Honor Them: The Shape of Christ in the Quietly Faithful

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Speaker: Dr. Mark Garcia
Scripture: Philippians 2:25-30
October 8, 2023

Philippians 2:25-30: I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Sermon Outline

1. Paul's relationship to the church in Philippi

• Converts at the river and at the jail

• Philippians want to help Paul while he is in Jerusalem

2. Philippian church sent a letter to Paul in prison

• They are poor and have problems with dissenting members

• "Keep Epaphroditus and send Timothy"

3. Paul's letter to a church in turmoil

• "Epaphroditus is the pastor you need"

• A servant's heart without celebrity

4. What "Epaphrodituses" are in our midst?

Faith for the Generations to Follow

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:20-22
October 1, 2023

Hebrews 11:20-22, NIV: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

Hebrews 11:20-22, ESV: By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

Sermon Outline

1. Isaac's faith on his deathbed

• His wife and the birth of his twin sons

• Jacob and Esau's early life

• Esau exchanges his birthright for stew

• Jacob steals the blessing of the firstborn

• The blessing given to Jacob

• The blessing given to Esau

• How Isaac showed faith

2. Jacob's faith on his deathbed

• Why Jacob fled

• Jacob in Haran

• Trials in Canaan

• How did Jacob have faith?

• What we learn

3. Joseph's faith on his deathbed

• Joseph spoke about the exodus

• Joseph gave instructions about his bones

Offering Up Isaac

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:17-19
September 24, 2023

Hebrews 11:17-19: By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Sermon Outline

1. About human sacrifice

• God hates human sacrifice

• The near-sacrifice of Isaac pictures Jesus Christ being sacrificed on the cross

2. What made God's command hard?

3. Abraham thought it through

• "Is God erratic or am I finite?"

• Abraham's faith-based reasoning

4. Faith is what makes obedience possible

• Prompt obedience

• Sustained obedience

• Willing obedience

5. God testing your faith always has something glorious in mind

6. Applications

• What hard thing has God asked of you?

• Jesus says, "Take up your cross and follow me"

• God will show you the glory behind what he called you to either in this life or in heaven

Waiting for Isaac

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:11-12
September 17, 2023

Hebrews 11:11-12, NIV (1979): By faith Abraham, even though he was past age — and Sarah herself was barren — was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Hebrews 11:11-12, ESV: By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many and the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Sermon Outline

1. The promise of an heir was made four times

• The first time

• The second time

• The third time

• Impatience results in Ishmael

• The fourth time

2. The promise was fulfilled in God's timing

3. Lessons

• Remember why this story was included in the letter

• Faith can be real even when it is weak

• Faith is ultimately always about Christ

Deliverance Out of Despair

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Speaker: Andrew Hageman
Scripture: Exodus 6:1-13
September 10, 2023

Sermon Outline

1. When you are filled with doubts, God graciously repeats His promises.

• Moses cries out, God comes alongside him caringly.

• God reminds Moses of who he is.

2. When you are filled with despair, God promises hope for the future.

• God's name is so powerful, it's like he's using it as his signet ring.

• What future does God decree for his despairing people?

3. A follower of God is known, not by perfection, but by faith in God's forgiveness.

• The Israelites won't hear God's offer.

• Moses doubts his ability to convince people.

4. The Exodus from Egypt foreshadows God's ultimate deliverance in our Savior.

• The Israelites were freed from slavery to Egypt, but not from slavery to sin.

• God progressively revealed his plan to free them from slavery to sin.

• This passage highlights the perfection of Christ's work on the cross and his role as our perfect leader

The Faith Behind Noah's Ark

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:7
September 3, 2023

Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Sermon Outline

1. Human wickedness spreads

• Adam and Eve

• Cain and Abel

• The righteous and unrighteous family lines

• The family lines merge

2. How God responded to human wickedness

• Delayed judgement for Noah's sake

• Blueprints for Noah's Ark

3. Noah's faith

• Noah believed God's warning of incoming judgement

• Noah believed God when he had no children

• Noah believed God over a long period of time

• Noah believed God despite the world's scorn

4. The Great Flood

5. What do we learn from Noah's faith?

• Faith can rescue one's family

• Faith draws a line between the redeemed and the unredeemed

Faith Through the Unfamiliar (Abraham)

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:7-10, 13-16
August 27, 2023

Hebrews 11:7-10: By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with fundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:13-16: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Sermon Outline

1. The life of faith often involves leaving all that’s familiar

• What Ur was like

• God’s command to leave Ur

• Abraham’s faith in unfamiliar Canaan

• Abraham’s life pictures faith when we leave all that’s familiar

2. The life of faith often means seeing only one step at a time

• When he left Ur, Abraham did not know his destination

• Even when Abraham learned the general trajectory, he was detoured

• Had God’s Word dropped to the ground? No.

