All Episodes — Love Worth Finding | Audio Program

Simplicity of Salvation

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: 1 John 5:13 God wants salvation to be explained simply, because it is His desire that anyone can understand and obtain it. 1 John 5:13 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” Salvation is a relationship with God that pardons us from our sins. By salvation, we have peace with God and power over sin. We are given His presence through the Holy Spirit, and through the process of sanctification, we will be made perfect in God’s sight. In order to understand how salvation saves us and makes us perfect, we must understand our human nature. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Human beings, God’s crowning creation, are composed of body, soul, and spirit. Our bodies are made of the dust of the ground. But we are not our bodies; we just live in our bodies. We also have souls, which are our personalities, sense of humor, intelligence, likes and dislikes, idiosyncrasies — the things that make us unique. The human spirit is inextricably united with its soul, completely inseparable, but they are not the same thing. The human spirit is the organ of spiritual knowledge; it is evidence that God put Himself into man. Adrian Rogers says, “Salvation is not primarily getting man out of Earth into Heaven; it is getting God out of Heaven and back into man.” It is important that believers dwell in the Holy Spirit, because He speaks to our human spirits, which speak to our souls, which speak to our bodies. Our bodies move out into the world and allow us to be physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit. When we are saved, we immediately receive justification in our Spirit; we are progressively sanctified in our souls, and ultimately glorified in our bodies. Anyone can be saved; and when we are, we are given the assurance of our salvation through Jesus Christ. Faith is not a feeling; it is depending on God’s facts. Apply it to your life Do you have the assurance of salvation? Remember: salvation is simple: whosoever may come.

May 7, 202530 min

No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 1:16-22 Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Therefore, we know God is righteous, and there is no other way to Heaven except through Jesus. Romans 1:16-22 offers four factors to help us better understand this truth. The Revelation Factor: all men have some light. God created us to serve and know Him. There are two witnesses all people have; one is the outward, objective witness called creation. The other is the inward, subjective witness called conscience. The Refusal Factor: light refused increases darkness. Adrian Rogers says, “The opposite of truth is not error; it is sin.” When creation and conscience speak to us, and we continue to refuse God, we regress. We lose even the little light we have; our foolish hearts are darkened. Romans 1:18 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." In this context, the word "suppress" means to resist the truth; not in error, but in unrighteousness. Because belief in God leads to an entire life change, unbelief is the baggage that comes with disobedience. The Reception Factor: light obeyed increases light. Romans 1:16-17 says, “...for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. When we receive and believe the truth, we will be given more truth. When we surrender our will, God will speak to us; we can begin by obeying Scripture we understand. The Reckoning Factor: God will judge us by the light we’ve rejected. Many of us are fortunate to have immediate, easy access to the Bible. God will hold us accountable for this, more so than the person who’s never heard. This should encourage us to take advantage of the light we’ve been given, lest we lose it. Apply it to your life All men have some light; light refused increases darkness, and light obeyed increases light. Men are judged according to the light that they have. Knowing what you know, take advantage of the Scriptures available to you, and share it with others.

May 5, 202541 min

Why I Believe in Jesus Christ

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: John 6:66-69 If you were given the chance to speak to someone who has never known the love of God, what would you say? If you knew it would be the first, and perhaps the only time he would ever hear a message from God, what would you tell him? Tell him why you believe in Jesus Christ. John 6:66-69 says, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, ‘Will ye also go away?’ Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’” Jesus’ disciples had the privilege of seeing Him work from an intimate vantage point. They were not like the crowds who watched Him perform miracles and turned away once His message became too radical. They believed that He alone is the answer. Through their testimonies, they gave us reasons to believe this, too. Jesus was a historical fact. Whether you are a Christian or not, a man named Jesus was here. Secular historians acknowledge Him as a fact regardless of what they believe about Him. And if you believe the Bible, the book that stands the test of time, you can believe in Him. Jesus’ life is the fulfillment of the prophecies foretold long before He stepped foot on this earth. The central theme of the Bible is Jesus. If you look long enough, every page of Scripture tells His story. Even though historians and theologians alike validate the life of Jesus Christ, you may need help believing in Him. This is where the Holy Spirit comes into the equation. Adrian Rogers says, “Anything I can talk you into; somebody else can talk you out of. You need the Holy Spirit of God to convict you and convince you.” A transformed life is the greatest witness of Jesus’ saving power. Just as the disciples gave their testimony of faith in Jesus in John 6, we can also testify to others when we come to know Him. Apply it to your life How has Jesus changed your life since you’ve come to know Him? Knowing your testimony is your greatest asset when you witness to other people. Share it with someone today.

May 1, 202532 min

Don't Settle for Less Than God's Best

Sermon OverviewScripture Passage: Joshua 17:12-18 In Joshua 17, the children of Israel have reached the Promised Land, Canaan. Canaan is a picture of a Christian living in victory, being Spirit-filled. However, there were still Canaanites in the land—a demon-possessed people who represent the power of Satan trying to keep us from victory. “<a href="http://...when" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">...when</a> the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.” (Joshua 17:13). This passage represents how children of God often settle for less than God’s best. God’s plan for His people was total occupation, but rather than conquering the land, they believed they could tame the Canaanites and use them for their purposes. Some Canaanites they feared, others they befriended and became like them. Each relationship with the Canaanites was a sinful compromise that jeopardized their victory. Likewise, God’s plan for us is total victory through Jesus Christ. Instead, we convince ourselves there is use for our vices and addictions; we befriend the world and fear the devil. Ironically, the Israelites boasted about their greatness, as they failed to drive out the Canaanites. Adrian Rogers says, “Pride is bad enough, but pride that lifts its head from the mire of failure is terrible.” Finally, noticing that they were running out of room in the compromised land, Joshua instructed the children of Joseph to clear out the forest on the mountain. We must clear out the harmless things that clutter our lives. Though trees are beautiful, the Israelites needed the ground. Likewise, our clutter may not be sinful or wicked, but we need the space and time to do what God wants us to do. We must clean out the harmful things that corrupt our lives. God’s order was to first cut down the trees and then drive out the Canaanites. When we first declutter our lives, we can use that new time and energy to conquer the Canaanites of our lives. Apply it to your life Do you want to live in the victory that God has planned for you? If you have compromised and boasted in your sin, it’s time to get rid of the clutter and clean out the things that corrupt your life. Adrian Rogers says, “There is no sin that you cannot overcome, no temptation so terrible, no problem so big, no devilish power so great that you cannot overcome in the strength of the Spirit of God.”

Apr 30, 2025

Why Jesus Still Bears the Scars

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: John 20:24-28 Adrian Rogers says, “The only man-made things in Heaven are the scars that we made in the hands and feet and side of the Lord Jesus.” The Bible tells us that when Jesus comes again, we will see those scars He received from His sacrificial death. John 20:24-28 explains three reasons why Jesus still bears the scars. “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing’” (John 20:27). First, the scars tell us that as a man, Jesus suffered. In this passage, Jesus invited his doubting disciple, Thomas to examine His scars, which he received when He was crucified. These scars testify that He suffered for us, and still suffers with us, whether in grief, in persecution, or when the Church is unfaithful. The scars also show us that Jesus sympathizes; they remind us that God has been with us, He has felt what we feel and He understands our pain. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tested like as we are, yet without sin.” Pain has a protecting purpose; it warns us to pivot away from the things that harm us. Pain also has a unifying purpose. As the physical human body comes to the aid of a suffering member, pain draws people together. Finally, these scars reveal to us that Jesus saves. He received these scars when He died upon the cross for our sins. He did not have to suffer. Yet, He moved into our suffering, took it on Himself, so that we could be saved from our sins. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” Apply it to your life Jesus had some scars, and if we follow Him, so will we. Let your pain point people to the Gospel; and if you are suffering today, bring your wounds to Jesus; use your scars for His glory. Adrian Rogers reminds us, “A scar is a wound that is healed. You need to let Jesus heal your wounds, and then use that as a testimony for Him.”

Apr 23, 2025

The Week After Easter

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Luke 24:13-26 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a known fact that we fully believe as Christians. However, in the days following this miracle, some of the disciples were struggling to believe it. Luke 24 tells of two disciples on the road to Emmaus, who came face-to-face with Jesus Christ Himself, the week after Easter. This passage first describes the discouragement of their confused hearts. In verses Luke 24:19-24, we learn these disciples had heard the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection, yet they believed it to have been a misunderstanding. They were confused because they were looking for a political Messiah, and hoped Jesus would come and redeem Israel; yet Jesus had been crucified. Their misunderstanding led to disappointment; this led to doubt and discouragement. They did not yet understand that Calvary would lead to Easter, and Easter to Pentecost—when the Holy Spirit came and carried out what Jesus began. Second, this passage reveals the discovery of a challenged heart. “So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him” (Luke 24:15-16). These disciples were already believers, though they were backslidden and discouraged. Jesus sought them to claim and comfort them. Likewise, we love Jesus, because He first loved us. Adrian Rogers says, “If Jesus would seek us when we were just out-and-out sinners, surely He will seek us when we’re saved and away from Him.” Jesus caught up with them on the road to Emmaus and taught them the Word of God (v. 27). He challenged them because He wanted them to learn to depend upon Scripture and continue growing after His ascent to Heaven. He opened them to the Scriptures, and as a result, He opened their eyes. Only after He taught them God’s Word did they recognize Him. They saw Him in the fulfilled prophecies of Scripture; they also now recognized Him bodily in front of them. This moment led to the declaration of their convinced hearts. Their encounter with Jesus sealed their belief in His resurrection; they immediately went back to Jerusalem with the news, telling everyone about their risen Savior. Apply it to your life Are your eyes opened to the Bible, and to the risen Savior? Is your convinced heart set aflame? Pray and ask God to challenge you as you read Scripture today.

