Sermon Library

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 - Not Yours to Give

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 - The Trivial and The Eternal

1 Corinthians 3:18-4:21 - The Verdict that Matters

1 Corinthians 3:1-17: Building the Temple

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Bible Study Questions

1 Corinthians 1:10-18: Unity Through Christ

1 Corinthians 1:1-9: Saints

Isaiah 53: Hope For The World

Christmas Eve Service

Psalm 98: Joy to the World

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14: The Conclusion of the Matter

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 - I Dare You To Move

Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20 - Wisdom is Quiet, Folly is Loud

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 - Live While You're Alive

Lessons From A Funeral

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 - Talk Is Cheap

Ecclesiastes 4:4-4:16 - Don't Go Alone

Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3 - Better Off Dead?

Ecclesiastes Intro: The Search for Meaning

In this sermon, Matt Heerema introduces our sermon series through Ecclesiastes by examining the word "heve" - vanity, futility - and how God provides the solution to the futility of life through Christ

Welcoming the Stranger

Grace-Driven Service

2 Timothy 3:13-4:4 Bible Study Questions

2 Timothy 3:13-4:4 - Word-shaped Worship

Judges 19-21 - Wickedness in the Heart of Israel

Judges 17-18 False Gods, False Blessings

Judges 10-12 Jepthah - Bad Theology Kills

Mark 15:1-20 Pilate's Dilemma

Mark 14:43-72 - Three Trials

Today’s passage shows us two of the most infamous betrayals in Scripture: Judas’s and Peter’s. And surrounding those betrayals are three very important trials. One is obvious. One is subtle. And the third we’ll have to zoom out a bit.

Mark 14:12-31 - The Passover and the Kingdom

In today's passage, Jesus shows his absolute knowledge and control over the circumstances of his denial and betrayal at the hands of his closest followers, in spite of their protestations. In the midst of it all, He declares the gospel hope that though he will be be betrayed and killed, he will rise again and usher in a new covenant, and one day, fully usher in the new kingdom. From this we can find confidence and hope because Jesus, knowing our betrayals, embraced the cross anyway, and secured our forgiveness, forever.

Mark 13: The End is Near

Mark 12:1-17 - Give to God what is God's

Mark 11 - Jesus Comes in the Name of the Lord

Mark 10:32-45 - Not So Among You

Small Group Study Questions: Tithing in the New Testament

The Tithe

Greatness in God's Eyes

By Nothing But Prayer

After coming down the mountain of transfiguration where Jesus revealed his divinity to his inner circle, they are immediately plunged into the clamoring crowd, full of accusing scribes and tormenting demons. His disciples had failed and are confused. Mark recounts this story to the first century church under persecution from a seemingly unstoppable opponent in the Roman empire, is there any hope? Has Jesus failed? Mark reminds them, and us, that we must rely on prayer, not our own strength and wisdom, to overcome the trials we face as we follow Jesus.

Listen to Jesus

Here at the pinnacle of Mark’s gospel, we are taken up to a mountain top where we get a “behind the curtain” look at King Jesus, the Messiah, in his heavenly Glory. God himself speaks and tells us what we should do in light of the revelation that Jesus is the divine Messiah, Son of God, and Son of Man: “Listen to Him.” We will explore four obstacles to listening to Jesus that Mark has presented to us so far, as well as God’s merciful provision to help us overcome those obstacles.

Cheerful Givers

What Makes Us Clean

The Power and Authority of Jesus

Jesus Brings Peace or Fear

Jesus's Plan to Spread the News

Jesus is Our Sabbath Rest

Jesus Heals Our Deepest Need

Jesus Came to Preach

The Good News from God!

Personal Investment in the Mission

Please turn with me to Acts, chapter 2. Last week and today, we are hitting on two points of what we could consider to be some of the core DNA of our church. Namely personal ownership of your faith.  What we mean by that is that as a church, we want to be more than just “Sunday Christians.” The Bible describes a way of life that lasts Sunday through Saturday. It influences every decision we make, every relationship we have, […]

Jesus’s Instruction on Prayer

Please open your bibles to Matthew chapter 6. If you’re new with us in the past couple months, my name is Matt Heerema, and I am one of the pastors here. I’ve been out of the pulpit since the beginning of May so that we could allow some other voices to preach, and so that I could focus on a few other areas in ministry. I’m grateful for that time off, but I’m even more grateful to be back, and […]

Hebrews 13: Closing Exhortations

Hebrews 12:12-29: Run with Endurance

Hebrews 10:19-39 – Encouragement & Warning

Please turn with me to Hebrews, chapter 10. We are now in the home stretch of our series through Hebrews. Four more sermons left after today covering three more chapters. What we’re seeing in the book of Hebrews is a rather long sermon. (I wonder how you’d react if I stood up and gave a thirteen chapter long sermon some day?) And today, in the second half chapter 10 we are finally coming to the conclusion of the sermon…the application, […]

Hebrews 10:1-25 – The Perfect Sacrifice

Please open your Bibles to Hebrews, Chapter 10.  I’d like to offer a special welcome to those of you joining us this morning for the first time. Easter is a very significant day for Christians, and I’m glad you were able to be here this morning. We are studying through the book of Hebrews together this spring. It’s providential that we are arriving at chapter 10 just in time for Easter, as today’s passage is the climax of the author’s […]

Hebrews 8 – A Better Covenant with Better Promises

Please find a Bible and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8.  When we are trying to understand what the Bible says to us, our primary task is to try to figure out what the original author was trying to communicate to the original audience. What point was he trying to get across to them? Once we know that, our next task is to try to figure out what relevance that message has for us today.  Sometimes it is a […]

Hebrews 4:14-5:10 – He Gets Us

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4.  Two weeks ago during the Superbowl, a Christian organization aired two commercials with the tagline “He Gets Us”—attempting to convey a message that Jesus understands everyone, and has a message for everyone. This is the second year in a row this organization aired commercials during the Superbowl, and they have racked up close to a million views on YouTube in the past two weeks.  The commercials have generated no end of controversy—liberals […]

Hebrews 3:1-4:1 – Fix Your Mind on Jesus

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 3.  In today’s passage, we come across the first of several warning passages in the book of Hebrews. The passage warns us to “watch out, in case any of us has an evil and unbelieving heart”, and to not “harden our hearts” when God commands us. It seems to warn us that if we don’t hang on to the end we will not be considered part of God’s house, and that there may […]

Hebrews 1:4-2:5 – Better than the angels

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. We get very curious about angels, don’t we? They make their appearances throughout the Bible at very important times, bringing messages (in fact “angel” just means “messenger”), we see them interacting with humans, sometimes fighting battles, which means they are capable of interacting with the physical world, including fighting (and protecting!).  There are even hints in the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah that some of the angels followed satan in a rebellion against […]

Commands of Jesus: “Do this in remembrance…”

Please turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 11. These past few weeks we have been looking at a few of the most foundational commands of Christ. We looked at his call to follow him, we looked at his command to be baptized, and today we are going to take a look at his command to remember him, specifically with a ritual meal he gave his followers to observe, which goes by a few names, typically communion, or […]

Commands of Jesus: “Baptize them.”

