Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this sermon, we looked at how Jesus made Himself known to His disciples at the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were still recovering from the emotionally tumultuous series of events surrounding Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and were now exhausted and discouraged from fishing all night with nothing to show for their efforts. Jesus meets them in their discouragement and exhaustion by miraculously providing for them what they couldn't provide for themselves. This resurrection appearance is more than an event to prove Jesus' power and identity; Jesus appears to the disciples and invites them to sit down and share in a meal that He provides for them. In this moment, we see the ultimate purpose of the resurrection. God meets us in our deepest need by graciously offering to us what we can’t provide for ourselves: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and authentic relationship with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at John's statement about why he wrote down his account of Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection. John tells us that he selected some of Jesus' miracles to reveal to his readers the identity of Jesus in the hope that we would know Jesus to be the promised Messiah and the Son of God. Earlier in his Gospel, John tells us about how he came to fully believe in Jesus when he saw the empty tomb. It’s John's desire that we, too, would come to believe in Jesus and have abundant life in His name.

In this sermon, we looked at Jesus' resurrection appearance in John 20:24-29. The week after the resurrection, rumors and threats were being perpetuated by the Pharisees, which made believing in the resurrection not only difficult but also dangerous. As the disciples hide in fear, the others tell Thomas that they have seen Jesus but Thomas says that he won’t believe unless he can touch Jesus’ physical body. Eight days after the resurrection, Jesus appears again to the disciples and, this time, Thomas is present. Knowing what Thomas wants, Jesus invites him to touch His wounds from the cross. Upon seeing Jesus and hearing His voice, Thomas immediately believes and declares, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus meets Thomas right where he is in his doubts and fears and gives Thomas what he needs without even being asked. This is how Jesus meets us as well! Despite what we ask for, or even demand, of Jesus, He knows what we actually need. The way that Jesus reveals His wounds to Thomas reminds us

In this sermon, we looked at how Jesus made Himself known to the disciples after the resurrection. In John 20:19-23, Jesus miraculously passes through the locked doors of the upper room in order to be with the disciples. Finding them in fear and turmoil, Jesus shows them His wounds and invites them into the peace of His presence. As Jesus turns the disciples’ fear into gladness and their chaos into peace, He empowers them with the Holy Spirit to go out into the broken world with His message of forgiveness that brings peace and gladness to the nations.

In this sermon, we looked at the eternal significance of the resurrection of Jesus. In John 20:1-18, we see Mary Magdalene go to Jesus' tomb on the third day following His death. She didn’t go to see if He had resurrected but to make sure He had been properly buried. Upon seeing the empty tomb, she thought that the tragedy of Jesus’ death was now followed by the additional tragedy of His body being stolen. She quickly went to get Peter and John, who ran into the tomb to see for themselves. John immediately believed in the resurrection but Mary wasn’t convinced; it took hearing Jesus say her name for Mary to believe. Believing in the resurrection is an essential truth of the Christian faith. Each of us must wrestle with the reality of the resurrection and decide whether or not we believe. John makes it abundantly clear that he wrote this Gospel believing that reading it would allow you to see Jesus as the Messiah who died on the cross and resurrected from the dead and that, by believing, you

In this sermon, we looked at how the details of Jesus' burial reveal the depth of His trust in the Father. With more than 90 references to Jesus' relationship with God the Father, John's Gospel account helps us to see how Jesus completely entrusted Himself into the hands of His Father in His darkest hour. In order for Jesus to qualify as our Messiah, He had to obey the law perfectly in life andin death. John19:38-42 reminds us that Jesus laid down His life, fully trusting that His Father would complete His plan to redeem the world as well as keep His word and bring Jesus back to life. This is the same trust that we are called to display toward the Father. Do you truly trust Him with your life as well as what happens after you die?

In this sermon, we looked at John’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus in John 19:16-37. While John wants us to see the intensity of this moment, he doesn’t want us to lose sight of the bigger picture of God’s unfolding plan to redeem His creation. When Pilate says, “What I have written, I have written,” we can see the finality of what God has written. John includes many prophetic details, connecting Jesus’ death with the rest of the Bible, giving us a beautiful and powerful picture of God’s goodness in Jesus’ suffering. This allows us to understand the intensity of Jesus’ physical pain and the shame of His public humiliation as things that needed to happen for God’s redemption plan to be fulfilled. Through His great redemption plan, we are drawn into the eternal salvation only available through faith in Jesus. 

