Sierra Community Church

One of the main themes throughout the book of Daniel is the faithfulness of God's people when they face their worst, like being exiled from their homeland, or facing death because other people have it out for you. The story of Daniel is about hope!

As physical blindness is an inability to see what is in your physical world, spiritual blindness is an inability to see what is spiritually around us.  How do you become alive to spiritual realities? You have to understand the conditions of your blindness!

The last part of the 9th chapter of Daniel, God ties himself to a definitive timetable of events to pinpoint the exact moment in history when the Jewish Messiah would present himself to the Jewish people, some five-hundred and sixty years before Christ advent.

Have you ever struggled with prayer and being more authentic with God?  Daniel gives us a glimpse of how we can be authentic with God in prayer and the rest of our life.

Three reasons why Daniel gives this prophecy in chapter 8: 1. To prepare God's people for persecution. 2. To warn them of the general trend of history. 3. To show that Antiochus Epiphanes will be defeated completely in the end.

Hold on tight! Daniel 7 is the end of the historical portion of the book and now focuses on prophesies. It's sure to be interesting and strange symbolism, but something that should also challenge the way we view others, this world, and God's Kingdom.

Daniel and the lion's den is a classic story, but put yourself in the shoes of Daniel's audience. For the Israelites exiled in Babylon, there must have been some question about whether or not the living God really was able to save them or he wouldn't have let them be taken to Babylon in the first place... But they're in exile because they abandoned God, not the other way around.

After 65 years in Babylon, Daniel, has an even bolder approach than when he was younger in addressing the King, yet one thing remains constant, he tells the truth.  Should Christians speak to our world in the same way as Daniel?  Or is there another way?

What is Pride? My own mighty power, means I love to think of myself as the cause of all my greatness, as the source of all achievement, and my majestic splendor, means the recipient of great praise!...Here's why Pride is such a deceptive sin - It claims to be the author of what is really a gift.

What would it look like for our lives to shift from a “what if” mentality to an “even if” commitment?  The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego captures this profound truth. God is capable of saving his people from anything in this world, but even if he doesn't, his people are not to worship idols even if the alternative is death.

How do we interact meaningfully with a world that seems contrary to everything we believe? Like Daniel we do not have to compromise our beliefs by sacrificing our civility in our interactions, by condemning others with whom disagree, nor do we just throw in the towel, because of our fear of confrontation.

We are sojourners, living in exile in a modern day Babylon. Exile is an important theme throughout the Bible. It is the consistent human condition apart from God. Every day we need to ask God for the wisdom to live faithful lives like his kingdom was here as it is in heaven.  That's what Jesus taught his disciples to pray for. To be in, but not of this world.

Paul has been through a lot in the book of Acts! Beatings, shipwrecks, whippings, imprisonment; just to name some of it, and despite it all the Gospel cannot be stopped.  The book of Acts ends quite abruptly with no official ending, which seems to make a profound statement that the book is not  about Paul or Peter or Barnabas, but about the continuing of the story of God redeeming his people into a life-giving relationship.

Have you struggled with senseless suffering in the face of a loving God?  How would you defend the idea that God does accomplish things in suffering? This Sunday's message dives into the theological complexities of suffering through the story of Paul's trip to Rome and gives us a better understanding of how the problem of evil and suffering works with a loving and good God.

Dedication in Deuteronomy 6 means...listening to God's voice, loving God with everything you are and worshiping the Lord alone.  Which makes you wonder, is it the greatest commandment?

Paul's real goal in all the arrests and trials was always to share the Good News. When given the opportunity to make his defense, Paul shows King Agrippa that Christianity makes sense 3 ways. It makes sense rationally, emotionally, and biblically.

The Spirit told Paul prison and hardship were waiting for him in Jerusalem. (Ch 20) His friends got the same message from the Spirit and their response was to try and get Paul not to go. Paul didn't hear trouble as an excuse not to go, or the Spirit telling him to stay away because he would find trouble. Paul went because that's where he believed God wanted him to go in spite of what awaited him. How about us?

The armor of God implies there is a fight we are in, but what are we fighting for?  who are we fighting against?  and how do we prepare for this spiritual fight of our lives?

What is one challenge to harmony that you face in your relationships?  How easy or difficult is it for you to obey someone in authority over you? In Chapter 5:21—6:9 of Ephesians, Paul addresses the cultural barriers that divide us and gives this huge command “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Why did Jesus come in the first place? Why did Jesus have to die? And how'd the resurrection change the understanding of scripture? The resurrection had the same effect on Jesus' apostles, each one of them giving their lives ultimately, to die rather than recant what they had witnessed first-hand. Their testimonies grew the faith exponentially throughout the world.

How did the crowd respond to Jesus entering Jerusalem? How is the crowd's response in Jerusalem similar/different from the response Jesus gets from people today? Crown Him or kill Him. Those were the two options for the people in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and they are the same two options for us today.

