From your Pastors

Sermon Overview: In this sermon, Jeff unpacked the cosmic reality of Christ being Lord over all creation. He began by showing that Christ is the pre-existing Son and Lord of all creation. Jesus ranks highest above all creation, having created it all. Second, Christ Jesus is the incarnate Savior, Lord over all redemption. Jesus makes His glory manifest in the context of th...

"From cadaverous faces reemerged ears, noses, eyebrows, lashes, hairlines. Feet-toeless, ulcerated stubs-were suddenly whole, bursting shrunken sandals. Knobby appendages grew fingers. Barnacled skin became soft and supple. It was like ten new births. The dust of wild celebration quickly began in the bright sunlight." Kent Hughes "Whether our hearts pulse with praise larg...

Sermon Overview: As the early church continues to grow, so too does persecution increase for these first Christians. King Herod kills James, the brother of John, and arrests Peter, intending the same punishment for him. However, as Peter awaits execution in his prison cell, the early church prays for his deliverance, and God acts. An angel, sent from the LORD, appears at ...

"What Jerusalem was to the Israelites the church is to the Christian. Here are his closest ties, his brethren and companions." Derek Kidner "Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all, and what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not." Elton Trueblood "The peopl...

Sermon Overview: In ancient days, David wrote a song and a prayer, Psalm 122, for Israel's pilgrimage to the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. This psalm is filled with gladness as companions join together in anticipation of encountering the Lord, and in prayer for peace and prosperity. Jesus Christ would pilgrim generations later, as an answer to this prayer, yet would e...

Sermon Overview: God keeps two addresses: a high and lofty place and a lowly place. God is exalted, ruling over all things. He lives in a place so high and so holy that we cannot get to him. However, God has drawn near to us. God became lowly. He became a man and died for our sins. Because of the work of Christ, God comes to dwell in the hearts of the humble and contrit...

Sermon Overview: Psalm 145 commands us to glorify God as a means of enjoying him. This passage instructs the readers as to the characteristics of praising a great God of great grace. Praise should be personal, passionate, passed on, specific, and eternal. We praise God for his faithfulness, goodness, sovereignty, and for both common and covenant grace. Discussion Questio...

"Here was a crisis point in the history of the early church, for much depended on Barnabas's reaction, counsel, and report-not only at Antioch itself, but also at Jerusalem and in the later advance of the gospel through Paul's missions." Richard Longenecker "They must have taught about Christ, making sure that the converts knew both the facts and the significance of his l...

Overview of Sermon: The gospel spreads to the Gentile community at Antioch. Barnabas encourages the newly formed Antioch church to remain faithful and recruits Paul to teach them sound doctrine. The Antioch believers embrace partnership in the gospel by sending a contribution to the Jerusalem believers. Ultimately, the Antioch believers are the first to be called "Christi...

Overview of Sermon: The story of Peter's visit to the Gentiles preceded him in his return to the church inJudea, raising concerns with the law and ordinances of cleanliness practiced by the Jews. Peter tells the apostles of the evidence of God's grace upon the Gentiles in their baptism of the Holy Spirit. Their resistance to the inclusion of the Gentiles became unhindered...