Please open your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 28.  Baptism is one of the most important events and concepts in the Christian faith. Christians have understood baptism in several different ways throughout the centuries. At Stonebrook, we practice “believer’s baptism” as an expression and testimony of our salvation through faith in Christ.   We would say that baptism is a command from Jesus, to be done by all who believe, as soon as possible after they believe. One key scripture on […]

Exodus: Immanuel, God With Us

Please find a Bible and open with me to Matthew chapter 1. Today is the last day of Advent, and the hinge point between Advent and Christmas. So I thought we’d base this morning’s sermon on the first Christmas passage. Let’s read the great story. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy […]

Exodus 40: God dwells with his people

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 40. This morning we finally come to the end of our 20 week walk through of the book of Exodus. The theme couldn’t be more fitting for this time of year, the season of advent. Advent is from a latin word that means “arrival” – and as we said at the beginning of the service, it is a time where we remember and reflect on what it must have been […]

Exodus 31: The Sabbath

Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31. As a pastor one of the more frequent questions I am asked, especially by young believers trying to figure out how to live out their faith in Jesus in obedience to His scriptures, and maybe especially by busy college students trying to figure out how to best manage their time (and by the way the Venn diagram of those two groups overlaps quite a bit) – is something like “Pastor Matt, […]

Exodus 25-28, 35-39 pt 2: Offerings for Worship

Please open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 35. This morning we are on part 15 of 20 of our walk through of the book of Exodus. If you’ve been following along in the series so far, it is important to note that this morning we’re doing sort of a time-shift in the narrative. We’re skipping ahead a little bit from last week’s passage. Last week God gave Moses the plans for the tabernacle and the tools Israel would need for […]

Exodus 25-28: Details and Shadows

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 25.  Have you ever heard the phrase “the devil is in the details?” It means something like things are always more complicated than they seem, and those complications are going to cause you problems if you find out about them too late.  I learned this week that that phrase is a spin on an earlier more popular phrase: God is in the details. And that is what our passage teaches us this week. […]

Exodus 19-20: The Ten Commandments

Please open your Bible to Exodus chapter 19. As we pick up our series today we find Israel now three months into their journey out of Egypt, through the wilderness of the Sinai penninsula, headed toward their new home in the promised land. In our passage today we find them having arrived at Mount Sinai for their most crucial encounter with the Living God yet: the receiving of The Law. Today we are going to study, The Ten Commandments. The […]

Exodus 15-16: Proving, Testing, Resting

Please open your Bibles to Exodus 15. The last few weeks we have been studying God’s powerful deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt. Last week we looked at how God miraculously defeated the Egyptian army, and led them to safety through the parted waters of the Red Sea, and they celebrated their rescue mightly and created a magnifient song that they sang! When we left off, these were the words ringing in the air. Miriam sang to them: […]

Exodus 14-15: God’s Guidance

Please open you Bibles or turn into your scripture journal to Exodus chapter 14. We are on week 8 of 20 our walk through of the book of Exodus, and today we’re finally getting out of Egypt! This “scene” in the story is extremely dramatic, it almost feels like a Lord of the Rings sci-fi fantasy story. It’s more accurate to say that The Lord of the Rings feels a lot like the book of Exodus. You know what they […]

Exodus 12-13: The Passover

This morning we are in week 7 of our walk through of Exodus. Last week we looked at one of the most well known and powerful stories in Exodus: God’s judgment on Egypt through the ten plagues. In these plagues God judged Egypt’s idolatry, worship of false gods, proving them to be powerless.  Perhaps there were real spiritual forces at work, but they were no match for The Most High God. Also through these plagues, God revealed to Pharaoh and […]

Exodus 5-6: God’s Faithfulness in our Faithlessness

Today’s passage sits at a transition between two famous “scenes” in the Exodus narrative: The Burning Bush, and the Plagues. It sets the stage for one of the most important and encouraging messages God sends his people by his actions in delivering them from their bondage. Paul puts it this way to his young protege Timothy: 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 (CSB) Let’s back up into our passage from […]

Learning to see the invisible

In today’s passage, we see a story of trying to carry out God’s work in our own timing and in our own strength and with our own wisdom, and how this always brings about disaster. Last week, we studied the narrative of Moses’s birth and God’s amazing protection and providence in his being saved from genocide, and being adopted by a princess of Egypt. In today’s passage, the narrative fast forwards through all of Moses’s upbringing and early adult life, […]

Every Member a Minister

Last week we took a look at one of the points of our ministry emphasis at Stonebrook: “every member a minister.” We have four points to this emphasis that is directing our ministry programs this year.  They are:  Last week we looked at the second point: “every believer a member”, how the scriptures call each believers to commit themselves to a local fellowship, a local congregation, and how we work that out here at Stonebrook through a membership process.  This […]

Members of One Another

I have a question to start us off this morning.  How many memberships do you have? Think about it for a second. Costco, Amazon Prime, Sam’s Club, The ISU Alumni Association, Maybe a golf club, a gym membership, Rotary, Toastmasters, Kiwanis, maybe you are a member of a professional association related to your vocation. You can be a member of a coffee shop rewards program, or if you’re like me, you can be a chick-fil-a signature status rewards member because […]

What Does Jesus Say About Human Sexuality?

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 19. When I talk with my non-Christian friends about my job as a Bible teacher, I often describe my task as something like that of a historian. My job is to understand and to teach what the church has taught about this book since the beginning of the church and for the last 2000 years. My job is not to find some exciting new understanding that has been hidden throughout the ages, […]

Revelation 22 – The Time is Near!

Please open your Bible with me to Revelation chapter 22. Today our Revelation series comes to a close. What a great Spring it has been walking through this book with you all. I’ve appreciated the feedback, the questions, the conversations, the encouragement, the little bit of debate, and you know, even the tiny bit of criticism here and there. I trust that as we’ve walked through and made this book more clear over the past 16 weeks that its been […]

Revelation 20: The Final Judgment

Revelation 19:17–21 (CSB) 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military commanders, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”  19 Then […]

Revelation 19: The Victory of the Lamb over the Beasts

Please turn with me to Revelation chapter 19. Today is Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, and it might seem a little strange that our text for the morning is Revelation 19. But we made the decision not to take time out of this important series for this week, but rather, we worked to schedule the series so that chapter 19 fell on this morning, because in our chapter today, we get to see a powerful image of the risen Jesus, and […]

Revelation 17 & 18: Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!

Please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 17.  We are now down the home stretch of this great book. We’re on week 12 of 16 of this series. And it has been a wild ride! Last week we Brad taught through chapters 15 and 16—the seven bowls of judgement, which depict the final pouring out of God’s wrath on an unbelieving world on judgement day. Where John goes next in this book is sort of a zoom-out, with a series […]

Revelation 14: The Lamb’s Book of Life and the 144,000

Last week we read a startling passage about two beasts who make war on God’s people. We learned that “the whole world” worship the beast, that is, all those “whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb…” This week we will study Revelation Chapter 14 where we get to learn who these people are, and be encouraged that as we maintain our faith in Christ, that we will find the courage and endurance to follow him, wherever He goes, even in the face of beastly opposition.