In this sermon, we looked at Jesus' claim to be the King of the Jews. In John 19:1-15, Pilate was struggling to know what to do with Jesus so he had Jesus severely beaten and humiliated, hoping this would appease the Jewish leaders and Jesus could be released. However, when Pilate presented a beaten and bloody Jesus, the crowd of Jewish leaders replied, “Crucify Him!” Viewing this part of John’s Gospel through the eyes of the prophet Isaiah reveals that what was happening to Jesus was the unfolding of God’s intentional and necessary plan. Although Pilate and the Jews were unaware of God’s plan, Jesus’ suffering was fulfilling the prophesies of the coming Messiah who would save His people. Like Pilate, we too have to decide what to do with Jesus. While Pilate initially referred to Jesus as a man, he presented Him as a king in the end. Today, we are left with this question: Is Jesus simply a man who was beaten and crucified oris He a King who laid down His life and took

In this sermon, we looked at John 18:28-40 when Jesus claims to be the King of the Kingdom of Truth. The Jewish leaders wanted to have Jesus put to death, while still maintaining the appearance of adhering to their strict religious laws, so they passed the burden onto the Roman Governor, Pilate. They knew that if Pilate could get Jesus to admit to His claim of being a king, it would make Jesus look like a political threat to Caesar, and Pilate would be forced to put Him to death for treason. As Pilate questions Jesus, Jesus doesn’t deny that He is a King but points out the difference between His Kingdom and earthy kingdoms by saying that His Kingdom is not of this world and is a Kingdom of Truth. This left Pilate, and every person since, pondering the reality of absolute truth and wondering, “Is there a truth greater than my perception of the world?” Our brokenness keeps us from naturally being drawn to absolute truth and seeing that we are all broken people living in a broken world that is

In this sermon, we looked in John 18:12-27 at Jesus' faithfulness as He was being interrogated by the Jewish religious leaders. As Jesus continued to do His Father's will during the interrogation and false accusations, Peter was outside in the courtyard denying, three times, that he was one of Jesus' disciples. While John specifically captures Peter's unfaithfulness to Jesus, the reality is that all of the disciples abandoned Jesus to face His death alone. In this story, we see a convicting reflection of ourselves. Like Peter, we too are followers who make promises to Jesus, only to go back on those promises when the journey gets hard. However, this wasn’t the end of Peter’s story; we looked ahead in scripture and found that weeks later he was instrumental in organizing the disciples to launch the church in Jerusalem. Despite his ongoing personal struggles, it was Peter who helped break down the walls of racism and partiality in the early church. Just as God continued to use Peter to advance His K

In this sermon, we looked at how Jesus' arrest unfolded in John 18:1-11 and how this affects our lives today. After Jesus' prayer in the upper room, He and the disciples go out to the garden just outside of town. Judas comes to the garden, leading the religious leaders and Roman soldiers. When the leaders ask which one is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus steps forward and identifies Himself, saying, “I am.” At His words, the soldiers and religious leaders fall to the ground in fear. Knowing what was to come, Jesus’ deity continues to be displayed as He willingly lays His life down by His own authority. This is further emphasized when Peter tries to take the situation into his own hands and Jesus asks him rhetorically, “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” The cup Jesus refers to is laying down His life and taking it back up again for our salvation and eternity with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at John 17:20-26 when Jesus prays for the believers who will come to Him through the work and testimony of His disciples. Christ prays that we will be united in our faith with one another just as He is united with the Father. This unity is grounded in our relationship with Christ and will be a sign to the world that He was sent by the Father. Jesus even gives believers His glory, that we may reflect that glory back to the Father and the world would see His glory as we become perfectly one. As His disciples today, we are called to be unified as we faithfully share the Gospel and live the mission in our everyday lives, that more and more would come to know the life-changing love of Christ.

