Redeemer Bible Church Sermon Audio

1 Corinthians 15:1-28 | At the center of Christianity is the gospel, and at the center of that gospel is a crucified and risen Savior. This Easter, we turn to 1 Corinthians 15 to ask and answer three crucial questions for our lives: 1) Why do I need the gospel?, 2) What is the gospel?, and 3) Why is the resurrection essential to the gospel? Join us as we celebrate the hope giving reality of the Risen Christ. 

1 Peter 4:7-11 & Matthew 18:15-17 | Conflict is one of the hardest things in this world to navigate. How should we go about trying to resolve conflict in a biblical manner? What if we were the party that was deeply wronged? What if we can say with a clear conscience we didn’t sin against the person that has brought conflict against us? We can let love cover. As we close our Undoing the Unlist series, let’s look at how the Lord teaches us to pursue reconciliation.

Psalm 42 & 43 | Pain and sorrow in life is inevitable. Where do we look when the waves of despair hit? How do we move forward? Thankfully, God gifted us the language of lament. Today we study Psalm 42-43 and the four elements of lament.

Psalm 62 | Life on this side of heaven is full of unmet expectations. Throughout our life we are met with the deep sense of things not being what we had planned or hoped them to be.  The college choice has turned out to not be what we thought.  The relationship with adult children isn't what you hoped it would be.  You planned to be married by now.  You prayed to have children by now.  These unmet expectations can mark some of the greatest struggles and disappointments in life.  How do we handle and where do we turn when life isn't what we expected?  Let's turn to Psalm 62 for help and hope in the unmet expectations of life. 

If someone asked you to describe how much Christ has forgiven you, what words would you use? Astronomically. Astoundingly. Indescribably. Infinitely.  There are no words we can adequately grab ahold of to describe Christ's forgiveness extended to us.  It's when we understand how deeply we have been forgiven that we will live a life of forgiveness toward others.  My unforgiveness is a sign that I have never experienced Christ's forgiveness, or if I have, I have lost sight of how much I have been forgiven.  We turn to one of Jesus' powerful parables on forgiveness for a deeper understanding of how those who have been mercifully forgiven forgive mercifully. 

Luke 21 | This passage in Luke 21 implores us to always keep our eyes vertical, no matter what may come our way in life.

The gospel invites us to a lifestyle of confession.  Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. He came to save sinners.  Because of this, we don't need to excuse sin or deny sin, but rather we can confess our sin to a faithful and just God and receive his forgiveness and cleansing.  Join us as we turn to 1 John 1:5-10 to be spurred toward a life of gospel-motivated confession and away from a life of being buried in the darkness of our unconfessed sin. 

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”

James 5:13-20 | In typical field manual fashion, James ends his letter with pointed, practical help for a variety of situations in life.  There is a word to the sufferer, the cheerful, the sick, and a call to pursue the wanderer.  In it all, we see the power of prayer, praise, and pursuit.  Let's end this study by gleaning the power of what James leaves us with as he closes out his field manual of authentic faith lived out. 

James 5:7-13 | Time under tension builds physical muscle. How does the tension of life build our faith muscle? Let's unpack James command to be patient under suffering.

James 5:1-6 | Jesus cut it straight, "You cannot serve God and money." Period.  If I am serving money I am not and cannot serve God.  In James 5:1-6, James speaks a word to rich, oppressive unbelievers warning them that though they may have present riches, they are facing a future judgment.  Within this warning he speaks of three indictments against them, and these three indictments serve as pointed warnings to us.  Let's let God's word search us as we look together at three warnings money is my god. 

James 4:13-17 Simply put, God's plan is better than our plan. Let's look at three things from James 4 that following God's plan requires.

Worldliness sets in so subtly.  It can be hard to identify ways we have taken up a friendship with the world that is opposed to God.  Though it may be subtle, it is deadly.  We must wage war on worldliness and we have to know the battle plan God gives us to do so.  James 4:1-12 gives us the answers to four questions we must know in order to wage war on worldliness in our lives. 

If we lack wisdom we can ask God, and he will give it to us generously.  But how do we recognize the wisdom from above?  What are the characteristics of wisdom that come from God and how do we keep ourselves from falling into the counterfeits of a worldly, unspiritual, demonic "wisdom"? Fortunately for us, James gives us teaching this week to address this very thing.  Together we will look at "Four A's to Aid us in Identifying Wisdom from Above.”

Have you ever said something you wish you could have back? Have you ever said a foolish thing at the totally wrong time? Have you ever opened your mouth to spew angry words when you knew you should be quiet instead?  Why do we do this? Why do we so often say what we know we shouldn't?  James tells us why.  Today we look at four dangerously destructive truths of the tongue from James 3:1-12. 

Do you have any Easter expectations?  You may have not thought about that, but all of us carry expectations, big and small, for Easter Sunday.  On the very first Easter Sunday three women walked to a gravesite with 2 expectations: A closed tomb and a dead body.  Instead what they found would turn out to be the most life-altering, history-shaping, world-changing event of history.  He was not there. He had risen.  And EVERYTHING hinges on that good news.   

