Every human being wants a framework for a good life, often reducing faith to simply being a moral person, holding the right beliefs, or belonging to a community. But when our willpower fails or our doubts creep in, these superficial definitions leave us exhausted. The gospel subverts our striving by inviting us into a deeply personal union with Christ, where our old, corrupted self is crucified so that the living God can take up residence within us. In this sermon, we explore Galatians 2:20 and what it means for Christianity to be personal.

Whether it be graduation, tax day, or an important holiday, human beings intuitively understand what it means to live in light of a coming date on the calendar. In Psalm 75, God declares that he has appointed a day when he will judge with equity. In this sermon, we explore how living backward from the certainty of Judgment Day sets us free to walk in humility and hope.

Familiarity with Jesus is not the same thing as following Jesus. Human beings love what is familiar. But familiarity can lead to complacency and apathy. The people of Jesus' hometown missed the miraculous power of God because they couldn't see past the ordinary carpenter they grew up with. In this sermon, we examine three ways to reject Jesus and what it means to actually receive his gracious authority.

Every human being is a disciple or a learner, constantly shaped and trained by the culture around us — from the algorithms on our phones to the expectations of our family of origin or careers. True discipleship, however, requires actively submitting ourselves to the training of Jesus, allowing him to shape our understanding so we can bring out the treasure of his truth to a hungry world. In this sermon, we explore what it means to be a disciple who understands, trains, and shares the ancient and new promises of the gospel.

Being in the church is not the same thing as being in God's kingdom.

Everyone sorts. Whether it’s laundry, your recycling, or the people you spend time with, most of us have a deep-rooted instinct to sort the things in our lives. Through the parable of the net, Jesus warns that this period of grace will eventually give way to a final sorting. In this sermon, we explore the importance of responding to Jesus’ kingdom invitation while there is still time.

The kingdom of heaven is irresistible to those who find it.

We all seek something — a career, a relationship, or status — that makes life's sacrifices feel worthwhile and brings us joy. But when we glimpse the incomparable value of Jesus, "selling everything" no longer feels like a sacrifice; it becomes irresistible. In this sermon, we examine the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price, and the irresistible joy found in Christ and his kingdom.

Jesus invites us into a life of hopeful realism.

To be human is to wrestle with the presence of evil in a world we wish were different. We often feel an urgent pressure to "fix" the world by taking matters into our own hands. Yet Jesus, through the parable of the wheat and weeds, offers a path of hopeful realism. In this sermon, we explore the nature of hopeful realism as the kingdom develops from small beginnings into a global harvest.

A fruitful life comes from standing under the word of God.

Every human is listening to someone or something. And how we listen to the word of God makes all the difference. In this sermon, we explore Jesus' famous Parable of the Sower, which shows what happens when the seed of the gospel lands on the soil of our hearts. In this parable, Jesus teaches that a fruitful life comes from standing under the word of God. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Series Description: Jesus is the hero of all of Scripture, the center of the biblical story, and the most important figure in history. The Gospel of Matthew gives us a firsthand look at the life and teachings of Jesus. It stands as a “bridge” between the Old and New Testaments, grounding us in the rich story of Israel while revealing the in-breaking reality of the kingdom of heaven. Through this preaching series, we seek to help people encounter the gospel of the kingdom and embody it as flourishing disciples who live under the gracious rule of God.