The Cost of the Gospel vs. the Worth of Following Christ

The New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians is one written to a small church plant in first century Greece. Over the past year, we’ve reviewed the message of the prophets and beheld God’s miraculous fulfillment of the prophets in Christ. We’ve also considered the glories that await us through the return of Christ and the age to come. Yet as we remain in between Jesus’ first and second coming, we wait. And while we wait, the Christian life can seem downright mundane despite the glorious realities spoken of in Scripture. The book of 1 Thessalonians, however, will teach us to see the miraculous in the mundane.

In the first sermon of this series, Jeff Schlieder preached from 1 Thessalonians 1:1 to identify the miraculous nature of our conversion and the astounding implications of having been recipients of “grace and peace”.

Listen to this Sunday’s sermon here.

Your Language Is Directly Related To Your Name

In the first message of 2020, Kyle preached from Genesis 11:1-9 and addressed a subject that has tremendous relevance to our church today: the subject of language. In the past year, we’ve made many changes related to the accommodation of our Spanish-speaking members and neighbors. A very worthwhile question is, “why do this when we can simply relate to others with whom there are no language barriers?”. Genesis 11 helps us toward the answer by reminding us that the reason for such a proliferation of languages in the world is not a good one. But the work of Christ on the cross reversed Genesis 11 and informs how we ultimately answer the question. Whether you speak English, Spanish or any other language, take a listen to Sunday’s message.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Heaven Will Satisfy Our Desire For The Satisfaction of All Other Desires

Christ has come and he has ushered in the new era. However, the fullness of all that this means for the church and for this world has not yet dawned. There is a final chapter to our history and to the history of the world that has been written and remains to be realized. The message of the Gospel tells us this world is headed somewhere. It will not carry on this way forever, and that speaks to something embedded deep within us. This past Sunday we looked to the future and encountered the hope that is held out for us in heaven. For all those longing and waiting for all things to be made new we have hope that in the new creation with Christ all our desires will be completely satisfied.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Christmas Is The Story of The Prince Who Battled The Dragon To Save His Bride

Of all the symbols of Christmas, you’ve probably never included dragons in your list. Yet, Revelation 12 tells a symbolic story of the birth of Christ through images including a prince, a bride and a dragon. It reminds us that even in His incarnation as a baby, Jesus’ birth was a declaration of war against Satan, sin and death. In our final installment of our 2019 Christmas series, we learn that Jesus satisfies our longing for peace through declaring war on that which destroys peace upon the earth.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Simeon Had Finally Seen What He Had Longed His Whole Life For

In the fourth installment of this year’s “Cast of Christmas” series, we met Simeon, a man who had longed for “The Consolation of Israel” - God’s promised Messiah. When he finally met him in the form of a baby, so satisfied was Simeon that he was ready “to depart in peace”. Simeon is perhaps the most vivid picture of “longing satisfied” in the narrative of the first Christmas. He longed for the comfort that God had promised to his people through His Anointed One and He experienced such deep satisfaction in his encounter with that very one that there was no longer anything better the earth could offer him. If you long for comfort and satisfaction of that kind, listen to last Sunday’s message.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Do You Long For Truth?

There weren’t necessarily three of them. They probably weren’t kings. They weren’t present at the birth of Jesus. The Magi are some of the most well-known members of the “Cast of Christmas”, but at the same time, their role in the story is shrouded in untruth. Curiously, the Magi were in fact those who spent their lives seeking for truth - in various religions, in natural phenomena and in the stars, yet what they found when the followed one particular star was Truth itself, Jesus Christ. When they found Him, they literally “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”. Do you long to know truth? Do you long to know the answers to life’s deepest and most troubling questions? Do you long to know that your life has meaning, what true morality is, if there is a God, what He is like, how you should live and what this all means? Your journey for the answers to these questions, like the Magi, will not end until you encounter Jesus.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Herod, A Symbol of The End of The Reign of Sin

In week two of our 2019 Christmas series, the cast member of Christmas was a rather unlikely one - a man whose life and actions in the Christmas narrative defy sentimentality, peace and joy. The Biblical authors include Herod for a reason. He stands as a symbol of the end of an era as a new age dawns upon the earth and in our hearts. What becomes starkly evident, though, as we understand the story of the birth of Christ, is that Herod’s kingdom and Christ’s kingdom cannot coexist. Their respective priorities are diametrically opposed. This leads us to consider whether we’re trying to do what’s actually impossible - trying to live as Christians allowing multiple kingdoms to reign and have influence in our own hearts.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

“Always Winter, But Never Christmas”

Yes, Thanksgiving is this week, but this past Sunday, we launched into our 2019 Christmas series. Last year, we met 4 very ordinary members of the “cast of Christmas” through whom God did extraordinary things. This year, we met 5 more members through whom God satisfies our longing. This theme should feel particularly poignant to use after spending months examining the prophets - if the prophets leave us with anything it’s a sense of longing for someone to come and break our cycle of sin - for God to send His promised Messiah. In the first message of the series, we met Gabriel, whom God sent to herald the coming of spring upon a land and a people that had endured a self-imposed long, cold harsh and “Christmas-less” winter”.

Listen to the sermon here.

The Message To Wrap Up Our Series In The Minor Prophets

After spending 5 months with the minor prophets, we turned forward in our Bibles to Romans 10, where the apostle Paul answers his critics who are upset to know that their Jewish ancestors failed to be made right with God. Paul’s answer to them paints a brilliant tapestry of what the prophets - and the entire Old Testament, in fact - were all about in the first place. Listen to this week’s message to discover what the prophets were ultimately trying to get across and how that applies to your life today.

Listen to this Sunday’s sermon here.

Serve from a Posture of Love

Pastor Ramon Flores from Legacy Church in Yuma, Arizona treated us to a feast of God’s Word - in 2 languages this past Sunday. He reminded us that 1 Corinthians 13 is not merely a sentimental passage to be read at weddings, but instead an affectionate correction from the Apostle Paul to a Corinthian church that had lost its way by losing its love. The message was a stirring reminder that without love, our week-in-week out serving is nothing; that our employment of spiritual gifts is nothing. Love is not a beneficial byproduct of our life together in the church, it’s the essential posture we must take if our Gospel labor is going to mean anything. Tall order, you say? By God’s grace, we have the love of His Son to compel us. The posture of love which God calls us to is a posture which Christ perfectly assumed in His cross.

Listen to this week’s bilingual service here.