why we fellowship, why the Holy Spirit spreads the gifts out between everyone in the Body, and why the Body must grow.

1 Peter 4:7-11

Lord, I will show hospitality to _______ by ___________.

One of God's core purposes has always been to set prisoners free. Another has always been to include His people in that process. He is willing to sacrifice or require just about anything for our spiritual, emotional, and relational freedom, and asks us to treat those in prison the way we would like others to treat us. When He says "visit" them, He means to show up and work to set them free.

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

Jesus wants to set us all free. The Messiah's core purposes included setting prisoners free, and God has always wanted His people to be part of this process. While our comfort and happiness at any given moment are not His first priorities, God consistently does and requires anything that can help us experience true freedom.

Genesis 39, Matthew 4:12-17, Acts 8-9 & 16, Luke 4:14-30, Isaiah 42 & 61, Psalm 147, Ephesians 2:10

We must visit prisoners. Whether their prison is spiritual, emotional, relational, physical—or any combination of these—we must meet them where they are. “Visit” means show up and go there. It's an action verb.

Matthew 5:21-30 & 25:31-46, Jude 20-23

We must work to set prisoners free. Sometimes isolation may be necessary as a means to an end, but it's never innately good or healthy for long periods of time. We must work together to help others become spiritually, emotionally, and relationally free, and help our fellow believers stay that way.

Matthew 25:40, Galatians 6:10, Hebrews 13:3, Mark 12:28-34

Lord, I will visit _______ this week.

God does everything from an eternal perspective. While physical sickness and health are not His first priorities, He expects Christ's body to relentlessly offer empathy, comfort, and healing to those who are spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and physically sick. Jesus set a perfect example for us to follow.

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

Play your part, build the body, work together. God designed us to work together—each of us playing the parts the Holy Spirit empowers each of us to play. No matter the circumstances, meeting physical needs must always be one of God's people's highest priorities, and Jesus counts what we do for “the least” as if we do it directly for Him.

Matthew 25:35-45, Ephesians 2:8-10, Mark 2:1-17

We must offer empathy, comfort, and healing. God does everything from an eternal perspective, and physical sickness and health are not His first priorities. Like Jesus Himself, we must meet people where they really are and give them what they really need most.

John 11 & 5, Acts 3-5, 9:32-42, 19:11-12 & 20:7-12, Galatians 4:13, 1 Timothy 5:23, 2 Timothy 4:20, 2 Corinthians 12:5-10

We must care for the sick. Like Jesus—and from the same eternal perspective—we must relentlessly reach out to the spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and physically sick.

Romans 3:23-24, Mark 2:17, Proverbs 18:14, John 14, 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 14, James 5:14-16

Lord, I will offer_____ to _____ .

One of the specific things God always wants Christ's Body to do is to meet tangible needs. This is even more important in times of crisis, and we need the whole Body to work together to be effective. What job will you use your gift to accomplish?

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

Play your part. God designed us to work together. We must harmonize; each of us must play the part the Holy Spirit empowers us to play. The senses, the core, and the limbs of a human body form a perfect metaphor for how this works.

Ephesians 6:10-18, 1 Corinthians 1:10 & 12:27-31

Build the body by working together. This does not mean trying to get all the parts to function the same way and do the same things. We help each other get stronger and more effective by supporting one another as we do things together.

Ephesians 4:2-16, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14

Meet physical needs. Christ expects His Body to provide for each other—and our neighbors—in relevant, tangible ways. We must work together to provide food, drink, shelter, clothing, medical care, and intentional presence. This is always true and even more important in times of crisis.

Matthew 25:35-40, James 2

Lord, I will use my gift of _____ to…

The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts and expects each of us to use them. When we work together, the whole body gets stronger. When we don't, we get weaker. We must encourage one another and build each other up.

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

We are the body of Christ. We were designed to work together—which is why the devil constantly tries to discourage, disconnect, and divide us. We must choose daily to “be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.”

1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Ephesians 4

The “senses” keep us connected
__ Prophecy Communicating God's heart
__ Wisdom Applying timeless truths to daily life
__ Special Knowledge Providing Divine confirmation
__ Mercy Strategically offering more chances
__ Discerning Revealing what is objectively true
__ Tongues Enjoying a personal, intimate connection
__ Interpreting Making a personal connection shareable

Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Mark 4:35-41,
1 Corinthians 12:30 and 14:5, 13, & 26-28

The “core” empowers the whole body to serve
__ Leading Taking others somewhere
__ Teaching Helping others learn and understand
__ Giving Sharing what God gave you
__ Encouraging Speaking the truth in love

Ephesians 4:11-16, Matthew 28:18-20

The “limbs” get the work done
__ Faith Trust-based action
__ Healing Miraculous restoration
__ Miracles Using supernatural power
__ Helping Using natural power
__ Evangelizing Speaking the truth in love

James 1:22, Galatians 5:19-26

Lord, I will encourage others by…

Lord, I will build others up by…

Faith (which is trust-based action) extinguishes Satan's flaming arrows--even his three favorites: discouragement, disconnection, and division. God designed us to work together; we must each find the part He designed us to play and then use the gifts He gives us to accomplish His will.

