My 12/22/24 sermon, Roped into God’s Love (Isaiah 55:1-5), continued exploring the four themes of Advent by focusing on God’s love. God invites us to come to Him, incentivizes it, and even promises to make good on it forever. Christmas tells us a story that God has come to us. And His nearness means that we are affected in profound ways. I hope you have a great week relating to others out of the love of God Himself. Oh, I also closed with this illustration from Frosty the Snowman. I hope it helps you marvel at the grace shown to you by God.

My 11/24/24 sermon, God’s Mission Advancement Plan (Ephesians 6:10-24), wrapped up a quick series we did at Crestview through Ephesians. This short 7-week series oriented our hearts around our God, who always moves and plans with intention. The residue this book left on me is a big pushback against the “rugged individualism” we are consistently pointed toward. As this series wrapped, one application was that the spiritual armor isn’t so much waking up and putting on the armor every day. It’s a way of life we experience in the church where we root each other’s identity in the good news of what Jesus has done for us. This sermon concluded with an appeal for our church to go deeper. I tried to do this with courage and gentleness. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 11/17/24 sermon at Crestview, God’s Life Plan (Ephesians 5:22-6:9), is online. If you know your Bible, you probably recognize this section as instructions related to the household code: how marriages, families, and even work realms function. And as this relates to our broader context, this sermon unpacked how God’s work to affect His people is filled with applications in the day-to-day life of His people. I hope it encourages you, especially those for whom this text might have been weaponized for dishonorable behaviors.

Luke and I have been preaching through Ephesians to show God’s plan through His people, the church. My 11/10/24 sermon, God’s Sanctification Plan (Ephesians 4:17-5:21) is online. This sermon dug into how God has called His people to distinctly walk in their corporate life together. This sermon series is clipping along at a quick pace, but I hope you’re starting to see how loving Jesus means loving His bride, the church.

My 10/20/24 sermon, God’s Purposeful Plan (Ephesians 1:15-2:10), is online. I posted the architectural blueprints above because that’s what we’re getting a picture of in the passage today: what God intends to do through His rescue plan for His people. His plan is purposeful, working out in our lives to affect how we view our life together and how we walk (or live) in life together. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 10/13/24 sermon, God’s Rescue Plan (Ephesians 1:1-14), is now online. This launched a new series for us at Crestview, where we’re considering God’s plan for His people in the local church. We began with God’s planning and intentions to save people. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unite to work for the good of people, decisively changing them and propelling them into new life. I hope this encourages you.

My 9/29/24 sermon at Crestview, Jesus Engages (Luke 24:1-35), is online. Of course, the big idea is that Jesus rises from the dead. However, Jesus engages people in many ways in this passage, which intrigued me. I think it helps us see how the Risen Christ is still on the move for the good of people, helping us to really live on this side of the resurrection. I hope the sermon encourages you. Have a great week.

My 9/22/24 sermon at Crestview, Exchanges (Luke 23:1-56), invited us to consider all the exchanges in the passage of Jesus’s death. Of course, this points to the great exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21, where Jesus, the One who knew no sin, became sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 9/15/24 sermon, The Passover Lamb (Luke 22:1-71), is now online. The sermon dealt with a long chapter in Luke’s Gospel with everything from Jesus’s Last Supper with the disciples to His betrayal and denial. Digging through all of this narrative proved profitable, though, as we sought to see how Jesus is not just saying God loves us but proving it with action after action. I hope the sermon encourages you.