Sermon Audio Podcast

Given the richness of the parable of the prodigal son, we will revisit Luke 15, this time examining the nature of repentance. Turning from the world and towards the Lord is the daily posture of a Christ follower. How does the church “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”?

As we come to Luke 15, we find Jesus explaining why he spends time with sinners. But this text contains more than an explanation of Jesus's mission. So join us this Sunday as we explore the rest of the story.

Everything worth doing comes at a cost. In Luke 14.25-35, Jesus wants to make sure that those who truly follow Him understand the implications of the mission. Unlike our culture that favors loose adhesion and half-hearted commitments, Jesus speaks plainly about the cost of discipleship. As we follow Christ together, are we prepared for the mission?

O Death Where Is Your Victory

This Good Friday, we reflect upon the question, 'Why the cross of Christ?' At times we run risk of taking the immense grace of the cross for granted. Considering God's ultimate purpose for Jesus' suffering and death will help lead us to marvel at Him again.

What's been your most awkward dinner party? Jesus sure had a way with the people he interacted with. To the poor and needy he was gentle and caring, gracious, and compassionate. But he had harsh words for those who believed they were righteous and would challenge their long-held values and beliefs. This Sunday in Luke 14, Jesus uses a dinner banquet at the house of a Pharisee to share how his love goes out to all the most unlikely people. He challenges us to love those who are the untouchables in our society as we recognize our own brokenness and need.

In Luke 14:11 Jesus delivers a famous paradox “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”. How do we humble ourselves? Does the truly humble person know he is humble? We will explore this important truth and celebrate the Lord's Supper this Sunday.

Jesus preached often about the Kingdom of God. In this week's passage, Jesus reveals what it means to be saved, how we enter God's Kingdom, and His attitude towards the lost. It is a reminder to the church to strive towards true discipleship.

Last week we saw how Jesus used the suffering in this world as a signpost for the need to repent and be right with God. In this week's passage, Luke 13.10-17, we will see how Jesus' compassion cuts through religious legalism to promise believers full restoration in God's Kingdom. How comforting to envision God's putting all things right in Christ.

Sin and Suffering

As our series Mind the Gap comes to a close, the question before us is, “how do we keep going? How do we keep pursuing God's call on our lives?” The answer is we remain vigilant otherwise a new gap opens up in our lives that can sabotage what's been previously accomplished. And so this Sunday, we'll be looking at Acts 20:7-12 to look at how we can bridge the vigilance gap.

New Hampshire's state motto is “live free or die.” The Christian's motto is “Christ died that I might live free!” But how exactly do we live free? This Sunday we'll turn our attention to Galatians 5:13-24 to explore how freedom misapplied can create a gap between us and our calling and what can be done to bridge that gap.

If there is one thing that seems to be universally true of Americans, it is that we are over-committed. We have too much on our plate, and the thought of adding something else seems impossible, even if it's a good thing. However, our text for this Sunday, Luke 10:38-42, proposes that it's not our commitments that are the issue, but our valuation of them. Join us this Sunday as we explore how we can bridge the value gap in our pursuit of where Jesus is calling us to be.

We are all creatures of habit. So much so that we typically sit in the same seats each Sunday. So as we explore the love gap, which shapes our habits, from Deuteronomy 6:4-15, we'd like you to try and break a habit.

Physical hunger can have a profound effect on us. It can bring about intense emotion (hangry), become a consuming drive, and if not dealt with, it can rob us of the strength to go on. So too the hungers of our heart. This Sunday we'll be looking at the hunger gap from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 and see how we might bridge that in pursuit of where God's calling us to be.

Over the next six weeks, we'll be looking at how we can bridge where we are and where God calls us to be. But in order to do that we need to be clear on God's calling on our lives. This Sunday, we'll be in Acts 2:42-47 exploring how the early church pursued their calling and how we can as well.

As we spend the first morning of the New Year together, we will look at the church's primary mission, to make disciples. 2 Timothy 2.1-7 will serve as our primary text as we unpack what discipleship entails and think about how we can move forward together in 2023. My prayer is that we are open to taking discipleship more seriously.

Why Did Jesus Come?

When God sent His Son to assume a human nature, He dignified so much of our earthly existence. Amazingly, Jesus spent the majority of His life at the carpenter's bench. This forces us to reconsider the importance of our work. As we read 2 Thessalonians 3, and do so against the backdrop of Advent, we will explore a sound theology of work.

What is the basis of our faith, hope and love? Is it not the gospel of the Lord Jesus and the grace of God that brings eternal comfort? As we continue to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus at Christmas, this Sunday we look with eager hope and expectation toward the second coming. Jesus will return in power and will destroy those who set themselves against God and his kingdom. 2000 years later we continue to stand firm in the foundations of the gospel- grace, faith, hope and love!

