Sermons on Covenant
Doubting God’s Love | Malachi 1:1-5
Pastor Ron begins a new series as we explore the book of Malachi, and we see what we can learn from the apathy in Israel. Discussion Questions 1. Why in the “rub” of daily life is it so hard to understand or accept that God loves us as He said? Are there ways He has shown us His love? If so why is that not enough to keep us convinced of it? 2. Jesus commands us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43,44).…
His Love Endures Forever | Psalm 136
As I prepared this week I listened to a sermon on Psalm 136 where a pastor asked his congregation to write down “One thing God has changed, saved, or redeemed in my life.” We’re going to do the same thing. Would you write down “one thing God has changed, saved, or redeemed in my life”? We’re going to come back to these as part of the service, so write something you’re comfortable with others hearing. Would you do that? (pause…
The Gift of God’s Presence | Exodus 33-34
If you could have anything you wanted, would you take it? Imagine for a moment that God is offering to give you whatever you want. You can have the husband or wife or kids you always wanted, and you can have the house, business, and career too. This blessing doesn’t stop with you, but everyone else in here get’s it too. We as a church can all have whatever we want. We are guaranteed a successful children’s ministry, a beautiful…
The Problem of Idolatry | Exodus 32
Jack works for a local telecommunications company. He tells his friends he loves his job, his company, and his boss. But if you were to follow Jack for a week, you would notice something is off. On average, he arrives 15 minutes late to work and leaves 15 minutes early. Sometimes he takes office supplies home, like when he needs a pen or highlighter. When he sits at his desk, he has one screen on his work, and one screen…
God’s Law Part II: How does the Law apply to us? | Exodus 21-24
I like to play games. Tomorrow night I’m having some friends over to play board games. One of my favorites is called Balderdash. It’s a game where one person looks up an unknown, strange, word in the dictionary, writes down the correct definition, and everyone else makes up a definition for the word as well. Then everyone tries to guess the correct definition. We actually own an official version of balderdash, which includes five different categories, one of which is…
Dirty People Meet a Holy God | Exodus 19
If you’ve ever been in a relationship, chances are you and your significant other at one point had to DTR—define the relationship. That’s the moment when you’ve been seeing each other for a while, maybe you’re friends and things seem to being getting serious, so you label it. Aka. “We’re a couple.” DTRs can go really well if you each like each other, or they can go really poorly if one person feels differently. In the case of Monica and…
God Tests Our Faith | Genesis 22:1-19
In Genesis 22:1-19, God tests Abraham to see what matters most to him. He calls on him to offer up his son, Isaac, as a whole burnt offering. God also calls us into times of testing, asking us to give him what we care about most. We pass this test like Abraham, through faith and obedience. God tests us to give us deep faith. Like the free-water diver William Trubridge goes for record breaking dives into deep darkness and crushing pressures, so…
A Conditional Sign of Unconditional Grace | Genesis 17
We all need to experience unconditional grace. In Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 15:1-21 God promises Abram unconditional grace in the form of a covenant. What is a covenant? A covenant is an elected, family-like relationship of obligation, under divine sanction. Or more simply defined, a promise where God is involved. God promises Abram a place, people and presence which are all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God gives a sign of unconditional grace to every believer. In Genesis 17 God gives the covenant…
Faith Counted As Righteousness | Genesis 15:1-21
Genesis 15:1-21 is about God’s covenant with the patriarch Abram. God made Abram a promise that he would be father of a great nation. An amazing promise considering he and Sarai’s age when that promise was made. This message discusses how Abram’s belief in God’s promises was counted as righteousness. You will discover that right here in the Old Testament are the words that are the foundation of the theology of the New Testament. God’s covenant was not dependent on any action by…
Into The Unknown | Genesis 11:27-12:9
Genesis 11:27-12:9 tells us the story of God calling Abram out of his homeland towards a new and better place. God promises three blessings: a place, a people, and a presence, but Abram will only receive these through faith. This faith is a living and active faith, faith enough to go. God calls us out of our comfort too. God invites you into the unknown by faith so that you might know Him.
Covenant Breakers | Matthew 5:27-37
In Mathew 5:27-37, Jesus focuses on some of our most intimate and personal relational sins. On the outside, we may try to avoid adultery, divorce, and breaking oaths, but on the inside, we are plagued with lust, violating covenants, and habitual lying. Our tendency is to come up with excuses, explanations, and escape clauses to soften Jesus’ standard for his disciples. But does Jesus really expect us to live in holy perfection? What hope is there for followers of Jesus,…