Great Commandments: Love Your Neighbor

Leviticus 19: 13 - 18; Mark 12: 28 - 31

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Our neighbor could be the person who lives next to us, or it could be anyone: refugees in our state, college students, Muslim believers, and all the favorite and not-so-favorite people in between. To what degree do we love? God has called us to love our neighbors as much as we ultimately look after ourselves, if not more. Neighbors we meet cannot only be those who are like-minded or cross our paths in the routines we establish, but we may need to go out of our way, change habits, and seek opportunities to serve people and display God’s goodness. Pastor Scott gives some practical ideas for how we might love people in our actual neighborhood, people in existing spaces that we visit, and people in spaces we create.

Great Commandments: Love God

The great and first commandment, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” What does it look like to love God with all our hearts in everyday life? In this message Pastor Scott walks through ten principles, such as faithfulness and quality time, that will help us shape our lives toward pleasing God.

Advent 2022: Love

“Jesus loves you” is a truth that many churched people would find overfamiliar, but what if one really took time to ponder the vastness of God’s love? In this message Pastor Scott processes with us the impact of what Jesus did on earth for us out of love, and when we truly understand the gospel and respond to God, we’ll find that His love can satisfy the deepest part of our hearts.

Advent 2022: Peace

Ephesians 2:11 - 22

In the midst of Christmas kitsch, high-volume holiday ads, and impatient shoppers, the peace of Christ cuts through the noise. Advent is the time where we celebrate Jesus and anticipate his arrival. The first time Jesus came, he created a way for us to be reconciled to God and be reconciled to people who are different from us. The next time Jesus physically comes, we will see peace fully restored through the earth. Ren’s CityLove Director, Katherine Gosnell, gives a message that studies Ephesians 2:11 - 22 to explore in depth how peace comes with Christ. 

Advent 2022: Hope

One element of the human life that is difficult to talk about is the fear of death. People may avoid the subject, use humor to deflect, or will hold onto vague sentiments about the afterlife, but death is a certainty in our future. Where do we hope beyond that? The good news is that Christ came to this world to give us a hope that solves the problem of our fear of death. Pastor Scott in this message shares how Christian hope is built on Christ himself who conquered death, and how His Spirit marks us for eternal life, giving us assurance.

Acts: Glorifying God within Culture

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas continue their missionary journey through Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens: cities where Paul introduces Jesus to Greeks through philosophical presentation. What motivates Paul to reason with people in Athens is the sight of idols filling the city, taking precedence over God. Pastor Scott challenges us to evaluate what our motivation is for sharing the gospel with others. Do we take seriously the things in our culture that offend the glory of God? How often do we tolerate idols in our culture today instead of sharing the gospel to confront these idols?

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.

Acts: Adventures with the Holy Spirit

Pastor Scott shares three stories in Acts 16, in which God reaches the hearts of unlikely people and in bizarre circumstances. Paul and Silas’ missionary journey through Macedonia is a reminder to be led by the Spirit in the midst of life’s adventures, to let God do the work of changing people as we share the gospel and spend time with them.

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).

Acts: False Doctrines

Acts 15

The Church has faced the problem of false teaching since its early days. In Acts 15, a false teaching contrary to the gospel message spreads through church communities, and the apostles and elders confront the claims. Pastor Scott emphasizes the seriousness of absorbing distorted teaching, and gives practical wisdom for recognizing false doctrines today.