God is calling us to a deeper level of repentance and worship as we approach the season of Lent. Paul Moon takes us through the first 2 chapters of Joel in this sermon. We explore God’s judgement and justice while celebrating the grace and love He offers us in the midst of it all. God is looking for a people prepared not with just head knowledge but pure hearts before Him.
When You Fast
Fasting through the centuries has often led to unhealthy extremes and efforts to merit God's favor. Today the pendulum has swung the other way to the point of neglect. In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus teaches us several things about fasting. He expects his followers to fast. It is assumed that we will fast. There is a right way and a wrong way to fast. And fasting, when done rightly, is seen and rewarded by the Father. Pastor Scott expands on these simple ideas by highlighting the story and promises of Isaiah 58. This sermon aims to motivate the church to not throw out the practice of fasting but to keep it alive as an expression of deep hunger for God.
Forget Not
It is a universal human desire to be happy and people everywhere seem to work hard at pursuing it. Most experience, at best, temporary moments of happiness connected to something they bought or watched or experienced. Deep abiding joy is rare and yet is a promise from God to the follower of Christ. Pastor Scott expounds on Psalm 103 and David's example of preaching to his own soul as the way to stir up the waters of joy by way of remembrance. Those who know God have tremendous reasons to be joyful and several of these reasons are discussed.
Stir One Another
The local church is God's idea and is intended to be a life-giving experience for each of us. The call in Scripture is for us to have deep involvement. The problem today is that in our culture there are so many distractions. Many Christians have become bored with church gatherings and have begun to gather less and less. Pastor Scott preaches out of Hebrews 10:24-25, which presses the believers to stir one another and to not give up meeting together. The message ends with some practical instructions on how to make gathering with Christians nourishing and refreshing. This is a great message for January as decisions are being made as to how to distribute our time for 2017.
Cheerful Giving
Perhaps the touchiest subject amongst professing Christians is that of money and the idea of tithing. Jesus talked much about money in his teachings because the way we relate to money reveals the condition of the heart. Pastor Scott takes us into Paul's second letter to the Corinthians and focuses in specifically on chapter 9:6-8. Tithing is defined and discussed and the question of whether it is required for New Testament believers since we aren't under the law. The message is a strong call for each of us to give generously, sacrificially, cheerfully and secretly. When we give in this way we receive a rich reward of experiencing God's pleasure from our giving. We also reap a bigger more generous heart. Being generous is natural for the person who has been rescued from sin and hell. It's an expression of gratitude.
Standalone Sermons: Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2017
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Nate and Sam bring a message about God’s kingdom and racism. Nate shares that condemning and eradicating racism is a reflection of God’s character. God’s people is not one race or one culture, but is made up of every tribe, language, and race. Sam describes ways that we as Christians can carry on MLK’s legacy in how we live, pray, and worship.
Love Story: Glory of God
Pastor Scott delivers a sermon about the glory, the greatness, all the fullness, splendor and majesty of God. We have to fight through blockages in the world to see the glory of God; the way we think about God determines the way we live. We can have small, shallow, and inaccurate thoughts about God -- we can't understand the gospel until we truly understand who God is. Scott offers a powerful exhortation and prayer for the church, that our hearts would be opened to the goodness and glory of God, because we are called primarily to be worshipers, and to seek Him with all of our hearts.
Let Us Draw Near
One of the most important things we can develop in the Christian walk is a deep, intimate life of prayer. Prayer is the essence of our religion and we were created to know and enjoy God forever. Pastor Scott identifies the common problem of why many believers struggle to pray. It's not merely that they are undisciplined, it's that they feel condemned. Hebrews 4:14-16 and 10:19-22 speak of Christ as a sympathetic high priest and also the Savior who shed his blood so we could have confidence in drawing near to God. The veil that once separated us from God has been torn and a new and living way opened up for those who trust Christ. Because of this we can draw near with utter honesty. We don't need to deny or downplay our sins. We don't need to blame others. We don't need to carry our guilt and pathetically attempt to work off our sins. We can come just as we are at all times to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.
Make the Best
2016 is gone and a new year is upon us. This message is a reminder of the brevity of life and the importance of living intentional. Pastor Scott focuses on just a few verses from Ephesians 5:15-18 about making the best use of our time and the opportunities we have. It's not just a call to fill our lives with good things but to have the right heart in all things. The message finishes with some compelling thoughts from the story of Martha and Mary.
Advent 2016 | Love
In this third week of Advent the theme of love is explored by young preacher Nia Campinha-Bacote who is a campus missionary at Yale University. Nia talks about God's great love for us demonstrated in the cross and that our love for God in response is a choice lived out in tangible ways. This is a message of hope for those who need to be reminded of how good God is.