Experiencing Christ

(05/31/2020) Pastor Chris addresses his congregation concerning the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer up in Minnesota and the aftermath that followed. Listen as he seeks to offer a Biblical perspective to Johnston Union FWB Church. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

(05/24/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 11 - The Book of Second Samuel is all about the kingship of David, which is a very expressive type of Jesus as our King. While David was king of the Jews, Jesus is the King of all Creation, the King of kings. Listen as Pastor Chris shares about Jesus, the King.

(05/17/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 10 - The First Book of Samuel records another transition in the history of Israel. The birth of a prophet-priest is followed by the people demanding a king so they could be like the rest of the nations surrounding them. So God allows them to have one, but it wasn't long before that king is rejected and He chose one Himself. Listen as Pastor Christ shows Christ in the lives of three different characters in the Book: Samuel, David, and Jonathan.

(05-10-2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 09 - The Book of Ruth is a beautiful rose amongst the thorns that was the Judges Stage. It's a marvelous love story between a man and woman, and yet...it's all about Christ. Listen as Pastor Christ helps us experience Christ through the Book of Ruth.

(05/03/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 08 - Our sermon series brings us to the Book of Judges. Pastor Chris shows us that in a time when there was no visible king and everyone did what was right in there own eyes, there actually was and still is an Eternal King in whose eyes we must always do right. In the judges stage, that Immortal King, though angry with his disobedient and unfaithful people, was always faithful to raise up judges that were deliverers of His people. Listen as Pastor Chris chooses a few of them to show that they are all types and foreshadows of Jesus Christ the "Judge of all the Earth."

(04/26/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 07 - Following the Easter Sermon Series, Pastor Chris picks back up his series through each book of the Bible (one book a week) preaching Christ in all the Scriptures. Before Easter he finished the Pentateuch, which means this message picks up with the Book of Joshua. Joshua is a military man, and the book is largely a book of battles. As Christianity experiences more and more persecution in today's world, it is nice to know we have a leader greater than Joshua, we have the Captain of the LORD's Army, Jesus Christ.

(04/19/2020) I WILL RISE 4 - This is the final message in the Easter Sermon Series. This sermon was delivered the Sunday after Easter as Pastor Chris looks to the future Resurrection of believers. He also presents the future resurrection that unbelievers have in store, and it is not good. (Job 19:25-27)

(04/12/2020) I WILL RISE 03 - It's Easter Sunday and we serve a Risen Savior. We know He is Risen because the evidence is emphatic. But sometimes we lose sight of it, and we wander into sin. Other have never caught sight of it, and are still in their sin and lost. Listen as Pastor Chris shares with us what impedes our sight, what we can do to improve our sight, and even how we can gain insight. (John 20:1-10)

(04/05/2020) I WILL RISE 02 - We continue our Easter sermon series with another resurrection account. This time it is the nation of Israel. On what we refer to as Palm Sunday, commemorating the Triumphal Entry, Jesus presented Himself as King. But a king needs a people. Listen as Pastor Chris shares that how one day Jesus will complete the resurrection of His people, Israel, and will reign over them...and the Church with Him! (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

(03/29/2020) I WILL RISE 1 - It was not meant for humans to die, and be separated from loved ones. It was not meant for us to have to weep for them. But it is where the devil's deception in the Garden has brought us. But believers anticipate a resurrection of their bodies to be glorified and reunited with their souls to enjoy the presence and fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ forever, because He has secured. He is the resurrection and the life. Listen as Pastor Chris shares Jesus raising Lazarus, and how it was never about Lazarus, but all bout HIM. (John 11)

(03/22/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 06 - As this series comes to the capstone of the Pentateuch, we see the children of Israel ready to enter the Promised Land after having overcome the wilderness for 40, being preserved by a God who was always greater than any obstacle. Listen to Pastor Chris as he shows us it was always a picture of Christ being the Greater One.

(03/15/2020) Coronavirus has cause deaths in the thousands which means hundreds of thousands are grieving. But all grief is a reminder of the frailty of life. It’s reminder of our own sinfulness. All grief is a call to repentance…and that is an act of mercy on God’s behalf. In the midst of Coronavirus, we need to experience Christ far more than we need to experience closing churches, we need to equip ourselves and other Christians far more than we need to equip ourselves with hand sanitizer and toilet paper, we need to risk engaging the culture about repentance far more than we need to isolate ourselves from the culture in fear or preservation. (Luke 13:1-9)

(03/08/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 05 - Though the Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 years, God never left them and was their constant guide. Listen as Pastor Chris shows the Book of Numbers depicting God in Christ as their way in the wilderness, and our way in the wilderness of this world.

