Soma Spokane Sermons

These words are the heart of Jesus' message: the sermon on the mount is the heart and summary of all Jesus’ teachings, the Beatitudes are the heart and summary of the sermon on the mount, and Blessed are the poor in Spirit is the heart and summary of the Beatitudes. Blessed means to have an unshakeable peace and shalom in all situations of life, a resting place and serenity no matter the circumstances. The Poor in Spirit are the beggarly of life. The empty and broken. And the Kingdom of Heaven is offered to such as these. We all are offered moments to see the true beggarly-ness of life, our empty-ness, our brokenness. It is exactly when our life is shaken, life reveals the brokenness inside and out that we have the opportunity to scramble up the hill to listen to Jesus and hope for the Kingdom of Heaven. Our task is to embrace our brokenness, our poor in spirit, as a path to seeing that Jesus had to come in order to save me. My brokenness can be the best news ever because it will lead me to a place of blessed

As we wrap up our series in the Pastoral Epistles, we’re stepping back and trying to get the big picture one last time. These are Paul’s final letters, and they are written to make sure the churches he started stay the course and become long-term disciple-making outposts. All 3 letters are filled with rich theology and practical direction for churches on mission. Faithful churches embrace 4 priorities, all shaped by the gospel of Jesus: Conviction (theological clarity), Character (deep formation), Culture (healthy community), and Context (faithful witness). This week we survey these letters, wrap up the series, and drive home the goodness of all we’ve learned. Remember Jesus Christ!

The health and strength of each and every local church is Paul’s number one priority in his letters to Timothy and Titus. In Acts, we see Paul’s concern to preach the gospel and make disciples all around the Roman Empire. But his ministry doesn’t end there — he moves to gather new disciples into churches, to establish local leadership, and to commission each church to continue making disciples in their context. As he established these churches, he wanted them to have clear gospel doctrine and gracious gospel culture, so that they could be faithful witnesses to the gospel. In the final chapter of his letter to Titus, Paul tells him to ‘remind’ the church of the importance of how they interact with a hostile world, committing themselves to good and gracious service to all people at all times and in all ways. As people who’ve been rescued graciously by Jesus and given the gift of his Spirit, disciples of Jesus live a humble and courageous life of kindness toward all people.

Last week, we explored what Paul wanted to clarify for Titus: that elders are responsible for clarifying doctrine, modeling godly living, and equipping the church for faithful mission. This week, in chapter 2, we will look at what a healthy, engaged, gospel-centered church could look like. Many of us have seen damaged churches, suffering from the spiritual abuse, hypocrisy, and failures of her leaders. We know that a distracted and adrift church can suck the life from her people and the surrounding community. In contrast, a healthy, gospel-centered church can be a vibrant, life-giving, sweet aroma for everyone. A flourishing church will hold a high view of sound doctrine, the people will be engaged in active discipleship at every level, good speech and works will be the norm, and authority will have dignity and integrity allowing the people to submit joyfully. Imagine that! These marks show up not because of the good behavior and skill of the people, this happens when people become fixated on Jesus’ grace & g

We’ll spend the next few weeks looking at Paul’s letter to Titus, a letter very similar to Paul’s two letters to Timothy. Titus is on the island of Crete where he’s been given a very similar charge as Timothy: Get the churches there fully established so they can have a long-term disciple-making presence! Paul wants the churches strong in gospel truth, beautiful in relationship, and faithful in witness to Jesus. In spite of being in a hard context — many within the church are sowing confusion and many outside the church are pressuring and persecuting — Titus must clarify true doctrine, teach and model godly living, and equip the church for faithful mission. In chapter 1 we see that one of the primary means of the church’s long-term health and fruitfulness is the courage, conviction, and character of the leaders, especially the elders.

We are finishing up Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and he is going to finish his thought on how to fight with very similar themes; actively go work out the kingdom of God and ground yourself in truth. This week we again cover what we are fighting for and then see yet again how Paul calls us to join in this fight. Paul then finishes his letter off with what actually empowers all of our life and the kingdom, grace, and so we will also leave the morning with grace poured out over us.

