Sermons
Please note: The most recent sermons are at the bottom of the list. May God bless you richly!
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Guilt is Worldly Sorrow: It may sound unbiblical, wrong, and just plain crazy, but the Bible clearly teaches that guilt is worldly sorrow, not godly sorrow, and that guilt is not the same as conviction. God doesn’t want you to suffer with guilt! 5 April 2009.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: Guilt is Wordly Sorrow!
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God the Father: John Owen wrote many centuries ago that people “are apt to have very hard thoughts about Him” — as though our heavenly Father weren’t kind. In thinking like that, people misunderstand God. God wants you to know in truth what kind of Father He is, namely One who is wholly good, who pursues intimate relationship with you, and One who looks out for your best. 21 February 2010.
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To Whom the Glory?: There is an idol that everyone shares (either struggling against or succumbing to) which causes many of the most persistent difficulties that everyone deals with. This idol is the idol of the self. Freedom and joy are found in seeking the glory, not of one’s self, but of Another. 25 April 2010.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: 25 April 2010
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The Nature of Truth, part 1: There is such a thing as truth, and you can know it, and you can know that you know it. 19 September 2010.
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The Nature of Truth, part 2: We can know how reality was made (the truth about things), and therefore we can know how to live (moral truth). 26 September 2010.
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Paganism and Pantheistic Monism: Understanding the un-Christian view that “all is one” is critical to understanding the culture in which we live, so as to better love it, and so as to understand how we can be conformed to Christ. 3 October 2010.
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Walking in the Light: On 1 John 1:5-7: The Apostle John tells us what differentiates the one who walks in the light from the one who walks in darkness. 23 January 2011.
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How to Walk in the Light: On 1 John 1:8-10: This passage gives us the answers to the questions, “How do I walk in the light?”, and “How to do I know that I’m really walking in the light?”. 30 January 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: 30 January 2011
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The Gift of Assurance: On 1 John 2:1-6: God wants the Christian to be assured of His love and favor: for the present, for future time on earth, and for that most important moment when we encounter Him face-to-Face at death. In Christ, we can be assured that a warm welcome awaits us. 13 February 2011.
To download the mp3 file (if you want to put it on an iPod or similar device), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: 13 February 2011
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Love and Hate: On 1 John 2:7-11: John writes that those who belong to God have lives marked by love; those who don’t belong to Him have lives marked by hate. Seems simple enough, yet what people often think of as “love” or as “hate” aren’t necessarily what the Scriptures describe those realities to be. 20 February 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”:
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Stages of Spiritual Growth: On 1 John 2:12-14: God loves His children fully, no matter their level of spiritual maturity. And yet He calls us to grow, to know Him better and to better reflect His love to the world. In this passage John describes three stages of growth. (Note: apologies for the fact that the first two minutes of the sermon weren’t recorded. The recording picks up in the midst of the reading of the passage.) 27 February 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”:
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Loving the Father: On 1 John 2:15-17: According to John, we can love the Father, or we can love the sinful systems of this world that rebel against Him — but we can’t do both. In contrast to the abundant goodness God offers us, John tells us in this passage that the the dark systems of the world offer only three things, and those three things leave us only hungrier for more, never satisfied. 6 March 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: 6 March 2011
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Opposers of Jesus: On 1 John 2:18-26: Having given criteria by which we can test the nature of our relationship with the Living God, John continues by giving criteria by which we can discern the presence of those who oppose Jesus and His message and work. 13 March 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and select “Save Link as…”: 13 March 2011
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The Anointing and the Truth: On 1 John 2:26-29: Christ asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to believers (John 14:16), and the Spirit remains with us. In this passage from 1 John 2, we see that He works the truth of the gospel into the depths of our identities, so that we are secure in the love of God, and so that we thrive by His current empowering and in view of the magnificent hope we have for the future. 20 March 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: 20 March 2011
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The Father’s Love Gives Us Hope: on 1 John 3:1-3: In the midst of a troubled world and difficult circumstances, the Father’s love brings awe, and grants to our heart a confident hope for the spectacular future He’s promised to us. 27 March 2011
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option:27 March 2011
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The Great Banquet: on 1 John 3:2: John alludes to the afterlife in this passage, where believers will forever enjoy a restored creation and creation’s glorious and all-satisfying Creator. On this Sunday when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we consider how the Supper is a blessing as well as a foretaste of the future Great Banquet. 3 April 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: 3 April 2011
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Lord and Servant: on Philippians 2: Jesus Christ is exalted Lord, King of creation, and yet He showed that He is naturally inclined to serve. He is at home reigning in glory, and He is also at home humbly serving. His life teaches us the beauty of humility, service, and self-forgetfulness. (There are two separate recordings this week, with a difference in recording quality.) 17 April 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: 17 April 2011
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The Resurrection of Jesus: Luke 24:13-35: Jesus died and then rose to life again. He has conquered death, and there are good reasons to believe this is the case. 24 April 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: Easter 2011
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The Risen Christ Comes to Us Through People: Luke 24:13-35 (again). Christ meets us as we enjoy meaningful fellowship with each other, as the Scriptures are broken open (proclaimed, interpreted) for us, and in the breaking of the bread. That is, the church is an intimate part of His plan for us. 1 May 2011.
