In this sermon from the third week of Advent, we looked at Luke 2:11-14 and reflected on the profound truth of experiencing God's delight. This passage takes us to the moment in the nativity where the angels announce to the shepherds the good news that, through the birth of this baby, God is bringing His peace and delight to earth. The multitude of…

In this second week of Advent, we reflected on the birth of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God's sovereign plan. We explored how God orchestrates history to accomplish His purposes, despite human intentions. Luke 2:1-11 highlights the contrast between human power, as seen in Caesar Augustus' decree, with divine authority, demonstrated in the fu…

In this sermon, we launched our Advent series by looking at Luke 1:26-33 where we see the announcement of Jesus' birth to Mary by the angel Gabriel. Mary, a young virgin from Galilee, is told by Gabriel that she has found favor with God—not because of anything she has done, but purely by God's grace. This reminds us that, like Mary, we too are favo…

In this sermon, we discussed how remembering what God has done is vital to our worship. There are often times of trial and suffering in our lives when it can feel like God is distant, and we may wonder if He will rescue us. Psalm 77 encourages us to remember all that God has already done when we are in the midst of struggle. One key moment in Israe…

In this sermon, we studied Psalm 32 and reflected on the profound blessing of forgiveness and the joy that comes from living in honesty and transparency with God and others. In this scripture, the psalmist contrasts the heavy burden of unconfessed sin with the freedom found in acknowledging sin and receiving God's forgiveness. When we attempt to ma…

In this sermon, we studied Psalm 6, where David models how grief itself can become an act of worship as he vulnerably brings his pain before God. In this psalm, David is grieving not only his intense physical suffering but also the pressure from his enemies, which leads him to feel as though God is disciplining him in anger. However, instead of all…

In this sermon, we studied Psalm 42 and explored the universal experience of depression—not in terms of clinical diagnosis, but as the emotional weight everyone encounters in different forms and intensities as we navigate life with imperfect bodies in a fallen world. The psalmist expresses deep spiritual longing, emotional pain, and a sense of dist…

In this sermon, we explored Psalm 96 where David emphasizes that gladness is meant to be celebrated by sharing it with God and others. While all of creation worships God without words, humans are uniquely created and called to express their gladness verbally through celebration. Keeping our gladness to ourselves can lead to loneliness and prevent u…

In this sermon, we explored Psalm 22, where David expresses his deep feelings of abandonment and despair. His raw cry reflects a sense of forsakenness by God and rejection by others. Despite his pain, David's honesty about his emotions marks the beginning of hope, which sets the foundation for transformation. He recalls God's past faithfulness, emp…

In this final message from 1 John 5:16-19, we looked at the conclusion of John's letter, which provides guidance on keeping our hearts free from idols. He emphasizes the practical application of brotherly love, urging believers to pray for their brothers and sisters who are struggling with sin. John reminds us that, as God's children, we are anchor…

In this sermon, we studied 1 John 5:13-15, which reminds us that God desires a deep relationship with His children, inviting us to abide in Him daily through prayer. Prayer is more than just asking for things; it is a way to express our hearts, longings, and trust in Him. In this passage, the Apostle John writes to assure believers that they can co…

In this sermon, we studied the Apostle John's three powerful witnesses that affirm Jesus Christ as the Son of God: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. The "water" points to Jesus' baptism, marking the beginning of His ministry, where God publicly declared Him as His beloved Son. The "blood" refers to His sacrificial death on the cross, where He a…

In this sermon, we looked at how God's love for us fuels our desire to obey His commandments. The Bible warns us against two pitfalls in the Christian life: legalism, which emphasizes obedience without love, and antinomianism, which dismisses obedience altogether because of God's abundant grace that covers our sins. In this passage, the Apostle Joh…

In this sermon, we studied John's teaching on love and how, as believers, we can confidently live in God's grace. God's love, perfected in us over time, drives out fear of His judgment. When we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, we are no longer under condemnation and are invited into a transformative relationship with Him. As we grow in our und…

In this sermon, we looked at how our growing knowledge of God leads to a deep, abiding relationship with Him. Abiding is more than just being familiar with God; it's an active, ongoing connection with God that transforms our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. This connection is grounded in the confession that Jesus is the Son of God. By ac…

In this sermon, we studied 1 John 4:7-12, where John teaches about love. He reminds us that true love originates from God, who is the very essence of love. In this passage, John highlights two main reasons why we should love one another. First, our love for others serves as the true mark of knowing God. Second, loving one another is how God's love …

