The Church: God's Restful People in a Restless World

A new sermon series begins this fall that is called The Church: God’s Restful People in a Restless World.

As our late-modern culture becomes more secular, our world is facing many challenges. We as well as our neighbors are exhausted from trying to keep up with the ever accelerating pace of life. Any shared meaning and purpose with our neighbors has been reduced to individualistic identities that result easily in division and make unity increasingly difficult. Our neighbors are lonely and isolated and the next generation is deconstructing their faith. All of these things make each day burdensome as well as the future less hopeful.

While we may hear many ideas and plans to fix these challenges, the Scriptures make clear that God has one plan to renew all things: to bring life to the world through the Church. As the increasingly secular world continues restless striving, God is forming a restful people through Jesus Christ.

This series will look at a variety of challenges our culture is facing and how the Scriptures tell us that God's mission in the Church is the answer to these challenges. Along the way, we will study key doctrines of the church and see their application in our current moment.

In many ways, this sermon series builds off of the series and resources from last fall (Blessed: Delighting in the Good Life).

Series Overview

God’s Mission for the Life of the World - Sept. 8

Our world has many challenges but the Church is still God’s mission for the life of the world.

John 6:41-51

A Sanctuary for an Exhausted World - Sept. 15

Our world is exhausted but the Church is a refuge for the weary.

Psalm 63

God’s Fullness in an Empty World - Sept. 22

Our world is often empty but God’s Word and presence fills the Church.

Ephesians 1:15-23

A Unified Gathering in a Divided World - Sept. 29

Our world is torn apart because of competing identities but the Church is a diverse and global faith in one Lord.

John 17:20-26

An Inviting Fellowship in an Isolated World - Oct. 6

Our neighbors are isolated and more people are dechurched but the hospitality of the Church is able to invite people into the deepest fellowship.

Hebrews 13:1-10

A Household that Builds in a Deconstructing World - Oct. 13

Our world is deconstructing faith but the Church is building faith in the next generation.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

A Community of Servants in a Profiting World - Oct. 20

The world centers much of life on careers and getting ahead but the Church freely serves to bring life to the world.

Mark 10:35-45

A Committed Membership in a Uncommitted World - Oct. 27

Our world doesn’t like to commit due to skepticism of authority and a relativism of truth but the Church holds one another accountable in the gospel.

Galatians 6:1-10

Citizens of Heaven in a Polarized World - Nov. 3

Our world has divided people into left or right but the Church is one people who declare the politically loaded confession: “Jesus is Lord.”

Phillippians 3:17-21

A Hopeful People in a Cynical World - Nov. 10

Our world is more cynical than optimistic but the resurrection creates a hopeful people even in a hurting world.

1 Peter 1:3-13

Resources

Comer, John Mark. Future Church, (sermon series) 2021. Sermon series on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.

Davis, Jim, Michael Graham, Ryan P. Burge, and Collin Hansen. The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Zondervan, 2023.

Hansen, Collin, Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, John Starke, Carl Trueman, Bruce Riley Ashford, Mike Cosper, Bob Cutillo, Greg Forster, and Michael Horton. Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor. Gospel Coalition, The, 2017.

Keller, Timothy. Rise (sermon series), 2016. https://rise.redeemer.com/sermons/.

Root, Andrew. Ministry in a Secular Age Set. Baker Academic, 2021.

Rosa, Hartmut. “Two Versions of the Good Life & Two Forms of Fear | YCFC.” Accessed September 6, 2024. https://faith.yale.edu/media/two-versions-of-the-good-life-two-forms-of-fear.

Smith, James K. A. How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. First Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2014.

Trinity City Church. “Blessed: Delighting in the Good Life,” November 12, 2023. http://www.trinitycitychurch.org/messages/category/Blessed.

Watkin, Christopher. Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2022.

Series Graphic

Sermon Graphic

Designer: Tyson Phipps

The designer of this sermon graphic, Tyson Phipps (Deacon of Creative Arts), explains, “I was thinking about the restful nature of a tree and how it's shade provides respite from the heat and shelter from the storms. Also, the imagery very easily connects to the parable of the mustard seed, Christ as the vine and us as the branches, Psalm 1, etc.”

Genesis Sermon Series

As we begin a new sermon series on the book of Genesis this Sunday, here are some video overviews, resources, and the series graphic to get you ready.