Can a faith that has not changed us, save us? What would James say to the one who claims a faith in Christ but whose life shows no deeds to authenticate that claim? James is straight to the point with us: Faith without works is dead. This week we unpack the beautiful reality that a genuine faith will get expressed, not perfectly but patternly, in a life of obedient works to God. Let's let this text search our hearts this week to ensure the faith we claim is the faith we live. 

People of this world get enamored with the rich, powerful, and celebrity.  Often these people are preferred and pedestaled.  Even as Christians, it can be easy to fall into playing favorites with those who carry a high social standing in this world. James warns us in this passage that doers of the word don't live like this.  Marked by gospel shaped hearts, and motivated by Great Commandment love, genuine doers of the word shun a life of partiality and favoritism, and seek to love the hearts of people regardless of external appearance and socio-economic status.  To cut it straight: Genuine Christians don't play favorites. 

Our study in James last week made it clear that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. This week, we’ll examine three practical things evident in the pure religion of doers of the Word.

James makes it very clear that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. We see this theme all throughout Scripture. As we dive into James 1:22-25, let’s examine our hearts to see where we are being hearers of the Word, but not doers.

The Lord is zealous for the righteousness of his people. Man's anger does not produce God's righteousness.  In his field manual of authentic faith, James helps us understand how wisdom calls us to a "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger life", how sinful anger is contrary to God's righteousness, and how we ultimately change by "putting away" what needs put away and receiving what we must receive. 

James has already told us that God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt us.  God is never the giver of evil and always a giver of God. This is where James goes next in his field manual of authentic faith.  As we look at James 1:16-18 we will see that every good gift comes from an unchangingly good God whose goodness is most powerfully seen in the good news of the gospel.  These three verses have massive implications in how we understand who we are in Christ and how this understanding impacts the way we live out our life in Christ. 

John Calvin once said, “Our heart is an idol factory.” As we study James 1:12-15, one could also say that, “Our heart is a sin factory.” But there is good news. God is greater than any temptation we will face in this world.

At the heart of our ministry lies this mission statement: To glorify God by making disciples.  This isn't a mission we came up with but is a mission Jesus left us with in his teaching of the Great Commission.  If we are going to make disciples and fulfill our mission, we better be able to answer some simple questions about disciples and discipleship.  In this four week series, we tackle four basic questions, beginning with this one: What is a disciple?  Let's look at what Jesus teaches in John 3 about the need to be born again as foundational to what it means to be a disciple of him. 

At the heart of our ministry lies this mission statement: To glorify God by making disciples.  This isn't a mission we came up with but is a mission Jesus left us with in his teaching of the Great Commission.  If we are going to make disciples and fulfill our mission, we better be able to answer some simple questions about disciples and discipleship.  In this four week series, we tackle four basic questions, beginning with this one: What is a disciple?  Let's look at what Jesus teaches in John 3 about the need to be born again as foundational to what it means to be a disciple of him. 

Let’s dive into the five features of the Parable of the Sower: the secret, the sower, the seed, the soil, and the success.

In two verses, Isaiah prophesies of the majesty of the child who would one day come as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  He also in these verses shows us what will mark the Kingdom of this coming Savior-King. Isaiah 9:6-7 contain the truths our hearts need again this Christmas to behold the majesty of Christ and take hold of the marks of His Kingdom.  These are two verses that will stoke the fire of our worship as we gather this Sunday, three days before another Christmas morning. 

We see in Isaiah 7 that we are called to a faith in Christ to save, not a faith in man. But as we make our way through this passage, we’ll notice four things play out: a problem for God’s people, a plea for faith, a pious faithlessness, and a promise to faithfully save.

Of all the places in the world, it was Bethlehem that hosted the birth of the Messiah.  Micah says, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel..." From this little place came the Christ.  God, once again, working in an unexpected way in an unexpected place. The highest of Kings born in the humblest of places.  Sunday we look at how an unexpected place brought us an unrivaled king who brings us unending blessings. 

So many advent sermons are soft and sentimental.  This is not one of them.  We begin Advent in a passage that at first glance might not strike you as much of a Christmas passage. As we look at Genesis 3:15, though, I hope we see the cosmic war that was being raged as Christ came that holy Christmas night.  I also hope we can see how the scriptures had already predicted and promised the winner of that cosmic war between God and Satan.  Genesis 3:15 will show us how we can have ourselves a merry snake-crushing Christmas this year and why that is such great news!

Pastor Robbie Symons of Hope Bible Church Oakville leads us through a study of Isaiah 66:1-2, and the three character traits God promises to show favor toward.

Lord, keep me low. Lord, build your church. Lord, use me.

As Paul moves to his instructions for what a life shaped by the gospel looks like, he begins with an appeal.  His appeal is that his readers would live as sacrifices to God.  What kind of sacrifices are we to be?  How does this define for us what true worship is?  What would prevent us from becoming these sacrifices?  What is the catalyst that leads us to this kind of gospel-shaped sacrifice?  All this is answered in two really important verses of this book.

