NPBC Sermons Podcast

For livestream go to https://www.youtube.com/live/xnJg-a_tgCkWe saw last week that the Son was God's beloved Word and Deliverer after the 400 years of "silence." Today, we'll see how he was the perfect King that Israel needed. Unlike the kingdom in the Old Testament, where many kings merely did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, Jesus was the perfect King who announced, demonstrated, and described God's perfect kingdom. And then he ruled it full of grace and truth. He's the King our hearts are genuinely longing for, and we find ourselves most satisfied and delighted when we live with Him as our King.

God's relentless love for Israel, rooted in his covenant-keeping faithfulness, has never wavered. But for 400 years, God's silence must have been deafening in the hearts and minds of Israel. Has God finally rejected us? Have we strayed too far and he has abandoned us? But at a moment, in a setting, and in a manner that almost nobody expected, God invaded our sin-darkened world in the person of The Son. He came not to destroy and revenge God against our rebellion, but to rescue us from our own ill-fated kingship. All who believe in him and declare him as Lord can be saved!

As the kingdom of Israel fell into greater and greater levels of decline, God did not leave them without witnesses to his goodness and love! Join in this week as we explore the role of Israel's prophets in revealing God's heart for his people and his plan to bring them back to himself no matter how far they would run.

This week we are back to The God Story where to date we've seen Creation, Fall, Promise, Israel, and now Kingdom. Remember that God's kingdom is one of the major themes running through the God Story, as humans experience a constant wrestling to honor the true King (God) rather than descend into enthroning anything else in opposition to him. We'll see how Israel was designed to practice the truth of enthroning God alone as King (and how they failed to do that) as well as understanding how this affects us today.

This week Pastor Bryan Clark of Lincoln Berean will be preaching out of Psalm 143. It starts with one bad choice that leads to another then another. We wake up one morning and realize we've made a mess of our lives, and we wonder, how did this happen? Will the sun ever shine again?

As we continue our journey, we see that God's Promise to the one man (Abraham) has its fulfillment in the birth of a nation - Israel! This nation is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and the way in which he is planning to bless all the nations of the world to restore what was lost through humanity's sin. This is a people that God chose, covenanted with, and revealed himself to in amazing ways. We see, through Israel, God's heart to restore what sin had stolen.

At creation, God generously shared himself and all his dominion with humans, but in pride and rebellion we threw off his rule in order to proclaim ourselves kings and queens. In so doing we despised his family and presence. Yet into our brokenness and sin, God approached one man to begin an epic rescue mission of all nations. God starts with a promise that will flow through all the pages of The God Story. Although it seems this promise is, at times, utterly lost, God's promise remains true and is the hope of all the world!

If everything got off to such an amazing start, how do we explain the state the world is in today? Turns out, it all depends on what humanity chooses – trusting God and doing things his way, or turning our backs and going our own…

Have you ever sat down to read the Bible and felt a bit like, "I'm not quite sure what to make of this"? Maybe some things seem to apply, but then other passages just seem weird, confusing, or even shocking ("That's in the Bible?!"…for instance, search "Ehud Judges"). The way forward is learning to read the Bible in context and according to its storyline. You see, the entire Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – is actually one unified story. The same God, from beginning to end, has woven together various themes to tell the story of his unfailing love. Join in as we explore the beauty of The God Story, delving into Scripture to understand its key themes and their relevance for our lives today.

How many people make promises or predictions that never come to pass? Plenty. We've all been disappointed at one time or another by someone who told us something and then failed to deliver. But what if there was someone who never failed to deliver on his promises? And what if he proved his faithfulness by accomplishing the most outlandish prediction ever made – that he would die and then be raised from the dead? The fact that Jesus predicted his own death and resurrection and then followed through is evidence that Jesus isn't just another good teacher – he's way more than that. And if he's way more than that, we'd be wise to pay attention to everything he told us during his time on earth.

On Palm Sunday, a huge crowd excitedly welcomed Jesus as king and rescuer. But within days, they abandoned him to die a shameful, torturous death – crucifixion. Even seeing their Messiah right there in the flesh, they'd missed him. What about us? Are we fully devoted to Jesus as our King and Rescuer? Or will we miss him too?

The final section of Romans! What better way could Paul end his rich treatise to the Roman church than to forever ascribe glory (significance) to the only wise God through Jesus Christ? He gives strength to the weary, draws in people from all nations, and empowers us to live lives of obedient faith. What an amazing and glorious God!

We're coming to the end of Paul's letter where he typically asks for greetings to be given to some brothers and sisters in the church (you know, well-known people such as Phoebe, Philologus, Herodion, and Apelles. Sometimes we get to these name lists and it's easy to quickly breeze through (we've all done it!). But isn't all Scripture God-breathed and useful for us? Indeed it is, and this week we'll discover some beautiful truths embedded in this passage of greetings.

