Sawgrass Community Church's Sermon Archive

We can look and act like Christians but only someone who has been with Jesus can truly be different from the world. Maybe we shouldn't ask ourselves that question, maybe we should ask others if we behave as if we have been with Jesus.

We have lost the original intent of the word awesome. Have we also lost the impact of awe and wonder in our lives? True restoration is tied to our awe and wonder of God. We can take a look at the early church to see the impact of awe and wonder on our spiritual journey.

Worldly restoration is bringing something back to its original condition. Biblical restoration makes things better than the original. When God works, it is always better than we could imagine!

We all have regrets. We are human and we all make mistakes but do we need to fear our mistakes and our regrets? If we leave our regrets in the hands of Satan, then yes, we do need to fear them, but Jesus calls us to release our regrets and our mistakes into His hands for full restoration! We can look at Peter's experience to discover Jesus' plan for restoration through our regrets.

Who doesn't want to be successful? The problem is, whose idea of success are we using to define us? 

Job reminds us how our pain and suffering in this world are related to the goodness of God and what He sees in us.

Do you fear saying yes to God because the cost might be too high? We look to the story of Esther and realize that no cost is higher than God's ability to redeem.

One of our fears is that we are never enough. But what is at the root of our fear of never being enough- could it be our lack of being in control?

Are we so comfortable and safe inside our own truth bubbles that we can't see real truth even when it is right before our eyes? It happened to King David and several others throughout Scripture. They could teach us about the danger of fearing truth.

What if our disappointments are really God's appointments for something better? We look at Joseph's life to learn how to move through disappointments with purpose towards a hope-filled future.

The Bible is full of verses telling us not to fear, so why do we have fear at all? We go back to the Garden of Eden to discover that fear has a purpose in our lives.

The Book of Judges is a wild ride full of ups and downs and twists and turns, but how does it matter for us today? It matters because we are on the same roller coaster ride as Israel was all those years ago.

The power of the local church and its body of believers is not found in its finances; it’s not found in vision statements or ministry plans; it’s not found in buildings, in pastors, or programs, or anything else that comes from the hand of man. Our only true power is found in the power of prayer.

Paul challenges the Roman church to accept one another as Christ has accepted them. It is a step towards unity and loving like Jesus loved.

Trying times are a part of life, but the Apostle Paul has a message to encourage us and strengthens us to stand firm in the most trying of circumstances.- Pastor Kristen

One thing we learn from Paul's prayers is that relationships matter. The question we need to ask ourselves is- Are we building walls or building bridges? Paul gives us a model to follow in building bridges.

Paul's prayer for the Colossians is that they may be filled with the knowledge of God's will. What a life of meaning and purpose we could live if we allowed ourselves to be filled with the knowledge of God's will!- Pastor Kristen

Paul's prayer is that we would understand how high, how deep, how wide, how long is the love of Christ for us. Only then can we experience the power of God's love. As RC Sproul says, "It is the difference between professing God's love and possessing God's love." So do you profess or possess God's love?- Pastor Kristen

We often pray to get things from God but what if our prayers were about becoming more like Jesus. When we open the eyes of our hearts to God, we make ourselves willing vessels of His transformation in our hearts and souls.- Pastor Kristen

Paul understood the power of prayer in the lives of believers. As we kick off our When We Pray series, we too must have a right understanding and view of prayer.- Pastor Kristen

Jesus sums up the Beatitudes with two words- salt and light. Are we truly being the salt and light in the world that Jesus describes in the Beatitudes?- Pastor Kristen

There isn't a more Christ-like sentiment in all of the Bible than the call for followers of Jesus to love their enemies. It goes against everything that the world tells us to do.-Pastor Jay

Racism is evil. As followers of Christ, we are called to action to speak out against it and reject injustice at every turn. We can do better!

Too often, we find ourselves to be peace loving individuals not peacemaking individuals. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, so what does peacemaking look like?

Pastor Debbie teaches that God sees and hears our hearts not the external pieces that the world sees. Do we treat others with the same approach or do we hear and see only what is on the outside? The condition of our own heart makes all the difference in how we approach others and how we spread Contagious Joy!

Biblical mercy goes deeper than an emotional reaction. Mercy demands action. It is the difference between being called a Christian and living the life of a Christian.

In our continuing study on the Beatitudes and our pursuit of Contagious Joy, Pastor Jay challenges us to ask ourselves if we are being filled up with the right stuff!

Our modern translation of the word meek is negative, implying weakness and spineless attitudes and behaviors. But nothing could be farther from what Jesus intended when He spoke of the meek inheriting the earth.- Pastor Kristen

What are we mourning in our lives? Are we mourning the right things or the inconsequential things? Pastor Debbie shares with us, the mourning that leads to joy!

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? We tend to think of poverty in strictly monetary terms but poverty and lacking touches all areas of our lives, not just the financial pieces. But only when we recognize our areas of lacking and poverty can we truly find our identity and our security in God. When we believe and strive to be self-sufficient in all things, we miss the gift of God's joy.

Jesus' first words to His disciples after His resurrection, were "Peace be with you." Jesus had overcome death, what was left for them to fear?- Pastor Kristen*This audio includes "Via Dolorosa" sung by Pastor Debbie, and closes with "Ain't No Grave" sung by a member of our praise team, Bridget Grubb.

Times of crisis can reveal to us in what or whom we have placed our faith. We look at the criminals crucified with Jesus to help us determine where our own faith lies.-Pastor Kristen

In this installment of our You Matter series, we look at how our fear can hide God from our sight. When we actively look for God in our circumstances, we feed our faith and give it power over our fear!- Pastor Kristen

We have begun adding worship music before and after our sermon recordings in order to adjust to our new way of doing things due to Covid-19. In this episode, Pastor Debbie discusses how God works through all things in our lives, even the things we don't understand.- Pastor Kristen

We often overlook the overwhelming grace and love of God in this story. As the father reminds both sons that they matter greatly, only one accepts the gift of mercy and grace. Which son are you?- Pastor Jay

The Lord reminds us that our bad decisions don't define us and that He has a rescue plan. Sometimes we need to be rescued and sometimes God uses us to rescue others. - Pastor Kristen

God has written the greatest love story ever. In tonight's love story, we dig deeper in the story of Hosea and Gomer. It is a story that reminds us of God's faithfulness, love and mercy in contrast to our faithlessness. God sees us as He created us to be, not how we see ourselves or even how others see us. His view of us is all that matters and He says- You Matter!- Pastor Kristen

We celebrate so many things in life. Are we continually celebrating the life and hope we have in Jesus Christ? Praising the Lord at all times leads to an overflowing of the Spirit that is unstoppable in pouring into others!- Pastor Debbie

We all serve someone or something. The question we need to ask ourselves- Who or what are we serving? - Pastor Kristen *The original recording file got corrupted so this extra recording was uploaded. Although the quality is still good it isn't great.

If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing, we must give God supreme authority over every aspect of our lives, and every corner of our heart. Paul challenges us to examine ourselves; that includes the dark nooks where our biases, prejudices and judgements hide.- Pastor Kristen

Following Jesus demands sacrifice. Sacrifice is defined by its personal cost. Sacrifice is not about giving from our excess or our leftovers.- Pastor Debbie

Biblical worship is more than just attending a church service and expecting the Holy Spirit to show up. Biblical worship requires a renewing of our minds such that we become living sacrifices bringing glory to God in all things.- Pastor Kristen

The Words of God are foolishness to those without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works as our translator, communicating God's Word to us in ways that we will understand. The Holy Spirit brings God's Word from being merely head knowledge to being a resource and a power for a life transformation -Pastor Jay