Join us Sunday mornings at 8:30am
Watch
Join Us in Worship
Latest Message
Ambassadors: Our Strategy
Foundations: Vision and Values, Week 2
Previous Messages
"For God so loved the world..." The most famous words in the whole Bible. Or as John 3:16 has been called, "a power verse." Pastor Steve continues our series with Nicodemus encountering Jesus, the teacher graduating to student where he learns:
The surprising sovereignty of the Spirit.
The sufficient sacrifice of the Son.
The steadfast love of the Father.
Guest speaker, Pastor Pilgrim, continues our series on Encounters with Jesus by looking at the encounter that Philip and Nathanael have with Jesus in John 1.
When Jesus calls, we respond.
When Jesus confronts, we repent.
When Jesus comforts, we rest.
The greatness of Jesus transforms us into his witnesses, roots our purpose and worth, and grants us peace for our doubts. When John the Baptist encountered Jesus, he revealed to us just how great Jesus is.
Jesus is greater than the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus is greater than the Old Testament sacrificial system.
Jesus is greater even than time itself.
And Jesus is greater because he is the Son of God.
John 1:14 tells us that Jesus came "full of grace and truth." What happens in our lives without grace and truth? We can easily become prideful of what we have or anxious about what we don't have. But when we encounter Jesus "full of grace and truth", we find that grace makes us secure while truth makes us humble.
Pastor Steve introduces our new series on "Encounters with Jesus." The gospel of John features several individual encounters that people have with Jesus. But those encounters are not merely historical record, but an invitation that we, too, can encounter Jesus. God has made himself knowable in Jesus. God has made it so we can encounter Jesus. But we must not simply encounter Jesus: we much believe that he is the Christ and that by believing in him, we may have life in his name.
Luke 16 records one of the more confusing of Jesus' stories about a manager who cuts deals to garner favor before he gets fired. What does it mean? Pastor Steve summarizes it like this:
Because our true home is with Christ, we can use the fleeting wealth of this world to invest in the world that will never end.
The most famous story Jesus ever told (Luke 15) was about a father and his relationship with each of his two sons. The younger son was lost by leaving, only to be found and celebrated (previous message in this series). In this message, Pastor Steve focuses on on the older son who was lost even while he stayed. He was lost in his bitterness and self-righteousness. The story Jesus tells invited us to ask: How am I like this older son?
The most famous of the stories Jesus told was about a father with two sons. Both were lost, one was lost by leaving and the other was lost even as he stayed. In this message from Luke 15, Pastor Steve investigates the relationship between the son who left and his father through the lens of two questions:
For all that you've gained, what have you lost?
For all that you've lost, what have you gained?
In Luke 15, Jesus tells 3 stories that come together to form one parable about lost things. In this message, Pastor Steve looks at the first two stories about a lost sheep and a lost coin. Then he asks:
1) How are we like the lost sheep and lost coin?
2) How are we not like the lost sheep and lost coin?
In this message on The Unforgiving Servant from Matthew 18:21-35, Pastor Steve discusses what happens in us as we are broken by our pride and self-righteousness by the mercy we have received from God. We then become, unlike the servant in this story, eager and able to give mercy to those around us.
Paul teaches on the parable of the sower (or maybe better called the parable of the seed and the soil) from Mark 4:1-20.
In the story Jesus tells about the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7:24-27, it's not about the builder or even about the house. It's about the foundation. When our lives are built on the rock that is Jesus Christ, we can weather any storm.
Pastor Steve preached on The Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37.
This story invites us to take the POV of the different characters:
The priest and the Levite
The Samaritan
The beaten man
The Innkeeper
And when we see the POV of each, we are invited to apply the story to our own lives.
Pastor Steve looks at the two related parables Jesus tells in Matthew 13:44-46 and asks:
Who does the “man” or the “merchant” represent?
What does the “treasure” or “pearl” represent?
If we are the treasure, then:
1) you are of immeasurable worth
2) you are being searched for
3) the One who searches for you (Jesus) paid the ultimate price for you: his own life.
In Ephesians 6:10-24, Paul concludes his letter to the church in Ephesus discussing spiritual warfare. But this is not something completely different, but a recognition that it is in the context of our closest relationships where spiritual stacks often happen. In this message Pastor Steve discusses:
1) The reality of war: it is here and involves attacks on our closest relationships
2) The believers’ role in the war: we are called to be both on the defensive and to go on the offensive
3) The result of the war: Jesus wins!