Audio Sermons
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Sermons are posted shortly after Sunday worship.
Speakers
- Adam Wilson
- Aijalon Church
- Al Kimball
- Alfred Poirier
- Andrew Hageman
- Andrew Straubel
- Arleigh Hegarty
- Arthur Bagdasaryan
- Ben Sheldon
- Bill Drips
- Bill Waldrop
- Bob Heppe
- Bob Hughes
- Bob Tursack
- Brian Beadle
- Brian Osisek
- Carroll G. Wynne
- Chuck Garriott
- Chuck McArthur
- Chuck Vuolo
- Clint Estes
- Craig Garriott
- Curtis Hoke
- Daniel Mathuva
- Darin Pesnell
- Dave Godown
- Dave Leamer
- Dave Royes
- Dave Troxell
- David Fogleboch
- David Hills
- Dick Oswald
- Dick Taylor
- Dr. Bruce Waltke
- Dr. Carl Trueman
- Dr. Cephas Tushima
- Dr. Douglas Green
- Dr. Elmer Towns
- Dr. George Murray
- Dr. Hank Griffith
- Dr. Herbert Betz
- Dr. Iain Duguid
- Dr. Jeremiah Riffe
- Dr. Jim O'Neill
- Dr. John Currie
- Dr. John Leonard
- Dr. John Marshall
- Dr. Mark Garcia
- Dr. Moises Silva
- Dr. Peter Jones
- Dr. R.A. Farmer
- Dr. Richard Bliss
- Dr. Rick Horne
- Dr. Robert Vannoy
- Dr. Sam Logan
- Dr. Stephen Nichols
- Dr. Stephen Hague
- Dr. Steven Lawson
- Dr. Timothy Witmer
- Dr. William Smith
- Earl L. Cook
- Earl Osbourne
- Ebenezer Samuel
- Ed Saadi
- Ed Scearce
- Greg Hobaugh
- Jack Tanis
- Jamie Duguid
- Jason Pickard
- Jeb Bland
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- Jeff Truman
- Jere Scott Bradshaw
- Jerry Thacker
- Jim Tyson
- Joe Whalen
- Joel McCall
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- John Clemmer
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- John Sletta
- Jonathan Back
- Josh Valdix
- Joshua Olson
- Keith Currivean
- Kent Hughes
- Lee Henriksen
- Luke Hibshman
- Mark Estes
- Matt Carter
- Mike Culbert
- Mike King
- Mike Pollard
- Mike Rudolf
- Nat LeTowt
- Neil Prentice
- Pastor Simone
- Paul Montgomery
- Pavel Bugriyev
- Petr Polach
- Phil Saint
- Randy Hepler
- Rev. Marion Clark
- Rich Craven
- Richard Goswiller
- Rick Renninger
- Rick Patton
- Ron Evans
- Roy Russell
- Russ Bacon
- Sahr Mbriwa
- Scott Stevenson
- Stephen Coleman
- Steve Estes
- Steve Boyer
- Steve Demme
- Steve Midgley
- Swede Anderson
- Tim Vesey
- Tim Lane
- TJ Waldy
- Tom Telford
- Tyler Estes
- Various Speakers
- Wendell Stoltzfus
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Books of the Bible
- 1 Corinthians 55
- 1 John 10
- 1 Kings 28
- 1 Peter 37
- 1 Samuel 13
- 1 Thessalonians 9
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- 2 Corinthians 33
- 2 Kings 16
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- Acts 36
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- Deuteronomy 12
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- Genesis 37
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- John 116
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- Joshua 9
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- Judges 30
- Lamenations 1
- Leviticus 8
- Luke 81
- Malachi 2
- Mark 38
- Matthew 181
- Micah 1
- Nahum 3
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Topics
- Discovering Joy through disability ministry
- Jesus
- Jesus is worth it!
