Rooftop Church Sermons

After Noah's flood, something changes. God promises to not curse the ground and never destroy humankind. What happens? Noah offers a sacrifice. Some sacrifice, right? What made Noah's offering so special? And what does it mean for us?

Noah and his family have been on the ark for 150 days. Will they ever leave? What can we learn from Noah's story about waiting on the Lord?

The story of Noah's flood is darker and different than the one we learned about in Sunday school. It's also more complicated: How should we read it? As a historical account, religious myth, or spiritual parable? What do we have to learn from God's judgment of the earth and His rescuing of life by one righteous man? Let's "dive" in!

Hope is a dangerous thing. It can drive a man insane. You better get used to that." So says Ellis Redding to his friend, Andy, in the famous movie, Shawshank Redemption. Hope can be hard. But it's what Easter is all about. On Good Friday, Jesus died to give us forgiveness, and on Easter, he rose to give us hope.

With the impending flood, God gives Noah instructions to build an ark to save him and his family. What can we learn about their partnership, and what does it mean for us today?

The Bible has strange things in it -- especially in the book of Genesis. It's a different world from ours, but understanding this world in Genesis helps us understand the story of Noah. And it helps us answer an important question: What would possibly motivate God the Creator to utterly wipe out His creation?

Everybody knows the story of Noah and the flood. Or do they? There's plenty in the story that we skip or ignore--for starters, where the story begins. Before we can discuss the story of Noah in Genesis 6, we have to talk about his family tree in Genesis 5.

Jesus tells his people to go into the world and spread God's love and truth. That should start with our friends. But what if we don't have any friends—or any good ones, or enough of them? Friendliness is increasingly common in our disconnected world, and it comes with great cost. God can help us here. Not only can he give us friends, but he can make our friendships the kind of deep relationships that people really need to thrive.

The Bible gives us many examples of people who struggled with depression and anxiety. How did God respond to those people? Find out in a message with Pastoral Intern Ariel Stephens.

How do you show the love of God to someone who doesn't even believe in Him? Pastor Matt Herndon has some ideas.

We all have people in our lives who are addicted to unhealthy behaviors and thinking. (There's a good chance we have an addiction ourselves.) It can feel powerless to help these friends and loved ones. Is there anything we can do? Perhaps--by loving these people as Jesus loves us.

We all have people in our lives who claim to be "spiritual but not religious". Listen in as Pastor Josh pulls directly from scripture to lay out a framework for how we, as Christians, can and should show up for our friends who may believe in God, but want nothing to do with the church.

If we're not broke ourselves, we have friends who have financial need themselves. We want to help them, but how should we? How can we love them the way Jesus loves us?

We all have those friends--hyper-partisan political friends who we don't like to be around. Or maybe we HAD those friends, but have since "unfriended" them. Can Jesus show us a better way to be their friend? Yep.

It's hard to watch our friends suffer, but that's what friends are for. How can we help our friends who are sick, and maybe even dying? We can care for our friends the same way Jesus cared for his, and cares for us!

Jesus sends his followers into the world to make disciples. That starts by helping our friends. Our friends have challenges just like we do. There's nothing wrong with being single, but it does come with some challenges. Regardless of whether or not we're married, how can we help our single friends?

Jesus loves our LGBTQ friends, and so do we. But the church has not always loved them well, causing more dissension and division. What hope can Christians offer our LGBTQ friends? Today, we're discussing how we can love our LGBTQ friends the way Jesus does.

Simeon and Anna recognized The Messiah as soon as they saw Him because they already had a relationship with Him. While patience, prayer, and persistence are critical pieces of our faith journey, making the decision today to be with God continually is the greatest decision we could make.

When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds and told them the good news. They went and found Jesus and then headed out to tell everyone. Mary, meanwhile, "treasured these things in her heart." What does that mean, and how can her reaction help us appreciate the meaning of the holiday?

Moms love sharing birth stories. The birth of Jesus is the most famous birth story ever. It's surprisingly short on details, though. But we learn a lot about who this baby is, and who he would grow up to be.

Mary's song has been called 'The Gospel before the Gospel.' Is this true? Find out what her song tells us about God and why we should rejoice with her.

After Mary hears that she will give birth to the Son of God, she goes to visit her pregnant cousin, Elizabeth. But this is not just two pregnant ladies getting together. The moment of the Visitation is one pregnant with meaning and possibility. It has inspired a worldwide religious moment, and it can guide us in how we respond to God's call on our lives.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the more controversial figures in Christianity. But she has a lot to teach us about how God can use ordinary people like us. Her response to the angel's announcement that the King of Creation is coming to earth - through her - is a model for how we, too, can be used by God.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us to shine like lights in the darkness. This is not something we can do on our own, though--we need the Holy Spirit. Being filled by the Spirit changes how we do church, how we treat others, and--if we're married--how we do marriage.

God has reconciled us to each other so that we may grow mature as his people. But what does maturity look like? According to Paul in Ephesians chapter 5, it looks like light shining in the dark.