Apr 21, 2025

The Conquest

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Acts 4:1-20 Acts 4 tells of the great conquest of Jesus Christ, the one who died and arose from the grave. He is still alive and well; the Christ that walked the shores of Galilee is alive through His new body, the Church, even today. Because He lives, His persecution continues. Adrian Rogers says, “When you persecute the church, you persecute Jesus.” In the beginning of Acts 4, a miracle was performed by the disciple, Peter. He claimed it was the power of Christ in Him who healed. As a result, the people were beginning to follow Jesus. The religious leaders didn’t like it and began persecuting the Church. But because the apostles were acting as the hands and the feet of the Lord, it was Jesus who was persecuted, too. Because He lives, His preaching convinces. How did these uneducated fishermen preach and five thousand come to Christ? They were not dependent upon their power of persuasion or winsomeness to bring these people to Christ. It was the people’s encounter with Christ through the disciples that convinced them to believe. Because He lives, His power confronts. There are things happening in this world today that are undeniably done by the hand of Jesus. He is still performing miracles. Because He lives, His presence compels. After spending time with the resurrected Christ, Peter was compelled to tell others about Him. If we spend time with Jesus, we will be as bold as His disciples. His presence will compel us with a holy boldness; a knowledge that Jesus is alive and He lives through us. Finally, because He lives, His people confess. Acts 4:20 says, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Anybody who has known that Christ is alive cannot keep quiet; we cannot hold it in. Because He is alive, we can wear persecution like a badge of honor. We can let Jesus convince, confront and compel others through us. Let us not be ashamed to confess what He has done in our lives. Apply it to your life Do you know that Jesus is alive? Does your life reflect this? Stay in the presence of Jesus. Like an iron in the fire, let there be a holy boldness about you. Tell someone about Jesus today.

Apr 18, 202523 min

The Cross

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: 1 Peter 3:18 The cross of Jesus Christ is the cure for sin. 1 Peter 3:18 points out three truths about how God forgives and deals with sin through the cross. The very first truth is the vicarious suffering of the cross. The word vicarious means “in the place of another”. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust....” Jesus, who is the just, sinless Son of God, died for the unjust, us. He became our substitute. He faced emotional and bodily suffering unlike anything we could possibly imagine. In the Old Testament, God instituted the ritual of the Passover Lamb. There was judgment upon the land because of sin, but God told His people to kill a perfect, spotless lamb. They were to take the blood of that lamb and put it upon the doorpost of their houses. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot...” Jesus' crucifixion bears symbolism of that of a Passover Lamb. Even then, God was using the Passover Lamb as a prophecy and a picture of the cross of Jesus Christ. Notice also the vital satisfaction of the cross. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sin....” Once; once for all. The debt has been paid in full. To say that there needs to be another sacrifice for sin is blasphemy. It is finished. We see also the victorious salvation of the cross. “He hath suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Sin separates us from a Holy God. The cross reconciles us a Holy God. Adrian Rogers says, “On that cross, Jesus took Holy God with one hand, sinful man with the other hand and by the blood of His cross, He hath reconciled God and man.” God has a way of bringing us back. “Oh the love that thought it; oh the grace that brought it.” Apply it to your life Do you believe in the cross of Jesus Christ? The vicarious suffering, the vital satisfaction, the victorious salvation? Thank God for the sacrifice He made through Jesus Christ to bring us back to Him.

Apr 17, 202538 min

The Crown

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 27:26-31 Before Jesus was crucified, a crown of thorns was placed on his head. Though done by the hands of wicked men, this crown part of the magnificent plan of a sovereign God, who would use it as a message for all humanity. Matthew 27 sets the scene for the sacred mystery of that crown. In one sense, this was an act of mockery. Yet, there was a mystery here, known only by God: thorns symbolize the curse that is upon humanity because of sin. When God created man and put him in the Garden of Eden, there were no thorns. It wasn’t until after sin infiltrated the garden that God cursed it with thorns. When He was crucified, Jesus wore this crown of thorns because He bore the curse. The crown also speaks of suffering, pain and brutality inflicted on Jesus during His crucifixion. Why were the Roman soldiers beating and mocking Him? Because of their rebellion; they were ridiculing His right to rule. Adrian Rogers says, “The root of all sin is refusing to bow the knee to your rightful king.” We must also recognize the saving ministry of that crown. Through these thorns, God was teaching a lesson that Jesus, who knew no sin became sin for us. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Because of His holiness, God never has, never can, and never will let one sin go unpunished. There’s only one question...who will bear that punishment: us or Jesus? Adrian Rogers says, “Sin will be pardoned in Christ or punished in hell, but sin will never be overlooked.” Finally, we must remember: crowns have always been a symbol of authority. When Jesus wore this crown of thorns, He was the sovereign majesty, not a helpless victim. Even when it seemed out of His control, He was in perfect control. Jesus, in His glory, wears a crown. A crown of peace, righteousness and glory. But on our behalf, He wore one of thorns, bearing our curse, our sin, our shame to save us from ourselves once and for all. Thank God for the crown. Apply it to your life All sin is due to be punished. Who will bear the punishment… you or Jesus? Today, ask God for His forgiveness of your sins. Thank Jesus today for wearing the crown of thorns. Bow the knee to the rightful King.

Apr 16, 202534 min

The Cup

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Luke 22:39-47 In Luke 22, Jesus told His disciples about His coming crucifixion at the Last Supper. When He later came to the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times: Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. This wasn’t a literal cup; rather, a symbolic cup, meaning to experience something fully. Was He afraid of His coming crucifixion? Did the cup symbolize the physical pain He would soon feel? What was it that caused Jesus to dread the drinking of that cup? It was sin; every sin through all the ages polluted the cup, as well as the punishment of that sin. It was not the physical pain He would feel that caused Him to plead for another way. No; it was the vileness and filth of sin He would soon take on that caused Him agony. And the silence from heaven said, there is no other way. God will never overlook sin, for He is holy. By His holiness, He has sworn that sin will be punished. So, when Jesus took on our sins, God the Father, in holy justice, treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, and punished Him as such. Jesus knew this, yet He consumed the contents of the cup anyway. He chose it. In His holy humanity, Jesus shrank back. But in His divine love, He said, “Thy will be done.” Jesus wrestled between His holy humanity and His divine love. His love won. Adrian Rogers says, “The cross is God’s way to punish sin and forgive the sinner at the same time.” There is one more cup, one that we drink. Just before Jesus went into Gethsemane, Jesus was at last supper with his disciples. He told them: this is the New Testament in my blood. Drink it. This is the cup of communion, and it is ours to drink. He drank the cup of sin that we might have the cup of redemption. Apply it to your life Have you accepted the cup of communion? Have you wrestled with submitting your will to the Father? Can you truly say, “Not my will, but Yours be done?” Adrian Rogers says, “As I look at dark Gethsemane, there are two things it tells me. Number one, I want to hate sin. Number two, I want to love Jesus Christ.”

Apr 15, 202536 min

The Cup

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Luke 22:39-47 In Luke 22, Jesus told His disciples about His coming crucifixion at the Last Supper. When He later came to the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times: Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. This wasn’t a literal cup; rather, a symbolic cup, meaning to experience something fully. Was He afraid of His coming crucifixion? Did the cup symbolize the physical pain He would soon feel? What was it that caused Jesus to dread the drinking of that cup? It was sin; every sin through all the ages polluted the cup, as well as the punishment of that sin. It was not the physical pain He would feel that caused Him to plead for another way. No; it was the vileness and filth of sin He would soon take on that caused Him agony. And the silence from heaven said, there is no other way. God will never overlook sin, for He is holy. By His holiness, He has sworn that sin will be punished. So, when Jesus took on our sins, God the Father, in holy justice, treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, and punished Him as such. Jesus knew this, yet He consumed the contents of the cup anyway. He chose it. In His holy humanity, Jesus shrank back. But in His divine love, He said, “Thy will be done.” Jesus wrestled between His holy humanity and His divine love. His love won. Adrian Rogers says, “The cross is God’s way to punish sin and forgive the sinner at the same time.” There is one more cup, one that we drink. Just before Jesus went into Gethsemane, Jesus was at last supper with his disciples. He told them: this is the New Testament in my blood. Drink it. This is the cup of communion, and it is ours to drink. He drank the cup of sin that we might have the cup of redemption. Apply it to your lifeHave you accepted the cup of communion? Have you wrestled with submitting your will to the Father? Can you truly say, “Not my will, but Yours be done?” Adrian Rogers says, “As I look at dark Gethsemane, there are two things it tells me. Number one, I want to hate sin. Number two, I want to love Jesus Christ.”

Apr 15, 202536 min

Redeeming Love

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Ruth 4 The story of Ruth begins with a funeral and ends with a wedding; it begins with weeping but ends with joy. Ruth and Boaz’s story is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ’s redeeming love for the Church. Ruth 4 shares a picture of our salvation in Jesus Christ, our kinsman Redeemer. First, this passage gives an illustration of our redeeming Lord. Ruth 4:4 explains the law in the land: Following her first husband’s death, Ruth’s estate had been sold and she was left in a dire circumstance. As a near relative of her deceased husband, Boaz assumed Ruth as his wife and bought back the estate that was sold, becoming what’s called a “kinsman redeemer.” Jesus Christ became our near kinsman when He stepped out of eternity and into our world to assume responsibility over us. Legally worthy, He bought back what was lost when sin entered the world. A man of wealth, Boaz was able to sufficiently buy back the estate. Jesus paid an even greater price for us than Boaz paid for Ruth: His own life. Boaz also displays a loving willingness to redeem Ruth, as Jesus was willing to redeem us. Adrian Rogers says, “He does not love us because we’re valuable; we’re valuable because He loves us.” This passage also gives a picture of our renewed life. Ruth was a woman from a pagan land, hopelessly stuck in a terrible circumstance; she is a picture of us all, plagued by sin, sorrow, and death. Boaz’s willingness to redeem her changed everything; even more so, Jesus took on our sin and shame and changed everything for us. Finally, the passage reminds us of our restored legacy. Ruth received a new family, great fortune, and fame in the land of Bethlehem. She was fruitful, noted as the grandmother of King David, becoming part of the ancestry of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, we are strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope. But because Jesus has redeemed us, we have a new family, fortune, and fame. With the Holy Spirit, we are fruitful and have a bright future ahead, leaving a legacy of faith and redeeming love. Apply it to your life Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our kinsman Redeemer? As you read through Ruth 4, remember the love of Jesus Christ, perfectly illustrated in the story of Ruth and Boaz.