• The life of faith is one step at a time for all believers

3. The life of faith often involves disappointments in how God fulfills His promises

• Abraham had constant struggles

• Abraham needed to keep moving

• Abraham and his family were foreigners in the land

• For all believers, this life is full of disappointment with how God’s promises are fulfilled

4. The life of faith involves knowing that God’s promises — only dimly fulfilled in this life — will come blazing true in heaven

• Ur

  • for Abraham

  • for us

• Canaan

  • for Abraham

  • for us

• Disappointing Canaan

  • for Abraham

  • for us

Two Ancient Believers

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:4-6
August 20, 2023

Hebrews 11:4-6: By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Sermon Outline

1. Introduction

2. Abel (Genesis 4:1-16)

• How did Abel know God approved of his offering?

• Why did God accept Abel and not Cain?

3. Lessons from Abel

• Faith makes your prayers and church attendance acceptable

• Faith makes your life speak long past your death

4. Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24)

• His lifespan

• He walked with God

• He hadn't always lived acceptably to God

• He never experienced physical death

• His faith is what pleased God

5. Lessons from Enoch

• Faith in God saves believers from hell

Finding Bread for Your Friends

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Speaker: Wendell Stoltzfus
Scripture: Luke 11:1-13
August 13, 2023

Sermon Outline

1. The prayer and the parable

• The theme in Luke 11 is prayer

• And yet, we struggle to pray

2. The three friends

• An unexpected guest

• An inconvenient hour

• Who the three friends represent

3. The Bread of Assurance

• We who have the Bread of Life, rub shoulders with those who don't

• In the terms of the parable, each of the three friends is, ultimately, starving

4. Real bread, real impudence

• No doubt many of us struggle with assurance at times

• Obnoxious persistence in prayer

• How do we begin?

5. God's answer to prayer

• Jesus says you and I are the link between his bread and our hungry friends

• What will happen if you pray for your hungry friends every day?

• What if we don't see any change?

6. Conclusion

• An inconvenienced friend

• An unfailing God

What is Faith?

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6
August 6, 2023

Hebrews 11:1-3, 6: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Sermon Outline

1. Mistaken ideas about faith

• Wishful thinking

• Emotion

2. Faith is a confidence in God based on good reasons

• Confidence in God

• Based on good reasons

• More about faith based on good reasons

3. Faith responds positively to what God says

4. Lessons

• Faith involves your mind and your will

Suffering and Safety in Christ

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Speaker: Tyler Estes
Scripture: Romans 8:18-28
July 30, 2023

Romans 8:18-28: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Sermon Outline

1. The primary theme of Romans 8 is that those who are in Christ are safe

2. The suffering of Christians is not something to treat lightly

• Our sufferings are sometimes the result of our sin

• But our sufferings are sometimes the result of another's sin

• And our sufferings are sometimes the result of vanity in a fallen world

• The Bible draws a connection between our sufferings and the glory that we receive with Christ

3. Our sufferings are insignificant compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us at Christ's Second Coming

4. We are sustained in our sufferings by the hope of our salvation

5. We are also sustained in our sufferings by the intercession of the Holy Spirit

6. Applications

Christian: Persevere

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 10:32-39
July 23, 2023

Hebrews 10:32-39: Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathised with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“in just a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Sermon Outline

1. What the readers experienced in the past

• Pressure from fellow Jews

• Pressure from Gentiles

• Result of pressure

2. Argument #1: You've already come so far

• Regarding loss of property

• For those who escaped ill treatment...

• Now... persecution seems to have returned

• The point

3. Argument #2: Great rewards for perseverance; awful consequences for abandonment

• Perseverance

• Abandonment

4. All this takes reasonable faith

5. Closing exhortation

Focused Eyes for Spiritual Endurance

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Philippians 3:16-4:1
July 16, 2023

Philippians 3:16-4:1: Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Sermon Outline

1. Eyes on true faith in true believers

2. Eyes weeping for the world around us

• Short-lived pleasure

• Suppressed conscience

• Secular mentality

3. Eyes up toward heaven

God's Steadfast Love For His People

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Speaker: Rich Goswiller
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 16:34
July 9, 2023

Matthew 5:45b: For [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Romans 5:5b: God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Jeremiah 31:3b: I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Ephesians 3:17b-19: That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is in the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Deuteronomy 7:6-8: For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you our with a mighty hand and redeemed you for the house of slavery.