Paul instructs the Ephesians to 'put off' their old self and that they're made new in Christ. Paul writes an example of the 'new self' in a list. Join us today to discover what the 'new self' looks like.

In the 2006 movie, Idiocracy, director Mike Judge foresaw a future in which humanity declined into ignorance and corruption. Is that future becoming our present? The Apostle Paul believes that ignorance of God leads to sin and sensuality. But in the book of Ephesians he points the way out of the idiocracy. It is the way of Christ.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul says that Jesus died to unite us to God and to each other. By faith we are one in Christ. Now we have to live like it. How? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:1-16.

There are moments throughout life when we feel powerless. We get overwhelmed with what is before us, and rather than reaching for and living in a power that is within our grasp, we find ourselves distracted and too easily weakened by our everyday lives. Paul prayed for us to receive power—not ordinary power, but the power to know the love of Christ. Take a moment today to follow Paul's example and spend time in prayer.

The book of Revelation talks about God revealing future events and uses crazy imagery to do so: dragons, beasts, and angel armies. Paul's letter to the Ephesians is also a revelation of a different kind. But what does it reveal?

There's a lot of division in the world today, along ethnic, political, and cultural lines. Churches can have a lot of division, too. Is it naive to think that Christians of all kinds can find unity in Christ? Paul didn't think so. In fact, that's why Jesus came to earth.

Join us as we explore Paul's opening address in chapter 2 of Ephesians. We will explore the themes of ruin, rescue, and restoration while considering one of the World's most famous works of art.

We are all blind in a world of darkness. But God can make us see. What does he want to show us?

"Make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." The Apostle Paul wrote that during some dark days 2,000 years ago. With war, poverty, devastation, and division, the days are still evil. How should Christians live during such dark times? God tells us how in the book of Ephesians. And it starts with remembering how blessed we are.

Spiritual transformation is a slow and tedious process that often leaves us discouraged. But slowness is how God designed the world. Join us as we conclude our ‘Morph' series and find out how patience and time play a role in our transformation.

The Bible says that everyone must give an account to God, but we are also accountable to each other. Accountability is one of the most important—and most neglected—ways that people can truly grow.

After he was diagnosed with a fatal disease, Lou Gehrig called himself 'the luckiest man on the face of the earth.' What's so lucky about a fatal illness? Christians believe something similar, though--that suffering can be a great blessing in our journey towards godliness.

God wants to change us, to grow us. But He wants to use others to accomplish this growth, and He wants to use us to help them grow! Join us as Pastor Josh explains what this can look like.

Science shows that our words can change each other: how we see ourselves, how we behave, what we think. If that's true of how our words can affect each other, how much more true can it be of God's Word to us?

How does God transform us into the likeness of Jesus? In lots of ways, but He also uses our own efforts. As Peter writes, "Make every effort to add to your faith goodness." But what kind of effort does it take to grow in Christ? And what if we're not exactly the hard workers God wants us to be?

Join us as we explore the Lord's Prayer as a transformation as we continue our series on Spiritual Formation.

Scripture tells us we need to be transformed into the image of Christ. To do that, we need God's wisdom. But what is wisdom, and how do we get it? And who's wisdom should we listen to? Join us as we continue in our 'Morph' series to learn more about wisdom's essential role in our transformation.

The Bible says we must be transformed to look and live like Jesus. On our own, that's impossible! But we're not on our own. The Bible says that God himself is the wind at our backs, helping us change, in the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit, at work in our lives.

To be transformed in the likeness of Christ, we must have mentors.

When most people hear the word "grace," they think "forgiveness." And the grace of God does refer to his mercy for sinners. But there is a power to grace, and it's what we need to truly be transformed into the likeness of Christ. How does grace change us, though? Listen in.

Join us this week as we explore the topic of repentance. What is repentance, and how does God use it to change us?

The Bible says that being transformed into the likeness of Jesus is important and that God can help us. And yet most people don't actually change that much. Why not? There is a very good reason we don't, and understanding why can help us overcome it.

To be a follower of Jesus doesn't just mean to go to heaven. It means to be changed as a person. But is change really possible? And how does it happen? Listen in as Pastor Matt kicks off our new summer series on how followers of Jesus can experience lasting change.

As we end our slow walk through Genesis, let's reflect. We've learned that God created a good, ordered world, but humans have become violent and vengeful instead. With all the bloodshed, it leaves us wondering if there's any hope for humanity. Join us for our last message in this series to learn about Cain's descendant, Lamech, and why the Biblical authors tell his story.

After God punishes Cain and makes him wander the earth, he finds a wife and builds a city. Is this a good thing? We're left to wonder. Cain's city becomes an image of all the creativity and culture humans are capable of — and all the wickedness, too.

Following Cain's murder of his brother, Abel, the Lord casts him even further from the Garden of Eden, where he will wander the earth. Cain is terrified of this punishment, but the Lord shows Cain mercy even in His justice.