Revelation Question and Answer Panel Discussion

Revelation 13: The False Trinity Part 2: The Beasts

Last week, we studied Revelation 12 where John introduces the enemy of God’s people: The Dragon, Satan. This week we will study Revelation 13 where we are introduced to the other two members of “The False Trinity”: The Sea Beast and the Land Beast, traditionally considered The Antichrist and The False Prophet. In chapter 12, the dragon is described as “making war on the offspring of the woman” — in Chapter 13, we see how he does that: through the beasts.

Revelation 12: The False Trinity, Part 1: The Dragon

This week, John introduces us to the true enemy of the church: The Devil. Characterized as a Red Red Dragon who makes war on the offspring (The church) of the woman (Israel). Next week, we will finish this section by being introduced to the other two members of the false trinity, two beasts empowered by satan to spread a false message and to enforce adherence to the false message. Through it we will see God’s promise that though we are under attack, we will be ultimately protected, and the dragon and his beasts are doomed, and have no real lasting power.

Recap Revelation 6-11

Revelation 10 & 11: No More Delay

This week we reach the center point of the book of Revelation, an interlude between the 6th and seventh trumpets. John sees a vision of a huge, mighty angel who commissions him to prophesy against many peoples, nations, languages, and kings, and then he hears a strange combination of things about temples, altars, and martyrs, and finally the seventh trumpet sounds, announcing Christ’s final triumph. Join us as we discuss the meaning of these strange details, and find great encouragement in their relevance for our daily life!

Recommended Videos on Revelation

Recommended books on Revelation

Revelation 4 & 5: Jesus Is Worthy!

This week we get to follow John up into the Throne Room of Heaven and see a vivid depiction of our glorious, triune God. We will join in a heavenly worship service as we see that Jesus, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, the slaughtered lamb who is alive and reigns over heaven and earth, is the only one in all creation worthy to unseal God’s book and oversee the course of history.

Revelation 1 Study Questions

Core Seminar: An Overview of Eschatology

Chapter 1: Jesus’s Revelation

This week we kick off our 16 week walkthrough of one of the most enigmatic and evocative books in the whole Bible. Revelation. Join us as we begin to explore a book that was written to bless, strengthen, and encourage the first century church, as well as every church and every believer through ages, including us today, and every church to come (possibly for ages more!), until Christ finally returns just as He promises. Our hope is that you’ll be able to approach this book with fresh eyes to see what is clearly in it. This is “The Revelation of Jesus”, encouraging weary saints by showing us our Victorious Savior!

The Prince of Peace

The wonderful prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 9 declares that He is our “wonderful counselor” and our “prince of peace.” This week, we will discuss how Christ promises to bring us peace through prayer. This promise can feel hard to believe sometimes, but as we look at Christ’s example, we can find the encouragement and grace we need as we strive for peace in our souls.

Christmas!

Join us on Christmas morning as we reflect on the greatest and most needed gift we’ve been given: Jesus. Come witness a Christmas miracle as Matt shares a brief sermon!! (In a hoodie and jeans and sneakers no less…) 🙂 He will share with us one of the amazing things that can happen as we pray to our Wonderful Counselor.

The Resistance Against Hurry (Advent week 2)

The Story of God and Man Part 11: Kingdom Consummation

This week we will wrap up the Story of God and Man series, and at the same time kick off the Advent season by reflecting on the glorious promise that Jesus is coming back! Join us as we remind each other of the good news that He is coming back soon to judge, to heal, and to rule forever.

The Story of God and Man Part 8: The Holy Spirit

The Story of God and Man Part 7: Resurrection, Commission, & Ascension

The Story of God and Man Part 4: Promise and Covenant

In the biblical recounting creation, man’s rebellion, and the judgement of God through the flood, mankind’s core problem is starting to come into focus: “the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward” (Genesis 8:21 CSB). This week we focus on God’s initiation of a rescue plan to deliver humanity from their slavery to sin: by making a covenant with Abraham that will bless the whole world. In this, we will see God’s covenant-making with mankind is the framework of the entire Bible, helping us make sense of even the confusing stories and prophecies of the Old Testament: God offers a covenant relationship to humanity. How will we respond?

The Story of God and Man Part 1: Creation

For our culture today, the most controversial thing Christians believe is that each of us was created by Almighty God, who designs and reveals our identity and purpose, and to whom we owe love, worship, and obedience. We are not our own. We belong to God. Join us this week as we marvel at the glorious truth of our wonderful, sovereign, loving creator, and the impact of that reality on our daily life.

Luke 24 & Acts 1,2 -Brothers, What Shall We Do?

A Look Back at Luke 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you […]

Luke 23:26-56 – The Love of God on Display

Luke 22:66-23:25 – The Trials of Jesus and the Wisdom of the Crowds

This week we come to one of the most confounding scenes in the gospel narrative, Jesus’s trial before the Jewish Council, Pilate, Herod, and the Crowds. We see Jesus rightly identified as The Son of God, the Messiah, the King of the universe. We see him falsely accused of crimes he did not commit. We see him acquitted by both Jewish and Roman political authorities. But we see him taken away by the crowd to be murdered. In all this we get a glimpse into our own sinful hearts, and marvel at Jesus’s mission to save the world.

Luke 21 – The Coming Destruction

In his account of Jesus’s entry to Jerusalem to finish his earthly mission, Luke focuses his narrative on Jesus’s repudiation of the injustice, corruption, and error in the temple service and the elite religious leaders. Finishing his teachings to his disciples, Jesus overhears a comment about the magnificence of the temple, which he responds to by prophesying the destruction of the temple. This prompts a question from his disciples: “When will this happen? What signs should we look for to prepare?” Jesus gives four non-signs, things that are going to happen but do not signal the destruction he’s referring to, and instead warns them: “You’ll know it when you see it. Be ready at all times.” This call to readiness is as relevant for us today as it was for them then, and for all believers throughout history.

Luke 17:20-18:8 – Like the Days of Noah and Lot

The Pharisees ask Jesus about the timing of the arrival of God’s Kingdom on earth that He has been talking about. Jesus response to this question in the gospels is always the same: No one can know the timing, but it will happen suddenly, without warning, that is, without further warning than the one he continually gives: be ready today. In our eating, drinking, getting married, buying, selling, planting, building, sleeping, and milling, are we also praying: “Lord let your kingdom come!”

Luke 16:1-17 – God’s Economics

This week, we’ll look at a perplexing parable about a master, a manager, and money. The details are confusing to our modern understanding of business, but Jesus’s message is clear nonetheless. The problem that Jesus was pointing out was that we, like the disciples and the Pharisees, don’t know what money is really for, and we forget who it really belongs to. When we see how Jesus uses this parable to instruct the disciples and rebuke the Pharisees, we’ll gain great insight into God’s economics. How does he want us to use “our” money?

Luke 24:13-27 – How Jesus Reveals Himself

After Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, even the apostles were devastated and confused, going only by what they could see. Their entire world was crashing around them, or so they thought. When Jesus finally does show up on that first Easter morning, the surprising ways he reveals himself to his despairing flock can teach us much about what we need from him today.

Luke 12:35-13:9 – Be Ready for the Master’s Return

In our passage this week, Jesus tells us to think forward to judgement day, The Day of The Lord, The Return of Christ, and teaches us something remarkable: Christians never need to fear death, because they never die. He confronts us with a question: Are you ready for that judgement day? Or are you living like it’s not coming?

