Sermons

Sermons

Hebrews 8 – A Better Covenant with Better Promises

Please find a Bible and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8.  When we are trying to understand what the Bible says to us, our primary task is to try to figure out what the original author was trying to communicate to the original audience. What point was he trying to get across to them? Once we know that, our next task is to try to figure out what relevance that message has for us today.  Sometimes it is a…

Hebrews 7 – The Priesthood of Jesus

Welcome & Prayer A. The Important Characters We’re going to look at Hebrews 7 today, but before we dive in, I want to let you know that this is not the easiest passage to immediately understand for two reasons. First, it is written to a 1st-century audience that the author expects will have a significant understanding of the history and spiritual culture and customs found in the Old Testament. And second, it’s a continuation right in the middle of a…

Hebrews 5:11-6:20 The Surety of the Son

From our passage today, three themes will come out: Hebrews 5:11-6:12 Let’s read the first portion of our passage for today.  The first two themes will come out:  Warning and Assurance. Hebrews 5:11–6:12 (CSB) 5:11 We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. 12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation…

Hebrews 4:14-5:10 – He Gets Us

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4.  Two weeks ago during the Superbowl, a Christian organization aired two commercials with the tagline “He Gets Us”—attempting to convey a message that Jesus understands everyone, and has a message for everyone. This is the second year in a row this organization aired commercials during the Superbowl, and they have racked up close to a million views on YouTube in the past two weeks.  The commercials have generated no end of controversy—liberals…

Hebrews 4:1-13 The Rest Found in Jesus

Last Wednesday there was a senseless, evil shooting in Kansas City.  Last month there was murder at a high school in Perry, Iowa, just 45 miles from here.  There is war in the Middle East and Ukraine.  In all these things, we wonder, Where is peace?  Where is the rest?  Why is everyone so angry? But even closer to home, we find ourselves longing for rest in our own little world.   Family disputes. Marriage collapses. Tension in the workplace.  And…

Hebrews 3:1-4:1 – Fix Your Mind on Jesus

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 3.  In today’s passage, we come across the first of several warning passages in the book of Hebrews. The passage warns us to “watch out, in case any of us has an evil and unbelieving heart”, and to not “harden our hearts” when God commands us. It seems to warn us that if we don’t hang on to the end we will not be considered part of God’s house, and that there may…

Hebrews 2:5-18 The Humanity of Jesus

Today is National Big Word Sermon Day.  We’re going to talk about some big words, so you may need access to Dictionary.com. We are going through a sermon series on a book in the NT called “Hebrews.”   The name “Hebrews” likely comes from the recipients of the book, who were probably Christians from Jewish ancestry.  So they were “Hebrew” Christians. And we typically call Hebrews a “letter” or “epistle,” but it actually reads more like a sermon.  A sermon of…

Hebrews 1:4-2:5 – Better than the angels

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. We get very curious about angels, don’t we? They make their appearances throughout the Bible at very important times, bringing messages (in fact “angel” just means “messenger”), we see them interacting with humans, sometimes fighting battles, which means they are capable of interacting with the physical world, including fighting (and protecting!).  There are even hints in the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah that some of the angels followed satan in a rebellion against…

Hebrews 1:1-4 – The Glory of the Son

We are beginning a new sermon series, so if you are new to Stonebrook, you have come at a great time.  For the next 16 weeks, we are journeying through one of my two favorite books of the Bible:  Hebrews.  (Ephesians is my other favorite.) Last Fall we went through the OT book Exodus.  Exodus lays out the Covenant, or “The Testament,” God made with Israel through the prophet Moses.  We now called it the “Old Covenant” or the Old…

Commands of Jesus: “Do this in remembrance…”

Please turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 11. These past few weeks we have been looking at a few of the most foundational commands of Christ. We looked at his call to follow him, we looked at his command to be baptized, and today we are going to take a look at his command to remember him, specifically with a ritual meal he gave his followers to observe, which goes by a few names, typically communion, or…

Commands of Jesus: “Baptize them.”

