Bottom line: We must prepare for the end of life and the end of the world the same way: as if living and dying for Christ was worth it. And ordering our lives accordingly. Pastor Darien Gabriel walks us through Revelation 6:1-8 and the reality of martyrdom both in the early church and now. This sermon is one of the most important you will hear as it relates to the effects of the gospel and what it means to follow Christ no matter what.
Read MoreThis week’s title: “Being a Great Commission Church”
Our series is “The best is yet to come” as we walk through the prophetic apocalypse that is the Revelation of the Risen Christ, a circular letter to the early church—and to us today. My prayer is that you’ll be strengthened, comforted and encouraged through this word today.
Tension: We must evaluate our church and ourselves to see if we’re being faithful to the Savior, the gospel, and the great commission for God rewards those who are.
Though we may be modestly influential culturally, the church that is faithful to the Savior, the gospel, and the great commission will be rewarded by God.
Read MoreRepent from the Tolerance of Sin | Revelation 2:18-39. If we want to rule with Jesus in the future, we need to be faithful to Him in the present. Remember, in the case of Thyatira, -Tolerance is not love, it is unfaithfulness
Though we are cultural outcasts now, or ridiculed now…we will rule. If we’re not outcasts now because of our faith, or ridiculed now because of our faith, then maybe we look too much like the culture.
Read MoreOur series is “The best is yet to come” as we walk through the prophetic apocalypse that is the Revelation of the Risen Christ, a circular letter to the early church—and us today. My prayer is that you’ll be strengthened, comforted and encouraged through this word today.
Now some of you may be thinking right now...things can’t get much worse. Better is good, best, well, I’m listening.
This week’s main idea: “Rev 2:1-7 teaches us that the great commandment matters to God. Jesus identified our greatest obligation was wholehearted love for God, which declares to us that God is not pleased by dutiful obedience that does not flow from genuine love. Here, Jesus mercifully reveals his glory to the church in Ephesus to summon forth from them the first love that he requires.” (Hamilton, p. 63)
My Bottom line: Remember how far you have fallen! Repent and return doing the things you did at first. (Remember, Repent, and Return)
Read MoreWe are beginning a new series on the Book of Revelation. You will recall last week’s title: As We Wait in Uncertain Times, Put Your Hope in Him for All Time (Psalm 146). This week’s title: “The Best is Yet to Come” Main idea: “Those who hear and obey God‘s word concerning who Jesus is and what he does will be blessed by the Lord.” Bottom line: No matter how bad things get, the best is yet to come. And his name is Jesus. As pastor Darien Gabriel walks us through the book or Revelation, we look forward to Christ’s second coming just has we have remembered HIs first advent.
Read MoreBottom Line: We should Be Praising the Lord! As we wait for His return in uncertain times, lets put our hope in Him for all time.
Times are uncertain. In times like these, it is easy to put our hope in people and things. But, our hope should not be in presidents, supreme court justices, governments, finances, or anything like that. We must hope in the Lord. You can tell whether or not someone has hope by how they react in uncertain times.
Remember that we are commanded to give an answer for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). If we don’t have hope, we can’t give an answer. Our hope must be in the Lord, because Christ has by His atoning death and resurrection saved us from the power and penalty of sin and restored us to relationship with God. Not only do we have future hope of eternity with Him, we have present hope in delighting in God day by day (Psalm 16:11).
Psalm 146 gives us a picture of what it means to worship the Lord regardless of our circumstances.
Read MoreBottom line: whether you believe God’s word or not, Jesus is coming...again.
Whether you believe God’s word or not, it will come to pass. Even when you fail to believe, God’s mercy is there for you. He disciplines his children when they fail to trust him. But he brings them back into fellowship as well. Just ask Zechariah. You can please God when you take him at his word. Just ask Mary. (Cf. Heb 11:3). Make sure you don’t miss the point for the pointer. The point is that God wants to walk in fellowship with you. He sent Jesus to restore our fellowship with him. That’s why he came the first time. The second time he’s coming to finish what he started. A re you ready?
Read MoreBottom line: Doing good means always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you why you have hope and to do so w/ gentleness, respect, and a clear conscience. That includes your enemies and your persecutors. Be prepared & ready to share with anyone why you have hope.
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle (and later the temple) was the place where people went to meet with God. This was God’s home as we see in our Old Testament passage for today (Ezekiel 43:5).
The message of our New Testament passage though is that the glory and presence of God is to be found supremely in Jesus. It is at the very moment that Jesus is rejected and crucified that God’s presence among people is finally and fully realized. From that point on there is no need for a physical temple. The only church building the New Testament speaks about is a building made of people (Ephesians 2:20–22), founded and built upon Jesus, the chief cornerstone. The holy temple in the New Testament is one made of ‘living stones’ (1 Peter 2:5) – in other words, people like you and me. This is God’s new home.
Read MoreBottom line:
- Church Discipline is Essential for doing Good together. (Around the corner and around the world)
- Church discipline calls us to avoid the foolish, reject the divisive, confront sin, and follow the leaders devoting ourselves to doing good.
What is it?
It is the effort to lead a wayward church member towards repentance and faith that results in reconciliation.
Recap
1. Grace isn’t cheap. Don’t treat it cheaply and don’t represent it as cheap. That’s false teaching.
Grace Christian Fellowship –the sign says: “Love God, Love People”. We love God, and we love
people because we so strongly desire to show people the true Grace of God through Jesus Christ.
