Category: Sermons

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Genesis 6:13-22 – Faithfulness to God’s Call

God doesn’t call us to do something, then abandon us mid-task. Think on that.

It took Noah many, many, many years to build this boat. Scripture doesn’t say that he worked on it the whole 120 years. Maybe he took a few years to take a break. Maybe he didn’t. But whether Noah took breaks or not, God’s call was ALWAYS on his life. He didn’t call Noah half-way into this process then tell him “Nah, fam. Nevermind. You’re taking too long.” And God’s plan would not be shaken, even with Noah’s shortcomings. God knew, planned and orchestrated it all.

And what people said about Noah? Unimportant. God’s plan didn’t change.

And the details of the moment, that it had never produced significant quantities of water prior to this moment? Also unimportant. God’s plan didn’t change.

That’s what God is trying to remind us today as we look at his word. He loves you and his plan for you has not changed. He KNOWS where you will fall short. And that’s okay. His plan has already accounted for that. Will you be faithful to God’s call? Will you step back onto the path of faith that he etched into your ground?

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2 Corinthians 5:16-20 – New Creations in Christ

How good is God? Well… he knows how important reconciliation is. After all, that was the ENTIRE reason Jesus came to earth — to reconcile us to God. But in echo of that, Ben didn’t even know, as he laid out his plans, that this sermon would land on this date. But God did, and it’s little things like this that remind me that God is sovreign over all our mistakes.

Reconciliation is more than a word to us. It is an understanding that we are all messed up. But God still loves us and chooses to reconcile with us. And in that divine transaction, we are made new creations. Let’s look at that a bit closer today.

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Galatians 5:22-25 – God Transforms Us

This is all about the FRUIT (singular) of the spirit.

What are the qualities of Christ living within us?

This hit me hard. Think of an apple that you’d want to eat and that is meant to sustain you: Crunchy, Firm, Juicy, Sweet (sometimes balanced with tart/sour), Refreshing, Fragrant

If you don’t have ONE of those attributes — if the apple isn’t Firm, for example — is it still an edible apple? What if it’s not refreshing–dry and dehydrated? Is it still something good for us to consume?

Now look at your own life and measure that against these qualities of the fruit that the Holy Spirit should be cultivating in you. Is the fruit your life produces in line with this list? Let’s discuss that!

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Romans 12:1-2 – Renewing the Mind

HOW does God transform us? WHAT should be the signs of this most powerful transformation going on in our lives? It starts with the renewing of our minds. This word “renew” isn’t about renewing our lease, or renewnewing our subscription to Apple Music. This is about “Making a thing NEW, clean, whole, transformed… for a second time.”

RE-NEW.

Does this describe your mind? Is it something NEW? Is it something whole? Let’s talk about that.

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John 3:1-8 – New Birth

Does the power of God, working in you, transform you? When Jesus encountered any situation, he transformed it. Water to wine. Deaf people hearing. Lame people walking. And… those bound by legalism freed from their chains in profound truths. Like Nicodemus. Listen today and ask yourself honestly — Has the impact of Jesus in your life changed you? Imagine being truly, absolutely, complete born a second time to live a truly second life — this one built on love and trusting God.

This is why we gather and celebrate! Not because we are sinless, but because we do sin, but God is building something new in each of us. And we come together to share in that and celebrate

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Luke 9:23-24 – ALL IN!

This message asks us to evaluate our life and ask ourselves: Am I all in, or just trying to swim in the ocean with just my legs getting wet. That’s not swimming.

What hit me, personally, is the fact that god is calling us to take up our CROSS. What is a cross, in today’s nomenclature? The cross in the Roman world was a deep moment of Shame, Death, Suffering.

God is calling us to take up our SHAME and self that’s daily dying, and suffering, and all that we are, brokenness and all, and pick it up, and be truly, utterly and absolutely committed to Christ and his love for others. Has God’s power transformed you like that?

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Lamentations 3:22-23 – Trusting God’s Faithfulness

This scripture has a ton of meaning, if we can hear it. First, God’s mercy is new every morning. Because of HIS great love (not anything about us), we are NOT consumed. Great is the Faithfulness of God. This news was given in the midst of one of the most troubled period in Jewish history. But the truth in that moment is that it was terrible. It was hard. It was sorrowful. It was all those things. But just as true as that is the fact that God’s love and mercy and faithfulness is immense. Can you claim that as confidently? If not, let’s talk!

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Philippians 4:6-7 – Peace in the Midst of Chaos

As we continue our exploration of Trusting God, we are looking at Philippians 4:6-7. Do not be anxious about anything. That’s a lot easier to say than do, especially in a life of chaos — not just trouble, but chaos, where life just isn’t making sense and the things that swirl around you are totally, completely, utterly out of your control. In those moments… do you still trust God? Let’s talk about that.

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James 1:2-8Trusting God in Trials

Consider it PURE JOY when we face trials… ARE YOU KIDDING ME? But that’s what James is teaching us. We dive in today to learn to Trust God in those trials — those tough, dry times where we can’t see him. We learn that God has a plan, even for this trial. And in that, his plan will bring about our best in him. He is there. He loves us. He is actually fighting for us, if we will just let him.