- Luke 10:25-37
- Mike King
- Revelation 3:14-22
- Romans 5:1-5
- Sermon Series: 1 & 2 Kings
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- Sermon Series: A One-Week Detour
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- Sermon Series: Proverbs for the New Year
- Sermon Series: Psalm 1
- Sermon Series: Psalm 130
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- Sermons with Outlines
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- Sermons by Puritans and Reformers
- Sermons on 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
- Sermons on 1 Kings 17:17-24
- Sermons on 1 Peter 1:1-2
- Sermons on 1 Peter 1:10-12
- Sermons on 1 Peter 3:13-22
- Sermons on 1 Samuel 15
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Working Out Our Salvation
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Speaker: Steve Midgley
Scripture: Philippians 2:12-18
May 21, 2023
Philippians 2:12-18: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed -- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence -- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.
And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
Sermon Outline
1. Because God is in you, work out your salvation
How does the Christian life work?
2. Because the world is difficult, shine like stars
Do everything without grumbling or arguing
Hold firmly to the word of life
3. Because of one another, rejoice
Separated by Sin, Reconciled by Sacrifice
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Speaker: Joe Whalen
Scripture: Leviticus 16
May 14, 2023
Sermon Outline
1. Eden: A perfect home... for two chapters
Perfect relationships
Sin ruined those relationships
Sin continues to ruin those relationships
2. Scapegoats: Temporary sacrifices for sin
One goat is sacrificed, the other is banished
The banished goat is imputed with the sins of Israel, then led out of the camp and abandoned
3. Jesus: The final sacrifice for sins
Abandoned by his disciples
Led out of Jerusalem
Imputed with our sins and sacrificed
4: Answering two objections
Objection #1: "I don't think my sins separate me from God"
Objection #2: "My sins have made me irredeemable"
5. Two applications
For the lost who want to be found
For those who have already turned to Christ
Benediction
2 Corinthians 13:14: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Earthly Suffering, Eternal Glory
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
May 7, 2023
Corinthians 4:13-18: So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Sermon Outline
1. Christians have real troubles in this life
2. Christians are renewed by their faith
David's faith in the Old Testament
Paul's faith in the New Testament
3. Renewing faith is faith that our troubles will be replaced by resurrection glory
The basic teaching
Objection: the road is hard and heaven seems so far away
How our trials are "light"
How our trials are "momentary"
4. Renewing faith is faith that our troubles actually increase our future glory
Your sufferings will make you more glorious
Your sufferings increase your future glory by making others more glorious
Your sufferings increase your future glory by bringing greater glory to God himself
5. What all this glory ā through ā suffering will look like on the Great Day
Beauty
Splendor
Honor
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
All reflecting Christ's glory
Jars of Clay
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
April 30, 2023
2 Corinthians 4:7-12: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Sermon Outline
1. Christians have something priceless
Knowledge of the glory of God
Knowledge of God reflected in the face of Christ
2. Christians have the priceless knowledge of Christ in frail bodies and hard experiences
"hard pressed on every side"
"perplexed"
"persecuted"
"struck down"
Frail bodies and hard experiences are portrayed as a living death
3. Our dying is a joining with Christ in his death
The statement: "our dying with him"
Fleshing out the statement
4. Through our suffering/dying with Christ, we share the very life of Christ
The statement: Suffering Christians share the very life of Christ
Illustrations of suffering Christians sharing the very life of Christ
Benediction
May you know Christ through the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings and the power of his resurrection. ā paraphrased from Philippians 3:10
Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him⦠Amen
The Lord Builds the House
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Speaker: Clint Estes
Scripture: Psalm 127
April 23, 2023
Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat ā for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Sermon Outline
1. Life is futile without the Lord
House
City
Children
Anxious toil
Application
2. Life is fertile with the Lord
Children
Sleep
Application
3. The Lord will build his house
Solomon's temple
