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Sermon Series
- Ephesians: Together in Christ 10
- Fight for Joy! 8
- Fighting Fear with FEAR 6
- Forever Now 7
- From the Garden to the Cross 3
- Heartbeat 5
- Hebrews: Jesus is Better 14
- Jesus' Heartbeat 3
- Joy Full 20
- Legacies Are Unavoidable 1
- Living for Jesus as the Nation Heaves 2
- Mission Conference 1
- Praying For... 5
- Press Pause 4
- Rethinking Suffering 6
- Share a Meal With Me 2
- Speak! 3
- Stories of a Kingdom 10
- Strange Encounters 3
- The Doctor's Cure 17
- The Final Countdown 27
- The Last Words of Jesus 8
- The Story of (Your) Life 12
- The Story of Jonah and God's Relentless Love 5
- Transitions 6
- Truth Be Told 5
- Upside Down Christmas 3
- Visions of Hope 6
- Visions of a King 4
- Welcome Home 5
- What If? 2
- Which Kind of Parenting is Best? 5
- Worth the Wait 3
Topic
- Anxiety & Fear 3
- Blessing 1
- Christian Growth 20
- Confidence 1
- Eternity 8
- Evangelism 1
- Grace 16
- Hope 15
- Hospitality 2
- Humanity 2
- Jesus' Identity 22
- Joy 19
- Justice 2
- Kingdom 4
- Mission & Discipleship 9
- Prayer 7
- Relationships 12
- Repentance 1
- Rest 4
- Sabbath 4
- Salvation 19
- Sin 8
- Suffering 2
- The Character of God 14
- The Church 21
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- December 2021 4
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- December 2020 4
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- May 2020 5
- April 2020 4
- March 2020 2
What If Jesus Wasn't Raised from the Dead?
Kyle Kauffman
Most historians agree that a man named Jesus lived in the first century and died by crucifixion at the hands of the Roman Empire. Yet many believe this was the end of the story of Jesus. What if this really was the end of story? What if Jesus remained in the grave and he was never truly raised back to life like the gospels say he was? We often take for granted that Jesus rose back to life because we’ve heard the Easter Story so frequently. But we can push our hearts and minds to consider just how significant this event was and is by dwelling on the question: “What if Jesus Wasn’t Raised from the Dead?” We find Paul playing out this exact scenario in 1 Corinthians 15 as he details what it would mean for us if Jesus’ death was the end of the story. Thankfully, Paul points to good reasons we have to believe that Jesus really was risen from the dead. And It’s because this event really did happen that our lives can truly be changed by Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1-22
A Better Sacrifice
Kyle Kauffman
How can someone who has done something wrong be made right again? How can our wrongs be atoned for? We can be prone to both minimize our own sinfulness and presume that we deserve forgiveness for whatever sins we have committed. The sacrifices in the Bible consistently make clear that our sin is a far bigger deal then we realize and that we deserve punishment, not forgiveness. And yet the sacrifices in the Bible also tell us that God makes a way for our sins to be forgiven. Our sins are not forgiven through good deeds, penance, time, or any other means. They are forgiven only through the shedding of blood. Hebrews directs our eyes to Jesus as the greatest sacrifice (and the one that ALL the other sacrifices were pointing to). His one sacrifice is sufficient to forgive all our sins and to fully make right what sin has made wrong.
Hebrews 9:15-10:18
A Better Covenant
Kyle Kauffman
Relationships can be very fragile. They can easily be fractured and broken in all sorts of ways. And when a relationship is fractured, we often look for a way for the relationship to be fixed/restored. We were created to enjoy a relationship with God. But that relationship has been fractured because of sin. And yet we find there is no way for us to fix or mend this broken relationship. If we are to know and enjoy God, then we need God to act to restore the relationship. We find in Scripture that time and time again God has acted to restore and maintain His relationship with Humans. He does this on the basis of covenant. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is at the center of the final and better covenant that all the other covenants pointed toward. Hebrews tells us we relate to God on the basis of Jesus. Which means that as long as we are trusting in Jesus we cannot be separated from God. And all other ways of seeking to secure or maintain a relationship with God are futile.
Hebrews 8:1-9:14
A Better Anchor
Joel Wood
It’s easy to trust God when the seas of our life are calm. When things are going the way we want them to, circumstances are good, and there’s no really big trials we are facing, trust in God seems to come naturally. But when suffering, temptation, and trials start to blow and rage against us, it can be hard to continue to trust God in the midst of them. It seems much easier in these moments to start to doubt God’s love or to live in constant fear then to trust him. This was a struggle for the Hebrews in the midst of their circumstances, and it’s often our struggle as well. In the midst of all the ‘waves’ that come our way in this life we need an anchor we can look to that will hold us through the storm and enable us to continue trusting God when life is painful, hard, or just doesn’t make sense.
