Dominic Jackson explores the hard, honest question of suffering through John 16 and Romans 8. Jesus does not hide the reality of trouble, but he does promise his presence and his victory. This sermon invites us to name pain without minimizing it, to rediscover lament as a faithful practice, and to trust that God is at work even when healing or resolution feels far away. We are reminded that creation groans, we groan, and the Spirit even groans with us—and that the cross reveals God’s pattern of turning what is darkest into redemption and hope.

In week 3 of Beauty: See Again What God Calls Good, Matt Crummy turns to the created world as a living witness to God’s presence and love. Drawing especially from Psalm 104, this sermon reminds us that responding to creation with praise is not extra or peripheral, but a sign that we’re seeing a fuller picture of what’s real. We’re invited into a simple, transformative rhythm: direct our attention to the world already declaring God, learn to read what creation’s “speech” is revealing, and be reformed as this goodness reshapes our desires, pace, and way of life. The sermon closes with Augustine’s stirring invitation to “question” the beauty of earth, sea, sky, and stars—until creation’s confession leads us to the One who is beautiful and unchangeable.

In week 2 of Beauty: See Again What God Calls Good, Dominic Jackson explores how our identity is formed and healed in Christ. Starting with Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30–31), this sermon reframes self-love as learning to see ourselves as God sees us—so we can love others more truly. Drawing on Paul’s repeated language of being “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3–14), Dominic invites us to resist the pull of competing voices that name us and, instead, to receive our truest identity as chosen, adopted, forgiven, and sealed by the Spirit. Along the way, he contrasts WWJD with the deeper question of what Jesus has already done for us, and what it looks like to live from that reality today.

Dominic Jackson opens our series by asking a foundational question: What does God think is beautiful? Centered on Matthew 26 (with parallels in Mark 14), this sermon reflects on the woman who anoints Jesus with costly perfume and how her devotion looks like waste to some but is called beautiful by Jesus himself. The message invites us to examine how perspective shapes our worship, how easily we judge others' faith, and how Jesus helps us recognize beauty in people we might overlook or dismiss.

Dominic Jackson closes 1 John by arguing that Scripture frames the true opposite of love not as hate but fear—“perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4). He traces how fear is instilled in us through advertising, news, and social media, then shows how our anger and hatred often mask deeper fears—of loss, insignificance, or lack of control. Drawing on voices like Nouwen, Thurman, and Baldwin, he shows how beneath each sin lies a temporary identity crisis. In Christ, however, Paul’s “to live is Christ, to die is gain” becomes a settled posture that defangs fear.

Practically, the path isn’t sin-management but turning toward God in the moment of fear—through prayer, community, and “seeking first the kingdom” (Matthew 6). The closing “homework” from 1 Corinthians 13 (replace “love” with your own name) exposes our limits and points to Jesus as the only one who truly fits that definition. His perfect love—not our performance—drives out fear.

John warns his churches, “Don’t believe every spirit—test the spirits” (1 John 2:26–27; 4:1). In this sermon, Dominic Jackson names how half-true “American gospels” can sound biblical yet quietly edit the good news. This week he focuses on two influential versions—Christian nationalism and the liberation/social gospel—asking one simple question of each: Is this the gospel?

Anchoring in 1 Corinthians 15, he re-centers us on the crucified and risen Jesus as the only gospel, inviting self-examination: Where have we added qualifiers, swapped persuasion for power, or confused social outcomes with heart transformation? The call is to remain in Christ, let the gospel stay the gospel, and let everything else be a response to it.

Dominic Jackson explores the theme of false teaching, drawing from the biblical text of 1 John 4:1-3. He begins by contextualizing the New Testament's warnings against false teachers, noting that unlike Old Testament warnings about external threats, these were about dangers arising from within the church. Dominic argues that the most dangerous false teachings today are not outright lies but are partial truths, similar to the Gnosticism John was addressing.

He analyzes several modern "American gospels," such as the "Doomsday Gospel," the "Evangelical Gospel," and the "Prosperity Gospel," evaluating the truths they contain and the ways they distort or fall short of the complete biblical gospel. Dominic concludes the first part of this two-part sermon by restating the core gospel from the scriptures and encouraging us to reflect on which pseudo-gospels we might be tempted to follow and to re-engage with the biblical accounts of Jesus' life.

Exploring 1 John 3, Matt Crummy challenges us to imagine love not only as sentiment but as embodied action. “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth,” John writes—and Matt walks us through what it looks like to hold love and truth together without collapsing one into the other. He explores how genuine Christian love is not defined by emotional intensity or external performance, but by a Spirit-formed posture of active care and obedience.

Matt also addresses how this kind of love reshapes our relationship to self-doubt and guilt. When our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. When our hearts are at peace, we are emboldened to live with confidence before God. Assurance, then, is not found in sinlessness but in a love that flows from abiding in Christ. This passage points us to a new kind of interior life—one grounded in obedience, trust, and the Spirit’s witness that we truly belong to God.

In this sermon on 1 John 3, Matt Crummy explores the astonishing truth that we are called children of God—not metaphorically or aspirationally, but as a present and permanent identity rooted in God’s initiating love. This identity, given not earned, shapes how we see ourselves, how we respond to sin, and how we live in hopeful anticipation of what we will become. Matt contrasts being named by the world with being named by God, calling us to resist self-definition and instead live from the reality of our belovedness. Rather than viewing sin as legal infraction, he points to a relational vision of holiness—one shaped by the love of the Father and the hope of becoming like Christ.

Dominic Jackson teaches from 1 John 2, where John draws a sharp contrast between love for the world and love for the Father. In a culture shaped by craving, self-promotion, and fleeting promises, John warns that the desires of the flesh, the eyes, and pride are all passing away. Instead, those who do the will of God remain forever. This passage also introduces the idea of “antichrists”—those who depart from the church and deny Jesus. Rather than stir up panic or suspicion, John urges the church to remain rooted in Christ and confident in the truth they have received. In a time of cultural confusion and religious distortion, we’re invited to ask where our love and loyalty truly lie.