Luke 12:1-12 – Fear, and Fear Not

Luke 11:37-54 – Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers

In this week’s sermon, we look at a scene in which a question about washing up before a meal provokes a seemingly very harsh response from Jesus. But you stack up everything Luke has recorded the Pharisees and Lawyers saying so far in the gospel account, the response makes much more sense. Why does Jesus respond this way to the Pharisees? Because of the way they have been responding to the Messiah, and treating God’s children. We’ll look at ways we can be just like the Pharisees and Lawyers, and more importantly, we’ll look at our great savior who offers mercy, healing, forgiveness, and love.

Luke 9:51-10:16 – What it’s like to follow Jesus

A life of following Jesus is a life on an exciting but difficult mission. This week we will see Jesus setting the example for us in proclaiming the good news about the kingdom. He sets the expectation for us that we will not only get to see God working powerfully, miraculous providence, and lives healed and changed, but we will also suffer rejection, loneliness, separation from the rest of the world, hardship, and danger. Following Jesus is a serious and weighty task. But when he calls us, and we follow, we will get to see the kingdom of God come near, and what could be better than that?

Luke 9:37-50 – Afraid to Ask

Having our ideas challenged is hard. Studies show that when an idea is presented to us that goes against our current understanding, our brains treat the situation same way we treat a physical or emotional threat. We feel like we’re in danger! This week, we’ll read about three times the disciples had their understanding corrected by Jesus, but they are unable to “get it.” Their unwillingness to change, and their fear to ask, will show us things about ourselves, and what it takes to learn and grow in our walk with Jesus.

Luke 2:39-52 – Jesus Grows Up

This week we will examine the one glimpse the Bible gives us of Jesus’s childhood. That he sought to learn in the temple. That he “grew” in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man, has spoiled many formulas of theologians throughout the ages. God, incarnate, had to learn and grow! As we explore this mystery, we learn some encouraging things about our faith.

Luke 2:21-38 – Waiting Patiently

In this week’s passage, we are introduced to two faithful Israelites: Simeon and Anna, both of whom had spent their life waiting for the promised redeemer, God’s Messiah. Unlike the Pharisees who were trying to bring about the Messiah’s arrival through their good works, the Sanhedrin who had capitulated to Roman politics, the zealots who were trying to liberate Israel by force, or the Essenes who withdrew from engaging the world at all, these two faithful believers trusted God’s promises in his timing, and so found themselves in a position to meet and receive the Messiah at his arrival. The parallels for us today are obvious.

Deferred Hopes, Fulfilled. An advent reflection on Luke 1:5-25

The wise King Solomon, having understood and experienced many things, and blessed by God with great wisdom, makes a simple observation that we can all resonate with: “A deferred hope makes the heart sick.” – In our passage this week, we will watch a faithful Israelite couple have two of their deepest, deferred hopes suddenly fulfilled. Their reaction can give us great insight about ourselves, and point us to an unshakeable hope that will never fail us.

Advent: The Long-Awaited Messiah

For us today, we say, “Jesus the Messiah has already come.” But for centuries prior to that history-making day, the people were in high anticipation. This Sunday three of our pastors will have a panel discussion examining many of the remarkable Old Testament prophecies of the advent– the coming– of Jesus.

Basics of Interpretation

Luke 8:22-39 – Soul Storms

Luke 8:1-18 – The parable of the soils

Facing increasing rejection and opposition from the religious leaders of the day, Jesus begins “hiding” his teachings in parables, so that only those who really desire to follow and learn from Jesus are able to know his meaning. This week we will focus on the parable of the sower – or, better, the parable of the soils. The parable asks us to examine our attitude toward Jesus – are we believing? connected? rejecting worldly pleasure? holding fast to his word? This parable warns us, corrects us, and shows us the way to a fruitful life of faith.

Luke 7:18-35 – The One Who is and is to Come

While in prison, John the Baptist hears reports of Jesus’s ministry. Many things line up with his expectation of the Messiah, but many things do not. He sends his followers to ask Jesus directly “are you indeed the Messiah, or are we waiting for someone else?” Jesus’s unusual response inspires trust in God for those who believe and repent, but for those who are righteous in their own mind, no response he could give would be sufficient.

Luke 6:12-49 – The Sermon on the Plain

Luke 5:1-26 – We Have Seen Extraordinary Things Today!

In this week’s passage, we are introduced to four sets of people: the first disciples, a leper, a paralytic and his friends, and the pharisees. Through his interactions with these four very diverse people, Jesus shows us that he has the power, willingness, and authority to heal and forgive sin for anyone who comes to him in faith.

Luke 4:16-30 – Bring Your Nothing

In this week’s passage, Jesus proclaims that the long awaited “year of the Lord’s favor”, is here! In his very brief sermon he tells his hometown, the people he grew up with, that he is, in fact, the Messiah. In two strange analogies to Old Testament stories, he tells them the surprising nature of his ministry: God’s grace is free, is open to the gentiles, and we should receive it as humbly as a widow and a leper. This shocking claim enrages the town. And we should ask ourselves, how do we respond?

Luke 3:23-4:15 – The Last Adam

In this week’s passage, we will Jesus, the descendant of King David, and of all our “father” Adam, and also, most importantly, the Son of God, face temptation from our adversary, the devil himself. We will be encouraged as Jesus faces temptation, just as Adam did, and just as we do: as a human. Using the same resources we have available to us, the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, and reliance on God’s promises and commands in his word.

First of all, Pray. The Effect of the Gospel on the Gathered Church

First I’ll set the stage, the context of the letter. The Apostle Paul had an interesting problem on his hands.  He had spent three years with the church he started in Ephesus, living with them and instructing them night and day, imparting to them the whole counsel of God.   After this he wrote them a definitive letter reminding them of The Gospel and instructing them in how they were to conduct themselves.   Now, just a few short years […]

Zechariah 3 – The High Priest’s Dirty Robes

We are continuing our series through the minor prophets this morning in Zechariah. Please turn there with me. Zechariah is the longest of the minor prophets. Same chapter count as Hosea, but more words. It has been called “little Isaiah” – because it picks up on many of the same themes and uses similar imagery.  The book is very complex and as far as an efficient summary and outline of the book as a whole, I don’t think I can […]

Zephaniah – The Day of the Lord

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. Zephaniah 1:1 (ESV) We know a lot about Zephaniah from this one verse! Zephaniah has the most complete genealogical listing of any of the prophets, and it’s here for a reason. He was the great, great, grandson of one of the few faithful kings of […]

Pastors Q&A Ep.5: Encourage One Another Daily

Nahum – The Vengeance of the Lord

Pastors Q&A Ep.4: Biblical Eldership

SCC Core Discussion: The Conscience

Intro to the doctrine of The Trinity

Easter: The Day of the Lord in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Pastors Q&A Ep.3: On Abortion

Let Justice Roll – Amos

This week we will look at the book of Amos, the first prophet to the Northern Kingdom. The nation of Israel hid immorality, greed, oppression of the poor and weak, and many other sins behind a veneer if religious performance. The prophet calls them (and so, us) back to worship of the true God from the heart, evidenced by love for their neighbor and a passion for justice and righteousness.

