Solid Rock Church Sermons

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series by looking at what happened when Jesus returned to His hometown after revealing Himself as the Christ in Samaria. In John 4:43-54, Jesus encounters a servant of the king whose son is sick and dying. John tells us that Jesus is without honor among those who know Him the best. Even though the people of His hometown had seen and believed in His miracles, they stopped short of believing that He was the Savior of the world. While they were excited about His miracles, they didn’t believe in Him as their Savior. We often see the same thing in the Church today: those of us who are most familiar with Jesus are also the most likely to take Him for granted, exchanging our personal relationship with Jesus for what we want Him to do for us. Unlike most of the people in Jesus’ hometown, the man in John 4:43-54 completely believed in Jesus and his son was healed. Like the father in John 4, may we place our complete faith and trust in

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series in John 4:27-42. We looked at how having an encounter with Christ can allow us to put down the things that hinder us from being faithful to share the Gospel with others. The woman at the well had such a transformative heart-changing meeting with Christ that she left the reason she was at the well to go back to those who made her feel like a shame-filled outcast and invite them to ‘come and see’ Christ for themselves. Jesus tells His disciples that they are to enter into the fields to bring in the harvest for God’s Kingdom by making Him known to others and inviting them to having a relationship with Christ.

In this sermon, we followed the Gospel of John's narrative of the woman at the well. Although this woman attempted to protect herself from the cultural and personal shame she carried by visiting the well in the middle of the day, when most people would not be there, she was met by Jesus. We saw Jesus seeking a personal relationship with her by intentionally having a conversation in which He revealed Himself as the Messiah. Jesus addressed the idols of her heart and met her in the midst of her brokenness and sin. The woman had come to the well for water but Jesus offered her something greater: eternal life. The story of the woman at the well shows us that God loves us despite our broken and bankrupt lives. God values us enough to actively seek us, welcome us into intimate relationship, and rejoice in our worship of Him.

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series in John 3:16-36, where we looked at God’s character as a loving judge who saves sinners from condemnation. Out of His love for us, God sent Jesus into the world, not to bring condemnation, but to rescue us from the condemnation that was already here. God’s love for us doesn’t mean that His moral standard for righteousness changes; Instead of changing the moral standard for righteousness, God did something better: He made a way for us to become righteous by faith. 

In this sermon, we looked at the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-15. Jesus told Nicodemus, an expert in the Jewish scriptures, that he must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Despite his vast knowledge of the Bible, Nicodemus was unable to make sense of what Jesus was saying about being born again. To help Nicodemus understand, Jesus compared Himself to the serpent that was lifted up in the desert in Numbers 21. By making this comparison, Jesus revealed Himself to Nicodemus as the source of new birth that comes by faith. Like the serpent in Numbers 21, Jesus was pointing to the cross where God would provide a way for His people to be relieved from His judgement. On the cross, Jesus took up the symbol of the curse of sin and death and transformed it into a symbol of healing that “whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

In this sermon, we looked in John 2:12-22 at the first of two times when Jesus confronted corruption of the temple. In this confrontation, the disciples of Jesus were further convinced of His identity as the Messiah when they saw His zeal for the purity of the temple (Psalms 69:9). Jesus unveiled His death and resurrection to the people as He prophetically pointed to the future, when He would raise up a better temple that allowed God’s people real access into His presence. In His death, Jesus tore down the old system, making a new and better way for us to be near to God by refining our hearts and placing His Holy Spirit within us.

In this sermon, we looked at the first miracle performed by Jesus: turning water into wine at a local wedding. In John 2:1-11, we see key elements that reveal the glory of Jesus. Through the miracle of turning water into wine, we see that Jesus’ Kingdom is a Kingdom of faith and that His primary purpose on earth was to carry out the will of His Heavenly Father. We also see Jesus’ authority over our spiritual cleansing, as He pours out immeasurable grace in our lives. Through this simple story, we clearly see that Jesus provides far more than we need; He turns sinners into saints.

In this sermon, we looked at what happens when someone beholds the glory of Jesus. Far too often, we look at things from a worldly perspective so we don’t see them as we should. This can mean that we also don’t see Jesus as He truly is. In John 1:35-51, two disciples of John the Baptist beheld the glory of Jesus. This changed everything about them, including their identities and their lives’ missions. Upon seeing Jesus as the Lamb of God, the two disciples immediately shifted their loyalty from John the Baptist to Jesus. Not only did their loyalty shift, their mission in life changed as well and they immediately went to invite others to come and see the glory of Jesus.

In this sermon, we looked at the role of John the Baptist in the life and ministry of Jesus. John the Baptist was a rugged man who lived in the wilderness and spoke boldly to all who would listen. His message to Israel was controversial, as he proclaimed that just being born a Jew wouldn’t get you into heaven. He called the nation of Israel to prepare for the coming of the Messiah by repenting and being baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Though he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, John the Baptist had never met Jesus. When he saw Jesus for the first time, he excitedly proclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” The rest of John’s Gospel will continue to reveal Jesus as the Lamb of God who became the Lamb who was slain, in order to make holy and perfect for all eternity those who would believe upon His name.

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series by looking at John 1:14-18. After building the case for Jesus being God, through whom all things were created, John makes the astounding announcement that God came to earth to dwell with man. Through John’s firsthand account of the life and ministry of Jesus, we see deity taking on flesh and dwelling among humanity. As the Son of God, He was both fully God and fully man. He was able to obey the Law perfectly in His flesh, thus fulfilling the Law’s demands, qualifying Him to go to war against sin and death on our behalf, and empowering Him to overcome victoriously. Through the incarnation, we see God and we know who God is. Through Jesus, we know that God has come to speak to us, set up His tent, and dwell among us.

