Sermons on Church Calendar

Jesus, King of Love

This message focuses on Paul’s voyage toward Rome and his service in love of people along the way, during the shipwreck, and the resulting visit to Malta. Paul proclaims and embodies the Gospel.  (Acts 27-28) Sermon Outline “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (Acts 28:30-31) Love Under Arrest…

Jesus, King of Joy

This message focuses on Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, including the confrontation with evil and idolatry, as well as the riot in Ephesus because the gospel was disrupting both spiritual and economic forces.  (Acts 19:1-41) Sermon Outline “John’s Baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the coming after him, that is, in Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 19:4-5) Power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7)…

Jesus, King of Peace

This message focuses on Paul’s ministry in Athens, including his contextualized evangelism, his connection with philosophers and artists, and the peace brought by Christ into the God-shaped hole of the altar to an unknown God.  (Acts 17:16-34) Sermon Outline “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going…

Jesus, King of Hope

This message focuses on Paul and Silas’ ministry in Philippi, including God’s deliverance of them from prison and the hope that is brought to the Philippians jailer and his family through Christ. (Acts 16) Sermon Outline “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.” (Acts 16:25-26a) Introduction Advent Our series, “Jesus, King of…

Born by the Holy Spirit

A message about Pentecost, waiting, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and God’s beginnings of a Revelation 7 type of community. (Acts 1:1-2:41) Sermon Outline “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Introducing Acts What is Acts? Who wrote it and why? What does “Acts” mean? Why would we study it today?…

Jesus, the Jubilee

In Leviticus 25, God speaks about the sabbath year and the Jubilee. These rhythms of freedom and liberation reflect who God is and are intended to mark the life of God’s people. When Jesus began His public ministry, He spoke of the freedom that had come through Him, referencing Isaiah 61, which is a Jubilee sort of proclamation. What does it mean that Jesus has come to bring freedom? (Leviticus 25, 27; Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:14-21) Sermon Outline “Consecrate the…

Jesus, the Atoning One and Scapegoat

Since sin’s entry into human experience in the Garden of Eden, a great separation has existed between God and humanity. Such a gulf could not be crossed by human effort, but only through the gracious gift of the Creator God. The day of atonement reflected that only the offering of an animal’s life could communicate the gravity of human evil. When Jesus offered His life and His death in our place on the Cross, He became what we are—destined for…

Jesus, the Holy Obedient One

Significant portions of Leviticus are devoted to what it means to live holy before God. To live holy is a description of a life well-lived with a God who is totally present and totally pure. The pinnacle of this way of living is described in Jesus’ summary of God’s instruction: love God with all of who we are and love our neighbor as ourselves (which is drawn from Leviticus 19:18). The problem is that we often fall short of this…

Jesus, the Perfect High Priest

Leviticus in many ways is an instruction book for the priests in how to maintain right relationship between God and God’s. There are instructions about how they should administer their priesthood and how they should be ordained. Jesus is not just a great teacher but, as the writer of Hebrews instructs, “has become a high priest forever” (Hebrews 6:20). Even now, Paul tells us, Jesus “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).…

Jesus, the Perfect Offering

The first seven chapters of Leviticus describe five ritual offerings for God’s people: burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering. Each of these represent ways in which relationship with God is restored. However, these sacrifices must be repeated day after day. Jesus, however, is the perfect offering made once for all. As the writer of Hebrews says: “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).…

Jesus, Holy God With Us

One of the central themes of Leviticus is the presence of God with God’s people. God is the One who delivered His people from enslavement in Egypt and now stands at the center of their identity and direction. God is with them. So, too, in Jesus, God is with us. In fact, one of Jesus’ most memorable titles is Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”. (Leviticus 1:1; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16) Sermon Outline “The LORD called to…