Our aim each week is to reflect the story of God’s grace in the gospel as we worship together.
Psalm 138:2 reminds us of this importance: “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”
judges
The book of Judges is a rather dark book, written after the death of Joshua. The Jewish people have made their way into the Promised Land and now there’s a crisis of leadership and covenant faithfulness to God!
They are called to be altogether different from the nations they were supposed to expel, but by the time we reach the end of the book, we’ll see that they’re actually worse! Every stop along our journey will become darker as we see the downward descent into darkness with the cycle of idolatry, oppression, outcry, (repeat), and the desire for deliverance each time!
Follow Me: The Markers of Discipleship!
The mission given to us by Jesus Himself is to both be and make disciples! It is the task for every disciple and we can’t be separated from it! Being a disciple necessitates making disciples. In this series we’ll unpack the Markers of Discipleship: 1. Our Mission: Make Disciples, 2. Our Model: Jesus Himself, 3. Our Motive: Love and Obedience, 4-7. Our Method: Engage Everyone, Evangelize the Non-Believer, Establish New Believers, Equip Growing Believers, and 8. Our Mechanism: The Church! May we all grow in our affections and obedience to what Christ calls us to!
Isaiah: Christmas 2023
The incarnation of Jesus matters! The simple, profound truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ entered human history, lived sinlessly, died shamefully, rose victoriously, and reigns supremely! He did this in order to save us from the penalty of sin and wrath of God! The heart of Advent is Immanuel: God with us!
Advent for modern Christians requires us to look both backward in wonder to see what has been fulfilled in Jesus’ incarnation and forward in expectation to what still lies ahead in anticipation of what’s still to be accomplished! We will spend December looking at 5 passages from the Book of Isaiah and the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and Redemption!
colossians
What has the gospel accomplished for me? What difference does it make in my day to day life? We’ll spend seven weeks walking through Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, zooming in on the theme of Christian Identity. Paul says that believers are in Christ, and as a result, they share in Christ's death, resurrection, new life, and fullness (2:9-14; 3:1-4).
frequently avoided questions
Sometimes we have questions and don’t know when the best time to ask them is. For two weeks, we’ll walk through about 35 questions that were submitted ranging from Textual Criticism and Manuscript Evidence to the Sovereignty of God and the purpose of the Church.
the gospel of mark
We live in an age where everyone has their own opinions about who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish. We must allow the Bible to define for us, on its own terms, how those questions must be answered. It’s profound that the people closest to Jesus, the people you'd think would figure out who He was, missed it. And those that you’d think would have no way of grasping it are the first to recognize Him. Yet in all this, Jesus’ own question resounds, “But who do you say I am?” It really is a case of Mistaken Identity in Mark’s Gospel! May it not be so with us!
genesis 12-36
We are jumping back into Genesis. This time we’re going to zoom in on the second third, focusing on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (chapters 12-36), from September through February. Again, this series is called, “Single-Minded Faithfulness: God’s Commitment to His Purposes and Promises!” We want you to see that no matter what happens from page to page and chapter to chapter, nothing can thwart God’s purposes and promises! He will show Himself to be faithful over and over, no matter the cost!
If you’d like an ESV Scripture Journal on Genesis to take detailed notes, click here.
the church
Our aim as a church is to be the best church we can for our community by bringing the hope and joy of the gospel to our neighbors by Gathering, Growing, and Going Together! We’ll spend two weeks on each of those three categories, looking at the topics of Glory and Worship, Serving and Discipleship, and Evangelism and Mission(s). We’ve been Called Out for those very things! May we all Step In, Step Up, and Step Out!
hebrews
The letter to the Hebrews is a sermon in a letter (13:22). The author is writing to an embattled church being threatened at every turn if they don’t return to Judaism (10:32-36). The message they were hearing is the same message we do today: “Come over here and we’ll take care of you! Forget about Jesus and the gospel and everything will go better for you!” The author’s exhortation to them is the same word we need today! He systematically shows how Jesus is greater than everything else we’re compelled to turn to, return to, worship, or find identity in! Nothing else compares to Jesus Christ; He is Greater Still! The way to persevere and endure is to fix our eyes heavenward in worship of the Eternal Son of God!