John 17:23: I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord you God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Sermon Outline

1. God loves you with a redemptive love

• God has a general love for all his creation (Matthew 5:45b)

• God has a distinctive redeeming love for people He saves (Romans 5:5b)

2. God loves you with an eternal love (Jeremiah 31:3b)

3. God loves you with an infinite love (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

4. God loves you with an unchangeable love

5. God loves you with an unconditional love (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)

• Does not mean God loves sinners the way they are!

• Means God's love for you is unmerited.

6. God loves you with a special love

• God loves to love his saints (Zephaniah 3:17)

God's Ways, Our Ways

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Speaker: Stephen Coleman
Scripture: Mark 5:21-43
July 2, 2023

Sermon Outline

1. God's timing is not our timing

• The synagogue ruler and the hemorrhaging woman

• How does Jesus prioritize?

2. God's ends are not our ends

• Jesus restores, cares for the hemorrhaging woman

• Jesus came to give life to the spiritually dead

• The end is life for those who are in Christ

3. God's means are not our means

• Foreshadowing Calvary

God, Humans, Hatfields and McCoys

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
June 25, 2023

2 Corinthians 5:18-21: All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sermon Outline

1. Hatfields and McCoys

• Who were they?

• The Civil War

• The hog incident

• Roseanna and Johnse

• Other incidents

2. Our distance from God is like the Hatfields vs. McCoys in that there is real hostility from both sides

• Hostility from humans toward God

• God at odds with humans

3. How our distance from God is unlike the story of Hatfields and McCoys

• H&M hated each other for the other's wickedness; humans dislike God for his righteousness

• Because of his love, God's desire is to restore friendship with us

Benediction

To every follower of Jesus

Colossians 1:21-22: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

To every not-yet follower

Revelation 22:17: Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen

The Life of a Genuine Christian

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-17
June 18, 2023

2 Corinthians 5:11-17: Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Sermon Outline

1. The life of a genuine Christian — particularly of a genuine minister — is fueled by the fear of God

2. The life of a genuine Christian — particularly of a genuine minister — is fueled by a sense of Christ's love

• Text speaks of Christ's death as a substitutionary one

• Result of Christ's death: We sense his love and change how we live

3. The life of a genuine Christian — particularly of a genuine minister — will sometimes be attacked

• Said directly elsewhere in 2 Corinthians

• Hinted at in this passage

• Paul's goal in defending himself

4. A genuine Christian — particularly a minister — should be defended by other Christians who know him well

• It's right for a minister to defend/explain himself

• It's right for Christians to defend other Christians — particularly ministers — when those Christians are slandered

• Only a change in the heart by Christ will give Christians the insight and courage to act this way

Christians on Judgment Day

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
June 11, 2023

2 Corinthians 5:9-10: So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Sermon Outline

1. Christians live holy lives to bring pleasure to Christ

2. Christians also live holy lives for another reason

• There will be a day of reckoning

• Judgment can be negative or positive

• Christians, safe and secure in heaven, will enjoy more/fewer rewards based on how they have lived

3. Christians lead holy lives to avoid loss and enhance their own joy in heaven

• Appearing before the judgment seat of Christ

• Who will appear?

• In what manner will we appear?

• Purpose of appearing

• What will be the general standard of judgment?

• What will be the particular standard of judgment?

4. Some observations

• Our presence in heaven is based 100% on God's grace and mercy

• Our status in heaven will reflect our faithfulness and diligence

• Faithful Christians will be rewarded appropriately. Less faithful Christians, though not punished, will forfeit rewards

• Neither our presence nor our status in heaven is based on merit

• Do you struggle with a besetting sin?

• David's big sins

• Perhaps the tears God will wipe away will be tears shed on Judgment Day

• Regarding those above you in heaven

• Regarding those below you in heaven

• Final thought

Departed Christians: What Do They Experience?

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-8
June 4, 2023

2 Corinthians 5:1-8: For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Sermon Outline

1. Our future bodies will be far superior to our current bodies

• Current bodies are likened to mere tents

• Future bodies are likened to buildings

• What we were created for

• Applications

2. A seeming problem

• When do we receive these bodies?

• Until then, what do we do in the meantime?

• Some commentators, troubled by this answer, propose some "creative" ideas

3. Solution to the problem

• Our groaning is positive, not negative

• Paul expresses longing, not horror, over heaven

• Why talk about "nakedness"?

• God's whole plan is this...

Correct Confidence

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Philippians 3:1-11
May 28, 2023

Philippians 3:1-1: Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Sermon Outline

1. A false teaching

• The danger of putting confidence in the flesh

2. A powerful testimony

• Earthly gain as rubbish

• Self-abandonment as the beginning of righteousness

• Knowing Jesus as resurrection

3. A simple safeguard