Whose job is it to do the ministry NP Berean? Pastor John? The Staff? The Elders? Actually, we all have a part to play and if the staff is doing their role well, then they'll be equipping you, as a saint, to do the work of the ministry. Every believer in Christ has a ministry that he has assigned to them and nobody is excepted. Let's partner together and strive in prayer as we fulfill the ministry Christ has for us!

Paul concludes his discussion of believers who have "strong" and "weak" faith, charging the strong (with whom he identifies) to please the weak and not themselves! He ultimately calls for unity within the church between all believers who are designed to glorify God together!

Paul exhorts the Roman believers to love all in truth and remember the time is short so believers must walk in a worthy way. As we explore what it looks like to love truly and walk worthy, we'll be challenged to throw off deeds of darkness and run toward the light!

Do we live our lives as if God is near or far away? Psalm 46 shows us that for the believer in Jesus, God is available every day and every moment to help and guide His people. How would we live differently if we believed and lived in daily relationship with the available God? Tyce Jensen (President of our Berean Fellowship) will be joining us to preach.

The Christian's relationship to the government can certainly be fraught with tension. What does it mean to submit to the governing authorities? When is it permissible to stand against the government? What should be our attitude toward those in authority? Paul addresses this to the Roman church and we can receive instruction for our own context today in this next section of Romans.

What does it look like practically to live out our faith in Christ? Having explored Gospel Foundations (Romans 1-4), Gospel Fruit (5-8), and Gospel Faithfulness (9-11), Paul makes a radical shift as he draws his letter to a close. The first 11 chapters were full of indicatives (statements of truth) about us, God, and how Christ restores our broken relationship with God. But from chapter 12 onward, the letter shifts to imperatives (commands) about how to live a life that's flourishing in the goodness of this gospel truth. Join in as we consider what Gospel Flourishing looks like and how we can engage it well.

The beginning of a growing relationship with Jesus Christ is Treasuring God, and as we treasure God we find that we are being transformed to look like him in our character! We will love every other person we encounter (as we love ourselves) - all others. To conclude our series, we'll explore how there is a unique call even within Loving Others to especially Pursue Unity with other believers in Jesus Christ. Are we pursuing that unity?

The beginning of a growing relationship with Jesus Christ is Treasuring God, and as we treasure God we find that we are being transformed to look like him in our character! As this transformation unfolds in us, we find the third vision component becomes more pronounced - we'll be a people who are Loving Others (every "Other" in our lives). People inside the church certainly, but also (and perhaps especially) those outside the church. We'll love those who agree with us, but also those who despise us - we will be a people marked by Loving Others - ALL others!

Last week we explored our first vision component of Treasuring God - treasuring him and seeking his kingdom above all else! This week we'll remind ourselves of this first call to Treasure God and also discover an incredible principle that we are transformed to look like whatever we treasure! We grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ as we are Being Transformed to resemble him more and more as we treasure him!

As we launch 2025, we're going to get back to basics. Our mission here at Berean is "Leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ." But questions we ought to ask include: "What does a growing relationship with Jesus Christ look like?" "How can I tell if I'm growing in my relationship with Jesus?" As a church, we've identified, from Scripture, four core areas of what a growing relationship with Jesus looks like. We'll discuss the first one in order to build a foundation upon which the others will stand.

Today we'll be hearing from Uziel Romero (our Worship Arts Director). After he preaches a shorter sermon, we want to hear from YOU. How have you seen God at work in your life (we call them God stories)? What is God teaching you right now? We want to take time on this final Sunday of 2024 to highlight the greatness of God as we look back over 2024 and anticipate his movement in 2025!

Next in our Advent series, "Christmas Hymns," we're exploring the biblical foundations for "What Child Is This?" This song invites us to wrestle with the unmatched uniqueness of the Christ child – announced by angels, arrived in the humblest of circumstances, born of a virgin, worshiped by the poorest and the richest, bringer of great joy. Who do you say Jesus is?

Today we'll continue our Advent series, "Christmas Hymns" as we explore the biblical foundations for "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." This song, while not as well-known, speaks a timely message for us today. Despair can so easily grip us as it looks like peace on earth and good will to men has been ground up under the hate and mocking of sin. But rest assured, there is good news found in God's character and power in the midst of our world's darkness!

We're continuing our Advent series, "Christmas Hymns" as we explore the biblical foundations for "Joy to the World!" As we look back to the First Coming and look ahead to the Second Coming we'll delight in the hope that is rooted in the past and assured in the future!

Today we are launching our Advent series, "Christmas Hymns" in which we'll be exploring the biblical foundations of some treasured and classic songs of the season. This week, we'll start with the song, "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus." We'll delight in the greatness and goodness of God drawing near to us in the incarnated person of Jesus - the Christ!