Hebrews 6:13-7:28
A Gracious Warning
Kyle Kauffman
One of the things that we notice as we read Hebrews is that it is not only full of descriptions of how Jesus is Better, but it is also interspersed with serious warnings about turning away from Jesus. While these warnings are contained throughout the book, perhaps nowhere is the warning and what’s at stake clearer then in Hebrews 5:11-6:12. The purpose and effect of this warning can often get lost in the midst of the debate between whether someone can lose their salvation or not. The warning was originally addressed to those who called themselves Christians. This warning makes it clear that apostasy (turning away from and denying the faith) is a real possibility and reality. While the Bible teaches that those who are truly saved will not lose their salvation because God will hold onto them and enable them to persevere, warnings like this also teach that there are some who will appear to be truly saved to us who will turn away and deny the faith. In God’s hands, serious warnings are a means of His grace that are meant to help us persevere in our faith and not turn away from what is Better – Jesus and all he promises to us.
Hebrews 5:11-6:12
A Better Priest
Kyle Kauffman
In Hebrews 4:14-5:10 we see Jesus described as a Perfect Priest. While the original readers of Hebrews would have understood their need for a priest, the idea of a priest likely seems foreign to us today. And yet we still look to people to play the role of a priest in our lives. We look to others who will listen to us, understand us, advocate for us, and help to solve our problems. In our day perhaps the people we most often look to as our priests are counselors and therapists. We go to counselors to have them listen to us, offer help to us, and help provide solutions to the problems in our lives. But what we need is not just a counselor or therapist, we need a Priest. Hebrews 4:14-5:10 tells us why we still need a Priest today and why Jesus is the Perfect Priest.
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
A Better Leader
Kyle Kauffman
Israel had some great leaders throughout their history, including especially Moses and Joshua. And yet the author of Hebrews wanted both them and us to see how much of a better leader Jesus is. We often choose what leaders we will trust and follow based on who they are, what they’ve done, and the promises/hope they offer for the future. But we find that all of our leaders in this life end up letting us down sooner or later. They turn out to be flawed just like us and they often fail to deliver on their promises. Hebrews shows us that Jesus is a better leader than any other leader we may trust and follow. And as a result, we must take care to listen to him, trust him, and give our lives to follow him.
Hebrews 3:1-4:13
A Better Savior
Kyle Kauffman
We were made to worship. It’s impossible for us not to worship. Whatever we give our mind’s attention to and our heart’s affection to is what we worship. And there are all sorts of things in this life that compete for our attention and our affection. We can easily end up worshipping the wrong things. So many of thing things in our lives aren’t worthy of our worship. They only end up letting us down in the long run and distracting us from the one who is truly worthy of our worship. It may seem odd to us, but the Hebrews were tempted to worship angels above Jesus. But usually this is how it works: it’s easier for us to see the folly of what someone else is worshipping then it is to see the folly of the things we are prone to worship. Hebrews 1:5-2:4 wants to shift our attention back to the main attraction in the entire universe: Jesus Christ; and to see that only he is truly worthy of our worship.
Hebrews 1:5-2:4
A Better Word
Joel Wood
When presented with different options, we all want to choose what is better. In many ways our lives are one long exercise in trying to choose what is better. Whether it’s what we do with our time, with our money, or with our energy, we are always trying to figure out what is better so that we might give our lives to what pursuing what is better. There are so many voices that give competing ideas of what is better. And these voices can often seek to convince us that there is something better in this life then Jesus. We can start to wonder if trusting Jesus is really worth it…especially when life gets really difficult. We can start to wonder if following Jesus is really worth it… especially when following Him proves costly. Is Jesus really worth putting our trust in and giving our lives to OR is there something better than Jesus? This is a question the people that the book of Hebrews was written to seem to be wrestling with. Life is starting to look and feel like it would be easier if they compromised their belief in Jesus in some way. And so, the author of Hebrews writes them a letter (a sermon) reminding them in all sorts of ways that Jesus is Better! And as he does he encourages and warns followers of Jesus to keep going in their faith and obedience to Jesus because they will find in the end that he really is worth it. The author begins this great sermon by reminding his readers that God’s Voice is more important than anyone else’s and that Jesus is the best Word God has spoken.
Hebrews 1:1-4
Welcoming the Stranger
Kyle Kauffman
It’s easy for the church as a whole and us as individuals to drift in the direction of an inward focus. There are so many needs within the church that we can spend all of our time simply focused on meeting them. But God has given us a mission, and that mission requires us moving out. Moving outward with a welcoming mindset towards those outside the church is uncomfortable and challenging. And yet as we move outward, we do so in the love of Christ, by the power of Christ, with faith in the promises of Christ. As part of God’s family, we can all take steps to move outward and extend welcoming arms toward others in hope that God will use us as a part of welcoming them into his family as well.
Luke 6:32-36