Viewing entries tagged
grace

Bad Counsel: You Only Reap What You Sow

Bad Counsel: You Only Reap What You Sow

PAUL SADLER | OCTOBER 6, 2024

“You reap what you sow” seems so self-evident that it’s hard to deny. But when tragedy strikes, it becomes a cruel slogan. This message looks at the bad advice that added to Job’s misery and how we can discern the voices that can add to ours when we’re grieving.

Job 5:1-16

outline

Available on YouTube
What We Lose When the Gospel Takes a Back Seat

What We Lose When the Gospel Takes a Back Seat

PAUL SADLER | FEBRUARY 11, 2024

When we lose sight of the gospel, doubts and insecurities can keep us from living the life we were called to. This message looks at how Paul coached Timothy in the gospel and gave him courage to face his challenges.

1 Timothy 1:12-20

outline

Available on YouTube
Give Me Truth Not Speculation

Give Me Truth Not Speculation

PAUL SADLER | FEBRUARY 4, 2024

We grow in the life of faith by trusting and responding to what God has said. When churches talk more about what people say than what God has said, Christians drift into error. This message looks at how to hold onto truth when the world turns away from it.

1 Timothy 1:1-11

outline

Available on YouTube
Discerning Not Condemning

Discerning Not Condemning

PAUL SADLER | MAY 21, 2023

“Judge not, and you will not be judged” is our generation’s favourite verse. But what does it really mean? This message looks at how the grace of God can help us to be less judgmental.

Luke 6:37-42

outline

Available on YouTube
Following the God Who Loves His Enemies

Following the God Who Loves His Enemies

PAUL SADLER | MAY 7, 2023

Jesus is more famous for His teachings on love than Christians are for showing it. This message takes a practical look at Jesus’ command to love our enemies and considers the difficulties and blessings in applying it and the help that God gives as we do.

Luke 6:27-36

outline

Available on YouTube
What Makes a Person Willing to Leave Everything?

What Makes a Person Willing to Leave Everything?

Peter’s transformation from bystander to follower provides a case study in how Jesus seeks to work in our lives.

Luke 5:1-11 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Connect to God in Prayer

Connect to God in Prayer

Conflict hurts. Whether at work or in the home, arguments have a way of draining our energy and robbing our joy. The Book of James addresses conflict that the early church was having. They were fighting and arguing with each other. He addresses the root cause of conflict and shows how prayer can work to change us and our approach to the conflicts we face.

James 4:1-6 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Connect the Gospel to All of Your Life

Connect the Gospel to All of Your Life

Christians often see the gospel as essential to becoming children of God but never connect how the gospel enables us to live the Christian life. We live motivated by guilt, duty, and pride as a result. This message looks at how God has given us the Lord’s Supper to centre our lives in the gospel and fuel the life to which He has called us.

Luke 22:14-20 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Eventually the Cracks Will Show

Eventually the Cracks Will Show

For most of Solomon’s life, it seemed as if he could take steps of compromise without consequence. Eventually, however, his sins caught up with him and he tasted the bitter fruit of his choices. This message looks at the dimensions of God’s anger and how it should affect how we live.

1 Kings 11:9-43 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Buying the Security God Freely Offers

Buying the Security God Freely Offers

People who are skilled in organization and administration are critical to the blessing and effectiveness of the church. But they’re often misunderstood and face unique temptations. This message looks at what we can learn by understanding Solomon’s skills as a leader and the blessings and inclinations that accompanied them.

1 Kings 4:20-34 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Temptation Had Its Tires Slashed

Temptation Had Its Tires Slashed

People assume that Christianity is either a straitjacket of morality or a licence to sin. When they discover that it is neither, they can be confused as to what the believer’s motivation is in avoiding temptation. This message looks at how reckoning with our union with Christ declaws temptation’s hold on us.

Romans 6:1-14 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
God's Grace Calls for a Response

God's Grace Calls for a Response

Moral and spiritual failure often leaves us feeling like we’re in the doghouse. We can feel stuck and struggle to find a way forward. This message looks at how God meets us in those times and clears a path to our restoration.

Genesis 35:1-15 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
How to Respond to Powerful People

How to Respond to Powerful People

We all face the pressure of powerful people in our lives; governments, bosses, and popular classmates, but how should we respond to the pressure? Jacob, in Genesis 33, provides us a helpful example, showing us that God’s people walk the path of humility, generosity, and obedience.

Genesis 33:1-20 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
An Elevator That Goes All the Way Up

An Elevator That Goes All the Way Up

A belief in karma is popular today. You get what you deserve, they say. But in the Scriptures, we encounter a God who gives us more than we deserve and often we struggle in our response. This message looks at the grace of God and how we respond to it.

Genesis 28:10-22 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Teaching Your Heart to Sing

Teaching Your Heart to Sing

It’s easy to be weighed down by bad news and disappointment. We can complain about the bad stuff and be complacent about the good stuff. This psalm teaches us how to find our joy in God no matter what we’re facing.

Psalm 103 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
People Who Charge for Air

People Who Charge for Air

The good news of the Bible is that, because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, all people of all backgrounds can freely receive His forgiveness through repentance and faith. But people can subtly add conditions to that free grace and turn it into something else. And the problem is that we’re tempted to do the same! This message looks at a man named Gehazi whose greed and prejudice risked corrupting the grace of God.

2 Kings 5:20-27 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
Christmas Outcasts

Christmas Outcasts

Most people don’t advertise their past unless there’s something remarkable about it. And if there are skeletons in the closet, we certainly don’t want them to get out. But Matthew begins his presentation of the Christmas story with a stunning family tree that deepens our understanding of who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish. This message examines how Jesus fulfills the promises to Abraham and David and has the grace to transform those whom the world would hide and exclude.

Available on YouTube
Love That Stoops

Love That Stoops

We live in a time where good news is rare. The timeless gospel message is good news. Christians sometimes forget how good the good news really is. How do we best share this good news in an age of spiritual barrenness? We’ll investigate an Old Testament story to learn pointers on how to extend a kind of love that “stoops.”

2 Samuel 9:1-13 [outline]

Available on YouTube
Don't Waste Your Breath

Don't Waste Your Breath

Most of us want to lead useful lives. We want to accomplish things. We want to bring light into darkness. If we have children, we want to nurture them in ways that will bless them. But there are things we can do to undermine our impact. This message looks at the mindsets that are critical to making the most of the influence God has given us.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 // [outline]

Available on YouTube
When You Doubt Your Ever After

When You Doubt Your Ever After

Painful experiences can fuel doubt about God and where we stand with Him. But God meets us in our questioning and can lead us to a place of hope and peace. This message looks at how God responded to Abraham’s doubts and shows us what we can do when circumstances overwhelm us.

Genesis 15:1-21 // [outline]

Available on YouTube