Solid Rock Church Sermons

This past Sunday, we began The Gospel Story sermon series. In this series, we will be looking at how all of the small stories of the Bible come together to tell one epic story of redemption. In God’s redemption story, Jesus is the hero. The Bible tells the story of Jesus coming to rescue His people from sin and death. This story continues today in our lives. When we trust Jesus as our rescuer, He becomes the hero of our story and God begins writing a redemption story with our lives. When we are able to see our lives this way, we find more purpose and meaning than before. We see ourselves as supporting characters in God’s epic drama and begin to feel the weight of the fact that God has invited us to join His story. Do I see my life as the main story or a small scene in God’s epic redemption story? Am I using my life to tell the story of God’s redemption?

In the sermon this past Sunday, we revisited Isaiah’s story from week 2 of the All In series. We looked at Isaiah’s response to God’s forgiveness in his life and asked the question: “Why did Isaiah respond to the forgiveness of God with complete devotion and surrender?” In 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul explains that our salvation compels us to live for Christ and no longer live for ourselves. Isaiah’s experience compelled him to let go of trusting in himself and completely trust in God. When God called Isaiah to go, Isaiah responded by submitting his life to the mission of God because he believed the mission God had for him was better than his own. Have you come to the place in your life where you are ready to completely trust God and submit your life to His mission?

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how the first church devoted itself to the mission of Jesus immediately after hearing and responding to the Gospel at Pentecost. Those who were saved were baptized and devoted themselves to the mission of Jesus inside and outside the church. Their devotion was evident by the way their hearts overflowed with gladness and generosity toward one another through sharing their resources generously for the mission of Jesus. Do you live in gratitude and generosity as a response to the grace of Jesus in your life? Do you believe that the mission to which Jesus has called Solid Rock is worth the investment of your life and resources?

In the second sermon of our 2018 All In series, we looked at Isaiah’s response to his encounter with the Holy presence of God. Like Isaiah, when we encounter the presence of God, it leads us to repentance and surrender. We surrender our deep, desperate situation to Jesus, as the only hope we have of being rescued. The redemptive rescue of Jesus leads to the mission of Jesus. Everyone who has been saved by Jesus has also been called to His mission. God calls us to engage and invest in the same mission through which He saved us. Have you truly surrendered your life to Jesus through faith and repentance? Have you surrendered your life to the call God has for you to engage in the mission of Jesus?

In our first sermon of the 2018 All In series this past Sunday, we looked in Matthew 25 at a parable in which a wealthy man went on a journey and entrusted his servants to manage his resources while he was gone. Through this parable, we are reminded that everything we have belongs to God, and we have been entrusted with God’s resources according to our abilities. Therefore, God expects us to invest everything He has entrusted to us for His Mission through giving generously to the church, living within our means, meeting our financial obligations, and enjoying what’s left. Ultimately, we have been entrusted to manage God’s money for God’s mission. Do you trust God’s intentions enough to invest everything He has entrusted to you into His mission? Are you truly willing to live All In for the Mission of Jesus?

This past Sunday, we continued in our SR Vision series by answering the question,“What is Biblical community?” We discussed that Biblical community is designed by God, with an intentional purpose to eternally change the lives of those who are in Christ Jesus. Biblical Community is set apart because it is solely centered on the Truth of the Gospel. When we live in true Biblical community, we reflect God’s purpose and glory. We do this by living out the Gospel in our everyday lives and walking in His truth, transparency, and grace.

As we kicked off the SR Vision sermon series this past Sunday, we began by looking at what worship truly is and what it has to do with God’s work in transforming our lives. With New Year’s Resolutions fresh on our minds, most of us have been evaluating the changes we want to see in our lives in 2018. As we seek positive change, we need to remember that true change doesn’t come from behaving differently; it comes from beholding the glory of God. WE can’t change US. We are only changed by beholding something better, something more beautiful, something more powerful. If you truly want to behave differently, you need to be wiling to behold differently: to think deeply about the holiness of God, to behold the majesty of His beauty, and to be overwhelmed and overcome with His goodness in your life. What are the areas of your life that you truly want to see changed in 2018? In what ways can you position your life to be a reflection of God’s glory to the world around you?