Last week we talked about preparing for the coming crush of the demands on our finances. This week we'll prime our hearts and explore how we can love God and love our neighbors in the holiday season using our limited resource of time. Here's the catch: if we don't intentionally consider this, decisions will be made for us - and they may ones we regret after the holidays!

This week we are starting a short, two-week series called "Tis the Season." As we rapidly approach the holidays we want to get ahead of the coming crush of the demands on our finances and time. How can we love God and love our neighbors in the holiday season using these precious resources? Here's the catch: if we don't intentionally consider this, decisions will be made for us - and they may be ones we regret after the holidays!

This week is national "Stand Sunday" as we remember those families who are in the sphere of the foster care system. We have several ministries here at Berean that care for children and we'll highlight opportunities outside the church where we can connect and serve if the Lord calls.

What does it look like practically to live out our faith in Christ? Having explored Gospel Foundations (Romans 1-4), Gospel Fruit (5-8), and Gospel Faithfulness (9-11), Paul makes a radical shift as he draws his letter to a close. The first 11 chapters were full of indicatives (statements of truth) about us, God, and how Christ restores our broken relationship with God. But from chapter 12 onward, the letter shifts to imperatives (commands) about how to live a life that's flourishing in the goodness of this gospel truth. Join in as we consider what Gospel Flourishing looks like and how we can engage it well.

As we've studied Romans, we've understood Gospel Foundations (chapters 1-4), delighted in Gospel Fruit (chapters 5-8), and been comforted in Gospel Faithfulness (chapters 9-11). Before we enter the final movement of Romans (Gospel Flourishing), however, we'll explore how Paul ends his section on Gospel Faithfulness as all the theology he's espoused now culminates in doxology - praise to our Great God and King!

After sharing with us on Friday and Saturday about the material from his seminar, "Family By Design" guest speaker Bryan Clark shares an encouraging and challenging message "You Are His Masterpiece" from Ephesians 2:1-10.

When trouble comes, it's easy to judge God as being deficient in some way – in power, love, goodness, justice, wisdom… But this assumes we know how things should be and he doesn't, or that he does know but won't/can't make it happen. Could it be, though, that the limitation is not in God, but in us?

When the storms of life come, there are two key errors we can make. One is we pretend everything is fine and never truly express the deep grief and hurt we're feeling. The other is we go overboard and let the pain essentially become our identity – we exalt our sorrow over everything else, ultimately even over God himself.

In this life, hardship is inevitable. We live in a broken world where pain, sorrow, disappointment and loss are as sure as death and taxes. Live long enough and you'll experience brokenness of relationships and even the death of loved ones. Part of our role as shepherds of God's flock is to get us ready for the moments when these trials assail. For the next three weeks we're going to be exploring Job's story to understand truth that can enable us to move well through the storms of life that assail both us and those we love.

We're concluding Paul's assertions that God has, in no way, rejected his chosen people Israel. From this, we know that he will not reject us either! But this shouldn't make us complacent or arrogant - rather we should grow in humility and the fear of the Lord (which isn't being afraid of him hurting us, but a combination of awe and intimacy with him).

Does it ever feel like we're a shrinking minority who want to follow Jesus? Even more, do we ever feel lonely and wonder just how many people around us (besides us) are trying to follow God well? Is the church on the verge of extinction by the attacks of the world? Good news – throughout history, God has always preserved a remnant for himself. He will continue to do this, and he can be trusted to protect and preserve at least a remnant of his people!

Jumping back into our Gospel Faithfulness series, we'll see how God desires not only to draw people to himself, but even to use us in that process! In the end, we'll be captivated by a compellingly beautiful picture of God's posture to both Israel and the world. As we see these things, we'll also, once again, see Paul's unshakable belief in the unsearchable wisdom of God who puts together both divine sovereignty and human responsibility without compromising either. We'll delight in God's Enduring Invitation!

Additional resources (video, notes, etc.) for this episode: https://npberean.org/npbc-sermons/2024/8/25/one-word-the-enemy-hates

School is back in session, and hopefully we're adjusting back into our "school year routines." One routine we deeply desire for all at NP Berean is to be involved in a Grow Group throughout the school year. Today we'll be exploring why this desire is so crucial and we'll have a clear opportunity to step into a group that can lead us into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ in the coming months.

Additional resources (video, notes, etc.) for this episode: https://npberean.org/npbc-sermons/2024/8/18/gods-gracious-gift

Additional resources (video, notes, etc.) for this episode: https://npberean.org/npbc-sermons/2024/8/11/gods-blameless-character

Additional resources (video, notes, etc.) for this episode: https://npberean.org/npbc-sermons/2024/8/4/gods-unfailing-word