The Rock Church of Fenton Sermons

When Jesus told the parable of the Bridegroom, He was clearly urging the listener to be ready for His arrival. The wise virgins awaited His return with oil in their lamps, but the foolish virgins brought no oil. Though their lamps appeared the same on the outside, they were drastically different on the inside. Many people appear to be awaiting Christ’s return, but they still have not prepared their soul by receiving the oil of salvation through faith in Jesus. Are you prepared to meet your God?

Jesus described entry into the kingdom of heaven like a landowner hiring laborers for his vineyard. He went out hiring workers at various times of the day from morning until evening. At the conclusion of the work day he had his foreman call the laborers and pay them all the same. When the ones who had worked the longest grumbled against the landowner, he explained that he was generous and merciful to all workers. Regardless of when a person comes to faith and enters the kingdom of heaven, they will be met with the same spiritual blessings as those who followed the Lord for their whole lives. When did you come into the kingdom by faith?

When Jesus told the parable of the treasure and the pearl, He was teaching the heart of total surrender that all true believers must have to inherit the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is discovered by all people at some point in their lives. The kingdom has a great cost to all who will receive it. Every soul must make a choice as to what they will do with the kingdom. Have you made your choice?

Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed as well as the leaven in the dough. The Kingdom is first and foremost a spiritual one. The Lord did not come to overthrow the government of His time and establish an earthly empire. Jesus came into the world to save His people from their sins. This Kingdom begins small, like a mustard seed and begins to grow in reach and power. One day His kingdom will permeate the entire world and He will come in victory to establish His eternal rule. The seed of the kingdom falls upon the hearts of men in the good news of the gospel. What kind of soil is your heart to receive it?

When the younger son returned home in humble repentance, his Father called for a great celebration. Upon hearing the music and dancing, the older brother became angry and questioned why there had been no such party for him. The heart of the older brother reveals the hypocrisy of the religious class in the time of Jesus as well as now. Many believe they are entitled to certain privilege and status based upon their long, external pattern of religious observance. This sense of entitlement only reveals that the older son is as lost as the younger son had been. Which son are you?

As Jesus was traveling along, a man declared that he would follow Him wherever He went. However, when the man was told that there would be nowhere to lay their heads, the man was gone. Others came promising to follow Jesus but only after they were permitted one last delay. Many today in moments of spiritual high or temporary inspiration declare that they will follow Jesus only to later offer many excuses why they cannot. Jesus chillingly pronounces that such people are not fit for the kingdom of God. Are you sold out to Jesus today? Or are you still offering reasons for your delay?

The world longs to have hope and is willing to place their faith in anything they think will produce it. Hope is the expectation that something will happen in the future, but true hope hinges on the expectation that what is being promised will come true. It is only with the promises of God that we can anchor our trust into a sure hope that does not fail.

Romans 15:13 says | “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In this message titled Promise of Hope, we will look at the promises God makes to His followers and how important it is for us to anchor to those promises for the hope we have set before us. When we do this it can deeply impact the growth of a Christ follower as well as the impact we can make in sharing truth in a hopeless world.

Upon being cut to the heart by the truth of Stephen’s testimony, the crowds gnashed their teeth at him, covered their ears and drove him out of the city and stoned him to death. As the Spirit of God is at work in the lives of believers to convict the world of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come, people still cover their ears and gnash their teeth. When we bring attention to Jesus and our lives are a reflection of His, we can expect to be treated like Jesus. However, as Stephen gazed into the heavens as his life was fading away, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God ready to receive his spirit. In God’s divine irony, the very man cheering the violent death of Stephen would one day prove to be his successor as a great gospel preacher. Saul of Tarsus.