Our culture loves celebrities. This is true even amongst Christians. Just look at the best attended Christian conferences. It is the most well-known speakers who draw the largest crowds. Paul employs a far different "marketing" strategy for the cause of Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 4:1, his preferred job title is "servant" and "steward." He refuses to fill his minis...

We have an intuitive dislike for a boastful person, since it seems they think a little too highly of themselves. And since that's the case, intuitively we tend to shy away from directly bragging about ourselves. Instead, we find other less direct ways to boast. One of those ways is by identifying ourselves with someone else and then building that person up. This is, as Pau...

I want you to consider the following statements, which should be undisputable: Ants marching on the sidewalk cannot comprehend the complex world of human beings. Dogs do not understand their owner's weekend plans. A piece of clay cannot fathom the potter's reasons for shaping it in a certain way. Let me add one more, perhaps slightly less obvious: Humans, when left...

The world's system says you need to "win" to get ahead. It rewards promoting your strengths and hiding your weaknesses. In this system, those who have it all together rise to the top. The rich. The bright. The beautiful. The powerful. The talented. Not so in God's kingdom. His kingdom is upside down. To gain entry, you must admit your weakness. You must confess your failu...

How do we live faithfully for Christ while living in a world that constantly lures us away? What is the remedy for divisions within the church? How should we approach singleness and marriage? How should we think about spiritual gifts? These questions and more will be answered in our new sermon series in 1 Corinthians. This week we'll be exploring chapter 1, verses 1-17. ...

Certain books in the Bible seem to garner lots of attention (Romans, etc.), while others are often overlooked due to their brevity. Jude is one that is easy to miss. Therefore, over the next two weeks, we will explore the treasures of this New Testament epistle, which was penned by the earthly brother of Jesus. Jude longed to write a letter about salvation, but instead he...

This Sunday we'll be taking a break from our Ruth series as Doug O'Donnell comes to deliver the Word as our guest preacher. Doug is a longtime pastor, professor, and author who is currently the Executive Vice President of Bible Publishing at Crossway Books. More importantly, he is a devoted follower of Jesus, who loves God and His people. Doug will be preaching on the call...

"I have found favor in your eyes." What comes to mind for you when you see that phrase? It's not a very common one today, but you can probably still get the gist of it. Finding favor in someone's eyes means acceptance, relationship, perhaps even love. It is an important phrase in the Old Testament that often speaks of unexpected grace. It shows up in many different place...

Last week we began a new sermon series in the book of Ruth. It was a dark beginning to this book that follows a widowed Israelite, and her Moabite daughter-in-law as they leave the fields of Moab for Bethlehem in search of food and hope. We left Naomi walking back towards Bethlehem last week, having lost her husband, both her sons, and with no earthly prospect for any kind...

When you think about the word sovereignty, what do you think about? I would expect that, for some of you, our recent Daniel series may cause you to think about God's hand directing the affairs of governments, the rise and fall of nations and kings, countries and presidents. God's sovereign hand is what guides all the governments of the world. But it's also God's sovereign ...