SCC Core Meeting 3/13/21 - Providence

Pastors Q&A Ep.2: Biblical vs. Systematic Theology

Unity in disagreement for mission.

The mission of Jesus’s church is to bring glory to God by making disciples. Jesus taught us that unity is a cornerstone of this mission. Three enemies of unity are inaction, improper handling of disagreement, and false doctrine. This week we will examine the scriptures to find out how we can navigate disagreement well in the pursuit of unity and sound doctrine. And in so doing we will learn how to advance the mission: bringing God glory and helping people come to know him.

Pastors Q&A Ep.1: The Church as a Family

2 Peter 3 – Judgement Day

Do you ever think about why Jesus is taking so long to return?  Has that question ever caused you to doubt the truth and reality of the Christian faith?  Has that doubt ever led you to excuse your sin, because “maybe this all isn’t real anyway?” Have you ever had a hard time knowing how to answer a friend or acquaintance who brought up these questions?  In the final chapter of his second letter, Peter tackles this question as the […]

2 Peter, part 1 – A Fruitful and Effective Life

For the next several weeks, rather than a long walk through a single book of the Bible, or a thematic series, we’re going to take time to preach through some of the shorter books of the new testament. Two years ago we hit some of the shortest letters, 1, 2, 3 John – for the next five weeks we are going to cover 2 Peter, Jude, and Philemon. We’re starting with 2 Peter this AM and doing about a chapter […]

The Final Rescue

This Sunday is the second Christmas Sunday! We have four days left! Hooray! 🙂 Christmas is the time of year when we, in a special way, remember and celebrate the birth of Christ, and the beginning of his rescue mission to find and save God’s lost sheep.  We carried our Advent series topic, Rescues, on into Christmas as well, because what bigger Rescue is there than Christ’s rescue of us?  Last week we talked about Christ’s rescue mission in offering […]

A Light Has Dawned

Rescue: Famine

This advent season, we are looking at  stories of God’s amazing rescues of his people through history. This week we are going to examine the life of Joseph as recounted in Genesis. We will see God’s amazing rescue of Joseph, and then using him to rescue the fledgling nation of Israel, and the whole world from a global famine. In this story we will learn that we can find hope and safety in God’s promises, no matter our circumstances on […]

The Twenty-Ninth Chapter

As we look back on the 28 chapters of Luke’s account of the early church, we find Jesus making and keeping a promises to his followers: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth…”  (Acts 1:8)  Notice the form of this verse. It’s not a mission statement. It’s not a command. It’s a promise: “You will be my […]

Acts 15: Disagreements, Debates, & Decisions

In this week’s section, we examine several conflicts that arose in the church as they spread “to the remotest parts of the earth”. With gentiles now becoming a large part of the community of faith, the chosen people of God, how ought they operate? New situations and clashing cultural habits lead to some difficult conversations and decisions.  As we look at how the church handled these situations, we gain insight into how to handle disagreements and decisions in our churches today.

The Conversion of a Christian Killer

This week, as we continue our Acts series, we see how the Holy Spirit worked to further his mission of expanding the church through one of the most dramatic and important conversion stories we see in the Bible: Saul of Tarsus. The “Hebrew of Hebrews”, was so zealous for God that he would not tolerate this new sect of Messianic heretics, followers of “The Way”.  They claimed that Jesus, the one who suffered the horrific shame of crucifixion, proving that […]

Stonebrook 101: We Are Ambassadors

Signs and Wonders

This morning we are in our fifth week of our walkthrough of the book of Acts. Please open your bibles with me to Acts chapter 3. We’ll be covering a fairly large part of scripture today. Chapter 3, about a third of chapter 4, and a bit from chapter 5. There’s  a lot going on in this section, and we’ll be making two passes through here at least to cover some important themes. This morning, I want to talk about […]

The Beginning of the End

We continue our walk through of Acts this week by looking at the very beginning of “The Last Days” – a period of time foretold by Old Testament Prophets – the age where God’s Holy Spirit is no longer limited to a single location in a single nation, but is now poured out on all who believe in Jesus, God’s Messiah. Luke chronicles the events of the beginning of “The Last Days” – Some amazing things happen! We will discuss how these events relate to us today as a church, and how we too should proclaim the mighty works of God to all nations.

Acts: The Holy Spirit and His Unstoppable Church – Part 1

This week we’re beginning a 17-week walkthrough of the book of Acts. In Acts we find Luke the Physician writing down a careful history of the progress of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. In Acts, we can find courage in the certainty of Jesus’s triumph over sin and death, and in the fact that no power of hell or scheme of man can stop God’s plan to spread the good news of His son Jesus […]

Colorblind: Our Struggle to See the Multicolor Image of God

This past Tuesday morning, after I had spent several days preparing to handle  the tricky subjects of the fire, eternal damnation, and tribulation described in 2 Thessalonians 1, the elders decided we needed tackle something actually controversial today: Racial harmony and social justice.  In case you’ve been hiding in a cave somewhere for the past few months, recently George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a police officer in Minnesota were captured in a gruesome 9 minute video, sparking protesting […]

Stand Fast in Affliction

Our passage for today was written at a time when the apostle Paul, the spiritual father of the church, was kept from seeing the people in the church, kept from meeting with them and knowing how they were. And it opens with these words, which seem particularly apt for this day. Week 10 of being unable to meet together as a large group and our passage begins with: “…when we could bear it no longer…”  1 Thessalonians 3:1–13 (ESV) 1 […]

An Easter Afternoon Encounter at Emmaus

This Easter Sunday we will take a look at Luke 24 and see how the resurrection of Jesus can give us hope, courage, and strengthened faith even as we are couped up at home in a time where we may be asking ‘Where is God in all this?

The Marks of a Minister + Q&A session

As a minister of the New Covenant, Paul gave his heart and life to the proclamation of the good news about Jesus. He demonstrated his authenticity by his perseverance through great affliction and through his sacrificial, loving, and Spirit-filled actions. As we look at Paul’s life we can have confidence that Jesus really did appear to him, radically transforming his life. And, along with Paul, we should wholeheartedly believe in what God has one in Jesus Christ and give of […]

The Marks of a Minister + Q&A session

As a minister of the New Covenant, Paul gave his heart and life to the proclamation of the good news about Jesus. He demonstrated his authenticity by his perseverance through great affliction and through his sacrificial, loving, and Spirit-filled actions. As we look at Paul’s life we can have confidence that Jesus really did appear to him, radically transforming his life. And, along with Paul, we should wholeheartedly believe in what God has one in Jesus Christ and give of […]

Ministers of Reconciliation

When we become a Christian, God gives us a task: “the ministry of reconciliation.” Not only does he reconcile us to himself, but he makes us into coworkers with him in his plan to reconcile his people to himself from all over the world. This week we will discuss a core component of our new relationship with God through Christ: becoming ambassadors for the most high God to a lost world.

The Great Exchange

We will be spending the next two weeks (Lord willing) on the last part of chapter 5. In it we find a glorious two-part truth: God has reconciled us to himself, and we have been given a ministry of reconciliation. This first week we will be focusing on what God did, how he did it, and why he did it. Come be encouraged in the glorious truth of the core Gospel message!

