Synopsis: In our series on the mission of the church, we are considering today the flip side of this question. What is not the mission of the church? Specifically, we want to understand the relevance of the cultural mandate to us today.
Synopsis: Isaiah 9 is an Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah, who is God’s great light shining in the darkness.
Synopsis of sermon: Today’s passage contains John’s version of the Great Commission, in which Jesus tells his people that we are sent by him just as the Father has sent Jesus.
Synopsis: Today’s text contains Luke’s version of the Great Commission. These texts contain the clearest instruction in the Bible to answer our central question in this series: “What is the mission of the Church.” In today’s text, the answer given to that question is that we are to be Spirit-filled witnesses to Jesus and his…
Summary: Jesus will bring about his kingdom, but he has an assignment to give to his church. We are to make disciples, which includes the three components of going, baptizing and teaching.
Synopsis: We are beginning our series on the mission of the church today by looking at the Bible’s big story. That story is best seen by turning to the end of the book to see how it all ends. Revelation 22 portrays heaven as a restored and enhanced Garden of Eden, complete with a river,…
Main Idea: Many books conclude with a “happily-ever-after” ending. Nehemiah is not one of those books. The very matters that seemed to have been settled by Israel’s covenant renewal back in chapter 10 have once again become problems. The matters Nehemiah confronts here are the same ones, broadly considered, that we still fight.
Main thought: Twice in Nehemiah 11, Jerusalem is referred to as the “holy city.” The walls have been rebuilt, but few people want to live there. This is all the more tragic because of the principle resident of the city, God. That’s what is meant by calling this city a holy city. So Jerusalem is…
Nehemiah 9-10 describes a service of covenant renewal, which outlines how God’s people make a fresh start with God following a breach in that relationship. We will consider today what this might look like in our own day.
The walls of Jerusalem are now complete, and it is time to turn to the building of God’s people. It is the Word of God that builds up the people of God, and today’s passage highlights the two ways that happens: through the faithful preaching and the sincere receiving of God’s Word.