In the final sermon of the Advent series, we looked at the essence of Christmas. What is Christmas really about? Christmas isn’t merely the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but it is the celebration of God’s plan to rescue sinners through Jesus. God gave his Son as a gift to us, that He would live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death and resurrect victoriously over death. Through faith in Him, we can have peace with God and peace with our fellow man. Through God’s gift, His one and only Son, we can be transformed from enemies of God to children of God by faith.

In the third sermon of the Advent series, A Son is Given, we looked at the significance of Jesus being called the Son of Abraham. The Apostle Paul saw a very deep and profound connection between Jesus and Abraham and, according to Paul, this was the center of the Gospel. He even mentions that when God made his original promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, God was “preaching the Gospel beforehand” to Abraham and because Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness. This is the center of the Gospel message: by faith in Jesus, sinners are made righteous. Abraham was considered perfectly righteous before God, not because of what he did but because of whom he believed in. Jesus was born as the Son of Abraham to fulfill all that God had promised to us through Abraham, that He would bless us by sending to us a righteousness that can only be attained by faith. This is the true gift of Christmas. How did God fulfill His promise to make Abraham’s name great and bless all other famili

In the second sermon of our Advent series, A Son is Given, we looked at the significance of Jesus being identified as the Son of David. In order to understand the real meaning of this title, we looked deep into the Old Testament to a promise God made to King David in 2 Samuel 7 that God would establish the throne of David forever through one of his descendants. When the Angel Gabriel tells Mary she will give birth to the Son of God, he indicates that this baby will be the One to whom God referred in His promise to King David. The promise wasn’t just made to David; it impacts us all. God promised that He would one day send a Savior and King to save people from their sin and death and, as a free gift, give them ‘forever in Heaven with Him’. When we think about the meaning of Christmas, the celebration isn’t only about the birth of Jesus; the true celebration of Christmas is how the birth of Jesus sets in motion His life, death and resurrection and how that guarantees us eternity with

As we move through this Advent season, we are focusing on Jesus as the Son of God who was given for us. In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at prophesy about the birth of Jesus from Isaiah 8 & 9. Isaiah announced, 700 years before the birth of Jesus, that God would send a light to shine in the midst of our darkness and bring hope to our hopelessness. The “light” would be God’s own Son, born into the world to guide our lives as a wonderful and wise Counselor and lead us as a powerful King, who wages war on Satan, sin, and death in order to protect us and bring us peace. The Gospel of Luke introduces Baby Jesus as the child about whom Isaiah was prophesying. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Savior and King! How does the birth of Jesus bring hope to your life in the midst of darkness and despair? Have you truly trusted in Jesus as your Savior and King?

In the sermon this past Sunday we looked at how God calls Christians to pursue holiness. Created in the image of a Holy God, our lives have been marred by sin, and God’s holy image has been distorted by our disobedience. Through our faith in the obedience of Jesus, God is restoring His image in us through the process of sanctification. This is the life-long process of being transformed into the image of Christ. Even though God is the one who transforms, He calls us to participate in this transformational work by walking in faith and pursuing holiness, not as a means to become holy, but because God has already made us holy through Christ.

In our services this past Sunday, we took time to share and celebrate the work God has done in our lives through the Desires of the Heart sermon series. As we walked through each sermon in the series, we looked at the idols of dreams, relationships, performance, being right, control, comfort and possessions. Most of us discovered that our idols are the good things that God has blessed us with that we turn into ultimate things. Our prayer and hope throughout this series has been for God to do a refining work in our lives, individually and collectively as a church. Before we take another step forward in the Solid Rock story, in which we intend to build bigger buildings and create more space to invite more people to be a part of His story, we deeply desire for God to purge our hearts of anything that we have made into an idol.

In the sermon this past week, we answered the question, “Now what?” Now that we have started to identify idols in our lives, what do we need to do to see these idols removed? Idol worship is not simply disobeying God; it’s setting our whole hearts on something besides God, which always plays out in disobedience. Our idols meet us in our need for comfort, security, significance, acceptance, love, satisfaction and peace. By itself, removing the idols leaves a vacuum in the soul in our deepest desires, needs and longing. Idols can’t simply be removed; they must be replaced with something better. Repentance is the great exchange of allegiance, affection and focus. It’s the is the process of reorienting our hearts towards God and allowing Jesus to take the place of our idols. In true repentance, we find that Jesus is the only one who can truly bring joy and peace for our souls.