Pastor Ian reminded us this week of just how many Christmas hymns connect Jesus' first coming, what we celebrate at Advent, with His second coming. We cannot separate the Son who came to the manger from the Son who will return in power. So, while 2 Thessalonians may seem like an odd text for Christmas, it is quite fitting to see how it frames our mission. This week we will see how God's justice encourages us to glorify Jesus.

When Peter Drucker said “culture eats strategy for breakfast” he reminded us of just how important it is to have a healthy ethos in a church. In what appears to be a list of injunctions in 1 Thessalonians 5.12-28, Paul actually gives us a glimpse into how a healthy church should interact. May the Lord strengthen and sustain us to this end.

Having stressed Jesus' visible return, Paul now addresses our next question: when will this happen? In 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11, we learn that we are to prepare for Jesus' coming rather than become distracted with its precise timing. We prepare for Jesus by practicing faith, hope, and love.

What happens when we die? We spend too little time contemplating this question because of the serious implications of the answer. While many of our peers think the answer is either unknowable or a matter of speculation, we will see that Jesus speaks authoritatively, granting the church hope and encouragement.

As we read 1 Thessalonians, we might find it shocking that Paul turns to address sexual ethics halfway through the letter. In our culture, many wonder why God would be concerned with our sex life. We will take two weeks to study this passage considering why God's design for sex is both counter-cultural and Kingdom-oriented.

Each local church is known for something…the service-oriented church, the praying church, the loud music and lights church, the church full of grey-haired people…what was the church in Thessalonica known for? For that matter, what is Providence Church known for? In our text Sunday, Paul is overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness for the faithfulness of the church in Thessalonica. We'll see how faithfulness is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Christian and how God calls us to walk in faith with each other.

What role does prayer play in the life of the local church? Many of us struggle with prayer. I am hoping as we continue to look at 1 Thessalonians we come to see prayer as a gracious invitation from God rather than another thing to jam into our busy schedules. May ours be a local church dependent on God alone.

When the Thessalonians became Christ-followers, they immediately faced pressure from the dominant culture. Interestingly, Paul tells them this is an indication that they're on the right track. Since every Christian will face hardship, this week's passage helps us prepare for the times of trial.

We've all been hurt by sinful behaviors under the pretense of ministry. How does Scripture see healthy patterns of Gospel work? In our passage this week, Paul outlines the conduct and approach of godly ministry. Far from applying only to full-time clergy, this picture of God's work done God's way relates to all Christ-followers.

Positive examples are instrumental in doing life well. As we begin our study of 1 Thessalonians, we will see how this young church “became an example to all the believers” in their region. How encouraging to see that, despite their flaws, God used this group to advance the Gospel. Our prayer is that God will grant us understanding so that we might emulate the faith and mission of the Thessalonians.

Why We Care

What is the church? We want to revisit this question regularly. Far from a building or an institution, the church is the people of God on mission. This week we will look at Ephesians 4 and the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 to stress our call to “follow Christ together”. May this unify us as we enter an exciting season of ministry.

In all the big decisions of life, our choices lead to loyalties. In the challenging passage of Luke 12:49-59, Jesus shows us that following Him will inevitably lead to a clash of loyalties. This teaching will once again stress the urgency of true faith.

While family, work, and fun are important parts of life, none of these domains can sustain our overall purpose. In our passage this week, Luke 12.35-48, Jesus charges His followers to stay on mission, steward all with which we've been entrusted, and to be ready for His return. We will see how His framing life's purpose around His second coming directs our steps.

This week Jesus continues to prepare his disciples to follow him. Despite the hardships they may face, it's still possible for them to have a life worth living. But the path to a wonderful life is an unconventional one. Join us as we explore how we can have a life worth living from Luke 12:13-24.

There are a lot of things that people are afraid of. In our text this week, Jesus explains what we all should be most afraid of and his answer is as surprising as it is troubling. He says that we should be most afraid of God! How is that an encouragement to us?

Many of us have faced the criticism of hypocrisy in the church. When we say “Jesus is Lord”, this entails a specific lifestyle. We want congruency between our profession and our conduct. As we study Luke 11:37-12:3 we will see how Jesus addresses religious hypocrisy and encourages us to live with sincerity.

Isn't it true that what you see isn't always what you get? Our eyes can be deceptive, tempting us toward pleasure or tricking us into lesser ventures. The eye too is a window into our souls. This Sunday Pastor Brian will be continuing in Luke 11:29-36 looking at the importance of repentance when we see clearly with spiritual eyes.

While we might have a tendency to underplay the role of the demonic world, this week's passage shows us the reality of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. In Luke 11:14-28 Jesus calls us to true discipleship in His Kingdom.

Many of us find it challenging to maintain a healthy prayer life. In our passage this week, we can take comfort that Jesus' disciples asked for help in this area. We will see how what we know as the “Lord's Prayer” sets a pattern for our communicating with God. Above all, prayer is an invitation to fellowship with our heavenly Father.

Luke 10:38-42

A Question, A Story, and A Challenge (The Good Samaritan)