As followers of Jesus, how do we prioritize our love for God, our love for one another, and our love for neighbors in our spheres? Pastor Scott gives a pastoral talk on the most important essentials for Christian living to set us in the right direction for how we live and how we are a church together in 2024.
Standalone Sermons: Pursuing Jesus in 2024
Matthew 2:1-12
There is no one God is not willing to pursue. The wise men, doing their job as well-off astrologists, followed an unusual star and discovered the true King of the Jews—Jesus. It’s worth looking at our own stories to ask, how might God today meet us in our communities and in our passions and interests? By studying the Magi story in Matthew 2, Ren Church member Vicky Griffiths helps us reflect on how we can pursue Jesus in 2024.
Standalone Sermons: Why Are You Angry?
Ephesians 4:26-27
Dr. Mike Caparrelli is an author, public speaker, and a leader of a nonprofit, Unmuted, that helps trauma victims recover on a path toward healing. In this message he talks about anger in the context of Ephesisans 4:26-27: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” What are healthy ways to be angry? Why do we get angry? How do we address the underlying reason behind our anger? Dr. Caparrelli touches on the psychological and spiritual implications for anger and how addressing our anger can build unity in the church.
Standalone Sermons: Jonah 1
Jonah 1
This week is a message from special guest Anthony Pierre-Louis, associate director of the Greater Boston Men’s Center of Adult and Teen Challenge. Anthony unpacks the first chapter of Jonah, a book that displays the heart of God to reach the lost, including those who have done wrong to us or our people.
Standalone Sermons: Exciting Days Ahead
Pastor Scott gives a pastoral talk that sets the stage for exciting things ahead for the church. As other parts of the country have been experiencing revival, a diverse collective of pastors and leaders in and around Providence have been meeting monthly to pray and petition for God to revive the hearts of people in our region. Scott shares about the citywide worship gathering that is happening on March 15 that birthed out of these unified prayers, along with Ren Church’s plans for shifting the way we gather on Sundays starting this May and how this schedule change will help us better disciple the next generation.
Standalone Sermons: Reflections from Israel
Pastor Scott returns from his recent trip to Israel! Listen to the prayers he wrote while in the gospel story’s landscape, along with reflections on what it means to be “a city on a hill,” and what mission and prayer in the holy land can say about God’s mission in Rhode Island.
Standalone Sermons: Living for Jesus
Sean Carew is the founder and director of Providence Rescue Mission, an emergency shelter for the homeless population in Providence. In this message, Sean shares a little about his story and looks at the life of Peter in the Bible, a fisherman who follows Jesus, denies him at one point, and returns to Jesus to end up leading His Church. A life like Peter’s—and Sean’s—shows how Jesus creates all of us for a purpose and God’s goodness, no matter what background we come from.
Standalone Sermons: Fall Reset
It’s important to take a pause and remember why we do what we do. Why do we gather as a church? What is our mission? How are we doing? Renaissance Church is currently in a season of rebuilding, and we have been reshaping the ways we gather in order to fulfill three components of the Church’s mission: to love God, love one another, and love our neighbors. Pastor Scott highlights how the Ren community can embody components of our purpose through corporate worship and prayer (love God), small communities (love one another), and mission initiatives (love your neighbor).
Standalone Sermons: We Need a Move of God
Leviticus 24:1-4
Our guest speaker of this message is Percy Ballah who pastors at Impact Center Providence. Percy preaches on the need to keep burning brightly as a Church, using the symbolism of fire. In Leviticus 24:1-4, God commands the people of Israel to prepare “pure oil” for a lamp in front of the tabernacle in order to keep the lamp burning continuously. Just as the Israelites needed to make fresh oil, we too as the people of God, the Church, need fresh fire from God to keep burning brightly and bring light into a dark world.
Standalone Sermons: Jesus—Good News for the Poor
John 6:1-14
Tim Zulker is a founder and director of the network New England Urban Church Planting that resides in Providence. Tim unpacks John 6, the story of Jesus feeding a crowd of over five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish. This message reiterates that Jesus came not only to preach good news to the poor and feed the hungry, but to become good news for the poor, become the bread of life. The good news is not only for the materially poor but for the spiritually poor, which is everyone.