Our Sufficiency for the Task

Christians can have confidence for this ministry when they realize that God’s Word is sufficient for accomplishing the task, and so speak it with sincerity and boldness.

Comfort and Affliction

Stump the Pastors Q&A Time

Stump the Pastors Q&A Time

When God Seems Absent

Where do we go with our faith when God seems absent? How do we maintain faith when prayers seem unanswered, our circumstances all seem to be stacked against us, and we are filled with grief and sorrow and darkness in our hearts? Are we trapped, or is there a way out? We’ll explore what David did during these times and how we can rightly follow his example.

Rise and Fall – Epilogue

This week we conclude our series with 2 Samuel 21-24, a carefully constructed epilogue to “The book of Samuel” which compiles scenes from the life of Samuel, Saul, and David. In it we find connections with the introduction to the book, Hannah’s poem/prayer, that help us see the main thrust of the prophet’s message: God is faithful to his promise in spite of man’s failures, God opposes the proud and exalts the humble, and that a promised king is coming which will bring blessing to all the nations.

The Rise of David, the Flawed Messiah

David is the undisputed hero of the Old Testament, and perhaps, second only to Jesus in the entire Bible. Certainly he is a model of faith, courage, and godliness… except when he’s not. How are we supposed to relate to David’s example? That’s what I want to talk about today: how we are to relate to David’s example.

The Rise and Fall of King Saul

This week we will be looking at the rise and fall of King Saul, the King the Israelites demanded from God, but not the one they needed. Faith vs. Self-reliance, and what it means that “God regretted making Saul king…”

Christian’s Mission: Pass on the Faith

Our church’s vision is “to see many hundreds become fully devoted followers of Christ, and many thousands hear the gospel message.” This week we are going to be discussing our mission as a church: The Great Commission: every individual in the church doing their part in passing the faith on to others (proclaiming the gospel to non-believers, and entrusting the gospel to one another and especially the upcoming generation.)

Christian's Mission: Pass on the Faith

Our church’s vision is “to see many hundreds become fully devoted followers of Christ, and many thousands hear the gospel message.” This week we are going to be discussing our mission as a church: The Great Commission: every individual in the church doing their part in passing the faith on to others (proclaiming the gospel to non-believers, and entrusting the gospel to one another and especially the upcoming generation.)

Serving The City Through Our Vocations

When we hear about the idea if “good works” while reading the Bible or listening to a sermon, we usually think of “spiritual” work, praying, missionary work, evangelism, charity, etc. But Paul is talking about much more than that: “Good works” include every type of task, including your 9-5 job, your housework, your homework… everything. God cares about every single task you undertake, and every single task you undertake is an opportunity to bring him glory and serve him.

Worship, Scattered – The Christian Life, Monday through Saturday

Summary: We gather together on Sunday AM, from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all situations, to join our streams of worship as one in order to encourage and instruct one another. To remind each other of the Gospel, and to send each other out on Gospel mission. What are we sending ourselves out to do?  The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) – Make disciples from all the nations. Baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit, […]

Worship Gathered – Why do we do what we do on Sunday AM

The Myths: Myth 1: The Bible doesn’t say much about what we are supposed to do on Sunday AM. We can pretty much just make stuff up. Truth: The bible gives us much clear instruction on our gatherings Myth 2: Sunday AM is a good, but optional part of the Christian life. Truth: Sunday AM is a vital, commanded part of the Christian life Acts 2:42-46 – Devotion to “the fellowship”, all things in common Hebrews 10:24 – “Don’t neglect […]

Letters from the Elder – 2 & 3 John

Letters from the Elder – 2 & 3 John

The Children of God

John’s first epistle is written to a church under attack from false teaching of those he calls “anti-Christs” – who deny that the gospel is sufficient for salvation, that you must have special spiritual knowledge, and that you don’t need to be concerned about your behavior. John focuses this part of his first letter on reinforcing the teaching (the gospel) he delivered to them at the very beginning, encouraging them to remain in it and not to follow these false teachers.

Stewardship – Q & A with Pastors Brad, Dave, and Matt

Stewardship – Q & A with Pastors Brad, Dave, and Matt

Stewardship – One for every ten – The Tithe

Most of us who have been around the church for any length of time are aware of the idea of “tithes and offerings”. We might even be aware that “the bible teaches we should give 10% of our income to the local church” – but does it really? What is the tithe? Should Christians tithe? Are you tithing? Does it matter? How much should you be giving? To who? How often? This sermon continues our series on giving by examining […]

The First Coming of Christ, part 2: Mary’s response

As we continue the story of Jesus’s first coming, we find Gabriel now appearing to Mary. Luke’s account of Gabriel’s conversation with Mary tells us much about who this child will be: the fulfillment of prophecy, and a very unique individual at that. We learn important truths about Jesus’s nature, and we see a right response to God’s revelation: faith even through amazed wonder at seemingly impossible promises.

The First Coming of Christ, part 2: Mary's response

As we continue the story of Jesus’s first coming, we find Gabriel now appearing to Mary. Luke’s account of Gabriel’s conversation with Mary tells us much about who this child will be: the fulfillment of prophecy, and a very unique individual at that. We learn important truths about Jesus’s nature, and we see a right response to God’s revelation: faith even through amazed wonder at seemingly impossible promises.

The Crucifixion: To Fulfill the Scriptures

Each of the 4 Gospels contains a detailed account of the Gospel. John’s Gospel contains three events that are uniquely declared to have happened “in order to fulfill the scriptures.” We will discuss the reasons John specifically declares this and its significance for our lives today: that we may believe, and have life.

You will have Trouble, but Take Heart

As we live life following Jesus, we are going to face trouble, persecution, and perhaps even the threat of death for our faith. But we will have everything we need: God knows and is in control, he provides everything we need for the mission through The Holy Spirit and through answered prayer, take heart: we will be with Jesus again soon.

Walk in the Light While You Have It

We are now a little over half-way through John’s gospel, and we are coming to an end of John’s record of his public ministry. Jesus realizes that “the hour has come”, and he gives a final exhortation to all who will hear him: “Walk in the light, lest the darkness overtake you.” A final exhortation to believe that he is God’s Messiah. John records this exhortation for us: respond to Jesus while we still have the opportunity.

John 10 – The Good Shepherd

Download sermon notes and discussion questions: (PDF, DOC) Today we continue our study of John in chapter 10. Jesus gives some of the most reassuring words in all the gospels. Jesus is the good shepherd. He calls to his people, his sheep, who know his voice, will follow him, and will never be cast out. If we are his sheep, if we believe he is the messiah, we can be sure he will never cast us away, even when the world […]

The Savior of the Whole World

In the 3rd and 4th chapter’s of his gospel, John highlights Jesus’s interaction with three very different individuals: a Sadducee, a Samaritan adulteress, and a royal official. Jesus reveals himself to all of them as the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the savior of the whole world. He shows no partiality due to their religious or political affiliations, their social status, nor their ethnicity. All are invited to believe in him. We are meant to learn from his example and do likewise: love, serve, and invite everyone to faith in Jesus.

Counterfeit Truth

Since the very beginning of creation, mankind has been under the attack of lies about God, and false teaching about the truth. Far from improving over time, false teaching accumulates over the years, and our culture is soaked in it. Many popular books, radio programs, songs, TV shows, and even movies that claim to be “Christian” contain old lies that the church has labeled as “heresy” for hundreds of years. How can we be on guard against these lies ourselves, and how can we help defend one another in the church from being led astray? Join us this Sunday to find out.