Apr 11, 2025

Five Ways to Draw Closer to Jesus

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Ruth 3 In the Book of Ruth, Ruth and Boaz’s love story is an illustration of Jesus Christ and the Church, His Bride. The advice Ruth received from her mother-in-law in chapter 3 reveals five ways to draw closer to Jesus. “Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor…” (Ruth 3:3). First, if we want to draw near to God, we must be freshly cleansed.We’re cleansed by the Word of God, which shows us what we are and reveals the defilement and dirt within us. We’re also cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, who is faithful to forgive us of our sins when we confess them. Second, we must be fragrantly consecrated. Ruth’s anointing was a sweet perfume; our anointing is the Holy Spirit, who makes our lives like incense to God. Third, we must be fitly clothed. Ruth was instructed to wear her best garments. Likewise, we are instructed to put on garments of salvation we’ve received through Christ. Fourth, we must be fully committed. “Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do” (Ruth 3:4). By placing herself at Boaz’s feet, Ruth told Boaz that if he is willing, she will accept him as her Redeemer husband. In the same way, we must sit at the feet of Jesus and fully commit our lives to Him. Finally, we must be faithfully compliant. As Naomi told Ruth to obey Boaz, we are called to not only hear the Word of God but obey it. Boaz received Ruth, reassured her, and replenished her with more barley than she could carry. When we draw near to our Redeemer, we’ll find ourselves received and reassured by His love, and see that He will replenish us with abundantly more than we could ask for. Apply it to your life If you want to draw near to Jesus, be cleansed and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Clothe yourself in salvation, commit and comply with whatever He tells you to do.

Apr 9, 2025

God's Amazing Grace

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Ruth 2 After losing her husband in a pagan land, Ruth made the wise choice to stay with her mother-in-law and continue worshiping the one true God. God honored her choice and lavished His amazing grace upon her by way of Boaz. Ruth 2:1 says, “There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz…” The love story of Ruth and Boaz is a beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ’s love for the Church. First, this story reminds us of God’s saving grace. Because of her husband’s death, the law of the land claimed a curse upon Ruth. Boaz, a mighty man of great wealth, was a close kinsman of Ruth’s family. If willing, he could redeem her from financial bankruptcy and provide for Ruth in her weakened condition. Adrian Rogers says, “The law excluded her, but grace included her.” In the same way, Jesus is our near kinsman who willingly took on flesh and blood to be made like us in order to redeem us. Second, this grace is sovereign: the unseen hand of God brought Ruth to Himself. As a young, penniless widow, Ruth went to work in Boaz’s fields just in time for the barley harvest. Ruth showed up in the fields at the exact right time because God is sovereign, and He has a plan. Third, this grace was a seeking grace; once he saw her in the fields, Boaz took the initiative. God has taken the initiative with us, and continues to seek us through Scripture, our sufferings, and His servants. This was also a satisfying grace; throughout Ruth 2, we see Boaz looking out for Ruth’s needs as she worked the fields. This mimics how God satisfies our every need and provides for His children to further His kingdom. Finally, this was a securing grace; Boaz charged the other men of the field not to touch her. Ruth was now safe and secure under the watchful protection of her kinsman redeemer. And in Jesus Christ, we are not only saved and satisfied; we are forever secure. Apply it to your life Ruth was not placed in the fields of Boaz by accident. Likewise, you are not in your current circumstance by chance. Pray for God’s guidance and rest assured that He is with you, and He has a plan for your life.

Apr 7, 202535 min

It is Decision That Determines Destiny

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Ruth 1 In the midst of some of the darkest days recorded in Scripture, we are given a love story: Ruth’s love story, one which counts for all of eternity. The Book of Ruth is a beautiful example of how decisions determine destiny. First, this story reveals the principle of willing choice. Ruth 1:1-2 states that in the midst of a famine in Bethlehem, Elimelech led his family (including Ruth) into the pagan land Moab, which proved to be a deadly decision. We are the sum total of our decisions: we are free to choose, but we are not free not to choose; nor are we free to choose the consequences of our choices. Adrian Rogers says, “First you make your choice, and then your choice chooses for you.” Second, this story reveals the problems of a wrong choice. Elimelech made the wrong choice because he had the wrong motive. He was physically motivated rather than spiritually motivated: seeking refuge from famine in a cursed land. He also chose the wrong method: walking by sight and not by faith. And to his demise, he served the wrong master by dwelling in enemy territory. This wrong choice resulted in tragic consequences, as Elimelech and his two sons died, leaving Naomi, Orpha, and Ruth as vulnerable widows. But this story also reveals the power of a wise choice. After Naomi urged her daughters-in-law to return to their homelands, Ruth’s decision changed the entire trajectory of her life. “But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God’” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth was a cursed, crushed, and condemned woman. But she was given a new hope because she decided to hold onto the God of her late husband’s family—even in their disobedience and their doubt. She was given new direction, dependence, and desires. Her wise choice brought on new devotion to God, a new dedication to Naomi, and a new destiny. As a result, the maid of Moab married the bachelor of Bethlehem and became an ancestress of the Lord Jesus Christ. Apply it to your life There is life and death in every decision we make; choose to hold onto Him, live by faith, and make wise decisions.

Apr 3, 2025

How to Love as Jesus Loved

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: John 13:34 The greatest need of mankind is to love and to be loved. Yet, it’s getting harder to do so than ever before. As Christians, we have been instructed to love as Jesus loved. John 13:34 says, "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another." This commandment is easy to consider for those who are easy to love… but what about the ones who have hurt us, misused us or wronged us? Not only was Jesus the great teacher, He was the great example. As Jesus gave this commandment, He washed His disciples’ feet: a timely custom performed by slaves. He washed Judas’s feet, who would later betray Him. He washed Peter’s feet, the disciple who would later deny Him. And He washed Thomas’s feet, who would later doubt Him. Here is the Lord of glory doing slave labor… unto the very people who would let Him down. By doing this, He exemplified selfless love. He exemplified humility. Adrian Rogers says, “Real humility is not thinking lowly of yourself; it is not thinking of yourself.” God the Father had put everything into Jesus’ hands, yet he laid aside his garments, took a towel and washed fishermen’s feet. Jesus also exemplified steadfast love; He loves unto the end. If you want to love as Jesus loves, you’ll never stop. We love sometimes, but we only do so when everything is just right. Under pressure, we excuse ourselves from it. But even the unsaved can love that way! Adrian Rogers says, “Your character that cannot stand up under pressure and under testing is not real.” Jesus exemplified serving love. He met injury with service. Love does not give people what they deserve; it gives people what they need. Love is willing to serve at the lowest of tasks. Jesus exemplified sanctifying love. Those of us who are saved walk in a dirty world. Sometimes, we need to let Jesus wash our feet, to remind us of His love. Then, we may go and wash the feet of others. Apply it to your life Are you willing to love others with a selfless, steadfast, serving, and sanctifying love? As Adrian Rogers says, “Find somebody that needs that love, and give it to them.”

Apr 1, 2025

How to Keep Your Spiritual Fire Burning

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Acts 2:1-4 The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 marked the birth of the Church, and the burst of the Holy Flame that is the Holy Spirit. One of the most important things we can do is learn how to keep our spiritual fire burning. Acts 2:1-4 says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” In this passage, the Holy Spirit was symbolized by sound, fire, and the speaking of tongues. These miracles illustrated the mighty power and the filling of the Spirit of God. Adrian Rogers says, “Bethlehem is God with us, Calvary is God for us, Pentecost is God in us.” Pentecost teaches us that as children of God, we are baptized and sealed into the Body of Christ as the Spirit dwells in us. And when we are filled with the Spirit, it acts as a Holy Flame: it illumines, consumes, transforms, empowers, and attracts us. There are four ways to keep this fire burning. First, don’t lie to the Spirit; the example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 shows that lying to Him is like playing with fire: we will get burned. Second, don’t grieve the Spirit. The Holy Spirit loves us so much that His heart is broken by our unconfessed sin. We grieve Him when we allow unrepented sin to remain in our lives. Third, don’t quench the Spirit; we must be sensitive to this guiding, God-sent Spirit because it is so easily quenched when we aren’t obedient. When God’s Spirit speaks to us, we should be quick to answer Him. Finally, we must be completely committed to Him. We must give Him continual control, constantly claiming Him as Lord. Adrian Rogers says, “Where the Spirit is Lord, there’s liberty.” Apply it to your life Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Resist lying to, grieving, and quenching the Spirit, and be totally committed to Him. Give Him continual control and constantly claim Him as Lord.

Mar 28, 2025

How to Repair a Broken Faith

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Genesis 12:1 Faith is the distinguishing mark of the Christian. The way to live the Christian life is by faith. In fact, before followers of Jesus were ever called “Christians,” they were called “Believers.” It is our chief duty to exercise our belief in Jesus. But it is not enough to simply believe. Faith is believing the word of God and acting on it. We are reminded of this through the faith of Abraham. Abraham received a word from God and acted upon it. He left his home and followed God to a new land. So when our faith seems to be broken, how do we repair it? It begins with Repentance. Adrian Rogers said, “You cannot live in your old way of life and think at the same time you can live by faith.” Is there something you are still holding onto from your life before Jesus? Something you idolize? Anything you love more, serve more, fear more, trust more than God is an idol. Repent. Crush the idols in your life. Turn your hearts back to God. After repentance comes remembrance, remembering… -the One who brought you to the new land-the One who saves you is powerful enough to keep you-the One who meets every spiritual need will meet every material need-the One who holds eternity, holds next week, too. The God of the big things is the God of the small details, too. Finally, there is restoration. Once Abraham repented, God did not remember Abraham’s sin. God remembered his faith. When we live in faith, God will not remember our iniquities. Following the restoration of our faith comes the opportunity to be a blessing to others. We cannot abhor the blessings in our lives, we are meant to pour them out. Adrian Rogers said, “God wants you to be a river of revival, not a reservoir of blessings.” We should pray to be used as a blessing in other people’s lives. That’s the reward of faith. Apply it to your life Faith isn’t just believing. It is acting on your belief. So, if you want to be blessed in your faith, pray today for an opportunity to be a blessing in someone else’s life. It’s then you are praying for an opportunity to act on your belief, and faith will flow through you as it was meant to.