In this sermon, we continued The Gospel of John series by looking at the true light, referred to in John 1:9-13. Last week, we looked at how the Creator became our Redeemer through Jesus coming to earth to be the light that shines in our darkness. In this week’s passage, John proclaims that the true light (Jesus) came into the world and was rejected by His chosen people because they didn’t recognize Him. However, we know that Jesus made Himself available for all to know Him and receive new life by believing in Him.

In this sermon, we began The Gospel of John series by identifying the main character, referred to as the Word. John proclaims to his readers that the Word was with God in the beginning, the Word was God, everything has been created through the Word and, more importantly, that the Word is the light of men that has come to earth to have victory over the darkness. Through John’s Gospel, we see that Jesus is the Word who came to earth to bring light into our darkness. After laying His life down on the cross, it appeared, for a brief moment, that the darkness would win. But on the third day, the light of Jesus triumphed over the darkness when He resurrected from the grave.

In the final sermon of our Advent series, we looked at how the birth of Jesus ushers in a new covenant in which God promises to dwell with His people: “God with us.” This is first seen in the incarnation of Jesus, fully God and fully man, living among His people. However, this was only temporary because the birth of Jesus was the beginning of His journey to the cross, where He would die, resurrect, and ascend back to the right hand of the Father. All of this had to take place in order to begin God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The Holy Spirit will continue to dwell with us until Christ returns to fulfill the new covenant, making all things new and establishing His dwelling place with man for eternity. Christmas is more than the celebration of one event in history; it is the celebration of one event in history that changed all of eternity: God making His dwelling place with man.

In this third sermon in our Advent series, we looked at how Christmas reminds us that we were meant for a king and a kingdom. With all of our diversity, we were created by God to live in one Kingdom, under the kingship of one Righteous King. In Isaiah, God describes the coming Messiah as a righteous king who would be a wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace. Over 700 years later, the angel appears to Mary and announces to her that the promise of the Messiah will be fulfilled in her womb. Once Jesus is born, wise men from the east come in search of this newborn king. Threatened by the news of a newborn king, Herod attempts to use the wise men to find Jesus so he could kill him. When the wise men find the king, rather than handing him over to king Herod, they worship him as their own king. Just like the wise men so long ago, we celebrate the birth of our King this Christmas!

In this sermon, we looked at the connection between Jesus and the shepherds who first heard the angels’ announcement that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, we see hints of this connection in the prophesies of the coming Messiah. These prophesies pointed to a future ruler, from Bethlehem, who would lead the people of God like a shepherd. This shepherd would be crushed and wounded so that God’s people could find peace and be healed. In John 10, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, whom God sent to lay down His life and take it up again for the sake of His sheep. Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus promises to stand over us and protect our souls from our enemies. As His sheep, we will learn to recognize our Good Shepherd’s voice and trust Him to lead us to eternal life.  

In this first sermon of our Advent series, we looked at the hope we have in the promises of “The Long-Awaited One,” Jesus Christ. Since the fall in Genesis 3, God has been unfolding His story of Redemption, while protecting the lineage of the coming Messiah. After 42 generations and deep longing for the fulfillment of the promises of God, Emmanuel finally arrives to defeat sin and death. While Advent is about looking at the fulfilled promises in the New Testament coming of Jesus, it’s also about looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus. When Jesus returns, all things will be made new, and all enemies of God will be put to death. Jesus reminds us that He will remove sin, suffering, and death, and that the former things will pass away. Our eternal dwelling place will be with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at how God called Hosea to do something that seemed completely ridiculous in order to display God’s love toward His people. Through Hosea and Gomer’s story, God reveals what happens when His people pursue idols as a source of abundant life. God warns Israel that if they continue cheating on Him with other gods, they will no longer be His people. However, we also see that God will not keep His unfaithful wife (the Church) at a distance or withhold Himself from her, but sacrificially buys her back, alluring her into the safety of His arms, completely restoring her as His bride. Even today, we may desire God's authority over our lives but often turn our focus towards other gods, inviting them in under the assumption that they will make us happy. Through Hosea, God calls us to drop our false gods and turn back to Him, promising to accept us again as His radiant bride.  

In this sermon, we looked at the book of Zephaniah and how God called Judah, and all the nations, to repent to avoid the judgement He is going to pour out on the Day of the Lord. Our good and perfect God is coming to purge sin and its destructive effects from His creation once and for all. Those who are still in sin’s grip will be carried away along with it in the coming judgment. Those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will not taste the judgement of God, but will experience redemption, restoration, and eternity with Him.

In this sermon, we looked at the story of Daniel and how God revealed Himself as the ruler of all rulers. God used Daniel to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He showed the king that his kingdom would give way to other kingdoms and that God would send a king who would be like a large rock, not made with human hands, that would bring down all earthly kingdoms. All of this was pointing to the coming of Jesus. He is the stone that brings all earthly kingdoms to nothing and who establishes the Kingdom of God like a great mountain that endures forever.

In this sermon, we looked at how God’s story of redemption flows through the story of Naomi and Ruth to bring about His plan of redemption. Their story serves as both a figurative portrait of the redemption of Jesus and a literal part of Jesus’s lineage. As Boaz steps into the story of Naomi and Ruth to sacrificially redeem when no one else will, we see a picture of Jesus’s redemption for the church.  God used this story about the redemption of two widows to give us a picture of His redemption for us. He also used a story of what might be considered a story of ordinary people living out ordinary, hopeless lives to bring about the most newsworthy story of all time: Jesus is coming to redeem the world and save them from their sins.