Failure of others
Fulfilled in Jesus
The church
Christians Refusing to Lose Heart
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
April 16, 2023
2 Corinthians 4:1-6: Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of the age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," make his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Sermon Outline
1. Christians are sorely tempted to lose heart
2. Reasons a Christian might lose heart
Paul will mention many reasons later in 2 Corinthians
One reason mentioned in these verses: Lack of success in ministry
3. Christians who lose heart may be tempted to change the gospel message
Describing "changing the gospel message"
The opposite of changing the gospel message
4. Christians who lose heart may be tempted to make themselves more important than the message (preach themselves)
Describing "preach themselves"
The opposite of preaching themselves
5. Why does Paul not lose heart? Two reasons in these verses, with more to come
God has shown him great mercy
God can penetrate the deepest darkness
Avoiding the Resurrection
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 28:11-20
April 9, 2023
Matthew 28:11-20: While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, 'You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Sermon Outline
1. Background of this passage
The burial of Christ
The next day
The Resurrection
2. The actions of those for whom the Resurrection was something to avoid
The guards
The Jewish leaders
3. We learn things that tempt people to avoid Christ's Resurrection
Reputation and luxury
Fear of the supernatural
These things feel safe
4. Avoiding Christ's Resurrection is not safe
The Jewish leaders weren't safe
Pontius Pilate and Rome weren't safe
No unrepentant sinner is safe
5. Believing in Jesus Christ is the only true safe place
6. What Jesus told his disciples
"All authority on earth has been given to me."
"Therefore, go!"
Benediction
All honor to him who was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. ā paraphrased from Romans 4:25
We Are Glad!
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Speaker: Wendell Stoltzfus
Scripture: Psalm 126
April 2, 2023
Psalm 126: When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
āThe Lord has done great things for them.ā
The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Sermon Outline
Introduction: "He never committed a pleasure"
Ellen Glasgow's father
Martin Luther's colleague
1. We are glad! (v. 3b)
Psalm 126 is a Luther-type psalm
In the Bible, the chief characteristic of the Christian pilgrimage is gladness and joy
Not the gladness of lightheartedness
2. Joy past (vv. 1-3a)
In the OT, there are many times where God restored His people in hopeless situations
The ultimate fulfillment of these verses comes later, with Christ
3. Joy future (vv. 4-6)
In this psalm, two images express the joy or anticipation in a seemingly hopeless situation
The joy of anticipating what God is going to do -- based on what God has already done -- comes in the context of the pain, suffering, loneliness, of life in this fallen world
4. Conclusion: Joy present
First Application: Psalm 126 teaches us how to read the Bible
Second Application: A thought exercise
Think of a giant scale
On one side, put all of your stinking circumstances
On the other side, put all that God has done for you in Jesus Christ
See which side outweighs the other
Consider that all the stuff on the hardship side is part of your preparation for God's eternal kingdom
The Verdict found in God's Word
Romans 8:18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
"Little-Faiths" (The Disciples & the Epileptic Boy)
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 17:14-20
March 26, 2023
Matthew 17:14-20: And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, āLord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.ā And Jesus answered, āO faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.ā And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, āWhy could we not cast it out?ā He said to them, āBecause of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, āMove from here to there,ā and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.ā
Sermon Outline
1. The awful situation
2. Who Matthew focuses on
Like other gospels, Matthew records Christ's frustration with an "unbelieving generation."
Unlike other gospels, Matthew focuses on Jesus' disciples in this regard.
3. Jesus' reply: "You of little faith"
Common theme in the gospels.
4. Lack of faith is no small matter
The disciples' unbelief caused Jesus frustration while he walked the earth.
Unbelief shows that one is affected by one's culture rather than by God's promises.
Unbelief hinders our usefulness in God's kingdom.
Thus, unbelief is perverse.
5. How Christ sought to stir their faith
Jesus taught how much can be accomplished when we believe.
