Sermons

You will never understand what it means to be saved until you grasp what you must be saved from. The facts of our condition are dire. We are far worse than most of us could imagine. If it were not for God’s Word we would never believe how utterly helpless we were to find our way to God. This only makes His gracious salvation all the more beautiful.

After all his personal evangelizing of his fellow Jews, Paul had a good idea of what their objections would be to trusting in Jesus. First on that list was their belief that things like possessing the Law, being circumcised, and even just being Jewish, would guarantee them entrance into heaven, regardless of how much they sinned. This was a misplaced confidence that any careful reader of the Old Testament should have seen. In exposing them, Paul reminds us to make sure our hope is in the right place.

While Paul is debunking the silly idea that some people get a free pass to heaven (like the Jewish hypocrite he is arguing against), he also lets drop a fascinating insight into the relationship of God to every human ever created. Ever wonder why you feel bad for doing certain things? Curious why you have these inner conflicts in your mind about whether or not your actions were justified? Look no further than Romans 2 for the answer.

Jesus said that Christians will suffer for their faithfulness to God. That is a promise. But Christians are not left alone in our suffering. We can have complete confidence in the sovereign and powerful God of the Universe to always do what he promises and purposes to do no matter what prideful fools try to stand in his way.

The Apostle Paul is dealing with quite a guy in Romans 2. He is disputing with a Jewish man who thinks he is getting to heaven based on his ethnicity. Who, at the same time, is condemning Gentiles for doing the same sins he does! Paul points out his hypocrisy in verse one, then proceeds to build an argument why that Jewish man has no hope for heaven. The foundation to that argument comes in verses 6-11 — all men will be judged by God by the same standard.

The story of Bartimaeus’s change from blindness to sight is a remarkable picture of every Christian’s conversion. We needed Christ to heal us and He did! That is because Jesus is not afraid of entering this broken world in order to bring salvation to the most unlikely of broken people.

God is full of grace to save the most unlikely of sinners. If you ever doubt that, all you need to do is look at the guilty criminal hung on the cross beside Jesus.

It may surprise you to find out that gratitude to God can affect your obedience to God in other areas of your life. Especially in the sphere of relationships with others. In fact, there might be a direct correlation between your relational sanctification as a Christian and your active thanksgiving to God. The latter can greatly improve the former!

God disciplines the one he loves, and he disciplines the one he loves in order to make the one he loves more holy. If you are experiencing the discipline of the Lord, do not try to figure things out on your own - go to God in humble repentance and worship him.

Chronicles functions as the capstone sermon for the entire Old Testament. It provides an inspired commentary on God’s great works from creation to the return from exile, inspiring firm hope that all God’s promises to his people (represented by the royal line of David) and about his place (God’s special revelatory presence in the temple) will indeed come to pass.

Maybe you are at a point in life where you do not really know what to do. Maybe you are wondering what you should be focusing on, or maybe you are wondering what decision to make. Thankfully, God’s Word tells you what you should decide to do, and the answer is actually quite simple.

Psalm 91 expresses a calmness arising from the intimacy of one’s relationship with God. In the face of threats, the psalmist finds the Lord to be his dwelling place. Thus, he is confident, through all manner of dangers and challenges. He trusts in the Lord, not in himself or in his own resources; and he feels safe in the protective care of the Lord. Here is an appeal that we too would dwell in the Lord’s house.

Once upon our time, in a land not too far away, there were two people who needed a redeemer. God, the same God who reigns today, provided them with a redeemer - and they lived happily ever after. If you want to live happily ever after, you need a redeemer too. And God, the same God who provided these two people a redeemer long ago, has provided a redeemer to all those who repent and believe. To live happily ever after, you need a redeemer. You need this redeemer.

We are experts at incorrectly classifying what offends God and what does not. Thankfully, He has supplied us in the Bible with a carefully curated list of what counts as a sin. A taxonomy of sin, if you like. Albeit a very toxic taxonomy! Knowing what will send you to hell forever is important.