Mar 26, 2025

When Faith Is in the Fire

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Daniel 3:1-30 As these days grow gloriously dim, we must stand on the principles of God’s Word—for things that are true and righteous, which last throughout time and eternity. Daniel 3 tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. This story reminds us that we will face immense pressure to bow down, yet we must stand alone, even when our faith is in the fire. First, see the fury they faced: there was emotional enticement and a social obligation to bow to the idol. Everyone was doing it; the government was even enforcing it. The devil is behind all of this defiling spirituality, seeking out converts. But Daniel 3 also reminds us of the faith that followed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego exhibited a settled, strong faith, having already made up their minds beforehand to remain devoted to God. They knew God could deliver them, and even if He didn’t, they would never bow to anyone else (see Daniel 3:16-18). Adrian Rogers says, “It is one thing to have faith to escape. It's another thing to have faith to endure.” So, the three were thrown into the furnace as they were warned. And we see the fellowship they found in the fire: “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). “...they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them” (Daniel 3:27).Rather than being consumed by the fire, God used it to cleanse them. Rather than sparing them from the furnace, He joined them in it. As a result of this miracle, Nebuchadnezzar had to admit: there is no God like our God. Adrian Rogers says, “Do you know when this world is going to start having respect for the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the Bible? When you and I, by the grace of God, stand alone.” Apply it to your life Understanding the fury to conform to this world, do you have the faith to stand alone? Take courage today—know that whatever fire you face today, the Lord is with you.

Mar 24, 202535 min

The Wings of Faith

Sermon OverviewScripture Passage: Hebrews 11:1-2 If there is ever a time that we need faith in Almighty God, it is now. However, we don’t just need to possess faith, we need faith to possess us. Adrian Rogers said, “The law says run, but it gives us no legs; faith says fly, and it gives us wings. Hebrews 11 and 12 are great faith chapters. Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” This passage first explains the demands of faith.Faith is not positive thinking or a feeling of optimism. It is an agreement with God that becomes an attitude of trust, which leads to action. It is the substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen. Adrian Rogers said, “Faith is your ability to make present substance out of future reality. Faith reaches out into the future and brings the future into the present. It takes the unseen and makes it real in your heart and life.” This passage also reveals the dynamics of our faith.“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Only after we accept God through faith will we receive the spiritual wisdom to understand His works. Faith is necessary for our ability to worship; the heart will respond to the character of God when it is made right by faith. Faith is also the source of our spiritual wealth; it is the medium of exchange in the kingdom of God—not fame or fortune. Finally, this passage reveals how to develop our faith.It cannot be manufactured or worked up; rather, it must be imparted. Hebrews 12:1-2 explains that we must be saturated with Scripture, reading the Bible daily, because God gave it to us to build our faith. We must also get rid of the things that ensnare us and repent of our unconfessed sins, completely dedicating ourselves to Jesus Christ. Finally, as we run the spiritual race set before us, we must be activated by the Spirit, who enables us to believe in God and grow our faith. Apply it to your lifeIs your faith real, growing and developing through wisdom and worship? Are you saturated in Scripture, repentant of your sins, and looking to your Savior?

Mar 20, 2025

Saved to Serve

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 15-16 We are saved to serve the Body of Christ; each of us is called to be ministers and servants of the Lord Jesus. Romans 15-16 reveals six ministries each believer is called to undertake. The first ministry is encouragement. “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6). We are instructed to encourage one another, to patiently lift each other up. We must fix our eyes on God and begin to love and serve one another. We’ve also been called to evangelism. Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. Romans 15:16, reiterates, “that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God...” We’re called to the ministry of giving. We’re called to invest in things that count, which are the souls of men. We are debtors to the Apostles, to the martyrs of the faith, to the blood of Jesus Christ. It should bring us joy to give back to the Church that has lavished spiritual blessings upon us. We’re called to the ministry of prayer. In Romans 15:30, Paul asked the believers to pray for his protection, because he knew how crucial prayer is to anything we do. Adrian Rogers says, “You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed, but you can’t do much more than pray until you’ve prayed.” We’re called to the ministry of fellowship. Romans 16 shows how Believers minister by receiving and greeting people. We minister by loving, helping, and honoring people. We guard the fellowship against false doctrine to keep it pure. How sweet it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in fellowship. Finally, we are each called to the ministry of worship. “...to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen” (Romans 16:27). We rejoice knowing there’s never been a better day to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Think of what could happen if we began to minister to each other in this way. Apply it to your life You have been saved to serve and called to a ministry of encouragement, evangelism, giving, prayer, fellowship, and worship. Are you actively building up your church community with your service?

Mar 18, 2025

The Things That Make For Peace

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 14:19 The Book of Romans offers a sure word for an unsure age and calls for unity in a divided world. Jesus wants unity in His Church because togetherness is to our great advantage as believers and the thing our enemy dreads most. When we are anointed by the Holy Spirit as one body, pursuing the things that make for peace among us, the Church is unstoppable. Romans 14:19 says, “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” Unity is a matter of lordship. Earlier in Romans 14, Paul addresses disputes within the Roman church over diets and holy days. Paul urges believers not to divide over incidentals, but to devote themselves to one another. Paul tells them to receive their weaker brothers or sisters because their salvation is from God. Their service, security, and stewardship are found in Him alone. Rather than judging one another, Paul reminds them that we all answer to God, and only He is able to make us stand. Unity is also a matter of liberty. As Romans 14:17 says, “...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Liberty has its rights, but it also bears its responsibilities. Adrian Rogers says, “It is wrong for people in church to take their liberties and try to make such rights out of them that they wound the fellowship.” Many things we consider fundamental in church are in fact incidental. We must recognize them as such and choose to love each other over our own preferences. Finally, unity is a matter of love. Unity ignites love within the Church, and love will do many things for our fellowship. Love keeps our brothers from stumbling; it does not give reason for sorrow or separation. Love maintains unity in the Church and dispels reason for suspicion. Romans 14:22 says, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” Love covers all offenses, and helps the fellowship grow in knowledge and grace together. Apply it to your life If you belong to a church, seek the things that make for peace; don’t divide over incidentals, opinions, or offenses. Exercise your rights in love, receiving one another and bearing your responsibility as a believer.

Mar 14, 2025

The Wake-Up Call

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 13:11-14 In Romans 13:11-14, the Apostle Paul sounds the alarm to let us know that the enemy is near. As we see anarchy in this world, apostasy in the church and apathy in our pews, this wake-up call for the Church is as urgent today as it was when Paul first wrote it. “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12). It’s later in this age than we may think. We only have so many more days and hours yet to serve Jesus. There are unparalleled opportunities to preach the Gospel today that we will not get back. We cannot roll over and yawn in the face of God; it's time to wake up. It’s also time to clean up. Romans 13:13 says, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.” This passage tells us to put off carousing, sexual immorality, shamelessness, and covetousness. In an un-blushable generation that boasts in its sin, we are called to a higher standard of clean living. Finally, it’s time to dress up: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:14). Lord means Master: when we put Him on, He will give us direction in the way we should go. Jesus means Savior: in this vile world, Jesus is the only one who can deliver us from evil. Christ means King: He rules over us, and when we wear Him, He teaches us how to rule in this life. In this world, we must wear Jesus like a robe of righteousness, making no provision for the flesh. If we let Him, He will cover our sorrows and tears, our failures and shame. Apply it to your life The hour is late; don’t pull the cover over your head and press snooze; it’s time to wake up, clean up, and dress up. Adrian Rogers says, “Life is too short, eternity is too long, souls are too precious, and the Gospel is too wonderful for us to sleep through it all.”

Mar 13, 2025

Christian Citizenship

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 13:1-7 What does the Bible say about Christian citizenship? What are our responsibilities, duties, and rights? What are Christians to do, to think, and how are we instructed to behave? Many Christian citizens shy away from political involvement for various reasons. Some are discouraged, and others are intimidated or annoyed. But Romans 13:1-7 encourages us first to look at the reasons for human government. The Bible tells us that human government is ordained by God. Daniel 2:21 says, “He [the Lord] removes kings and raises up kings." God ordains human government for two reasons: to restrain evil and to reward good. Romans 13 also outlines the requirements for human government. And in Matthew 22, Jesus tells the people, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). As Christians, our responsibility is, first and foremost, to God; but we do have a responsibility to human government. Adrian Rogers says, “Separation of church and state does not mean the separation of God and government.” The government is here to restrain evil. The church is here to preach the Gospel. The state is not the master of the church, and the church is not the master of the state. The church is the conscience of the state. We are here to hold up a standard of truth. There are six duties Christian citizens have concerning our government. Pay our government: Jesus paid His taxes; we ought to do likewise. Pray for our government: Adrian Rogers says, “The greatest responsibility in America is not in the White House but in the church house.” Praise our government: We are to give honor to whom honor is due. Preach to our country: Adrian Rogers says, “We dare not identify the Christian faith with the Democrat or the Republican Party. We need to be free to tell both parties to repent and get right with God.” Participate in our government: Christians are to participate, not on the basis of parties, but principles. We are to be informed. Persuade our government: Our hope for America is to change public opinion. The Great Commission remains the same: we are instructed to win souls for Jesus Christ. Apply it to your life Have you been a good steward of your Christian citizenship? Are you involved? Get informed and pray for our government.

Mar 11, 2025

Discovering Your Ministry

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: James 1:19 Adrian Rogers says, “We’re in the business of serving the Lord, and God has given to every one of us a ministry.” As we mature in our faith, we are called to find our place of service. The days we’re living are desperate; it’s time we discover our individual ministry to serve the Body of Christ. Romans 12 offers four principles to remember when discovering our ministry. The first principle is lordship. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Before we ask God for answers about our ministry, we must present ourselves for His service. We must remember that He has shown tremendous mercy, that when we were rebels, God saved and secured us. We are required to present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices. As a result, we will be transformed. When we present ourselves as living sacrifices, our inner nature, which is Jesus, comes to the surface and people see Him through us. With our minds renewed to look like Christ’s, we are able to make assessments that we could never make before. We are able to think, not with human rationality, nor human intellect or intuition, but with divine guidance. The second principle is membership. “…so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another…” (Romans 12:5). Many of us don’t know our ministry, because we’ve looked for it outside of the Body of Christ. We need each other, and to say otherwise is sheer pride and arrogance. The third principle is stewardship. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…” (Romans 12:6). We are stewards over the gifts God has given us; we must use them wherever and however God guides us. The final principle is fellowship. “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another...” (Romans 12:10). If we abide by these four principles, God will use us so deeply for one another to prove what is good and acceptable; we will be examples of the perfect will of God. Apply it to your life Have you discovered your ministry? Abide by the principles of lordship, membership, and stewardship; continue in fellowship with other believers.