Relationships: The Transition

The Scripture defines only a handful of male-female relationships. Parent-Child, Siblings, and spouses. We in the church are told to treat each other as family, along these lines. What does the transition from sibling to spouse look like? The world sends us many messages regarding dating, marriage, and sexuality, are any of them useful to us? What does dating look like for christians? Join us as we seek to discern cultural expectations (both worldly and our in-house evangelical culture) from biblical principle, and see how God might lead us here.

Go and Be Reconciled

(Download this manuscript and discussion questions (PDF format, Word format) Today we are going to talk about forgiveness. Probably one of the most central concepts to the entire Christian faith. The very core of the message of Christianity is a restored relationship between the creator God and the capstone of his creation: mankind. The key to that restored relationship, restored fellowship, is the act of divine forgiveness of our sin and rebellion. That forgiveness was costly. God, the Father, gave […]

Believe and Be Baptized!

Baptism is one of the most important events and concepts in the Christian faith. Christians have understood baptism in several different ways throughout the centuries. At Stonebrook, we practice “believer’s baptism” as an expression and testimony of our new birth through faith in Christ. It is a command from Jesus, to be done by all who believe, as soon as possible after they believe. We will discuss the different understandings of baptism, what we believe and why, and who should be baptized and when!

Citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom Work Toward Only One Goal

What is your idea of “The Good Life”?  What way of life, or standard of living are you working toward? What end result are you running after? What is your goal? Another way of asking it: what would be the most disappointing thing that you could face? What thing are you trying to gain, or hold on to right now, that if you missed it, or it was taken away from you, would ruin your life. Would crush your hopes […]

Citizens of a Different Kingdom

In his letter to the Christians in Philippi, Paul thanks them for their partnership with him in the work of preaching God’s word, and exhorts them to continue their faithful walk in following Christ, as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, who live a remarkably different life from the rest of the world. In this first section, Paul greets and encourages the church and prays they would be full of love and unity that stems from a knowledge of the truth and discernment of error, so that God may be glorified and praised by the watching world.

Jesus the Priest

Download sermon notes and discussion questions. Download sermon slide graphics. Intro: Advent It is the time of the year when we focus in on the arrival of Christ into the world; God’s greatest gift to mankind. We call this the “Advent Season,” the four weeks before Christmas time; a time to reflect on our condition before Christmas and what his arrival means for us. But what exactly was the intention, the purpose of God’s gift of Jesus to us? I […]

Prayer-Filled Renewal

Where is Stonebrook headed? Our overarching theme for us this year is “Renewal.” We want to be renewed in our unity as God’s family, as well as walking in Christ with a renewed sense of faith and expectation in prayer that the Lord wants to work in and through us as a church family.

At a Crossroads: He will not leave or forsake you

We are now coming to the end of Moses’ sermon to the nation of Israel before they enter the promised land at last. Moses prophesies the success of their entry into the land, and also their eventual failure to live up to the law of God. Moses teaches them a song that will remind them of who they are and call them to repentance and hope in God generations later. We can take heart today that God sees us, his people, and has compassion on us, even in our worst rebellion.

Reformation Sunday: Semper Reformanda

500 years ago, the protestant reformation brought the light of the truth of scripture back to a church that had lost its way in the medieval period. The recaptured tenets of the reformation: Salvation by grace through faith alone, personal participation in worship, and scripture as the final authority for faith and practice, are still relevant and essential for us today.

At a Crossroads: Remember Who You Are

Wrapping up the first section of his sermon to the new generation of Israelites, who are about to at last enter the promised land, Moses reminds the nation who they are: stubborn, rebellious, and undeserving, yet loved, chosen, and cherished nation. He exhorts them to never forget this fact, as they are about to enter the promised land. He reminds us today to keep in view who we are without him: stubborn and rebellious, yet loved and chosen. This reminder will keep our hearts in the right posture of humility, gratefulness, joy, and confidence in God’s love for us as His children.

Our Fear & God’s Faithfulness

In the opening chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses begins his sermon to Israel by reminding them of where they came from. Highlighting a few episodes from the 40-year exodus journey, Moses points out how, in spite of Israel’s fear, stubbornness, and rebellion, God led them victoriously to the land He promised to give them, while simultaneously dealing with their disobedience. God’s faithfulness, justice, and mercy are beautifully highlighted in this brief summary to encourage, warn, and instruct us today.

Our Fear & God's Faithfulness

In the opening chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses begins his sermon to Israel by reminding them of where they came from. Highlighting a few episodes from the 40-year exodus journey, Moses points out how, in spite of Israel’s fear, stubbornness, and rebellion, God led them victoriously to the land He promised to give them, while simultaneously dealing with their disobedience. God’s faithfulness, justice, and mercy are beautifully highlighted in this brief summary to encourage, warn, and instruct us today.

Words, Wisdom, Desire and Humility

In James 3:1-4:10 – James convicts our hearts of three fundamental problems that exist in the human soul which require transformation to escape. He offers three wonderful gospel promises for those who are willing to admit their need.

Vainglory Part 2

Part 2 – Vainglory: the tendency we have to seek prominence, power, and influence through our accomplishments and efforts. Hear about Pastor Matt’s struggles to fend off pride through the power of the gospel.

Vainglory

Vainglory: the tendency we have to seek prominence, power, and influence through our accomplishments and efforts. Listen in about how to battle pride by walking in the gospel.

The Art of Neighboring Part 1: Getting Over Yourself

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Perhaps he meant our literal, physical neighbor? Let’s talk about getting past our greatest obstacle to being a good neighbor: ourselves.

Romans 15 God-glorifying Harmony

Introduction The Strong and the Weak In Romans 14, Paul introduces two groups of believers: the “strong” and the “weak”. Dave did an excellent job of discussing these two categories last week.  The weak were converts from Judaism who were still stuck in either the Jewish food & festival laws and customs, and/or converts from Paganism who were still stuck with superstitions of their various cults about foods and holy days.  The strong were converts from either camp who realized […]

Romans 13:8-14 – The Continuous Debt

Romans 12 Part 2: Godlike

"Godlike." Romans 12:9-21 – Matt Heerema Romans 12:1 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. THE MERCIES OF GOD (ROMANS 1-11) The first eleven chapters of Romans points out the human condition. We were created by God to be His children, to bring Him Glory by being who He created us to be: worshipers, image bearers, messengers […]

Providence

It is our habit, at the beginning of a new year, to begin with a short series of sermons on the topic of stewardship. The ideal of a new year, and an opportunity to re-set and make resolutions for the coming year. In some ways the changing of the year is a bit of an arbitrary point, but I think turning the calendar over does give us a handy way to package the past and claim the promise that God’s […]

The Long Expected Jesus

Advent – A Time of Tension Today is the third Sunday of the Advent season. I talked a little about what Advent is a few weeks back, and every year that I do, I get a little feedback that the distinction between Advent and Christmas is fairly unclear. In fact, I can remember, growing up in a mainline church as thinking of the terms as rather synonymous. And they certainly are related.  I wanted to speak a little more […]

Romans 9-11 Panel Discussion

The Rock of Offense

Introduction Reformation Sunday [Sola Gratia, Sola Fide] Review Romans 9:19-23 Isaiah 29:13-16 And the Lord said:  “Because this people draw near with their mouth  and honor me with their lips,  while their hearts are far from me,  and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,  therefore, behold, I will again  do wonderful things with this people,  with wonder upon wonder;  and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,  and the discernment of their discerning men shall […]

The Justice and Mercy of God

I hope you were able to catch Dave’s sermon last week. If you missed it, I highly recommend that you give it a listen on our Web site. Dave laid out a very very helpful overview of what is going on with Romans 9. I am excited to continue that discussion today.  As Dave mentioned, Romans 9-11 are perhaps some of the most intimidating, and contested passages in the entire Bible. I thought it was amazing that in a 40 […]

What is the Gospel?