As Paul moves to his instructions for what a life shaped by the gospel looks like, he begins with an appeal.  His appeal is that his readers would live as sacrifices to God.  What kind of sacrifices are we to be?  How does this define for us what true worship is?  What would prevent us from becoming these sacrifices?  What is the catalyst that leads us to this kind of gospel-shaped sacrifice?  All this is answered in two really important verses of this book.

Noah's Ark. This remarkable story of a catastrophic, global flood where God's wrath is poured out on the utter depravity of the world. And yet, God's mercy and kindness is all over this story as he preserves some through an ark-shaped vessel of his mercy. As we look at this story, I pray we see both the fullness of God's wrath toward wickedness, and the riches of his grace and mercy. Most of all, may we see how this global flood points us to gospel glories!

It is time to come back to the Lord. There are times we run from God. Sometimes those are blatantly obvious by the outward expressions of our life. Other times everything looks good on the outside, but we are spiritually cold on the inside. In 1 Kings 18 we see a showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal that turns the people's hearts back to the Lord. As we walk through this story together, there are three things we need to see and act if we need to return wholeheartedly to the Lord as well.

In Numbers 22-24 we find an entertaining and humorous story about a king, a pagan prophet-for hire, and a donkey. The donkey is significant because God makes the animal speak in a human voice, which is why this story is so memorable. But the story is not really about the donkey. This story is all about our God who is faithful to keep His promises. And His greatest promise, a coming Savior, was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God find their Yes!

1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 17

In Romans 11:25-36, Paul reveals the fuller picture of God’s plan of salvation by explaining the “mystery” that in the end, “all Israel will be saved.” He goes on to focus on the centrality of God’s mercy in the salvation of all the elect, both Jew and Gentile. Finally, in concluding this section of his letter to the Romans, Paul writes a doxology in which we are reminded that this entire plan of salvation is designed specifically for God’s glory. Our salvation isn’t the ultimate goal; God’s glory is. 

God's ways are not our ways. We see this throughout this section of Romans.  God is doing a great work for maximum redemption of both Jew and Gentile, and he is carrying that out in a way he knows is best. Paul says a remnant of Israel has been chosen by grace, the rest have been hardened, but we see in this week's passage how God is using even that hardening for greater salvation for Jew and Gentile alike.

Romans 10 ends a bit heavy with these words Paul quotes describing Israel's heart, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." This leads him to begin chapter 11 with a really important question: Has God rejected his people? The answer to that is an emphatic no. God is redeeming a remnant of grace from within Israel while he is hardening the rest. But even God's hardening has redemptive purposes of which we will uncover as we make our way through Romans 11. This Sunday we sit in the glorious realities of grace and, Lord willing, will leave with deeper gratitude for the grace of God.

Romans 10:14-21 | Romans 10:14-21 helps us learn our next step in rightly responding to the good news. This passage is pivotal in shaping our understanding of what must take place in order for lost sinners to be saved by God. It is also a crucial text for supplying believers with passion and urgency to share the gospel. Through this passage, we see how God graciously breaks down the excuses we tend to make to neglect our next steps of obedience. He does this to lead us into the delight of obedience so that He may be glorified. God, be magnified through our obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The anthem over all of Romans is that the gospel is the power of God to save all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. As we come to Romans 9, we see Paul's burden for the Jewish people who are still lost and have not believed the gospel. He raises an important question: Has God's word somehow failed? Is God's promise to save not powerful enough to save so many Jews still lost? Paul's answer to this is massive as it teaches us in some of the clearest language in all the Bible of the power and beauty of God's providence to save those he is calling to himself.

The anthem over all of Romans is that the gospel is the power of God to save all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. As we come to Romans 9, we see Paul's burden for the Jewish people who are still lost and have not believed the gospel. He raises an important question: Has God's word somehow failed? Is God's promise to save not powerful enough to save so many Jews still lost? Paul's answer to this is massive as it teaches us in some of the clearest language in all the Bible of the power and beauty of God's providence to save those he is calling to himself.

The anthem over all of Romans is that the gospel is the power of God to save all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. As we come to Romans 9, we see Paul's burden for the Jewish people who are still lost and have not believed the gospel. He raises an important question: Has God's word somehow failed? Is God's promise to save not powerful enough to save so many Jews still lost? Paul's answer to this is massive as it teaches us in some of the clearest language in all the Bible of the power and beauty of God's providence to save those he is calling to himself.

Romans 8:31-39 | In Christ, we are more than conquerors. But how? As we find in Romans 8:31-39, we are more than conquerors because of God, and four specific things he has done for us.

There is no denying that this world is filled with heartaches that give us a heavenly homesickness. Last week we saw that in the groaning of our heartaches, the Lord lifts our eyes to the splendor of future glory. This week we see that not only does the Lord lift our eyes to future glory in our present groanings, but he is also so kind and good to give us very tangible help in our present sufferings. What are these helps and assurances that the Lord gives his people in the present groaning of life? Let's look at these together in Romans 8:26-30.

How do believers press on in the midst of suffering? Romans 8:18-25 provides us with great insight on this question. This text fills us as hope as we long together for God to make all things right in glory. As believers, we can allow our suffering to fuel our hope in the future glory that is to be revealed. God, we want to behold more of your glory. Show us your glory, Lord.