Mar 7, 2025

The Secret of Effectual Prayer

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 11:36 Everything begins with God. He is the source of all things, and everything leads back to Him. Everywhere we look, we see that Jesus is the power, preserver, and purpose of creation. Romans 11:36 says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” When we understand that prayer is a cycle—that, like everything else in this world, it revolves around Jesus—we will learn the secret of effectual prayer. The origin of prayer is rooted in the purposes of God. God has given us the privilege of working with Him. Prayer creates a special bond with our Creator, who designed us to depend upon Him. Prayer is also God’s way of disciplining us; any prayer that is not rooted in God’s will does not come to fruition. Adrian Rogers says, “Prayer does not bend God’s will to fit our will; prayer finds the will of God and gets in on it.” The operation of prayer relies on the power of God. God gives us the desire to pray; as sinful creatures, we have a natural inclination not to pray. Once we are saved, God puts His Spirit in our hearts which stirs up the desire to pray. He also gives us direction in our prayers: guiding us in what we should ask for and leading us to know the will of God. We can’t conjure up faith, or make ourselves believe by our own strength. The dynamic of faith comes by hearing the Word of God; when He speaks in our alone time with Him, our faith grows. Finally, the objective of prayer is the praise of God. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God. When we become interested in His glory over our own personal glory, we’ll see our prayers answered. Adrian Rogers says, “Prayer goes into God’s presence to carry something away. Praise goes into God’s presence just to stay there forever and ever.” Apply it to your life The secret of effectual prayer is that it happens by God, through God, and to God. Spend some time in prayer today and ask God to direct your prayers, so that you may know His Will. Spend some time praising Him today, as well; stay in His presence and seek His glory.

Mar 5, 2025

Is God Through with The Jews?

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 11:1 Because Israel is God’s chosen nation, it is the center of prophecy, of the approaching storm, of peace and glory. No matter how bleak it may seem for Israel in these gloriously dark days, God does not break His promises or alter His Word. He has not forgotten His covenant with Israel. In Romans 11, Paul recognizes five reasons God is not through with the Jews. First, there is coming a day when Israel will see Jesus as Paul did on His way to Damascus. As Paul became a witness to the nations of the world, so will the Jews. Adrian Rogers says, “If you don’t think that Israel can come to Christ, you don’t understand the power of God. The same power that convicted the apostle Paul is the power that will bring the Jews to Jesus.” Second, God always has a remnant according to His grace; He is the One who preserves Israel, nationally and personally. Because of God’s promises, the Jewish faith is indestructible. Third, God has a magnificent plan to bring back Israel, which has fallen away. By providing their salvation and allowing them to live godly lives, God uses the Gentiles to show the Jews the joy, love, faith, and victory we have in Christ. Romans 11:11 says, “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” Israel is not simply a reservoir into which God pours His blessings; Israel is His pipeline through which God dispersed His blessings. Fourth, God will continue to keep His promises to Abraham, in whom the Jewish race is rooted. Romans 11:16 says, “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” Finally, God will consummate His purpose with the Jews in His time, through His Son, and according to His Word. His plan will be enacted by His grace, for His glory. Jews who trust in God are the true Israel and they will be saved. Apply it to your life These are exciting days, as God is dramatically appearing in the life of His beloved nation and land. His prophetic promises are becoming a reality. There’s never been a better time to trust in the Lord Jesus and pray for Israel as the days become gloriously dark.

Mar 3, 2025

Faith: What It Is and How to Have It

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 10:17-21 Adrian Rogers says, “Faith makes God’s grace available and real to us. Grace is God’s ability, and faith is man’s responsibility.” In the Kingdom of God, our faith is the measure of our victory and success. Our belief is our greatest spiritual asset and richest currency. Conversely, unbelief is our greatest stumbling block. This is why there is an immediate urgency to receive what grace provides through faith in God. Romans 10 reveals the intricacies of faith, what it is, and how to have it. First, we must consider the object of our faith in order for it to be real. When we rely on the wrong things, it can be dangerous to our spiritual health. We do not rely on positive thinking, or even on faith itself. True biblical faith is placed in Jesus Christ, alone. Adrian Rogers says, “If the object of your faith is God, then the ambition of your heart ought to be to know Him.” Once we confirm the object of faith, we see it originates from the Word of God.Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” In order to grow spiritually, we must hear from God; we cannot know the will of God by guessing at it. Faith cannot be generated; it is given, as Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When God speaks to us through His Word and Jesus Christ, we will see the result of our faith, which is the Will of God. The objective of our faith is to get God’s will done on Earth as it is in Heaven.God is sovereign; He remains in control at all times. What He says He will do, He will accomplish. We have the beautiful opportunity to take part in His Will, through faith. Finally, we must know the operation of faith, which is the work of God.We do not work for our salvation, but our obedience to Him is proof that we believe in Him. Apply it to your life True faith does more than merely believe; it translates into action. When you pray and ask God what to do, and how to accomplish His Will for your life today, trust and obey Him.

Feb 28, 202537 min

Salvation

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 10:1-13 Some may think being saved is an old-fashioned concept, but salvation continues to be man’s greatest need. Romans 10 describes the necessity and timelessness of salvation. First, this passage reveals the freeness of salvation. “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:2-4). Adrian Rogers says, “Some people think salvation roots in the merit of man. They think salvation is a reward for the righteous, but really it is a gift for the guilty.” Many remain unsaved, not because they think they’re sinners but because they think they've never sinned. The worst form of badness is human goodness if human goodness is what keeps you from salvation. Second, in Romans 10:6, we see the nearness of salvation. “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’” We don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to find salvation, because Jesus Christ stepped out of Heaven to find us. He already paid the price with His life, already bore the weight of our sins on the cross, and rose to life to give us hope. We only need to be bold and unashamed as we confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. Salvation is not an intellectual belief that we tack on along with other ideas; it is trusting and committing everything to Jesus, claiming Him as Savior and Lord. Finally, we see the richness of salvation in Romans 10:12. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” Adrian Rogers says, “Nobody is so good they don’t need to be saved, and nobody is so bad that they cannot be saved.” God wants everybody to be saved; anyone who calls upon Him will be saved. We may fail Him, but He has never failed us. Salvation is by grace through faith, trusting the Lord Jesus. Apply it to your life Are you sure and solid in your salvation? Consider the freeness, the nearness, and the richness of salvation today.

Feb 26, 202536 min

Predestined for Hell? Absolutely Not!

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 9 As followers of Jesus, our greatest mission in this life is the pursuit of lost souls. Adrian Rogers says, “We are to evangelize or we will fossilize.” In the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul expresses sincere, steadfast, and sacrificial concern for lost souls. In Romans 9:1-2, he says, “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.” Are some predestined for Hell? Absolutely not! There are three things we need to know about the character and nature of God that will bring our theology into sharp focus. We first need to recognize God’s sovereign choices. In this passage, Paul uses the Jewish nation to explain the concept of God’s sovereignty. Jews are God’s chosen people; they have been given a name of honor, adoption, glory, covenants, law, service, promises, and the coming Messiah. The purpose of God’s choice is not for salvation, but for service. His choice also deals with preference. God has preferences for nations, but He does not predestine individuals for Hell. Second, we need to know God’s spotless character: “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!” (Romans 9:14) Despite what we may feel about His sovereign choices, God answers to no one and He owes us nothing but judgment. Yet, God pardons according to His sovereign will; He has decided to show us mercy when we don’t deserve it. It is not rooted in our merit but in His mercy. Punishment is according to man’s stubborn wickedness. God has every right to punish sin because He is God. But God does not create people in order to destroy them. If we want mercy, God will give us mercy. But if we harden our hearts, God will further harden our hearts. Finally, we need to be certain of God’s steadfast concern. He wants us to have salvation. If we want to be saved, He will save us, and keep us and present us spotless before His throne. Apply it to your life As you meditate on Romans 9 today, ask God to reveal His heart to you. Let the Holy Spirit affirm in your heart God’s sovereign choice, spotless character, and steadfast concern.

Feb 24, 202536 min

Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People?

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 8:28-39 The Bible says there is no good person, not one. (See Romans 3:10.) Every good thing we have is due to the grace of God, in spite of our sins. Romans 8 explains why good things happen to bad people, to sinners like us. First, we are graced by His purpose. Romans 8:28-29 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God’s eternal purpose is to make us more like Jesus, and we can rest assured that His purpose will be fulfilled. God will complete the work He begins. Second, we are guided by His providence. God does not will evil, but even when man does evil, God is still in control and will use it for good. Third, we are guarded by His power. Romans 8:31-35 shows that because God is for us, the enemy cannot intimidate us. And because God loved us so much that He sacrificed His own Son, He will not deprive us of anything we need. Adrian Rogers says, “If He would give the great gift of Jesus while we were sinners, what’s He going to do for us now that we’re His children? If He gave the greatest gift when we didn’t even ask, what will He give for asking? If He gave Jesus, would He withhold anything else?” The devil will try to incriminate and condemn us for our sins, but God has already paid our debt in full; now, we can never be separated from His love. Finally, we are gladdened by His presence. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because of God’s purposes, providence, power, and presence, good things can happen to bad people like us. Apply it to your life As you study Romans 8:28-39 today, remember: nothing can separate us from God’s love. Adrian Rogers says, “We don’t live by appearances or explanations; we live by promises.”

Feb 20, 202537 min

You Can Be Sure

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 8:28-31 Salvation, from start to finish, is of the Lord. It is only by the grace of God that we can be sure of our salvation. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” There are five foundational facts on which our faith rests. The first fact is God’s foreknowledge of our salvation. God knew we were going to be saved before we did. When God foreknows something, it is not an educational guess; He sees the beginning, middle, and end of everything, all at once. Second, we can be sure of our predestination to be like Jesus. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Adrian Rogers says, “God doesn’t predestine some people to go to Hell, and God doesn’t predestine some people to go to Heaven. God predestines every child of God, everyone who is born again, to be like Jesus.” God wants everyone to be saved, but in order for love to be love, it cannot be forced. So God gave us free will; whether we want to be saved or not is up to us. Third, we are sure that God foreknew we would be saved: “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called…” (Romans 8:30). Whenever the Gospel is preached, God is calling people to salvation. Through His Word and His Spirit, God can make the spiritually blind see things they’ve never seen before. Fourth and fifth, we can be sure of our settled justification, and finally, our eternal glorification. “...whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). The basis of our justification is the blood of Jesus Christ; it becomes effective when we trust in Him. As a result, God no longer deals with us as sinners, but as servants. As servants, God already sees us in Heaven, in His heart and mind, settled and glorified. And what has been settled in Heaven cannot be annulled or undone in time. Apply it to your life Are you sure of your salvation? Adrian Rogers says, “If you’ll put your faith where God has put your sins, on the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be absolutely sure.”