Overview

Watch this great two-part overview of Genesis from The Bible Project.

Bibliography

Here are some of the main commentaries and books that are influencing this series:

James Montgomery Boice, Genesis (Baker Books, 2006)

Andrew Louth, ed., Genesis, (2 Vols), First Edition (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2001)

John L. Thompson, ed., Genesis 1-11, First edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012)

Gordon J. Wenham, Rethinking Genesis 1–11: Gateway to the Bible (Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015); and Genesis, (2 vols), Word Biblical Commentary (Zondervan Academic, 2017).

Dr Nahum M. Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis, First Edition (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2001)

Kenneth Mathews, The New American Commentary: Genesis, (2 vols), (Nashville, Tenn: Holman Referenc.e, 1996).

Series Graphic

Sermon Graphic

Designer: Tyson Phipps

Blessed: Delighting in the Good Life

To be one who is blessed is to be a person who is happy. A blessed person is someone who has discovered and delights in the good life from God.

Our increasingly secular world has its version of the good life that is often at odds with the Christian life. Yet we are shaped by this secular vision more than we realize. This fall series will consider how the secular vision for the good life is making you and your neighbor exhausted, anxious, and divided. In contrast to this secular vision, we’ll consider the blessed life in Christ that offers rest for the restless, freedom in belonging, and even comfort for the mourning both now and in the future.

Series Overview

Blessed Are Those Who Long for Home - Sept. 10

Finding rest in God while an exile in an exhausting world.

Psalm 84:5-12 | Luke 15:11-32 | Matthew 5:6

Blessed Are Those Who Belong - Sept. 17

Discovering freedom in commitment and identity in truth.

Eph 1:3-15 | Romans 14:7-8 | 1 Cor 6:19-20

Blessed Are Those Who Have Many Friends - Sept 24

Investing in meaningful friendships in an isolated world.

Prov 27:5-10, 17 | Prov 17:17 | Prov 20:6 | 1 Samuel 23:15-18

Blessed Are Those Who Are Hopeful Romantics - Oct. 1

Embracing hope when sex and romance are put in its proper place.

Luke 20:27-40 | Revelation 19:9 | Song of Songs | Eph 5:21-33

Blessed Are Those With a Faithful Household - Oct. 8

Building a household of faith when the next generation is deconstructing.

Psalm 127

Blessed Are Those Who Unplug - Oct. 15

Mastering technology rather than being mastered by it.

Psalm 1 | 1 Cor 6:12

Blessed Are Those Who Work and Rest - Oct. 22

Working hard and playing hard without overworking and burning out.

Isaiah 58:13-14 | Genesis 1:27-2:3

Blessed Are Those Who Are Generous - Oct. 29

Laying up treasures when we serve God and not Mammon.

Matthew 6:19-25 | Proverbs 22:9

Blessed Are Those Who Plant a Garden - Nov. 5

Doing justice by creating beauty rather than diversion and division.

Isaiah 61

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn - Nov. 12

Remaining steadfast in trials until the day of comfort.

Matthew 5:4, 10-12| 1 Peter 4:12-19 | James 1:12 | Rev. 20:6

Bibliography

Here are some of the main books that are influencing this series:

Crouch, Andy. The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. New York: Convergent Books, 2022.

Noble, Alan. You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP, 2021.

Twenge, Jean M. Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America’s Future. New York: Atria Books, 2023.

Smith, James K. A. On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts. Illustrated edition. Brazos Press, 2019.

Zahl, David. Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do about It. New, Revised edition. Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2020.

Series Graphic

Sermon Graphic

Designer: Tyson Phipps

The designer of this sermon graphic, Tyson Phipps (Deacon of Creative Arts), explains, “Some ideas that came to mind with this concept were receiving blessings and letting them overflow to our communities for life to flourish. Also, the drops at the top could reference Christ’s blood as well as water.”

Revelation Series

Graphic by Tyson Phipps

This Sunday, we’ll begin a new sermon series on the book of Revelation that’ll take us into June. The series graphic combines numerous symbols from Revelation: Alpha and Omega; blood (of the slain lamb, martyrs, nations, etc.); 7 (churches, judgements, etc.); and seal, trumpet, and bowl.