Jesus taught how little faith it takes to move mountains
Navigating Damaged Relationships
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Speaker: Joe Whalen
Scripture: Philemon 1-6
March 19, 2023
Philemon 1-6: Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Sermon Outline
1. Three primary people in Philemon
Philemon
Paul
Onesimus
2. Three directions for those of us with damaged relationships
Focus on what you have... not on what you don't have
Jesus is enough
Keep serving... you'll learn much about Jesus
Serving Jesus doesn't exempt us from difficulty
Keep trusting... we don't know what God is doing in the lives of others
God, the greatest Author in existence, knows the best ending to the story
Elijah Must Come First
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 17:9-13
March 12, 2023
Matthew 17:9-13: Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Sermon Outline
1. The hard thing Jesus commanded
2. The problems raised by His words (Malachi 4:5-6)
Malachi predicted: Elijah would precede the Messiah
Malachi predicted: Elijah would bring restoration to the world
3. How Jesus addresses these problems
Regarding Elijah coming before the Messiah
Regarding Elijah restoring all things
Regarding the disciples' view that Jesus' death was incompatible with Elijah coming
How this applies to Jesus as the Messiah
4. Lessons
The reliability of Scripture is not tied to our understanding it
Not all interpretation is literal
Jesus and his followers bring salvation through suffering
The Transfiguration
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 17:1-8
March 5, 2023
Matthew 17:1-8: And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, āLord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.ā He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, āThis is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.ā When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, āRise, and have no fear.ā And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Sermon Outline
1. Emotional state of the disciples
2. What the disciples saw and heard
Jesus transfigured
Brief comment: How to read Bible stories
Two visitors appear
Something else unexpected appears
The voice of the Father from the cloud
3. How Jesus comforted them
4. What we learn
Ecstatic spiritual experiences are not the norm
A glimpse into life after death for believers
The Old Testament God is the same as the New Testament God
Jesus Christ has no equals
The need to listen
Real Grace for Real Failures
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Speaker: Mark Estes
Scripture: John 21:1-17
February 26, 2023
Weeping Over Moab
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Isaiah 15-16
February 19, 2023
Isaiah 15-16: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high place to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.
My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonair they lament their destruction. The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars. Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim. Dimon's waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon -- a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.
Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion. Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
āGive us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night -- at high noon. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer. The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land. In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it -- one from the house of David -- one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.ā
Sermon Outline
1. The certainty/sadness of God judging sin, illustrated by Moab's ruin
God judges sin
Assyrians were fierce
National mourning in Moab
2. The grief of God & his prophet over Moab's ruin
Assyrian atrocities and Moabite mourning
God grieves for Moab as He judges their idolatry
3. The possible solution
"Cabinet meeting" of Moabite leaders: Request asylum in Judah?
4. The even deeper solution
Messianic prediction: "One from the house of David"
Implication: "Moab, you can share in this hope!"
5. Moab rejects the solution, God judges Moab in tears (Isaiah 16:6-14)
Moab chooses her false god over the one true God
More lamenting, grieving, and destruction are the result
6. Applications
God will judge sin
Ultimate rescue comes only through Great David's greater Son
God's people should "hide the refugees"
Pride will keep us from his salvation
As we announce the consequence of rejecting him, weep!
Benediction
May the Lord Jesus Christ who wept enable you to weep and to rejoice in His coming as Messiah ā paraphrased from Luke 19:41-44 & Revelation 21:4
Living By Dying
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 16:24-27
February 12, 2023
Matthew 16:24-27: Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."
Sermon Outline
1. Christ invites people to follow him by suffering with him
An unusual sales job
"Deny himself"
Take up one's cross
2. What taking up our cross looks like
Lesser deaths
Greater deaths
3. By embracing Christ's cross, I will find my life
"Will find his life" in this world
Transition: But horrific things happen here on earth
"Will find his life" in the world to come
4. By refusing Christ's cross, I will lose my life
Great temptation to "save" it
"Will lose one's life" in this world
"Will lose one's life" in the world to come
The "Must" of Jesus' Cross
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 16:21-23
February 5, 2023
Sermon Outline
1. The most important thing about Jesus Christ is his atoning death and resurrection
Jesus explained that he must die
How much of his statement did his disciples understand?