In the sermon this past weekend, we looked at the final idol in the Desires of the Heart series: The Idol of Possessions. In Luke 12, Jesus stops his teaching to address a question about inheritance from a man in the crowd. Instead of directly answering the man’s question, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach the crowd about the idol of possessions. Using a parable, Jesus points out that what the man is really after is much deeper than filling his pockets and his barns; he is looking for something that will satisfy his soul. Jesus’ conclusion is straight to the point when He explains to the crowd that it is foolish to store up an abundance of wealth in an attempt find satisfaction, joy and peace. Having wealth or possessions isn’t idolatry in itself, but becomes an idol when we look to these things for joy and satisfaction. Instead, Jesus reveals the good heart of God to give us more than we can acquire or store up on earth by giving us access to His eternal Kingdom. True peace for our so

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at the idol of comfort. In 2 Corinthians, we learn about God’s perspective on comfort and how that contrasts with the American Dream theology of the modern church. The Bible draws a distinction between pursuing comfort for the flesh and seeking comfort for the soul. God Himself is the one true source of comfort for the human soul and He provides this comfort to His people through two primary avenues: His presence and engagement with a Biblical community. We looked at the three primary manifestations of the idol of comfort and how this idol can become a significant barrier from fully engaging in worship, community and mission. What comfort idols have your eyes been opened to today in your own life? How have your idols of comfort inhibited you from fully obeying God and following Christ in your life?

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at the idol of being right. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with desiring to be right, when we allow that desire to become so significant to us that it causes arguments and divisions, the desire has become an idol that is more important to us than our desire to be loving. The idol of being right hinders us from extending forgiveness when we’ve been wronged and being gracious towards those with whom we disagree. Jesus calls us to not only consider our love for one another more important than being right, He calls us to extend love even to our enemies. Jesus himself was mistreated, misunderstood and opposed by those who he chose to die for. He shows us that when we are secure in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we don’t have to insist on always being right. We can let go of this idol in order to love others well.

In the sermon this past Sunday, we took a break from the Desires of the Heart series to look at the heart of God in the midst of tragedy and suffering. When tragedy strikes, the first human response is to ask the question, “Why?” Questions like “Why did this happen?” or “Why did God allow it?” seem to beg to be answered. In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul reminds Christians that suffering can’t be understood by looking at the event itself. In order to understand God’s heart and perspective on suffering, we have to look at the bigger picture of the human story to see that suffering is a result of living in a fallen world. However, this doesn't leave us without hope; our hope is not in taming evil or fixing the brokenness of this world. Through Romans 8, we are reminded that, in the midst of our suffering and groaning, we are waiting for something better. Our hope is rooted not in understanding the purpose of a single e

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how Jesus sees performance-based idols in the story of Martha and Mary. In Luke 10, Jesus addresses Martha’s idol of performance and, through her example, we see how performance-driven idols negatively impact our most important relationships. Performance-driven idols occur when we allow our satisfaction in life to hinge on our performance or the performance of others. When our lives are driven by idols of performance, the result is that, like Martha, we miss out on what Jesus has for us. We allow tasks to trump relationships and drive wedges between us and the people we love the most by choosing the distraction of tasks over depth of relationships. Questions for Reflection 1.Do you allow your satisfaction in life to hinge on how others see your performance as a parent, employee, friend, etc? 2.Do you find yourself accomplishing tasks and then finding subtle ways to make sure that people notice? 3.Does it crush you when you feel like you don’t meet so

In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at another example of how a good thing can become an idol when we allow it to become the ultimate desire of our hearts. In Genesis 22, we saw how God tested Abraham to refine his desires and expose the ultimate object of his love when He called Abraham to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved deeply. God was not calling Abraham to end his love for his son but, instead, calling Abraham to love and trust Him more than anything else on earth. In this example, we see how our love for others, when it exceeds our love for God, can become an idol. Idolizing the people we love is destructive because it imposes a set of expectations on the other person that only God, Himself, can fulfill. When we do this, we crush those we love under the weight of our expectations that they will make us happy and satisfy our needs and, at the same time, we remain empty and unfulfilled. As with Abraham, God isn’t calling us to stop loving others; He is calling us to love Him first and for