In this sermon, we continue our series on 1 John by exploring how to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:1-6 teaches us the importance of testing the voices we hear in the world around us in order to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. John provides three ways to test these voices: First, hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit begins w…

In this sermon, we explored the Apostle John's transition to a familiar focus, emphasizing that love should be more than just words—it must be demonstrated through actions and truth. John reassures his audience that genuine love for others is a clear sign of belonging to Jesus. We then examined John's encouragement for believers to trust in God's g…

In this sermon, we explored the familiar command to love one another, contrasting it with Cain's example of hatred toward his brother Abel in Genesis 4. We examined the Apostle John's warning to believers in 1 John 3:13, which tells us to expect hatred from the world but emphasizes that genuine love among Christians is a true mark of faith. In this…

In this sermon, we explored the Apostle John's advice on how our actions reveal the true state of our hearts. Although all believers struggle with sin, John warns that those who persist in sin are not abiding in Christ; instead, they are children of Satan. By studying 1 John 3:4-8, we learned that the sin John refers to is unrepentant, ongoing sin …

In this sermon, we looked at the Apostle John's encouragement about abiding in Christ. 1 John 2:28 explains that by believing in Christ, we gain confidence and will not be ashamed when Jesus returns to earth. Through scripture, we studied that upon being born again, Christians immediately become children of God. We later examined John’s warning fro…

In this sermon, we examined the Apostle John's warning against being led astray by false teachers who proclaim a different message than the gospel. While the early church was on the lookout for a specific antichrist figure, John wanted them to understand that anyone who denies Christ is against Him and should be considered an antichrist. Additional…

In this sermon, we explored the Apostle John's warning against loving the world and its desires, which oppose God's will. Instead, we are encouraged to focus on our eternal relationship with the Father, made possible through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and the forgiveness of sins. John explains that loving the world involves embracing its sinful …

In this sermon, we studied the Apostle John's poetic encouragement to believers, whom he consistently addresses as 'little children'. John offers specific encouragement to both older and younger members, highlighting each distinct role and contribution within the community. Through scripture, we explored how the Bible values children, young people,…

In this sermon, we studied an old message in a new context: the command to love one another. This has been a hallmark of how God's people are called to interact with one another. In 1 John 2:7-11, the Apostle John reminds his readers of this timeless truth. John contrasts loving one another versus hating one another, explaining that those who hate …

In this sermon, we looked at how the Apostle John encourages believers to avoid sin, while reassuring us that even when we do sin, Jesus will advocate for us as the ultimate propitiation for all sins. John emphasizes that truly knowing God is shown through obedience to His commandments and a transformed relationship with sin. Habitual sin damages r…

In this sermon, we looked at 1 John 1 to see what it means to walk in the light instead of darkness. The Apostle John tells us that God is light, so anyone who has fellowship with God cannot walk in darkness—to do so is to live in denial of the truth. The word "walk" in Scripture often refers to our lifestyle and the actions that define our charact…

In this sermon, we looked at how the Apostle John proclaimed the incarnate Christ through the witness of hearing Him, seeing Him, looking upon Him, and touching Him. John encouraged his readers and denounced false teachings that claimed Jesus was a spirit and could not be human. He declared that Jesus is eternal life and that, through Him, we can h…

In this sermon, we looked at what it means to love those who are different from us. The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates that true neighbors are those who show compassion, regardless of racial or cultural differences. Jesus challenges the lawyer's attempt to narrowly define "neighbor," highlighting that loving God is demonstrated by loving…

In this sermon, we began looking at what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves. We defined "neighbor" as anyone in our sphere of influence. Romans 12:14-18 teaches believers how to treat others, encouraging us to live peacefully in community with one another even when it’s challenging. As humans, we naturally do things that serve ourselves or …

In this sermon from Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus emphasizes the greatest commandments: to love God wholeheartedly and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The reality that God has made us valuable and worthy of love is often missed. This biblical self-love is not about selfishness but about recognizing and honoring the worth God has placed in each of us. …

In today’s Mother's Day sermon from Isaiah 61:1-4, we looked at the connection between how mothers care for their children and how God cares for us. Isaiah 66:13 reminds us that mothers bear the image of God by uniquely displaying God's desire to nurture and care for us as His children. However, before God calls moms to fulfill their calling to nur…

In this sermon, we looked at what it means to love God with all our soul. The Bible uses the word "soul" to describe the seat of personal identity and the part of us that will live eternally and reunite with our new bodies at the resurrection. Our soul is the place inside of us where we long to commune with God. It's also the part of us that yearns…