Feb 18, 202536 min

Prayer

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 8:26-28 As Christians, prayer is our greatest privilege and service, yet it can be our greatest failure. Too often, we don’t have the desire to pray, nor do we know what to pray for. Other times, the enemy interferes to keep us from praying. Adrian Rogers says, “The devil laughs at our organization and mocks our schemes. He ridicules our good intentions, but he fears our prayers.” Knowing this, God has given us an ally, an asset and a great Helper: the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” The Spirit activates our will to pray. Our flesh resists prayer, but the Holy Spirit in us recognizes God for who He is and reignites our will to pray. The Spirit animates our bodies to pray. When our minds wander and grow weary, we must yield to the Holy Spirit and receive His energy and power. The Spirit adapts our requests. Sometimes we’re not sure how to pray; but, glory to God, the Holy Spirit is the ultimate transformer. Simply pray with a clean heart, and He will adapt our prayers. The Spirit administrates our access to God. God has given us the royal invitation to pray, and the Holy Spirit is our guide into the throne room. The Spirit articulates our words. The Holy Spirit understands our groans and wordless heartache. Even when we don’t have the vocabulary to express our thoughts, God knows our hearts. And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. (See Romans 8:28.) His plans are for our holiness, not our happiness. The Spirit amplifies our victory. When we pray in the flesh, we are no match for Satan; but when we pray in the Spirit, we remember: if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31b) Apply it to your life Prayer is warfare. As you go to the Lord in prayer today, remember that you have a Helper who intercedes for you.

Feb 14, 202539 min

Turning Hurts Into Hallelujahs

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 8:11, 18 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what turns every hurt into a hallelujah. And that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in us. Adrian Rogers says, “It is Easter that turns every tear to a pearl. It is Easter that turns every midnight to a sunrise. It is Easter that turns every Calvary to a resurrection.” If we want to turn our hurts into hallelujahs, we must first consider our guilt. In His love for us, God gave us free will. Because we choose to sin, we are condemned according to the law of the Bible. But through Christ’s death and resurrection, we experience grace instead. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Jesus has freed us from the law of sin and death. There is no more condemnation for our sin, nor can it control us. However, though we have been freed from the curse of sin, we can still feel the hurt of it. Romans 8:18 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” All of creation groans as a symptom that there is something wrong with this fallen world. Christians groan, for we are not immune to suffering, and there is a lot of it in our world today. We live in a cursed world with other sinners, in bodies that have the curse of sin upon them. And even though we have been saved, we still choose to do wrong and God must chastise us in love. But there is comfort in knowing the Comforter groans, too. God sees our pain, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we hurt so badly, we don’t know what to pray for. Finally, we must remember that we’ve been prepared, predestined, and preserved for glory—that is the Gospel. Because of Easter, no foe or fault can condemn us, and no fear can conquer us. Apply it to your life Are you facing suffering of any kind, or a hurt you want to turn into a hallelujah? Remember: because of Easter, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in our pain. Spend time with God, and ask for His victory over your life.

Feb 12, 202535 min

Getting to Know Your Best Friend

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 8:9 The distinguishing mark of a Christian is the Holy Spirit in him. We can know a person has been saved if the Holy Spirit dwells in him. Romans 8:9 says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” This passage describes the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of life, of Christ, and of adoption. And if we want to get to know our best friend, the Holy Spirit, we must understand the ways He ministers to us. As the Spirit of life, He gives us life. The people who are truly saved live by the impartation of life, while the unsaved live a mere imitation of life. Our spirit is the part of our nature that enables us to know God. We are spiritual corpses until God breathes His Spirit into us. From that moment on, God’s Spirit bears witness to ours that we are children of God. Second, the Holy Spirit in us glorifies the Lord. His Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ. It is Jesus in us who is the Holy Spirit; His presence in us glorifies God. Adrian Rogers says, “If you want to know whether a person has the Holy Spirit, don’t ask him to speak with tongues, ask if he is like Jesus.” Third, He is called the Spirit of adoption. When we get saved, we are spiritually adopted into the family of God. Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Holy Spirit guarantees our legacy as children of God. He is there to attest to and make real what legally transpired when we became sons and daughters of God. By law, a man could disinherit a natural son, but he could not legally disinherit an adopted son. By adopting us into His family, God has locked himself into this new relationship with us. We not only have a new relationship, but we also have a new assurance and a new certainty of our riches as co-heirs with Christ. Apply it to your life Do you have the distinguishing mark of a Christian, which is the Holy Spirit? Remember this Good News: the Spirit gives us life, glorifies the Lord, and guarantees our inheritance.

Feb 10, 202535 min

Learning to Possess Your Possessions

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 7:1-4 There seems to be a gap between what the Bible says we are in Christ and what we are in reality. We are called to be victors, yet so many of us live as victims. Adrian Rogers says, “We need not to make the Bible match our lives but to make our lives match the Bible.” We must appropriate what God has already provided for us and learn to possess our possessions. Romans 7:4 says, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” By nature, we're married to the law, and it makes demands upon us that we cannot meet, no matter how hard we try. But when Jesus Christ died, we died with Him and became dead to the law. His death, burial, and resurrection had our name on it, and now we have a new life as the Bride of Christ. The first step is to learn how to die and start living. We will never possess our possessions until we come to the end of ourselves. Adrian Rogers says, “The reason that so many of us are not filled with the Spirit is we're so stuffed full of ourselves, there's not room for the Spirit.” We must go through something to get to something; we must go through death to ourselves to get to the victorious life. The second step is to stop trying and start trusting. Even after we are saved, we cannot keep the law of God in our own strength. We will fail over and over again, because it is in our nature to sin. But because we are the Bride of Christ, every demand upon our life is a demand upon Jesus, who lives in us. He is able to cover the multitude of our sins and deliver us from the law of sin and death. We can quit crying and start praising, for now in Jesus, we have the law of the Spirit. Apply it to your life What would your life look like if you learned to possess your possessions—to appropriate what God has already provided? Learn dying and begin to live; stop trying and start trusting; quit crying and start praising!

Feb 6, 202535 min

How to Live in Victory

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 6:1-2 The grace of God enables us to live godly lives in Christ Jesus and empowers us to live in victory. Romans 6 reveals how to live in victory. First, we must know our identification with Jesus, who gave Himself for us.“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:5-6). Jesus has acted on our behalf; when He died for us, we died with Him. When He was buried, we were buried with Him. And now, we have that same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, in us. Adrian Rogers explains, “When Jesus came out of the grave, we came out with Him and we’ve been raised to walk in a new life.” Second, we must reckon our appropriation of Jesus. “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11). Reckoning is acting by faith, on what we know to be true, which is that we are dead to our sins and alive in Christ. Third, we must yield our emancipation to Christ. The victorious life is God’s work in us; we cannot do it without Him, and He will not do it without us. Yielding begins when we dethrone sin. We must choose against our old master. No longer will our eyes be a tool for sin, nor our ears be sin’s instruments, nor will our hands do its bidding. We must also enthrone the Savior: “...but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13). We must make Jesus Lord of our lives, enslaving ourselves to Him, as Romans 6:18 explains: “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” When we become slaves of Christ, we receive new freedom, faithfulness, and fruitfulness. God will begin to live His life in us, claiming victory every step of the way. Apply it to your life Do you know that you identify with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection? Have you reckoned your life to what you believe? Have you yielded to Him?

Feb 5, 202534 min

There Is so Much More

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Romans 5:6-9 This modern world is trying to obliterate the word “sin” from our language. Everything is excused by psychology, evolution, human studies, and behavioral science, yet the real root of the problem is sin. If we don’t understand the bad news of sin, we’re not ready for the Good News of the Gospel—that there is so much more that we’ve gained through Jesus Christ.Romans 5:6 says, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Presently, there are two kingdoms: one is of death and destruction, and the other is of love and life. Adam is the head of that old kingdom, and Jesus is the head of that new kingdom. Adam is the head of the old kingdom. Being the first man created by God, Adam was given dominion over the earth. But when Adam sinned, he forfeited his dominion to sin. And because we are his offspring, we are identified with Adam in this slavery to sin. Romans 5:8-9 explains, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” When we join the kingdom of light, we gain so much more through Jesus than we ever lost through Adam. Through Adam, we received weakness rather than power, and we gained ungodliness rather than godliness. We also received wrath rather than approval and war instead of peace. We inherited our ability to sin from Adam: not only when we do as we shouldn’t, but also in failing to do as we should. Yet in Jesus Christ, we receive much more in His redeeming blood. Because of His sacrifice, we are justified and reconciled with the Father. We have the fellowship with God that was severed when Adam sinned. In Christ, we are also renewed and made righteous to reign with Him in the kingdom of life. Finally, we receive His restoring grace, as Romans 5:20 says, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…” Apply it to your life Each one of us is either with Adam in the kingdom of death, or we are with Christ reigning in the kingdom of life. Choose Jesus today; there is so much more!

Feb 3, 202537 min

How to Weather the Storms of Life

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 7:24-27 Life, in its very nature, is tragic; sooner or later, we all must weather the storms of life. The difference between a life built on the Word of God, and one that isn’t, lies underground. Before the bottom falls out of life, we must examine the foundation. In Matthew 7, Jesus describes two houses: one built on a rock, and the other built on sand. We do not see the differences between the houses until the storm comes. The results remind us why we must build our lives on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Matthew 7:24 says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” This passage reminds us to make sure our spiritual house is a sturdy building. There are two things necessary to have a firm foundation: hearing and heeding to the Word of God. The grace of God alone is what saves us; but someone who truly believes that will obey the Word of God. If they do not, their faith is a profitless profession and a barren belief. Adrian Rogers says, “While we are saved by faith alone, the faith that saves is never alone.” Once we hear the Word, we must do what it says, otherwise, our faith is dead. (See James 1:22.) Living by the Word of God is what sets the rock-builders apart from the sand-builders. After we’ve established a sturdy building, we must expect a stormy blast. Matthew 7:25 says, “...and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Storms come to every life, saved or lost. But we must remember that God has not abandoned us in the storm. Remember Peter and Judas, two of Jesus’ disciples? Both were entrusted with responsibilities in Jesus’ ministry—but their differences run deep. When the storm came, both disciples caved in different ways. However, Peter—despite his failings—had a foundation that Judas did not have. Peter experienced the steadfast blessing of a solid foundation: he was able to stand again. Apply it to your life People cave in during life’s storms when they don’t have anything solid to stand on. Make certain that you have a rock-solid foundation for your faith.

