Category: 2013 Sermons

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2013-03-10: Guest Speaker – Jeremy Felkel

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Sermon Audio: Guest Speaker – Jeremy Felkel
Guest Speaker: Jeremy Felkel
Scripture Text: II Corinthians 12:7-10
Duration: 49:20
Size: 22.5 MB

Jeremy shares about his and Jessica’s experiences living and teaching English in South Korea for the past two years.

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2013-03-03: Is It Still…The Church

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Sermon Audio: Is It Still…The Church
Speaker: Pastor John Pettigrew
Scripture Text: James 2:14-24
Duration: 24:08
Size: 11.0 MB

When does something change so fundamentally from what it was originally that it is no longer what it originally was, even if it still has the same name?

Is what we call “the Church” today in 2013 still the Church?

D. S. Warner’s answer to “is it still the church” was “no.” The church had become tied to its institutions. Its theology. Its own teaching. Warner claimed that those denominations taught that the way to God was through their denomination-their organization, and not through Christ.

The theologians take the simple and make it complicated-so that the complicated can be explained simply.

The theologians taught me that the Church as we know it didn’t start until Pentecost.

What isn’t the church

  • Pastor
  • Building
  • Staff
  • Music
  • Tradition
  • Ministries

All good, but if you take them away, the church still exists.

So, What is the Church?

The church is the believers-or followers of Christ.

A believer is somebody who has chosen to follow Christ and live by his teachings.

When what you say, what you sing, how you dress, how you think, how you vote becomes more important than how you can shine your light into the world, you are no longer the church.

When on Sunday the church building is full, but the rest of the week, the church cannot be seen, you are no longer the church.

When the church becomes the judge, taking on the role of God, you are no longer the church.

When the church stops sharing the faith, and instead shares a lifestyle, you are no longer the church.

When the purpose, plan and mission are gone, the church is gone.

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2013-02-24: True Hope for Your Future

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Sermon Audio: True Hope for Your Future
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Habakkuk 3:16-19
Duration: 25:49
Size: 11.8 MB

True Hope for Your Future
Habakkuk 3:16-19

I want you to see that the key to Habakkuk’s experience of joy in the face of adversity was his faith!

I. True Faith Often Includes an Element of Fear (3:16a)

But even so, he was still very afraid about the Babylonian invasion that God had told him was coming.

God’s greatest men and women of faith have often been those who at their most intense times of testing found themselves racked with fear.

Shouldn’t our faith become easier, not harder, as we grow up into greater spiritual maturity?

The primary message of Habakkuk, is that you are to live by faith in this life.

II. True Faith Knows How to Rejoice in God in Spite of Difficult Circumstances (3:16b-19)

No matter what he may face, he was confident that he would remain standing because he trusted in the Sovereign Lord as his strength!

Habakkuk learned that history is not an end itself but a transition time, a parenthesis between Eden and heaven.

Whatever heaven is, it will banish all of the discomfort of this life and usher in new, unimaginable pleasures.

In one sense there is no ultimate solution to the problem of pain until Jesus returns.

Conclusion

Whatever your circumstances, whatever calamity or adversity comes your way, the prophet Habakkuk calls you to rejoice and to live by faith in a mighty and sovereign God.