(03/01/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 04 - It's a popular saying that, "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship." While true, we can't maximize the relationship with Jesus while minimizing His holiness. If the Jesus you claim to have a relationship with is not holy, then that Jesus cannot save you. And, if your relationship with Jesus does not motivate you to strive for holiness, something is wrong with your relationship with Him. Listen as Pastor Chris shares how Leviticus reveals Christ as being holy, and demanding our holiness in return.

(02/23/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 03 - This third message of the sermon series takes us to the book of Exodus. Here, Pastor Chris shows us how Exodus pictures Christ as the Deliverer of the people of God. Listen as we see Christ as our deliverer from death, emptiness, and loneliness.

(02/16/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 02 - After last week's introductory sermon, Pastor Chris dives into Genesis with this message to reveal Christ. He shares with us that Genesis reveals Christ as the beginning of all life worth having, the beginning of all salvation that's so desperately needed by all, and the beginning of all hope, now and forever.

(02/09/2020) EXPERIENCING CHRIST 01 - Pastor Chris introduces a his new sermon series called "Experiencing Christ." An introductory message, followed by one sermon per book of the Bible, and ending with a consummation message will have 68 sermons in all. In this introductory message, Pastor Christ shares with Johnston Union his motivation for the series with a passage that changed his view of the Bible and his perspective on preaching. Listen as he shares with us how Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of the Bible, the heartbeat of every book, and the common thread running through every page. (Luke 24:13-32)

(2/2/20) Here’s a short sermon on putting on Christ by symbol of baptism. It reflects a new illustration, a new identification, and a new inheritance. (Galatians 3:27-29)

(01/26/20) Everybody wants to get the most out of life, but so many have a different view of what that looks like. Most people think it involves “big things” and “big days”. Listen as Pastor Chris shares from personal experience and the Bible that getting the most out of life is found in setting Christ as the focal point and doing the “small things” everyday. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

(2020/01/19) The world seems to be at war with the Christianity. In war, defense is vital. But the best defense is a good offense. Listen as Pastor Chris shares how Jesus laid out the plan of action for that offense. Luke 4:16-21

(01/12/20) You ever wished you lived in Bible times? Would you be surprised if I told you that we may be very close to it; close to living in and experiencing some of the things we read about in Scripture. Listen as Pastor Chris shares with Johnston Union about how current events with Iran may have biblical ramifications...and that its good news for believers! (Matthew 23:37-24:8 & Ezekiel 38)

(12/29/19) This is the final message in the "It's A Wonderful Life" Sermon Series.A sense of community should be important to Christians, especially at the level of the local body of believers of the church. Listen as Pastor Chris shares with Johnston Union the importance of community in fulfilling the Great Commission, and becoming a more of a burden bearer and blessing bringer. (Galatians 6:1-10)

(01/05/20) In this message, Pastor Chris shares with Johnston Union the new things they can expect in 2020 so that he cans stretch them and help them to better comprehend "with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of the love of God and experience more of Christ. (Ephesians 3:14-4:3)

(12/15/2019) In this third installment of the his "It's a Wonderful Life" sermon series at Johnston Union, Pastor Chris dives into the topic of prayer.He shows that the whole movie of "It's a Wonderful Life" is a result of prayer. Many believe in the power of prayer, but they don't really understand how that power works. Listen for yourself to find out why prayer is powerful, and let it propel you to utilize that power. (1 John 5:13-15)

(12/01/2019) This is two separate messages given at Johnston Union by Pastor Chris in the same service. In the first message, he examines the debate on the so-called pagan origins of Christmas and decorations. Then he gets into the first message of his Christmas sermon series based off the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life". Some of the beginning audio and movie clip are missing, but he dives into what he calls "The Bright Side of Grief". (Isaiah 8:22-9:7)

In this message delivered at Johnston Union, Pastor Chris examines the two mentalities Christians seem to have towards church. He urges believers to honestly examine themselves, and to get off the cruise ship and into the battleship,,,because the war is real.

(11/17/2019) Pastor Chris has guest speaker, Mark Hall, give his testimony; a testimony that includes a burden of his own doing that took him to prison, brokenness brought on by God, and a new burden to share his experience with Christ with others. This is Mark's "love story" with Christ.(*We are still working out some audio issues.)

(11/10/2019) Every church needs a mission statement they can understand, embrace, and articulate to others. Listen as Pastor Chris biblically demonstrates to Johnston Union their new mission statement stating that they are intentionally helping people experience Christ through His Word so that they can equip Christians for the work of engaging the culture of the world with the gospel. (John 4:1-42)