Some resources for this series include:

1. G.K. Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (or the longer version from NIGTC)

2. Grant Osborne, Revelation

3. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation

Here are a couple summary videos for Revelation from The Bible Project:

1 Corinthians Sermon Series

This Sunday (11/28), which is the first Sunday of Advent, we begin a new sermon series on 1 Corinthians.. What is 1 Corinthians all about? Watch the 1 Corinthians overview video by The Bible Project.

We’ll be going through most of this sermon series between now and the summer. In July and August, we’ll take a brief pause from 1 Corinthians to preach through Psalms 71-80 for the Summer in the Psalms series. In the fall, we’ll finish up the last section of 1 Corinthians (chapter 15) and the final remarks (chapter 16).

A Wonderful Life: Waking Up to the Glorious Light of Restoration

This Sunday, September 12th we begin a new sermon series called A Wonderful Life: Waking Up to the Glorious Light of Restoration. It’s a sermon series about experiencing the fullness of life. This wonderful life occurs when God’s light in Christ through the Holy Spirit shines on every area of life.

Here are the ten sermons in the series:

1. Sept 12: Our Highest Good

2. Sept 19: Created with Purpose

3. Sept 26: Ruined by Sin

4. Oct 3: The Good News of Restoration

5. Oct 10: The Mission of Restoration

6. Oct 17: The Restoration of Relationships

7. Oct 31: The Restoration of Work (Oct 24 will be a stand-alone sermon)

8. Nov 7: The Restoration of Culture

9. Nov 14: The Restoration of Public Life

10. Nov 21: Grace Restores All Things

Many different voices in the Christian faith inform this sermon series. The greatest inspiration, however, is the Dutch Reformed theologian, pastor, and politician Herman Bavinck (1854-1921). The sermon graphic for the series, created by Tyson Phipps, comes from a new edition of Bavinck’s book The Wonderful Works of God. Artist Jess Hiatt designed the sun graphic on the cover “to show that it is the small, everyday life-tasks that God uses to showcase His wonderful works.”

So how do we have a wonderful life? I’ll close with Bavinck’s answer:

[In Acts 2:11] the disciples of Jesus began to proclaim the wonderful works of God in all understandable languages as soon as the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. With these wonderful works of God we certainly do not, as is sometimes the case elsewhere, have to think about a particular fact—such as, say, the resurrection of Christ—but we have in view the whole economy of salvation, which God achieved through Christ. The Spirit was poured out precisely so that the church would come to know these works of God, to glory in them, and to thank and praise God for them.

Herein lies the thought that the Christian religion does not exist merely in words, in a doctrine, but that it is a work of God, in word and fact, which was accomplished in the past, is being worked out in the present, and will be fulfilled in the future. The content of the Christian faith is not a scientific theory, nor a philosophical formula of an explanation of the world, but a recognition and confession of the wonderful works of God, which have been wrought through the ages, cover the whole world, and await their fulfillment in the new heaven and new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Ruth Sermon Series

A new sermon series on the Old Testament book of Ruth begins Sunday, May 9th. Ruth is a story about a bitter life that becomes a blessed life, which is represented in the series graphic made by Tyson Phipps (Deacon of Creative Arts). Here is an overview of the series:

May 9 - Ruth 1:1-5

May 16 - Ruth 1:6-22

May 23 - Ruth 2

May 30 - Ruth 3

June 6 - Ruth 4

Here is a good overview of the book of Ruth from The Bible Project.

Jonah Sermon Series

Get ready for the next sermon series! We’ll be preaching through the book of Jonah over the next five weeks. Here is the plan:

January 12: Jonah 1:1-3

January 19: Jonah 1:4-16

January 26: Jonah 1:17-2:10

February 2: Jonah 3:1-10

February 9: Jonah 4:1-11

For a great overview, watch this video below from The Bible Project:

Sermon Series Image: from "Jonah Cast Forth by the Whale" by French artist Gustave Doré (1832–1883).

New Sermon Series: Amos

Last Sunday, we started a new sermon series on the book of Amos. This sermon series will last until Easter.

Listen to the first sermon here. It is an overview of the entire book. Also, watch the Amos overview below from The Bible Project. It is only a seven minute video and it is extremely helpful.

The sermon graphic uses an image of a stained glass window from 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, erected in memoriam from the people of Wales following the 1963 bombing of the church. Hear more about the history of this image in the conclusion of the first message linked above.