In Acts 20.29, Paul warned the leaders of the church of Ephesus to watch out for “fierce wolves” who will come among the church and “draw the disciples away.” A few years later, Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus because the church there was in danger, just as Paul had predicted. And now, in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he’s encouraging him to identify, confront, and silence those false teachers and get the church reentered on Jesus, his ways, and his mission. It is no easy task! Thankfully, God has not left Timothy - or us - to figure it out on our own. Our main weapon in this fight is the Bible, where we have both the Old Testament story of God and the New Testament witness to Jesus. By abiding in the Scriptures, we can live with clarity and conviction in the context we find ourselves!

As we continue our study in 2 Timothy this Sunday, we’ll be looking at what it takes to really stay the course as disciples of Jesus when the world is going crazy. Timothy is in Ephesus, where the cultural pressures around the church and the false teachers within the church are threatening the vitality of the church and her mission. For a local church like ours to remain faithful to Jesus, to his word, and to his ways is always such a fight! But it is a fight won not through coercion, politics, or power, but through the faithful transmission of the message, patient endurance of opposition, tenacious commitment to integrity, and a gentle but firm correction of drift. Paul calls us to find our strength in the grace of Jesus, commit ourselves to his disciple-making mission, and endure to the glorious end.

This week we are beginning to read the second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy while he was staying in Ephesus. The first letter was all about what did the people of Ephesus need to hear, what was good doctrine, and what did Jesus actually come to do. But the second letter is more about Timothy than the people. After years of being in Ephesus, Timothy needs encouragement and Paul is going to write what I would call a pep talk to Timothy in order to help him fight to the end. 2 Timothy is a letter written by an aging Paul in Prison to Timothy who needs encouragement to hold on and continue to fight. In our first week looking at this letter we will see Paul encourage Timothy to fan into flame the gift within him and to choose to suffer for the gospel.

The first part of our “A Good Fight” series concludes by looking at Paul’s final charge in 1 Timothy 6. Paul gives Timothy some punchy exhortations — Flee! Pursue! Fight! Take Hold! Keep! Guard! Avoid! — in an effort to drive home the need to engage this fight with a gritty and grace-filled tenacity. The need to engage this fight has not lessened today, and in our own context face the battle on multiple fronts. Holding to the message of the gospel, with deep personal integrity and lives oriented to God’s Kingdom, will always be a hard-fought battle. But God is on his throne, sovereignly orchestrating history toward the great revealing of King Jesus, and our job is to cling to that hope together.

Growing up near the pacific coast there were many days that started with a cloudy marine layer, but most days, by noon the marine layer would burn off leaving a perfectly sunny climate to enjoy. Sometimes, around mid-day, you’d be surprised that the marine layer hasn’t burnt off and instead of a clear day, you’re left scrambling to find the hoodie you have somewhere. The spiritual life can feel like that. Sometimes things are so clear and lovely, glimpses of the way God meant them to be. Other times we are trapped in a place that seems like it is always winter but never Christmas. We long for the good life, and because of that, we find ourselves striving for it in a lot of odd ways. We claw, climb, and chase wealth, ambitious goals, relationships, and material as if it will bring about the good life. We even try to use God as a simple means to the good life. We compromise conviction and contentment for avarice and self-destruction. All the while God is patiently offering us treasure and a good foundation, so

The church in Ephesus was under attack, from both promiscuous licentious people swallowed in culture, and also from religious legalistic Gnostics who were saying salvation is from Jesus and obeying rules. These same forces are alive and well today. And they are moving and powerful and they push the church away from its story. Join that with our own desire to build our own little empire in life and you have a strong danger in the church. Paul moves in his letter in chapter 4 to instruct Timothy on how to have the church stand their ground and move forward into their city. They are to nourish themselves on the full story God’s rescue of mankind and then to discipline themselves for Godliness. To these two tasks, Paul uses the words, train, toil, strive, devote, practice, immerse, and persist. So this week we will encourage ourselves to nourish ourselves on the great epic story of Redemption and Jesus and also to discipline ourselves to godliness.