In this sermon from Mark 12:28-31, we looked at Jesus' command to love God with all our strength. To better understand what it looks like to love God with all our strength, we also looked at Paul's instructions in Romans 12:9-13. In this passage, Paul shows us what this kind of love looks like: Loving God with all our strength includes having broth…

In this sermon, we looked at the command to love God with all our minds. The Scripture describes the human mind as the central source for our thoughts, wisdom, and moral discernment. It's also the place where we experience inner dialogue and conflict, as well as spiritual battles and transformation. By engaging our intellect to understand God as He…

In this sermon from Mark 12:38-31, we took a deeper look into what it means to be human, and the role of the heart in relationship with God. Even though our hearts are susceptible to sin, God has designed our hearts to give us passion, desire, and emotion. Jesus died not just to remove our sin but also to give us new hearts with renewed passions an…

In this sermon, we examined how we are made in the image of God while also existing as created, finite beings. To be in the image of God does not mean we look like Him physically, but that we were created to reflect who God is. We see this in Genesis 1 and 2 in three ways: We have stewardship over God’s other creation, we have rationality and choic…

In this Easter sermon, we looked at the prophetic words of Isaiah 53 and the significance of Jesus' resurrection. This passage foretells the suffering and resurrection of the coming Messiah and reminds us that Jesus' agony and death were the fulfillment of God’s will and essential for our redemption. Through His resurrection, Jesus conquered sin an…

In this sermon, we looked at the Gospel of Luke's portrayal of Jesus' deliberate path to Jerusalem, culminating in the pivotal events of Holy Week. The narrative, starting in Luke 9:51, highlights Jesus' determination as He set His face toward Jerusalem and walked toward His impending death, burial, and resurrection. This journey ended in Luke 19:4…

In this sermon, we looked at what it's like to be with God. God values relationship, and in Matthew 11:25-30, we see the intimate connection between the Father and the Son. Jesus invites us to share in this relationship by showing us who the Father is. The call to enter this relationship is not through striving, good works, or perfection; we are si…

In this sermon, we looked at what it's like to be close to God by examining Jesus, who embodies "the radiance of the Glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature." In John 11, we see God's compassion for us and how His glory and power to save sinners is revealed through the brokenness of our world. After the death of Lazarus, Jesus' response to…

In this sermon, we looked at Romans 3:19-26 to explore the nature of God's justice. True justice requires upholding laws and consequences consistently and without favoritism. In Romans 3, Paul reminds us that every human has sinned under God's Law and is subject to God's judgment. Paul says that while God is just and always upholds His law, He is a…

In this sermon from 1 John 4:7-10, we looked at how love is embedded in God's nature and how He is the source of all love that is experienced in the world. Love is not merely an attribute of God's personality or something He does in the world; love is part of the very essence of His being. Despite varying definitions of love in the world around us,…

In this sermon, we looked at how Revelation 4 reveals the profound nature of God's character. The vivid imagery of God sitting on His throne magnifies the majesty and holiness of God. The four creatures hovering around God's throne repeatedly declaring God’s holiness further reveals that God is sacred, pure, worthy of awe, and unlike anything else …

In this sermon, we continued our journey to answer the question, "Who is God?" We began by looking at how God reveals Himself in the Bible as one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. In the Gospel of John, we saw that the Father, Son, and Spirit have eternally existed in a loving and honoring relationship within themselves. God did not cr…

With this sermon, we started a new series on the Greatest Commandments. In this series, we’ll spend time looking at the commands to love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. This week, we began with the question, “Who is God?” If we are going to love God, we must first know who He is. We looked in Exodus 3:13-15 at the significance of G…

In this sermon, we looked in Matthew 16:13-19 at the pivotal moment when Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" This question was more than a theological pop quiz; Jesus was drilling into the core of the disciples’ personal faith. As Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” we were reminded of how the entire …

In this sermon from 1 Peter 3:15, we looked at how we were created to live our lives on mission to make disciples for Jesus, beginning in our own neighborhoods and reaching toward the ends of the earth. We were also reminded that our mission starts with living our lives with sincere love for God and others, serving as a beacon to draw others toward…

In this sermon, we looked at God’s plan for His Church to grow together in biblical community. We began in Genesis 2 with a reminder that we were created with a need to be in relationship, with God and others, in which we can be fully known and fully loved. In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul lays out God's plan for His Church and the essential roles of Chu…

We begin 2024 with our Created sermon series, reminding us why the Church exists and how that connects to what we do at Solid Rock. In this sermon, we looked at how Psalm 95:1-6 calls God's people to worship. The Psalmist reminds us that we are created by God to worship Him for who He is and what He has done. Worship is a reverent acknowledgement o…