A Wonderful Ending to Our Time in 1 Thessalonians

After months plumbing the depths of truth and grace contained in the pages of Paul’s first letter to the church in Thesslonica, we encountered his final words to the church. These last four verses reflect Paul’s friendship toward these brothers and sisters and teach us something about a subject very infrequently taught in churches - Christian friendship. We find that Christians should be the best kind of friends, because we’ve been befriended by the very best Friend Himself.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

The Captain Will Get Us There

God will do what you can’t to get you to where you want to be. While you and I are called to follow the directives of 1 Thess. 5:12-22 with vigor and sincerity, at the end of the day, no amount of obedience will get us to the end. Only God, working by His Spirit, through the finished work of His Son, will bring us to the end. Our ultimate hope is in Him. And 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 poignantly reminds us of this. Listen to this last Sunday’s sermon from Christopher Erkelens to learn how God secures us until the end.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

You’re Being Barraged With Information

You and I and everyone else have an innate desire to know. During this season of crisis, that desire is oftentimes intensified. But in a world and in a time when information is more abundant and available for immediate access than ever before, where do you go for the best information?

Know Which Information is the Best Information

Since God is the origin and source of truth, we need to limit our information diet as much as possible to whatever comes from Him. In this week’s message from 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, we discover that God speaks through the men and women around you who are filled with His Spirit. We need to listen for God’s voice in them. However, we would all do well to constantly test everything, including social media and the news, against what we know beyond a shadow of a doubt is God’s voice.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Lessons From Little Green Aliens

Who knew that the little green aliens from Toy Story could ever teach us anything genuinely valuable? Their memorable phrase, “you have saved our lives, we are eternally grateful”, is an accurate reflection of the appropriate disposition of our hearts toward God. The Gospel stands as the foundation of our gratitude - Jesus saved our lives through His death and we, in turn, have reason to be perpetually grateful.

Friend, your life should be characterized by gratitude. And the wonder is that gratitude breeds even more gratitude. Do you want to be more grateful? Do you want to know how such gratitude is possible?

Then listen to this week’s sermon here.

Exercise Your Liberty Through Prayer

Paul issues a 3-word command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - a command to pray unceasingly. This verse communicates the need for a Christian to be continually postured in dependence toward God. But it also reflects the awesome reality that because Christ has made a way to access God and because God has promised that He hears those who have been purchased by the blood of His Son, we CAN express our dependence on God through prayer. In a moment in history when people’s rights and liberties are the talk of the town, as Christians, it’s an opportunity for us to consider our liberties, because liberties that we have in Christ - liberties like prayer - far exceed the privileges that any American liberty might afford you. Do you want to become a more prayerful Christian by the end of this pandemic? Do you want to be able to exercise your dependence on the Lord through prayer more frequently? Do you want to learn more about the nature of Christian prayer? Listen to this week’s sermon and respond to God’s gracious invitation to pray to Him.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Rejoice Always Because You Can

One of the shortest verses in the Bible is a command to rejoice. For anyone without Christ, this is a hard command. Sorrow, pain and anxiety hamper attempts at constant joy. Further, any lesser joy cannot sustain the constancy that Paul envisions in his command. But there is a single source of joy that makes following this command possible - God. God is the perfection of joy itself. Further the Gospel is a message of a Jesus who saves us into that very joy and tells of a Holy Spirit who sustains that joy. Do you want to know the not-so-secret secret to joy? Listen to this week’s sermon here.

But It Always Requires Patience

The church, not just its leaders, cares for the church. Every Christian is a counselor - equipped by God with the necessary tools and skills to care for others in the local church context. But what that care looks like can vary from person to person and situation to situation. The Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 gives some of the most practical instructions to be found concerning interpersonal ministry. What we find is that we have to work hard to listen and to know and that the motivation and the example for that hard work comes from Jesus, who suffered long - completely, in fact - with us and for us in His perfect efforts to care for us in our need.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

We Hope You Experienced The Joy Of Jesus This Easter

On our 5th consecutive livestream Sunday worship meeting, we had the joy of celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior. Since the Lord established our church back in 2017, we’ve regularly said that “we exist to spread the joy of Jesus in Santa Ana”. This Easter Sunday, Kyle taught from Romans 8:31-39 in a bilingual sermon that this very joy is unchangeably tied to the resurrection of Jesus. Since Jesus is alive, nothing can steal His joy from you - not even a pandemic, job loss or being quarantined at home. Further, as those who have that immovable joy, we have the distinct privilege of spreading it to our neighbors who are struggling for joy even now,

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

A Message About Leaders From a Developing Leader

This last Sunday, we announced that Jeff is officially transitioning from intern to resident. In celebration of this, Jeff preached from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. This was a tall order for him - the text regards instruction for members of a church to respect their leaders. The Lord demonstrated through Jeff’s sermon, though, why he’s progressing on towards residency; why he as well is due respect. He spoke of the necessity of leaders being sacrificial servants who follow Christ. He spoke of leaders being “repurposed sinners” deployed for God’s purposes. We’re grateful for and respect Jeff and the leaders among us. Know also how deeply your leaders love you and care for you and long to be back with you once this pandemic abates.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

We Don’t Know When. But We Know He’s Coming Back.

In a time when instability and uncertainty dominates the landscape around us, we have un unshakeable assurance that Jesus is still in control and will one day come back to receive His own to Himself. Until then, our role is to live “soberly” as we await His coming. Listen to this past week’s message to ground yourself in one of the most rock-solid assurances you can have.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.