2. The most important thing to Satan is to frustrate/oppose the atonement of Christ
That day, Satan used the leader of the apostles to oppose Christ's atonement
Today, Satan uses a popular strand of supposed "Christianity" to oppose Christ's atonement
3. Jesus opposes those who oppose his atoning death
4. Applications
Even our believing friends can unwittingly harm us spiritually
Under their own understanding, humans are offended by the cross
The cross of Christ goes against our self-righteousness
Mourn for your sins, repent of your sins, confess your sins, but stop trying to pay for your sins
Sanctity of Human Life
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Speaker: Mike Rudolf
Scripture: Various passages
January 29, 2023
Romans 1:20a: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Genesis 2:7: then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Psalm 139:13-16: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Ecclesiastes 11:5: As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ephesians 1:4: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing the the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
Sermon Outline
1. Human life is sacred because it is God-created
2. Human life is sacred because it is made in God's image
Male and female
Eternal souls
More valuable than many sparrows
3a. Human life is sacred because God loves life
The right to life takes precedence over every other human right
God takes special care to craft each human life
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil
3b. Human life is sacred because God sent His Son to die on a cross to redeem it
Jesus, the Lamb of God, willingly went to Calvary
All of heaven celebrates when a sinner repents
Human life is made for God's glory
God lives human life beyond measure, born and unborn
4. Applications
Wake up if you've been napping on this issue
Imitate Jesus in humility and service
Keep on!
Summary
Life is sacred because it is God created
Life is sacred because life is in the image of the creator God
Life is sacred because God loves life and sent his son to redeem it
Grace Upon Grace
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:14, 16-18
January 22, 2023
John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:16-18: For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
Sermon Outline
1. We can love Jesus because we've all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16)
Literally "grace instead of grace"
Two ideas of grace
Think of your life
2. We can love Jesus because we've received grace from his fullness
Illustration: Engine trouble on the road
Jesus has infinite fullness
3. We can love Jesus because what he brought us far exceeds what former believers experienced
Nothing wrong with the Law given through Moses
What Jesus taught and did is vastly superior
"Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ"
4. We should love Jesus because he alone can make the Father known to us
Jesus is "at the Father's side" (Jn 1:18)
Jesus is called "the only GOD who is at the Father's side"
Jesus is called "the only God
Benediction
Now to him who loved us and washed us with his blood be eternal praise, and to you who believe be eternal grace and joy. Amen. ā paraphrased from Revelation 1:5-6
Children Born of God
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:12-13
January 15, 2023
John 1:12-13: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Sermon Outline
1. People became children of God by believing in his Son
2. Believing is more than a feeling
To describe becoming a child of God, John uses an action word
(With fellow apostles) John coins a new expression to describe the activeness of faith in Christ
J.C. Ryle on the need to believe
3. Believing means trusting in a person, not just acknowledging a set of doctrines
John shows the personal nature of believing by the phrase "believed in his name"
John shows the personal nature of believing by adding a parallel word
Illustration: Steve the summer youth director
4. How people do not become children of God
Natural descent
Human decision
Husband's will
5. How people do become children of God
Benediction
Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
2 Corinthians 13:14: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The World Did Not Know Him
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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:10-11
January 8, 2023
John 1:10-11: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Sermon Outline
1. The fact that the world did not know him
Before public ministry
During public ministry
2. Why the world should have known him
World should have known him because it was made through him
World should have known him because he was in the world
World should have known him because he came to those in the best position to know him
3. Why did the world not know him?
World was spiritually blind
World was resistant
4. Applications
For the believer
For the resistant