What is the meaning of marriage? It is bound up in a covenant, not chemistry. It's this binding promise of future love. That's what marriage is designed to be. ...And thats also a picture of what our relationship with God is all about.

Paul doesn't tell people to become someone new. He tells them to become like who they really are. Your new identity is the beginning point.

What does Paul mean when he says "put off the old self" and "put on the new self"? How did Paul's audience understand this? How should we understand it? And how would you explain the difference of the old and new self to a friend?

What are spiritual gifts? What is the goal of them? How can we rightly use these gifts? The only foolproof way to discover and use your gifts, is to roll up your sleeves and get to work in some area of ministry.

As Paul continues to emphasize unity in Christ to the church in Ephesus, his letter becomes more practical as he focuses on growing in humility and patience. The gift of a diverse group of people, the body of Christ,  is the best opportunity to practice these very things!

How wide is God's love?...How long is God's love?...How deep is God's love?...How high is God's love?...grasping the love of God is the heart of Paul's prayer in Ephesians. At one level the Ephesians have these things, positionally in Christ. At another level they haven't experienced them.

The “church” is a dominant theme in Ephesians . . . It dominates Paul's thinking because it's through the church, the abundant wisdom of God should be made known.

Two things always result from grace and faith. You become God's “workmanship” and as a result of that, “you live differently.” That means if you're a Christian, you're changing. You're growing. But you are a work of art that requires your ongoing participation with the Artist.

Paul give us some great models of how to pray, but what does it mean when he prays that "you may know the hope of His calling"? What is the hope he's talking about?  What are we being called to? And what is the purpose of that calling? We will explore these questions in this message as we continue our series in Ephesians.

God is completely in control, and we make choices and are completely accountable for those choices. These are not mutually exclusive truths. Though it is taught that way by many. In the Bible, God repeatedly calls on us to exercise our will to trust in Christ for salvation, and we should pursue obedience to His commands always as a response to His gift of grace

Christmas is more than a holiday and a tradition.  It is the birth of a King.  The King Jesus.

Micah's prophecies included predictions of coming judgement against Israel, the promise of a deliverer, and the hope of a future Messianic Kingdom.

Isaiah's prophetic words about the birth of the Messiah not only were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, but will one day be completely fulfilled when the King Jesus returns.  Anticipating Christmas should bring an even greater anticipation for Christ's second coming!

In this Christmas series, we will look at God's Promises Unwrapped starting with what takes place through the prophet Isaiah. God reminds King Ahaz and everyone that He will Keep his promise to deliver His people.

Paul knows persecution awaits him in Jerusalem. On Paul's list of priorities, self-preservation was the lowest. That's Paul's passion because that was the passion of the King Jesus. How does that shape us as Christians today?

What's the reason for all the names of the people and places Paul visited? Besides giving historical reliability to his travels, it demonstrates a core truth.  Paul loves the church.  Why?  Because the King Jesus loves his bride, the church, and gave himself up for her.

How did Paul and the early christians respond to stressful situations?  Did they they give us an example to follow? The uproar in Ephesus shows how important it is that we know God well enough to be confident in his character.

The famous greek city of Ephesus was the cultural hotspot for the pagan lifestyle and Paul devotes two years there teaching the word of God.  He saw lives changed and the church grow because the authority of Jesus could not be stopped.

Who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do? Why is He so important to Paul and the early church? One of the most dividing issues in the church today that should be more uniting than anything else.

Who was Apollos? Not much is mentioned about him in the early church outside of the passage in Acts 18, but that doesn't mean he was unimportant. A passionate and knowledgeable jew, who encouraged the church in following the Messiah.

The Apostle Paul had many reasons to complain about the difficulties and hardships he faced in life, yet instead he recognized God's presence and purpose in it all.  Be encouraged by today's message on God's enduring encouragement in the midst of life's biggest struggles.

How do you share Jesus with people who have never heard of him?  In Acts 17, Paul's method with the people of Athen's is a model that is just as practical today...put a stone in their shoe to think about it more.

As the good news of Jesus the King spreads, Paul continues to face opposition as he reasons, explains, and proves that Jesus is the Messiah.  The two stories of Thessalonica and Berea give insight into how we can welcome the Messiah into our lives today.

One of the most unlikely converts was the Philippian Jailer.  Yet what does he do when faced with radical mercy and kindness? This week we learn about the change it brought to his life and the change it can bring to ours.

There is no doubt Paul and his companions impacted more people in Philipi than the ones we're told about here, so why these two?  These two represent both ends of the human spectrum. Rich. Poor. Sick. Healthy....Everyone needs Jesus!

Conflict and disagreement are a part of life, but how you deal with those is the challenge.  Todays message looks at the classic clash of two early church leaders and how God used it for good in the church and how he can use it in your life too.

Paul's purpose was to grow the church with the true Gospel of Christ; he cares little for bragging about the things God has done for him, he only wants people to grow in Christ.