Please open your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 28.  Baptism is one of the most important events and concepts in the Christian faith. Christians have understood baptism in several different ways throughout the centuries. At Stonebrook, we practice “believer’s baptism” as an expression and testimony of our salvation through faith in Christ.   We would say that baptism is a command from Jesus, to be done by all who believe, as soon as possible after they believe. One key scripture on…

Commands of Jesus: “Follow Me”

I grew up going to church.  If you had asked me what is a Christian and if I am a Christian, I would have had a puzzled look. I might have said, “What kind of question is that?  Isn’t it obvious?  Of course I’m a Christian.  I go to church.  A Christian church.  And I’m not a Buddhist or Muslim or something else.  So what else would I be besides a Christian?”  But I couldn’t give you any specifics on that. …

Exodus: Immanuel, God With Us

Please find a Bible and open with me to Matthew chapter 1. Today is the last day of Advent, and the hinge point between Advent and Christmas. So I thought we’d base this morning’s sermon on the first Christmas passage. Let’s read the great story. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy…

Exodus 40: God dwells with his people

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 40. This morning we finally come to the end of our 20 week walk through of the book of Exodus. The theme couldn’t be more fitting for this time of year, the season of advent. Advent is from a latin word that means “arrival” – and as we said at the beginning of the service, it is a time where we remember and reflect on what it must have been…

Exodus 32: The Golden Calf

Before we read Exodus 32, it’s important that I lay out the setting of this story. Within the previous few months, Israel had seen some of the most spectacular, awe-inspiring events in human history.• Ten plagues of judgment on their cruel oppressor, Pharaoh of Egypt. Unparalleled judgment, yet Israel was completely spared. Miracle after miracle.• Then the greatest one: their backs were against the Red Sea and the mighty Egyptian army was bearing down on them. God then parted the…

Exodus 31: The Sabbath

Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31. As a pastor one of the more frequent questions I am asked, especially by young believers trying to figure out how to live out their faith in Jesus in obedience to His scriptures, and maybe especially by busy college students trying to figure out how to best manage their time (and by the way the Venn diagram of those two groups overlaps quite a bit) – is something like “Pastor Matt,…

Exodus 29: Consecration of the priest

Two weeks ago, Matt read several chapters outlining the design details of what was the centerpiece of faith in the living God in ancient Israel.  It’s called the Tabernacle.  It was a tent-like structure, with an ark, an altar, tables, lampstands, curtains, and more. This portable tabernacle was the focal point of worship and forgiveness for Israel for the next 400-500 years, until King Solomon built the permanent structure, the temple. Though this tabernacle was portable, it was a beautiful,…

Exodus 25-28, 35-39 pt 2: Offerings for Worship

Please open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 35. This morning we are on part 15 of 20 of our walk through of the book of Exodus. If you’ve been following along in the series so far, it is important to note that this morning we’re doing sort of a time-shift in the narrative. We’re skipping ahead a little bit from last week’s passage. Last week God gave Moses the plans for the tabernacle and the tools Israel would need for…

Exodus 25-28: Details and Shadows

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 25.  Have you ever heard the phrase “the devil is in the details?” It means something like things are always more complicated than they seem, and those complications are going to cause you problems if you find out about them too late.  I learned this week that that phrase is a spin on an earlier more popular phrase: God is in the details. And that is what our passage teaches us this week.…

Exodus 21-24: More Laws

Exodus is a fascinating book filled with some remarkable stories: a baby boy saved from death; a burning bush that God spoke out of; terrible plagues of judgment; a miraculous escape through the Red Sea.Today we are entering into a much different look at Exodus. Not some exciting, miraculous story. Rather, 3 chapters of detailed laws that Israel was to obey. When we read these laws, we might find ourselves bored with some of it. And puzzled with other parts,…

Exodus 19-20: The Ten Commandments

Please open your Bible to Exodus chapter 19. As we pick up our series today we find Israel now three months into their journey out of Egypt, through the wilderness of the Sinai penninsula, headed toward their new home in the promised land. In our passage today we find them having arrived at Mount Sinai for their most crucial encounter with the Living God yet: the receiving of The Law. Today we are going to study, The Ten Commandments. The…

Exodus 17: Testing and Quarreling

In our series through the Book of Exodus, we are in Chapter 17.  Exodus 17:1–7 (CSB) 1 The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”…