INTRO Pop quiz time! 🙂 Take a minute and write out a summary of the Gospel message. Don’t worry, there will be no grades. I’m not going to ask you to share with anyone. And just to defuse any of you who are more like me, I can imagine myself in your seat, with Brad or Paul asking us to do this, and being a little grumpy and eye-roll-ish about it. So lets just get that out of the way. […]

Romans Q & A

Romans Q & A

What Shall We Say Then?

This Body of Death

Dave did an excellent job of reviewing Romans 1 through 6, so I suggest that you go back and review his message on the Web site.  This week we will be back in chapter seven, so if you would open your Bibles with me and turn there, page _____________ in the house bibles if you don’t have one with you.  I also wanted to mention that in a few weeks here, we are planning on spending a Sunday morning with […]

The Weight of Worship

What we are trying to do here We are starting off the semester with a few weeks on the topic of stewardship. Last week, Paul spoke about stewarding money (with a very nice title “The Worth of Wealth”.) This week I’d like to talk about stewarding our spiritual disciplines, with a focus on our various gatherings. I’d like to talk about “The Weight of Worship.” So Paul and I are looking at Brad for next week and wondering what his […]

Defining Moments: My Work Matters

What Fruit Were You Getting?

Romans so far. Romans 1-3:  God’s righteousness is revealed in The Gospel through his wrath at unrighteousnesses and ungodliness of every single individual of mankind.  And through His free gift of grace and mercy offered in Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice, which leads to eternal life. Romans 4: This promised eternal life comes only through faith in Jesus’s work for us, and not through any work of our own. Romans 5 All those with faith in Christ’s work are now at […]

Sons of Abraham

Review – Paul’s message so far The core message of Romans, and everything that we’ve been talking about so far is that God’s righteousness is revealed in The Gospel message. It is necessary, both because it is such a familiar term to those with a long-history as Christians, and such a foreign term to those who are new to the teachings of the Christian faith, to briefly define “God’s righteousness.”  Both its familiarity and its foreignness make it difficult to […]

The Advantage The Jew Has

“THIS IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND” – COMPLEXITY IN THE BIBLE. A warning from the Apostle Peter: 2 Peter 3: 15-17  “And count the patience of the Lord as salvation, just as your beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own […]

God Shows No Partiality

INTRO AND RECAP – picking up Paul’s argument Today we’re picking up our series from the book of Romans in chapter 2, so if you’d all turn there with me, we’ll be working our way through the whole chapter, but with special focus on verses 1 through 16.  As you are turning, I just wanted to comment on the difficulty of a series like this.  Romans is one of the longest letters in the New Testament, and it is a […]

Don't Waste It. Part 2: The Gospel Lens

Last week, this week and next week, Brad, Paul, we are taking some time to talk big-picture. Like really big picture: all of life. Our theme for these weeks: “Don’t Waste It. God’s Glory & Your Life”.  So you know, very specific and easily applicable.  So, two big concepts, often spoken of in the church. So familiar, in fact, that we need to take time this morning and define both of them. Defining Glory Last week, Pastor Paul showed us […]

Lamentations

Today we’re continuing our series on “The Forgotten Books” with everyone’s favorite devotional read: Lamentations. I don’t know about you but I haven’t typically considered Lamentations a “go-to” book when I’m looking for some encouragement from the scriptures. In my bible reading plans, Lamentations is one of those that I tend to just kinda coast through without much engagement because frankly I have a hard time relating to its contents. Anyone else?   There are a few verses here and […]

Job

Introductory thoughts. Today we are beginning an 8-week series overviewing often neglected books of the Bible, the ones we don’t typically get around to when we’re thinking through sermon series.  I get to kick us off with a single sermon on 42 chapters of the book of Job. A large task, and one that I’ve really enjoyed digging into in the last couple of months.  Of course 40 minutes on this book is going to be totally insufficient for an […]

The Reality of Resurrecton

Easter is that time in the Christian calendar when we set our sights on the very foundation, roots, essence, and core message of our faith: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah, from the dead. It is very easy, with all the cultural and religious trappings of the holiday, to turn Jesus and his resurrection from the dead into another mere myth. I want to say emphatically that the Gospel Message that Christians proclaim, is not good […]

The Life of a Sojourner and an Exile

Why Should We Obey God’s Commands? Have you ever wondered why we should obey God’s commands? “Well that’s a silly question, Matt! God is God, therefore we should obey Him!”  Yes, yes, of course. But really though, have you wondered why? Christians believe that we are not saved by what we do. Rather we are saved by faith in the free grace of God, through the work of His son Jesus, alone. We do not add to this by anything […]

God's Work and Ours

Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV) – Jesus Describes the coming Kingdom of God 14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the […]

The Holy Spirit and The New Birth

Prologue We are in week three of a series on The Holy Spirit. In the first message, Pastor Paul gave an excellent overview of who The Holy Spirit it is, and what He does.  In the second, Pastor Dave gave a very good Biblical history of the promised Holy Spirit, and the arrival of the Spirit in the church at Pentecost.   Our series is arranged roughly in the order we experience His presence and work in the church and […]

Life on the Battlefront

Introduction This the second of a three week series on the Christian life and the reality of the spiritual war we are in that we are calling “Wartime Lifestyle”, a phrase coined (I think) by John Piper that has been very helpful to me as in making decisions about how to think about life and how to spend my time and money.  It is an intentionally jarring phrase.  If you resolve that you will live a “Wartime lifestyle” you are […]

The Surety and Sufficiency of Scripture

The scriptures are a sure source, and they are a sufficient source, of God’s revelation to us. That is, we have everything we need in order to know God and His will for us in The Bible.

Work is Worship

Intro  When we kicked off this series, I said I hope we can learn that our daily “mundane” and “secular” tasks can glorify God and expand His kingdom in real and practical ways. And I’m hoping that as a result of this series, we’ll learn to be encouraged that our daily work matters to Him and will count for something eternal.  And most of all, because of that, we’ll become equipped to live every moment or our life with a […]

How the Gospel Affects Our Work

Intro  Good morning!  I suppose most of you know me, but for those that don’t, my name is Matt Heerema and I usually serve as one of the music leaders here at Stonebrook.   I’m on staff here with the church help with that role as well as a few other things, and I also own a business here in Ames that provides graphic design and digital communications consulting. I have a couple employees there, and between these two roles […]