We drift from what is important. There is something in each of us that is prone to take the easier route, to forget our priorities, and slowly forget our commitments. Often, and especially when it comes to our faith, this drift happens in very subtle ways. Paul is writing because he is deeply concerned about the drift from gospel-centered mission in the church in Ephesus. He has strong warning and corrective instructions, but all these imperatives are rooted in, first and foremost, the Gospel of Jesus. In this section he is pleading with the church to not get distracted and attempting to recenter the church in her identity in Jesus. There is invitation for the church to hold tight to the message of truth and hold high on display of gospel of grace!

In chapter 3, Paul describes the kind of leadership structure that contributes to a local church flourishing in mission and ministry. Last week we learned that mission and ministry is what the whole church does, men and women, in our various contexts. Everyone is called to pray, live, and proclaim for gospel advancement. At the same time, a local church needs called and qualified leadership, and Paul says there ought to be two offices. Elders are the spiritual fathers of the community: men of character and integrity who hold the doctrinal DNA and oversee the mission and ministry of the church. Alongside them are the deacons: servant leaders among the church family — women and men tasked with helping the church accomplish the disciple-making ministry in all varieties of roles. Paul roots the call for men to be elders in the narrative of creation and fall, showing how Jesus restores us to a flourishing complementarity between men and women. To read Soma Spokane’s position paper on Men, Women, and Ministry, cli

Paul’s main concern in his letters to Timothy and Titus is the flourishing of the church. Paul wants the churches he’s planted to be long-term disciple-making outposts, communities committed to Jesus, his way, and his mission in the world. In this week’s text, he’s specifically concerned to see that the churches remember their primary purpose of making Jesus known in word and deed. The gospel is the good news about God’s desire to save and his actions in and through Jesus to accomplish salvation. The church’s role is to pray fervently, live authentically, and speak boldly about this news so the world can see and hear it. Paul also warns the church about key ways we get distracted and drift from this mission, and how to fight together for single-minded missional unity.

Churches drift, dwindle, and die, unless they commit themselves to fight for something different. The fight - for gospel doctrine, character, and culture - is as important today as it has ever been, especially if our desire is to be a long-term disciple-making presence. This week, Paul gives us clarity regarding the role of the law and the gospel in the life of the church. The law - God’s commands and instructions - tells us what ought to be, but can’t create what it demands. Instead, the law reveals us as sinners and lays us low. Thankfully, Jesus meets us in that low place, when we’re laid bare as sinners. Paul celebrates the reality that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, welcoming in all those whom the law condemns.

All Spring we’re looking at Paul’s letters to his proteges, Timothy and Titus, as he passes along his ministry to them. Paul was a church planter, rescued by Jesus and called to take the gospel to nations. He did that by proclaiming the message of Jesus, making disciples, forming churches, and appointing leaders. He commissioned each church to be a mission outpost, and he’d write letters to keep them centered on Jesus and faithful in his mission. For Paul, the church wasn’t a side-project, an important but non-essential entity, just a local non-profit trying to help people; it was the very household of God, the people among who God dwelt by his Spirit, and the community entrusted with holding out the good news of Jesus to the world. Unfortunately, all that was in danger of being lost through false teaching and the graceless culture it created, so Paul sends Timothy to Ephesus to set things in order. This week we learn what the good fight really is, why it matters, and how we can engage it today.

The Apostle Paul was the world’s greatest evangelist and church planter, and one of his strongest churches was in Ephesus. He spent 3 years there, preaching, making disciples, and establishing leaders. When he later wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he laid out the glory of the gospel and the grand purpose of God in the church, and gave them almost no challenges or correctives. This was a strong church with a disciple-making presence in their region! Unfortunately, the church at Ephesus quickly found themselves divided and drifting after Paul’s departure, losing grip on both the gospel doctrine and gospel culture Paul had set in place. So Paul sent his protege, Timothy, to set things in order and bring the church back in line. This week we’ll do an overview of 1 Timothy, and look at the 4 Strategic Priorities Paul gives Timothy. Our study in the Pastoral Epistles - 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus - will equip us to be a church with strong gospel conviction, deeply shaped gospel character, and a gracious gospel cultu