There were centuries of preparation and prophecy leading up to the first advent of Jesus. On this third Sunday of Advent, we consider how we might prepare for Jesus—not only in light of his first advent, but looking ahead to when he comes again.
This week, we're taking some time to reflect and recenter on our mission: Inviting Boston and beyond into a life-changing relationship with Christ and his church. From a few verses in Matthew 9, we'll see Jesus' motivation for his mission and how he intends to accomplish his mission--through the earnest prayer and faithful witness of us, his church!
The ninth commandment shows us impact of our words in loving our neighbors. We are charged in the previous commandments not to take our neighbor's life, wife, or property. The ninth command tells us not to take our neighbor's reputation—to honor those around us with truthful words. We'll see on Sunday how we can be faithful, not false, witnesses in all of our lives.
Pastor Josh is ill this weekend, so in God's providence, we have the opportunity to hear God's word from Dr. Jim Harrell. Jim is an elder at Christ Community Church in Taunton, MA. He has more than 40 years of ministry experience, has a heart to see churches revitalized, and is a personal mentor to Pastor Josh. He'll preach from Acts 1 about avoiding the danger of distorting our witness so that we might be faithful, empowered witnesses to our neighbors.
Why do you pray? What do you pray about? In our passage this Sunday, the Apostle Paul says that if we want to make the gospel a priority, we need to make prayer a priority. We'll see not only the priority of prayer but the purpose of it for the church.
How do we keep ourselves from drifting away from the gospel like the Ephesian church? By cultivating a personal thankfulness for God's amazing grace in our own lives. Paul models this for us in our passage this Sunday as a fuel for Timothy's good fight for the faith in his own life and in the church.
We begin a new sermon series through 1 Timothy entitled, "The Church: The Pillar of Truth." Many people in our day believe truth is subjective and changing. Yet we'll see in this letter that God not only cares very much about the universal truth of the gospel, but that he has ordained the local church to guard it and proclaim it. (Credit to a sermon on this text by Curtis Cook, Hope Fellowship Church.)
The Bible is much more than just another religious book. It is an interpretation of all of history. This Sunday we conclude our sermon series in the Gospel of Matthew with an overview series on the whole book. We'll that Matthew is ultimately pointing to King Jesus as the focus and goal of all of history--that all of our individual stories are ultimately about him and for him.
After more than two years, we come to the conclusion of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus stands resurrected, victorious over sin and death. And yet, in some ways the kingdom work has only started. We'll see the church's marching orders from our King!
Jesus famously said that in this world believers will have trouble (John 16:33). We will all face pressure and even persecution because of our faith. The question is, in the face of opposition, will we shrink or stand? In our passage, Jesus is put on trial before the high priest. And yet there are really two trials going on. We'll see what we can learn from the strength of Jesus' faith in contrast with the weakness of Peter.
Have you ever wondered what the end of the world will be like? In our passage this week, the disciples ask Jesus this very question. This Sunday is the beginning of Advent, when we remember the first coming of Jesus and look ahead to his second coming, as well. During this season, we'll continue in the Gospel of Matthew, hearing from Jesus' Olivet Discourse about his future return to earth—something every Christian should look forward to.
What blessings should we expect for following Jesus? Well, earlier in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus called John the Baptist the last and greatest prophet (Matt. 11:7-14). What would his reward be? And what does his legacy teach us about following Jesus ourselves?
"Familiarity breeds contempt," as the saying goes. But why is Jesus really rejected by his hometown? As we begin Part 4 of the Gospel of Matthew, we'll see why Jesus is so offensive to so many people--including to you and me--and why that's a very good thing.
In his third and fourth parables, Jesus reveals something about the nature of his kingdom: it starts small. Jesus was born in a manger, wandered mostly around the rural areas of Israel, and was barely known by the powers of his time until after his death. What's true of Jesus and his ministry is true of how the kingdom works in us and through us--even though it starts small, it ultimately has incredible impact.
Now that we have some context from last week, we'll dive into the first parable Jesus tells in Luke 15: The Lost Sheep. In this story, we'll see God's priorities, God's heart, and ultimately what most makes God happy so that we might align our priorities, our heart, and our happiness towards His purposes.
We conclude our short series on evangelism this week with Pastor Edgardo Rosa joining us to preach from the prophet Ezekiel. Pastor Edgardo serves as Assistant Pastor at First Baptist Church of Sudbury, Mass. We'll hear through this Old Testament prophet an exhortation for each of us to be faithful watchmen for the Lord.
We continue our "Share" series as we persevere in prayer for our “Take 5” friends. This week, we look together at a familiar passage--The Woman at the Well--from a slightly different perspective. In John 4 we'll see the ingredients for faithful evangelism from an unlikely source and be inspired by the explosive power of the gospel in both our lives and those with whom we share our faith.
This is the first installment of a short sermon series on evangelism called "Share." We had the privilege to welcome a guest preacher! Pastor Andrew Belli serves as Associate Pastor at Redeemer Fellowship Church in Watertown, MA. Pastor Andrew shows us from Acts 4 how ordinary people like us can be extra-ordinary witnesses for Christ.
In today's passage, we see that religion enslaves just as much as irreligion. It's not about what you do or don't do; it's about who you know (and who knows you). And we'll see from the Apostle Paul's example that this truth shouldn't just impact our own lives personally, but also the way we serve and minister to other Christians and non-Christians around us.