Jan 30, 2025

Beware the Wolves

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 7:15-23 Wolves are the most dreaded and hated enemy of the shepherd because of their danger and deception. Matthew 7:15-16a says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits…” It is wise to heed to the Lord’s warning about false prophets and to beware of wolves that come to us in sheep’s clothing. First, we must remember the fleece they wear. Wolves come disguised in sheep’s clothing, appearing to be part of the flock. Jude 11 mentions three wolves found in Scripture: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Cain represents those who pervert the Gospel. In Genesis 4, Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy. Abel, who understood the things of God, pleased Him with a blood sacrifice. Cain did not understand the things of God, and instead, brought the fruit of the ground (his own efforts). Balaam represents those who prostitute the Gospel. In Numbers 22-25, the very gifted prophet Balaam exploited the message of God for his personal advantage. This story isn’t about paying vocational ministers; rather it is a warning to those who will do anything for personal gain. Korah represents those who protest the Gospel. In Numbers 1, Korah did not respect the authority of God’s appointed prophet and priest. He rallied others to defy the prophetic message and priestly mediator. False prophets seek to replace the truth with false religion, but like Korah, they stand on shaky ground; God is not pleased and will not be replaced. We must also identify false prophets by the fruit they bear. No matter how beautiful the tree is, there is no hiding bad fruit. Likewise, a false prophet can only deceive for so long before the fruits of his life reveal what’s inside. Adrian Rogers says, “It is the root that determines the fruit, but it’s the fruit that reveals the root.” Finally, a wolf can be revealed by the faith he shares. Miraculous performances and good works do not replace scriptural truth. If a teacher does not teach from Scripture, he is teaching in vain. We must get in God’s Word and stand on it, so we will not be deceived. Apply it to your life Adrian Rogers gives us five things to remember, to make ourselves aware of wolves: -Study the faith-Show the faith-Stand for the faith-Support the faith-Share the faith

Jan 29, 2025

The Holy Highway

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 7:13-14 The Holy Highway is the straight and narrow path we are called to journey on. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” First, these verses show us there is a decision to face. Out of all the paths we could choose in life, there are really only two ways we can go: the broad way or the narrow way. God does not categorize us according to our status or economic class—He divides us up by the path we’ve chosen. He sees whether or not we are following Jesus on the narrow pathway. Because of God’s great love, we have the freedom to choose. But there’s no such thing as not making a decision—even the decision not to decide is a decision (and not a good one). We cannot choose the consequences of our choice. We will all face the good or bad outcomes of our decisions, so we must choose carefully. Once we’ve decided to walk on the straight and narrow, there is a direction to follow. The narrow way is a disciplined way. There is no easy, cheap, or lazy way to serve Jesus. While salvation is free, discipleship is costly; but without discipline, there is no power. It is a different way; don’t expect crowds to be on the straight and narrow. Adrian Rogers says, “It starts at a different source, it follows a different course, and it ends at a different conclusion.” Though it goes against the tide most times, it is a delightful way. Only those who are living clean and certain lives can experience the joy of walking with Jesus Christ; on the journey, we become even more cheerful and confident in our faith. Finally, there is a destiny to find at the end of the way. No matter fearful or fabulous—life or death—it is final. It all depends on which path we chose today. Apply it to your life Have you made your decision to walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life? Remember: you are free to choose, you are not free not to choose, nor can you choose the consequences of your actions.

Jan 28, 2025

The Power of Prevailing Prayer

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 7:7-11 Adrian Rogers says, “There is no substitute for prayer.” The key to the vault of all of God’s treasure is prayer. The power of prevailing prayer is the greatest unused and untapped resource on Earth. In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” First, there is a promise to claim. Our Heavenly Father knows our needs before we can even ask. We do not pray to impress God, or inform Him of anything He does not already know. We pray to invite God to work in our hearts and in our lives. God can do anything He wants without us, but we can’t do anything without Him. He wants our participation, and enjoys it when we delight in working and abiding in Him as well. (See John 15:4-5.) Prayer also develops us and causes growth. When we pray and it doesn’t seem to come, we turn to Scripture and seek the face of God like never before. God doesn’t want us to live independently of Him. Dependence on God leads to intimacy and a stronger bond than ever before. This passage shows us the process to follow in prayer: Ask, seek, knock. Our responsibility is the asking; God’s responsibility is the giving. Any desire that concerns us can be brought to God in prayer. When praying, we are on a quest to discover what the Lord wants for us. We must seek the purposes of God and discern whether we are asking for the right things. We must be determined: prayer is knocking on closed doors. God’s answers are direct, different, or denied; but they could also be delayed for our own growth and good. If that is the case, we have to keep knocking. We cannot stop until we have the answer, and God has given us that assurance. So, we can enjoy His provision. We are assured that God will answer our prayers, because God is good, He is wise, and He is able. Apply it to your life Are you waiting for God to answer a prayer today? Remember: Ask, seek, and knock. Voice your desire to God, seek His Word to be sure it is according to His will, and keep knocking.

Jan 27, 2025

When Yardsticks Become Boomerangs

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 7:1-6 It is in our nature to judge others and see how we measure up. We all have our tape measures and yardsticks, but in Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus says that a yardstick will become a boomerang. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:1-2). How you judge someone else is how you will be judged—it will all come back around. How do we avoid unhealthy judgment? We must apply wise discrimination between right and wrong. Before it became such a heated word, at its core, discrimination simply means evaluation. It is not unloving to call out sin. The Bible urges us to wisely discern what is good and bad. Judgment based on Scripture is considered righteous, but unloving, unmerciful judgment measured out of our own hearts and minds is wrong. We must avoid condemning others. When we are tempted to play prosecuting attorney toward a fellow believer, we must remember: we don’t have the power to redeem anyone, so we don’t have the authority to condemn anyone either. Often, our own iniquity will act as a filter through which we see everyone else. Our own self-righteousness makes us feel justified when we see someone else’s sin. But this will do more damage to our spiritual lives than we realize. Adrian Rogers says, “It is the hypocritical that are hyper-critical.” Our own insecurity will also cause us to judge others harshly, because we believe that if we can get others to look more like us, it will make us feel better. We also judge out of ignorance, assuming we know enough about others to hold them to a certain standard. None of us is wise enough to judge another person; only God is all-knowing, so He alone is the Judge. Where we judge others with insensitivity, our Lord is full of compassion. While we must know the difference between right and wrong and uphold that standard in our lives, we must choose to show mercy to those who fall short, because that is what we would want, ourselves. If we show mercy to others, it will be shown to us. Apply it to your life Do you find yourself judging others harshly? Remember: how you measure others will be how you, yourself, are measured. Choose mercy today.

Jan 24, 2025

How to Win in the War with Worry

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:38-42 There is nothing more destabilizing than worry, yet all of us worry more than we should. In Matthew 6:31-32, Jesus says, “Therefore do not worry… For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” It’s important to recognize the cause of our worry.Matthew 6 addresses things we all tend to worry about: food and fashion (v. 25), fitness (v. 27), and the future (v. 34). We must also understand the cost of worry. Worrying never solves the problem or lifts the burden. But perhaps most importantly, our worry is a wound in the heart of God; we insult Him if we do not consider Him to be trustworthy. Adrian Rogers says, “We’re not to reach out into tomorrow and borrow trouble. We’re not to pull tomorrow’s clouds over today’s sunshine.” We can win the war with worry, if we learn to fully trust in God. God is a Good Father, and He provides for His children; He does not bring a child into this world that He is not prepared to care for. We must resolve to focus on the will of God. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Worry can be a signal to us that we are not focusing on what we ought to. God will not work in second place to our other concerns. He knows what we need and He can take care of the things in our lives better than we can; we must put Him first and put our trust in Him. We must surrender our concerns about the future. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). God is in complete control over our lives. He has engineered difficulty for each day—enough trouble to cause us to turn to Him and receive His grace. But if we borrow tomorrow’s trouble by worrying, we’ll find that it buries our blessings, steals our strength, and produces problems. God knows our frame, and He promises strength for what we will carry today. Apply it to your life If you begin to worry today, remember your Father in Heaven, who knows your needs. Focus on seeking the Kingdom of God, and leave the future in God’s hands.

Jan 23, 2025

Make Sure You Get the Real Thing

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 6:19-24 In this plastic world we live in, many of us sell out too cheaply and end up with the wrong thing. Many people think they are wealthy and are not, because they do not have what truly matters. Jesus warns us to make sure we get the real thing, for that is where true satisfaction lies. Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” First, we must understand what true riches are, so we can possess real wealth.A man is poor, no matter how much he has, when he seeks satisfaction in his money. Our lives are not a sum of our possessions; when we act as if they are, we’ll be empty. A man is also poor when his money increases his trouble; there comes a point when all that we think we need is actually a burden rather than a blessing. A man is poor when the goal of his life is making money; this consuming drive will control his character and distort his values. A man is poor when he has no treasure in Heaven; we will not bring our earthly riches with us into Heaven. Anything of real value is of lasting value; the more we give of it, the more we have of it. Second, we must perceive real wisdom, which is not intelligence or knowledge; it is seeing things in the correct light.“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is [a]good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). Wisdom is found in focusing, single-mindedly, on Jesus and living in the light of that knowledge. Adrian Rogers says, “You can go deeper into Christ, but you’ll never go beyond Christ.” Finally, we must make sure we practice real worship. Worship is not just for church on Sundays—it is an entire heart posture. It is bowing to the Lord every day. No one can serve two masters; we serve God alone, or not at all. He is Lord of all—there is no rival, refusal or rebuttal—and He is worthy of all of our worship. Apply it to your life Are you certain you have the real thing? Do you possess true wealth, perceive true wisdom, and practice true worship? Consider where your devotion lies today, and pray that you would have a single-minded focus on the Lord.