Immanuel Sermon Series and Advent/Christmas

Sunday, December 2 is the first day of Advent and we’re beginning a new sermon series called “Immanuel: God With Us.” Here is the schedule for the sermon series followed by an explanation of the Advent and Christmas season.

Sermon Series Schedule

1. (12/02) Isaiah 7:1-17

2. (12/09) Isaiah 8:1-10

3. (12/16) Isaiah 8:19-9:7

4. (12/23) Isaiah 11:1-16

5. (12/30) Matthew 1:18-25

The Meaning of Advent

The Worship Sourcebook describes the season of Advent:

The great proclamation “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14) assures us that God has entered into human history through the incarnation of the Son. The season of Advent, a season of waiting, is designed to cultivate our awareness of God’s actions—past, present, and future. In Advent we hear the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming as addressed to us—people who wait for the second coming. In Advent we heighten our anticipation for the ultimate fulfillment of all Old Testament promises, when the wolf will lie down with the lamb, death will be swallowed up, and every tear will be wiped away. In this way Advent highlights for us the larger story of God’s redemptive plan.

A deliberate tension must be built into our practice of the Advent season. Christ has come, and yet not all things have reached completion. While we remember Israel’s waiting and hoping and we give thanks for Christ’s birth, we also anticipate his second coming at the end of time. For this reason Advent began as a penitential season, a time for discipline and intentional repentance in the confident expectation and hope of Christ’s coming again.

The Meaning of Christmas

The Worship Sourcebook on the meaning Christmas:

At Christmas, we remember and celebrate the nativity of Christ and the mystery of the incarnation. Whereas during Advent we anticipate the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, at Christmas we identify with the angels who proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest”; with the shepherds, who were afraid but nevertheless offered worship; and with Mary, who pondered the meaning of these events in her heart (Luke 2:13-20) [...]

The Christmas season extends from December 25 through January 5 and includes at least one and usually two Sundays. Celebrating Christmas as a season helps us both to enter into the meaning of the incarnation more fully than celebrating a single day and to focus on additional Scripture texts that explore the meaning of Christmas beyond the familiar words of Luke 2.

Though North American culture considers Christmas the most important day of the Christian year, we must be careful to see the significance of Christmas in the light of all that follows, particularly Easter. In fact, Christmas is the first in a series of celebrations (Christmas, Epiphany, the baptism of our Lord, and the transfiguration of Jesus) that affirm the identity of Jesus as not only fully human but also fully divine. If the intervening weeks between these celebrations focus on the remarkable content of Jesus’ teaching and the relationships he established with his disciples, these four events anchor the church’s reflection on the meaning of Jesus’ life for our understanding of God and of the coming kingdom. Together, these celebrations prepare us for the journey toward the cross and the empty tomb.

Questions for Christians Sermon Series

This Sunday we start a new sermon series called “Questions for Christians.” We did this series back in 2014 as well. The 2018 series repeats three questions from 2014 (numbers 2, 3, and 8 below) and adds five new questions.

For several weeks, the congregation submitted common questions they receive from those who don’t identify with the Christian faith. The selected questions below include the most asked questions or questions with common themes.

Here is the schedule for the series:

1. (09/23) How is the church any different than a business protecting its brand?

2. (09/30) Is Christianity and science compatible?

3. (10/07) Why does God allow so much suffering in this world?

4. (10/14) Don't the OT stories and laws contradict the life and teachings of Jesus?

5. (10/21) How can Christians be so hateful and arrogant?

6. (10/28) Do Christians really believe God torments people in hell for eternity?

7. (11/04) What is the relationship between the Christian faith and politics?

8. (11/11) Why do Christians have such a narrow view of sex?

Character Restoration Series

We all struggle between the person we are and the person we want to be. That struggle may be with discontentment, resentment, anxiety, or disapproval (with self or from others). This series considers the impact of sin on our character and the restoration of our character through the power of Christ. When Jesus restores our character, he restores us to be truly human. 

Here is an overview of the series:

Week 1 (01/08): A Hopeful and Realistic Pathway of Character Restoration (Romans 7:9-8:39)

Week 2 (01/15): From Discontentment to Learning Contentment (Philippians 4:10-20)

Week 3 (01/22): From Resentment to Practicing Forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35)

Week 4 (01/29): From Anxiety to Seeking the Kingdom (Matthew 6:25-34)

Week 5 (02/05): From Trying to Please Others to Serving Christ (Galatians 1:6-10)