Ephesians: The Power Within

Ephesians 3:20-21

One of the greatest tactics of Satan is to try to convince us that we are powerless. He lies to us and tells us that we aren't holy enough, righteous enough, prayerful enough to be effective. He tells us we are still too sinful for our words and actions to make any real difference in people's lives. When we allow ourselves to be duped, the result is discouragement, silence and inaction. The benediction of Paul in these verses is a reminder that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can imagine - through us! We are more powerful than we know! This is a message of encouragement to the child of God to not shrink back in unbelief but speak out for God and keep laboring for the advance of the gospel.

Ephesians: Experiencing God's Love

Ephesians 3:14-19

This message from Ephesians 3 is a prayer for God’s love to be made real in us. When we come to faith we begin to understand the Father’s love in small measure, but this understanding grows more and more through the years. Even after we learn all the Scriptures about love and hear countless teachings about God’s love, even after singing songs for years about God’s love—we still need fresh revelations! The prayer of Paul is, essentially, that we would fully comprehend what we already know, namely, God’s love. Knowing this love is more than head knowledge. God Himself, at times, opens the eyes of our heart and enables us to see it in all of its glory. My prayer for this message is that it would create in us a greater hunger to experience the love of God above all else and that we’d be stirred to seek after it. Nothing is more transformative than experiencing the loving embrace of the Heavenly Father! 

Standalone Sermons: Good Samaritan

I intended on resuming our sermon series on the book of Ephesians but about the middle of this week I felt moved to stay on the theme of racial justice. I’ve been reading a lot and watching a lot of content lately and trying to get perspectives from every angle. Listening to a black pastor (TD Jakes) share his story this week with Hillsong NYC pastor (Carl Lenz) left me undone. I admit that there is so much suffering in the world that I can hear about and feel numb to. But when I listened to this pastor, it was as if the Lord Himself was helping me to understand and feel empathy. In one point of the conversation the pastor was talking about the parable of the Good Samaritan and it became the seed for this week's sermon.

Ephesians: Another Layer of Grace

Ephesians 3

Continuing on with our Ephesians series, we find ourselves at the beginning of chapter 3. In this passage, Paul writes about the Grace of God in a way we don't often think. Looking deeper at this word we reclaim an even fuller meaning of this amazing, unmerited favor of God.

Ephesians: Household of God

Ephesians 2:11-22

As this terrible pandemic is affecting our planet there is another kind of pandemic that has been going on for years and shows no signs of letting up soon. I’m talking about the spiritual pandemic of God’s people being bored, sour, cynical, divided, ungrateful and cold in heart. It’s not surprising that this widespread problem is happening because the prophets, apostles and Jesus himself predicted it would happen in the latter days. The verses in Ephesians 2:11-22 are a medicine for the mind. When we take this “medicine” consistently through the practice of contemplation we will find ourselves full of health and life. This message aims to evoke awe and gratitude. 

Ephesians: Workmanship

Ephesians 2:10

It is a universal belief that we humans are responsible to shape our own lives into something significant. The Christian faith actually teaches the opposite - God Himself is the shaper, the artist, the potter. The implications of this are wonderful! Instead of floundering in our moral inadequacies in the effort to become people of virtue, we trust God Himself to fashion us into the image of His Son. This message is an encouragement to all who struggle to live up to the high standards of the Word of God. We can relax on the Potter’s wheel and allow the Master Potter to do what He does best. 

Ephesians: Amazing Grace

Ephesians 2:4-9 

This was a message born out of much prayer, tears and anguish. It wasn’t merely another Sunday sermon but I felt like the truths in this passage were life to me in helping me to get through a severe trial. God is so good! He always provides what we need. This life can be hard and many are struggling with anxiety and fear during this pandemic. Scripture encourages us amidst the afflictions of life to set our minds on the glory of God and his glorious plan. When we do that it puts everything in perspective and a certain confidence emerges. My prayer for this message is that it would overwhelm hearts with hope! 

Ephesians: Dead in Sin

Ephesians 2:1-3 

In order to appreciate how amazing grace is, we must understand how desperate our condition would be apart from grace. That’s what this message is all about. The first few verses of Ephesians 2 describe who we are apart from grace. It’s not just that we needed a little help or that Jesus made our already good life a little sweeter. The writer of the epistle describes our life apart from grace as spiritually dead. A dead person cannot hear, cannot see, cannot respond. We were hopeless. The Apostle Paul presses us to remember how desperate our condition was in order that the glorious grace of God would be magnified. It is humbling and even painful to consider that apart from Christ we would be enemies of God under His wrath. But the more we understand just how lost we were the more our hearts are moved to gratitude, awe and worship.

Easter 2020

John 20-21

This present pandemic we are in has caused many of God’s people to spiral into sorrow, fear and uncertainty. The resurrection story in John 20-21 couldn’t be more relevant! The followers of Jesus came to a point of deep discouragement. Mary was crying her eyes out; the disciples were hiding in fear; Thomas was reeling with doubts and Peter was swimming in shame. But when the risen Christ showed up, everything changed. He spoke peace to them and their sighing was turned to dancing. The early Christians were marked by inexpressible joy. They experienced tremendous persecution and pressure but the Scriptures say that they broke bread together and ate together with glad hearts. This message is designed to spark joy. It’s a reminder that the risen Christ is with us and He is speaking peace to us. Despite the present circumstances of this dark pandemic cloud, we can fly above the clouds in the blue skies of God’s joy.

Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-48

The message is from the classic passage in Luke that talks of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a colt. Instead of focusing on that part of the story I really felt impressed to go deep with the next scene: Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and then cleansing the temple. In light of the present pandemic it seems like a lot of people are asking the question, “Is God angry with the planet and punishing them for their sin?” It’s a valid question but the better question perhaps is, “how does God feel and act toward people who provoke him to wrath?” Luke 19 answers this important question perfectly. We see Jesus weeping for, warning with tears, shaking up and teaching those who have sinned against him. What love! The discussion of coming judgment is hard to bear but this message will bring great hope to those who wonder if God has given up on them.