That tells people
the message is more important than the brand…
that love is more important than a logo…
that the objective is more important than optics
that it’s better to be a hospital for the lost, than a country club for the saved
that Grace itself is precious…that time here is short, but eternity isn’t…
that conviction is more important than comfort
we can’t say “we’re good”, when we know we’re all bad
Grace is costly. Grace is Honest. And Grace is redemptive
but at the same time, any of this done without love is worthless
2. Let Grace train you…like a marathon. Training can hurt, but understanding what you’re training for
puts everything in perspective.
3. Put away anything in your life that doesn’t bear fruit for God’s kingdom, and keep Him as your main
focus.
4. Know His word and teach it with authority.
5. Stand tall, confidently and passionately love God and love people.
Our hearts should well up with praise in response to the Grace of God.
Grace has a Face and He truly is amazing.
Read MoreThe Main Thing
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Keith Eitel
Bottom line:
•When we see God as he truly is, it reveals to us how we are to live. [Principle]
•When we see God as Truth, we teach it with character and competency so that God’s people live good, godly lives.
Most people are blind to the truth. That’s why they don’t teach it.
Read MoreHave you ever felt like a failure, or of no use to God, or thought that God wouldn’t want to answer your prayers?
Until I first read Colin Urquhart’s book, In Christ Jesus, I had never realized how significant that little word ‘in’ is in the New Testament. Understanding that, as a Christian, you are ‘in’ Christ Jesus revolutionizes how you see yourself, your self-image, your identity and how you understand your value to God.
Write your name on a piece of paper. Take hold of your Bible to represent Christ. Place the paper in the book and close it. You are in Christ. Where the book goes you go. Where the paper goes he goes. You are not part of the book, but you are now identified totally with the book.
Paul uses this expression, ‘in Christ Jesus’, over and over again. God has taken hold of you and placed you inChrist. In Christ, you have received ‘every spiritual blessing’ (Ephesians 1:3). All of the blessings, including those that the Old Testament speaks about, are yours in Christ.
Who are we? Why are we (still) here?
Read MoreScripture: Acts 17:1-15. “Turning The World Upside Down” Bottom line: Paul and Co. gives us a battle plan for turning things around (180˚) where we live, work, learn, and play. We learn from the Bereans about how to approach the truth of God, and we learn from others on what NOT to do.
Read MoreContinuing our series , “Better Together” Pastor Darien Gabriel takes us into a study of 1 Corinthians 12 in the sermon, “Body Builders.” Pastor Darien teaches on how God has designed every Christian to have a gift or many gifts that come together to edify, that is to “build up” the Body of Christ. Bottom line: God sovereignly arranges the body of Christ with his spiritual gifts for the common good. Listen now.
Read MoreChris & Amy Karpus share about their extraordinary experience of multiple miracles that brought Chris back from cardiac arrest (2x) and a “Brain dead” diagnosis in late July 2020. Just over a month later, Chris shares from the heart and from God’s word lessons learned along the way. Amy shares lessons too but also a lot of the medical details that help us see how miraculous this really was.
Read MoreThe Big Blot Out (Psalm 51:1-9). In this sermon, we learn three key realities: 1. Broken People Need Forgiveness. vv1-9. 2. Forgiven People Need Renewal. vv10-12. 3. Renewed People Need to Serve. vv13-17. Wise warning: Wrong person + wrong time + wrong place = wrong thing happening. Only God Can Fully Forgive vv1-3. If you are coming to God for the first time, He is ready to respond to your cry of repentance. If you are a follower of Christ and have sin in your life, take a moment to repent and have your fellowship restored.
Read MoreBottom line: Because Jesus has absolute authority in the world and deserves absolute allegiance from the world, we trust, rest, submit to and rejoice in that authority. But we must count the cost.
Jesus is worthy of unconditional trust, even if it means giving up earthly security and comforts. (Matt 8:18-20; parallel Luke 9:57-62)
Read MoreWhen Jesus came to die on the cross, he came to address the root problem—not suffering, but sin. The price was his life to over our sins. Does that mean his will for the world is we no longer experience pain, sickness, and suffering? No. These pictures of miraculous healings are to give us a picture of what is to come in the fullness of God’s kingdom when Christ fully exerts his absolute authority and reign over the earth. But not yet. In the meantime, we live in a world of suffering and pain. In fact, suffering will actually increase as a result of trusting Christ for salvation. So consider that before trusting and following Jesus. Lots of words from Jesus and Paul confirm this will happen.
Read MoreUsing passages from Acts 10:1-11:4; James 2:1-9; Galatians 3:26-29; Micah 6:1-8, Pastor Darien talks about practicing what we preach on how we interact with anyone different than us by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. This is not limited to black-white relations but that’s a huge part of this today. Includes people of all cultures (not races). There is one race - the human race started in Eden. Many ethnicities scattered at tower of Babel.
Micah 6:1-8, reminds us to live justly for God’s glory. Pastor Darien shows us how this applies to racial reconciliation.
Read MoreContinuing our series of Philippians (Joy No Matter), Pastor Darien teaches how to change our self-confidence (or lack thereof) to Savior-confidence. The idea is that God is the one who works in and through us for His good pleasure. When we put our trust in Him, we place our confidence in Him. What He brings to pass is always for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28), so we can rest in Who He is.
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