Sermon Summaries

The Christian life is both a desperate plea for help and an overwhelming reception of generosity from God. We can at once experience consequences of sin, and at the same time have the hope of redemption. And the good news is that none of us are too far away that God cannot redeem and restore our lives.

The greatest threat to the Christian is the threat of giving up. It is the absence of perseverance. Our greatest challenge, as seen through the history of the Bible and through the history of the church is to give up faith, to give in to the words of the world, and to trade the blessing God intended for us for a life of futility.

But in this challenge, we have a great hope, that God promises to keep us to the end. As Jesus says in John 10:28–29, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”

There is great blessing in following the way of Jesus. When you read Psalm 128, take notice of how much joy and blessing come from a life devoted to God.

But unfortunately, many of us have stopped short of seeking the fullness of God’s peace and blessing in our life. Whether we get bored, tired, apathetic, or hungry for other things, we short circuit the full intention of God’s blessing to us.

On Sunday, we heard the good news about God’s blessing coming to us and His blessing going through us.
 

Last Sunday, we looked at the exhortation Paul gives to the church to walk wisely with the time we have, as our priority is now being under the Lordship of Jesus, not the pattern of the world.

As we continued in Ephesians 5 last Sunday, we saw that God can use the light of your life to not only expose the works of darkness, but also transform darkness to light. What if the way you lived in purity and holiness could transform the lives of the people around you?