In this sermon, we continued to unpack Jesus' prayer in John 17. As Jesus prays to the Father, we see a beautiful picture of His earthly ministry and fulfillment of God's will and purpose. Jesus prays for His disciples to be protected by the Father as they face suffering in their ministry. However, the protection that Jesus prays for isn’t to remove the suffering the disciples would face; He prays that the Father would use their suffering to sanctify them while keeping them in His presence. As His disciples today, the same is true for us: As we face trials, we are being sanctified, or set apart, for God. The Gospel meets us in our brokenness and sinful nature and transforms our hearts to be more like Christ and reflect His glory. Despite any difficulties we may face, we can be assured that our sanctification is rooted in the finished work of Christ and always leads to heart transformation.

In this sermon, we looked at John 17:1-5 when Jesus begins to pray and ask the Father to glorify Him through His upcoming suffering and death. Through His prayer, Jesus helps us understand how the Father glorifies the Son and the Son glorifies the Father. In His prayer, we also see our part in glorifying God: We don’t add glory to God when we glorify Him; we glorify God by making Him known and revealing His glory that already exists. In this passage, Jesus also reminds us that even our salvation is a way through which God reveals His glory. As believers, our greatest desire must be to make much of God by reflecting His goodness and making Him known to the world.

In this sermon, we looked at how Jesus prepares His disciples to walk through a difficult season of fear, loneliness, sorrow, and failure. In John 16:25-33, Jesus tells them that a new era is coming when He will overcome the world and return to the Father to sit as the mediator and advocate between man and God, thus giving His disciples direct access to the presence of God. Jesus is teaching us that peace is not found in the absence of suffering and failure, but in the presence of God alone.

In this sermon, we looked at John 16:4-15 when Jesus once again encourages His disciples with the hope of the coming Holy Spirit. Jesus knows the disciples are full of sorrow at His departure and the reality of their future suffering at the hands of those who would persecute them. However, Jesus tells them it is actually better that He should ascend to the Father so the Holy Spirit will come. The Spirit’s ministry convicts the world, leads Jesus’ followers into truth, and furthers the message of Jesus in Trinitarian unity. All of Jesus’ disciples, including the Church today, can find tremendous hope, comfort, and joy in the fulfilled promise of the Holy Spirit.

In this sermon, we looked at John 15:1-17 when Jesus gives us a picture of our relationship with Him by saying He is the true vine and we are the branches. As people who have heard and believed the Gospel, we are commanded to continue to abide in Jesus: to find our identity in Him, to bear fruit through His power, and to bring glory to God in the process. Here we find true joy and show that we are His disciples. However, the true test of abiding in Jesus is how well we love one another. As chosen friends of Jesus, we are called to bear fruit, laying down our lives for one another, just as Jesus laid down His life for us.

In this sermon, we looked at Jesus' promise in John 14:15-26 to send the Spirit of Truth to His disciples to help them after He is gone. Jesus tells His disciples that they are to keep His commandments after He is gone as evidence that they belong to Him. This sounds like an impossible expectation to fulfill until Jesus explains that God will send the Holy Spirit to teach, remind and empower them to love God and keep His Commandments.  He offers this to us, too.  Out of His love for us, God sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, fulfilling everything that is required of us. As Christ followers, we are to strive in every way to love Jesus and keep His commandments. This isn’t a legal transaction, but a whole-hearted effort rooted in faith that the Holy Spirit will empower those who believe to this end.

In this sermon, we looked at John 14:11-14 when Jesus gave a parting promise to His disciples. Jesus told His disciples that if they believed in Him, they would do greater miracles than they had seen so far and God would grant them what they asked for. The Kingdom of God would be established on earth as the Father carried on Jesus' works through weak and imperfect believers. Of these greater works, the greatest miracle happens when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of someone who is spiritually dead to see the goodness of God’s grace, saving and transforming them from a sinner into a saint.

In this sermon, we looked at John 14:1-11 when Jesus addressed His disciples' troubled hearts. The disciples were becoming anxious and broken hearted the more Jesus talked of leaving them but Jesus reassures them that the key to not being troubled is rooted in believing and trusting in His promises. Jesus uses the imagery of a large house with many rooms to illustrate six promises about Heaven. He tells the disciples that believing and trusting that they will spend eternity with Him is enough to bring peace to their troubled hearts even in the midst of extremely troubling circumstances.