Jan 22, 2025

The Miracle Mile

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:38-42 We live in a very self-centered world—a society tightly wrapped up in itself. But there is joy waiting for those who step outside of themselves, go the miraculous mile, and find selfless, Christ-filled living. Matthew 5:41-42 says, “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” In Jesus’ day, a Roman soldier could, by law, force a Jew to carry his burdens one mile for him. This was a very humiliating act, and though this law is no longer in effect, the practice of the second mile transcends time and place. Jesus commands us to do more than what is required by law. There are times when our dignity is degraded, but we are called to go a second mile. When someone has and expresses a need to us, we are expected to help. While we are not called to enable lawlessness or fraudulence, we are called to act out of love, not just out of obedience. Adrian Rogers says, “We do not simply pay what we owe; we look beyond what we owe to see what they need and what we can do with that which God has put in our hand.” When we begin to live this way, it transforms us and gives us joy we’d never have any other way. It changes our attitude; we go from thinking ‘I have to’ to ‘I want to, because my Lord has taught me to.’ Adrian Rogers says, “The first mile is the slave mile; the second mile is the smile mile. The first mile, you are the victim, but in the second mile, you are the victor.” Second-mile living also breeds ground for success. The bare minimum has never made anyone happy or wealthy; understanding this transforms our work ethic. Going the second mile routinely is the key to better relationships and it strengthens our witness. People can see the difference. Living this way will open doors to conversations we wouldn’t otherwise have. Apply it to your life What does the miracle mile look like in your daily life? Are you willing to put in some extra effort at work? Will you show love to people in a way that makes them see the difference in you?

Jan 16, 2025

A Foundation for the Family

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:31-32; 7:24 We are living in a time of national tragedy, rooted in homes built on throw-away marriages. The American way has created a vicious cycle: divorce produces broken children, and broken children produce broken homes. Marriage is made in Heaven and is to be worked out here on Earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us how important a foundation for the family is. Matthew 7:24 says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” First, we must remember God’s designed plan for marriage. Marriage is a divine institution made by God to meet the deepest needs of humankind. Second to our relationship with God, it is our highest priority. When we commit to another in marriage, we leave our mother and father and unite with our spouse, becoming one flesh—physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Together, as husband and wife, we are to raise children to the best of our abilities, so they can be independent followers of Christ. Adrian Rogers says, “Your job (as a parent) is to work yourself out of a job. A parent is successful when children no longer need them. But you don’t work yourself out of a relationship.” We also see God’s desire for permanent marriages. God has said in His Word He hates divorce; He has permitted divorce for the specific occasion of adultery, but He doesn’t command it. Instead, we are commanded to love continually. Adrian Rogers says, “It is not love that sustains your marriage; it is your marriage that sustains your love.” We must vow to attack the problems rather than one another and steer a broken marriage in the right direction. Finally, this passage shares that God has declared a pardon for failed marriages.If you’ve experienced divorce and remarriage, there’s no going backward—but this is not an unpardonable sin. God’s forgiveness is always available; we need only ask for it. We must be sure, going forward, that we are seeking to honor Him in our relationships, dedicating the home to Him, and making sure He is the foundation of the family we’ve created. Apply it to your life Is Jesus Christ the foundation of your family? Are you committed to steering your marriage in the right direction? Change what you can change, accept what you cannot change, and commit your marriage to God.

Jan 14, 2025

Developing a Clean Thought Life

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:27-28 The great pollution problem is not in the air—it is in our own hearts and minds. To be happy and useful in the kingdom of God, we must be clean and pure in heart, and that comes from developing a clean thought life. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” There is a battle for the mind; isolation and insulation can only keep us from the enemy’s pollution for so long. Purity comes from Jesus Christ alone. Psalm 119:9 asks and answers, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” There are three steps to developing a clean thought life. Admit your problem and get clean. We can’t fix a problem we don’t acknowledge. We must examine our hearts and own up to what unconfessed sins we’ve accumulated. Adrian Rogers says, “God will never cleanse an excuse or an alibi, but God will always cleanse a sin.” Through Jesus Christ, we can be totally and perfectly clean. If we confess our sins, He will forgive us. (See 1 John 1:9.) Affirm your purpose to stay clean. This is too important to be half-hearted about it. We have to prioritize purity and commit to cleanliness; no one else can make the decision for us. Apply your protection to keep clean. Our protection is the Word of God. It is the antidote against lust, because Jesus sanctifies us through it. We must commit Scripture to memory and personalize it, realizing He wants to teach us something through it. We must also verbalize it and use it in our praise and testimony. As we give it away, we’ll find that it sticks to us and comes to life. A pure mind is one that is satisfied in the Word of God; it belongs to someone who has found joy and fulfillment in the Lord. When we internalize Scripture—meditate on it and ruminate over it with time, quiet, and concentration—it takes us over from the inside out. Apply it to your life Do you struggle with your thought life? Do you want the joy and fulfillment of a clean and pure mind? Admit your problem and get clean, affirm your purpose to stay clean, and apply your protection to keep clean.

Jan 10, 2025

Winning the Battle for the Home

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:27-28 The home is the fabric of our society, and we are at a crisis point. It is a matter of moral purity and the sanctity of the home. Our enemy knows that if he can destroy the home, he can dominate our society. Proverbs 5 identifies five factors for the maintenance of sexual purity and building a strong family, so we can win the battle for the home. The Instruction Factor Proverbs 5:1-2 says, “My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge.” Families often fail due to a lack of wisdom, discretion, and understanding. Our only hope for true wisdom is turning our ears to God’s instruction. He has given us a book—His Word. The Deception Factor We must beware of Satan’s snares. Proverbs 5:3-4 says, “For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.” In the moment, immorality seems so good, but it’s mere frivolity, flattery, and vitality. Adrian Rogers says, “Sin fascinates and then it assassinates; it thrills and then it kills.” The Protection Factor Proverbs 5:8 says, “Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house…” We aren’t told to fight off sexual immorality… we’re told to flee and stay away from it. We must be careful with what we put in our minds and what comes out of our mouths. The Destruction Factor There are deadly consequences of immorality: dissipating our reputations, bodily disease, and disappointment in what we actually get from it. We could also face public disgrace, and sin having dominion over us. If we don’t break the chains of sin and repent, it can lead to moral, spiritual, and eternal death. The Intention Factor God wants us to enjoy lasting and loving marriages, but the only way to have that is if we do it His way. It is crucial that we pursue purity and win the battle for our homes. Apply it to your life Are you living a life of immorality? Understand that God loves you and wants what’s best for you. He has the power to deliver you from your sin if you will repent from it and flee from immorality.

Jan 8, 2025

It's What's Inside That Counts

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Matthew 5:20-22 There is no fooling anyone. The golden facades and outer appearances we put on cannot hide a decaying spiritual life. It’s what’s inside that counts. The Pharisees had an outward, external, and superficial form of religion that was ultimately hypocritical. They were careful with how they looked to others, careful to live straight-edge lives, but their hearts were still crooked. Matthew 5:20 says, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven…” Jesus ripped away the facade of self-righteousness and showed the Pharisees what was truly deep down in their hearts. Jesus first addressed the malice of murder. “’You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire’” (Matthew 5:21:22). God’s law states we shall not murder (see Exodus 20:13). But to have hate in your heart toward another person is considered murder in God’s eyes, because God goes beyond the act and looks at the attitude behind it, and anger is behind murder. Second, Jesus addressed the acid of anger. This passage in Matthew explores different kinds of anger. Caustic is the natural feeling of being wronged by a brother. But when undealt with, caustic anger can turn quickly into contemptuous anger. Treating someone with contempt means you feel you are better than others. Contemptuous anger then turns into condemning anger, which is always harmful for everyone involved. Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Adrian Rogers says, “Bitterness is a feeling of resentment that settles down in your heart when you feel somebody has done you wrong.” Bitterness leads to wrath, a word that means ‘slow burn’—like smoldering rags in a closet. But then someone opens the closet door and everything erupts into flames of anger. But the anger doesn’t stop there. Next comes clamoring—raising your voice, shouting and crying. And once you’ve lost control of your tone, any sort of evil can come out, leading to expressing yourself in unbecoming ways. Jesus reminds us of the requirement of righteousness. Self-righteousness is impossible. Real righteousness is imputed by Jesus’ blood and implanted by our new nature. Apply it to your life The only answer to the problem of our hearts is the righteousness of God—imputed and implanted when we are saved. Trust in Jesus and let Him give you a new nature and new attitude today.

Jan 7, 2025

Love Worth Finding | Audio Program

Simplicity of Salvation

No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus

Why I Believe in Jesus Christ

Don&apos;t Settle for Less Than God&apos;s Best

Why Jesus Still Bears the Scars

The Week After Easter

The Conquest

The Cross

The Crown

The Cup

The Cup

Redeeming Love

Five Ways to Draw Closer to Jesus

God&apos;s Amazing Grace

It is Decision That Determines Destiny

How to Love as Jesus Loved

How to Keep Your Spiritual Fire Burning

How to Repair a Broken Faith

When Faith Is in the Fire

The Wings of Faith

Saved to Serve

The Things That Make For Peace

The Wake-Up Call

Christian Citizenship

Discovering Your Ministry

The Secret of Effectual Prayer

Is God Through with The Jews?

Faith: What It Is and How to Have It

Salvation

Predestined for Hell? Absolutely Not!

Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People?

You Can Be Sure

Prayer

Turning Hurts Into Hallelujahs

Getting to Know Your Best Friend

Learning to Possess Your Possessions

How to Live in Victory

There Is so Much More

How to Weather the Storms of Life

Beware the Wolves

The Holy Highway

The Power of Prevailing Prayer

When Yardsticks Become Boomerangs

How to Win in the War with Worry

Make Sure You Get the Real Thing

The Miracle Mile

A Foundation for the Family

Developing a Clean Thought Life

Winning the Battle for the Home

It&apos;s What&apos;s Inside That Counts

Don't Settle for Less Than God's Best

God's Amazing Grace

It's What's Inside That Counts