selected psalms
One of the amazing things about the Psalms is that we get a front row seat to the full range of unpolished human emotion. There is everything from joy and excitement to frustration and anger on display. Some are individual; others are corporate. In the midst of it all, we are confronted time and again with the bigness and kindness of a sovereign and loving God. Our aim over the next twelve weeks is to look at six different genres of Psalms and how we are called to worship God in the midst of all of life’s varying circumstances, hence, “Unfiltered: Real Worship for Real Life in the Psalms!” Click here for a 2 page overview of the types of Psalms, which ones we’ll look at, and the structure of the entire Psalter (book of Psalms).
1 timothy
Paul’s first letter to young Timothy is classified as a “Pastoral Epistle.” This means it is often seen as only offering practical advice on matters related to how the church should function, how church discipline should be handled, and how we should organize the church. It is that; but it is so much more than that!
Paul opens and closes his letter to Timothy with some words that impact all of us, as believers! Paul writes, “In accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted… guard the deposit entrusted to you” (1:11;6:20)!
Did you catch that? Paul says he’s been entrusted with the gospel and charges Timothy, and by extension, all believers, to guard the very same deposit now entrusted to us! This is truly a Glorious Stewardship that impacts every arena of our lives for our fruitfulness and faithfulness and the furthering of the gospel amongst all peoples!
This series will run October 10-December 12. If you’d like an ESV Scripture Journal on the Pastoral Epistles to take detailed notes, click here
genesis 1-11
As our time in Revelation draws to a close, we are going to walk through the first third of the book of Genesis. Genesis can be divided into three main sections: Creation to Abram (chapters 1-11), Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (chapters 12-36), and Joseph (chapters 37-50). We’re going to zoom in on Genesis 1-11 from July 11-October 3. The series will be called, “Single-Minded Faithfulness: God’s Commitment to His Purposes and Promises!” We want you to see that no matter what happens from page to page and chapter to chapter, nothing can thwart God’s purposes and promises! He will show Himself to be faithful over and over, no matter the cost!
If you’d like an ESV Scripture Journal on Genesis to take detailed notes, click here.
revelation
As we launch into the New Year, we will begin our 27 week trek through the book of Revelation. The hope in it all is that we desperately see and seek the Lamb of God throughout the book: risen, reigning, conquering, victorious, and the only hope that we have in life and death, joys and trials, plenty and persecution, both now and forevermore! He alone is Worthy and Triumphant! Hence the series title: the Triumph of the Lamb!
Below are a few resources for your head, heart, and hands before we begin. Watch the Bible Project's overview of Revelation chapters 1-11. Watch the Bible Project's overview of Revelation chapters 12-22. Listen to and worship with Andrew Peterson's song, "Is He Worthy" from Sing 2019! If you’d like an ESV Scripture Journal on Revelation to take detailed notes, click here.
Here is a two-page overview of the entire book of Revelation, the messages to the 7 Churches, and a brief discussion of some of the symbols and numbers throughout the book.
christmas 2020
For our Christmas series this year we are going to look at the Christmas story through the lens of the cosmic story of redemption that God has been unfolding from eternity past. We will follow the paradigm of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration coupled with the theme of glory!
We’ll see that we were Created for Glory, though Fallen from Glory, we’ve been Redeemed to Glory, and await being Restored for Glory!
daniel
For 14 weeks we will walk through the book of Daniel as we, as exiles, Long for Home and strive to live godly lives in a godless society. Writing in the 6th century BC, Daniel and his friends experience firsthand the Babylonian Captivity and Exile.
When faced with the expectation to obey foreign kings and bow the knee in ways that would dishonor God, they choose faithfulness. The book of Daniel contains some of the most amazing stories in the Bible of God’s faithfulness to His people. There is much to be learned about their faithfulness and the call in our own lives to costly faithfulness in the midst of a rapidly changing cultural landscape.
efca statement of faith
After 13 weeks of being the church scattered, we have reGathered. As we have, it is very fitting to spend 10 weeks working our way through what we actually believe: The Foundations of Our Faith, the EFCA Statement of Faith.