Series: Authentic Faith: Be The Body

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

Faith extinguishes Satan's flaming arrows. Nothing beats discouragement, disconnection, and division like trust-based action. When we work together, we can protect each other and advance at the same time—no matter the circumstances.

Ephesians 6:10-20, Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 10:23-25,
1 Corinthians 1:10, Romans 12:1-2

We must all use the gifts God gives us. God offers salvation, peace, and many other gifts to everyone, but He also expects His people to work together as one body, making His will happen on earth. He expects us to use what He gives us to serve Him, each other, and the world.

Romans 3:23-24, John 14:27, Matthew 3:31-32, Romans 12:9-21, 1 Peter 4:8-9, James 1:17, Luke 19:11-27

We must each play our part. God creates and empowers each of us in unique ways, but there are specific gifts that we can expect the Holy Spirit to give every group of believers. It's our job to find out which parts He wants each of us to play—and play them!

1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-31

Lord, as part of Your body, I will…

Lord, to clarify the part You created me to play, I will…

All our choices affect us, those we love, and the world around us—and everything God's people do affects Him, His kingdom, and His reputation. We must make all our choices with eternity in mind.

John uses an illustration of two cooking pots, a large one (God and timeless truth) and a smaller one (year 2020 and us) that fits inside the larger one.

Series: Others First: Recalculating...

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

We must focus on God's eternal kingdom. Encouraging each other is just as important as prayer, singing, the Lord's supper, giving, and Bible study. Life is always confusing and short, but He transforms us—and we get to help Him transform the world—when we keep realigning ourselves with His eternal purposes for all of us.

Hebrews 10:25, Romans 12:2, Matthew 6:9-13, 1 Chronicles 29:10-15, Psalm 39:4-7

We must invest everything God gives us. When we focus on building God's eternal kingdom, He takes care of our daily needs. The eternal rewards and punishments at stake are far more significant than any of our present joys or struggles, but we all find our greatest joy, peace, and fulfillment when we invest in God and others.

Matthew 6:33 & 25:1-30

We must actively build God's kingdom together. When people confronted Jesus with their interpretations of God's laws, He reminded them that: “any kingdom divided by civil war cannot stand” and “a tree is identified by its fruit.”

Matthew 12

We must “live for the line, not for the dot”. The kingdom, the power, and the glory are God's forever and ever, whether we like it or not. When “amen” and live out this truth, we are happier and able to make our lives count eternally.

Matthew 25:31-46, James 2:26

Lord, I will…

Some actions and attitudes deliberately oppose God and His will. Some distract us from His perfect will and cause damage even when we don't mean to rebel. Jesus wants to deliver everyone from evil.

Series: OTHERS FIRST: RECALCULATING

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

We must acknowledge evil. Evil is whatever opposes righteousness, justice, God's perfect plans, or God Himself. Evil questions everything that is fundamentally true and designed to help us understand and “know” God. It includes the evil one, evil spirits, and evil people, organizations, laws, and beliefs.

Genesis 2-3, Matthew 15:1-19, Ephesians 4:31 & 5:11, Galatians 5:19-21, 2 Corinthians 5:10

We must resist temptation. The question, “How can ___ be wrong?” is one of the most dangerous questions we can ask. Like Jesus, we must refuse to justify anything that opposes righteousness, justice, God's perfect plans, or God Himself.

John 17:15 & 8:44, Matthew 4:1-11, Isaiah 5:20,
James 1:13-15

We must ask God to deliver us from evil. We can only “know” good from evil by experience. To escape from evil, we must ask God for help. He guides and provides when we trust and obey.

Ephesians 6:10-20, John 3:16-17 & 10:10

We must pursue righteousness and justice. Righteousness is relationships done God's way. It's the love and unity based on truth and shared purpose that Jesus commanded and prayed for. Justice is whatever creates or restores righteousness.

Micah 6:8, 2 Peter 3:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 5:15-16, Romans 12:21, James 1:27, Matthew 6:13,
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Lord, I will…

Forgiveness begins with acknowledging that something we or others have done is truly wrong. Then we choose to trust God to make the guilty person pay (or not). Then God forgives us. Then we are free.

Series: Others First: Recalculating ...

Speaker: John Pryor

Notes:

We must forgive to be forgiven. As we re-sync ourselves daily with our Heavenly Father, we must daily make sure that nothing is separating us from Him. We must confess and repent of our own sins, forgive others, and choose love and unity daily.

Matthew 6:9-15, Colossians 3:12-13, Luke 6:37

Admit that what's wrong is wrong. Forgiveness is NOT defensiveness, denial, or apathy. When we confess our sins, we surrender to God's unique authority to define, punish, and forgive. Repentance realigns us with His will in every way.

1 John 1:8-10, Psalm 51, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Trust God to do the right thing. The principles of forgiveness are the same when we sin against God, we sin against others, when others sin against us, and when God's people try to fix something that sin broke.

Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 5:1-11,

Do the right thing. Jesus gave us step by step instructions on how to restore Christian relationships, and He gave us a perfect example of how to reach out in love to everyone—even those who hate us for any reason.

Matthew 18, Philippians 2:1-11, Matthew 28:18-20

Lord, I will…