To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: 1 May 2011
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Your Kingdom Come: Matthew 6:7-13: The beginning of a brief series on the Kingdom of God and the church. The church is the primary expression of the Kingdom of God in this age. Through understanding God’s glorious Kingdom — which breaks into peoples’ lives now in Jesus — we can understand the vision and mission of the church (what we’re here for). 13 November 2011.
To play the sermon, please click on link. To download the mp3 file (e.g., for an iPod), please right-click on the link and choose the appropriate file-download option: Your Kingdom Come
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Your Kingdom Come, part 2: Matthew 6:9-10: The Kingdom of God is more than an idea or an ideal — it’s the powerful and active reign of God which, in Jesus, is breaking in upon us. 20 November 2011.
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Kingdom Words and Kingdom Works: Mark 1:15: Jesus came and ministered both Kingdom words and Kingdom works (demonstrations of Kingdom power) – they went together. He authorized the apostles, and then the disciples, to do the same, keeping words and works united. And that model hasn’t changed. 27 November 2011.
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Kingdom Tension: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10: The story of Jesus, and the story of Paul — in fact, the story of every Christian’s life — is this: glory and suffering, at the same time. Not defeatism. Not triumphalism. Rather, the Kingdom now and the Kingdom not yet. 4 December 2011.
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The Kingdom Makes the Church: 1 Peter 1:23-25: God’s Kingdom breaks into the world and forms…the church! And the Lord accomplishes this is through His ever-effective Word. 11 December 2011.
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Subjects of the Kingdom: 1 Peter 2:9-11. To be adopted by the Father through Christ is to be a subject (or citizen) of the Kingdom. And according to Peter, that makes us resident aliens here in what we used to call “home.” 18 December 2011.
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Great, and Lowly: 2 Corinthians 8:9: God shows His glory two ways: in being great in power and majesty, and also in His phenomenal humility, His lowliness. 25 December 2011.
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New Grace for a New Year: 1 Thess 5:16-22: 2012 is born, and we begin (powerfully) with gratitude, confident of God’s warm heart towards us, and eager to see how He fulfills His promises in the year to come. 1 January 2012.
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Worship of the King: Romans 14:7-9: Kingdom people are worshippers — so much so that to live is to worship — because our King is so great. 8 January 2012.
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Not Your Grandma’s Evangelicals: Acts 2:14-19. ACF is an Evangelical church which highly values God’s Word — and therefore which also highly values openness to the Holy Spirit. We’re seeking to be what Rich Nathan calls “empowered Evangelicals.” 22 January 2012.
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Worship Brings Freedom: Genesis 3:1-8. When we worship God, we look away from ourselves to Him. We focus on Him and give Him what He deserves. Meanwhile, He restores us. 29 January 2012.
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Attacks Against Worship: Genesis 1:31: God created us for worship, calls us to worship, and commands us to worship. Satan’s goal is to disrupt worship, and he pursues this goal using different strategies. One tactic is to accuse us, so that we get fixated on ourselves in self-hatred. But God speaks His loving word, releasing us into self-acceptance, and freeing us to worship Him with full hearts. 12 February 2012.
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Entering into Self-Acceptance: Genesis 1:31: God wants us not only to know that He deems His creation (including ourselves) “very good” — He wants this reality planted in the depths of our hearts. 26 February 2012.
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Enter with Thanks and Praise: Psalm 100. Worship rightly begins with offerings of thanks and praise to God — and these bring us directly into His royal courts. 4 March 2012.
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We’ve Come to Mount Zion: Hebrews 12:18-24. In Jesus, we have already come to worship at Mount Zion — we are present to God’s Kingdom, which is now invading out world with the power of God’s love. 18 March 2012.
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The God Who is Really There: Psalm 147: According to the psalm, we don’t live in a world where God is far removed from us. Rather, we live in a God-bathed world where He is available, eager to help us. The Christian worldview, unlike others, unveils a mighty Lord who is powerfully present. 25 March 2012.
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Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-9. Like the crowds throwing their cloaks and palm branches before the Messiah-King, we likewise want to honor Jesus. But we always want to honor the real Jesus, not the “Jesuses” of our own construction. 1 April 2012.
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