Though “doctrine” is often scorned as intolerant and narrow minded, this is simply our best attempt to arrange and describe what we believe to be the teachings of the Bible. We hope these provide a clear articulation of our beliefs that anchor and direct our ministries as a church.
luke’s parables
The term parable (Greek: para+bole) means literally to “throw alongside,” and that’s what parables do. They make comparisons. They align one thing next to another to clarify the second thing. They portray scenes from everyday life: kneading, sowing, fishing, traveling, which are leveraged to apply deeper, spiritual lessons pertaining to life in the Kingdom!
Luke 8:9-10, “And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”
In his book, Through Peasant Eyes, Kenneth Bailey says in studying the parables, “We are interested in asking five questions at crucial points in each parable in order to recapture the music of the storyteller’s piano. These are the questions of response, value judgment, relationship, expectation, and attitude.”
easter 2020
The Christian life is one of unabashed confidence, utter fearlessness, unwavering humility, absurd joy, and reckless hope! Yes, Hope! However, today hopelessness and despair seem to permeate everything, everywhere, at every turn. Trusting God doesn’t magically make everything better. God doesn't remove us from the trials of life. Rather, He meets us in the midst of them to display His mercy, grace, and love through our brokenness, helplessness, and dependence upon Him. That’s one of the profound aspects about an empty grave that gives us tremendous hope: Jesus is alive and working on behalf of His people, the church, for the glory of God and advancement of His Kingdom. That’s the difference Easter makes!
select proverbs
The call in Proverbs 4:5 is to “Get wisdom; get insight!” That command forms the basis of our series in Proverbs! The beauty of that command is that it means wisdom is attainable! James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it’ll be given him” (1:5).
We can’t walk through Proverbs because the majority of it is one-liners. But we’ll spend 12 weeks looking at select Proverbs. After a one week Introduction, we’ll spend 4 weeks looking at wisdom as it pertains to our relationship with God (Trust, Sin, Obedience, and Satisfaction), 4 weeks looking at wisdom as it pertains to our relationship with ourselves (Character, Words, Work, and Purity), and 3 weeks looking at wisdom as it pertains to our relationship with others (Friends, Enemies, and Families). Join us, and more importantly, Get Wisdom!
christmas 2019
This Christmas we want to answer the overarching question, “Why was the manger necessary?” We want you to see that Jesus’ birth really did accomplish a number of things! So as you wonder what the Manger and birth of Christ accomplished, be overcome with Wonder and Awe that God sent His Son to redeem sinful man!
2 corinthians
As we walk through the book of 2 Corinthians, remember that a disciple is someone who lives right-side up in an upside-down world (see Acts 17:6). Throughout this book Paul gives us example after example of that very thing! The title of the series is “Upside Down Living.” Here is a plan for you to follow in order to keep up with our series, which itself is a matter of upside down living! Also, here is a one-page overview of the book of 2 Corinthians.
exodus
As we walk through the book of Exodus, we want you to see it revealing a God who Saves His people from their enemies, steadily and patiently Shepherds them through life, and Sanctifies them with His presence. We’ll spend 9 weeks walking through Exodus. As we do, we’d encourage you to follow along with the reading during our series. Join us! Click here.
discipleship
In keeping with our push toward doing things together, we want to encourage you to join us in our upcoming series on discipleship. Of course we hope it goes without saying that we want you to be there on Sunday mornings for corporate worship. More specifically, what we’re encouraging you to use during this series is the 40 Days of Disciple-Making Journal. One of the greatest needs in the evangelical church today is a recalibration of our priorities back under the mission Jesus left us. In Matthew 28, Jesus commands us to “make disciples of all nations.” Join us starting Sunday, May 12. We’ll wrap up on Thursday, June 20. Let’s do this…together!
james, jonah, and christmas 2018
Older sermons can still be accessed on YouTube by clicking here.