IBCD Sermon Weekly

One of the big questions of life is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This is a more complex question than people generally think. We are going to look at the answers to this question using Job’s story for context.

I think one of the things we tenuously grasp as Christians is how different life is intended to be for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Christ is not just an event meant to impress, but it is intended to change everything about the human experience. It transforms the expectations of life lived now and our expectations of what it is to come.

Today we are looking at the place of Baptism in one’s obedience to following Christ. I want those of you who are part of the family of IBCD who have not taken this step, often because of your church background in state churches which teach the practice of infant baptism, that I love you and am not attacking you. However, it is both my duty and privilege to share with you why I think it is an important aspect of one’s obedience to following Jesus as Lord.

As we kick off the new year, we are going to be taking a walk through the “5 C’s” which make up the purposes of the church. But before we get there, this week we are looking at our Mission and Vision as a church. Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

As we come out of the Christmas season, we are going to look at what it is God gives us and how we are to respond. John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We are soon going to have a sermon series on the life of Mary. Today we are going to look into a story which is only found in Luke which concerns a cousin of Mary’s, and that is Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah.