Sermon Video: The New Covenant - Hebrews 10:14

The superiority of Jesus, his person, his life, and his sacrifice is the central theme of the book of Hebrews.  Here in Venango County, PA, our ministerium has been dealing with a challenge from an unorthodox organization, the First Fruits of Zion, whose Torah Clubs are promoting the belief that Jesus did not fulfill the Mosaic Covenant.  To them, the Law of Moses remains binding on all of God's people, and always will be.  Hebrews 10:14 is one passage of scripture among many that demonstrate the falsehood of this teaching.  The sacrifice of Jesus is superior, in every way, to anything in the Law of Moses, and this is by design.  The purity of Christ's priesthood, the power of his sacrifice, and the tenacity of its application to all of us who put our faith in him is a core tenant of the Gospel.  The New Covenant established by Jesus' blood was built upon a new foundation, for it is the ultimate manifestation of God's redemptive work among humanity, fully and finally.

Sermon Video: When God sets you free, who can condemn you? - Romans 8:33-34

Using Monty Python and the Holy Grail's infamous witch trial (witch=wood=duck) as a foil for humanity's imperfect justice, the comparison is to God's full, impartial, and absolute justice.  God knows each and every sin (evil) in the hearts of humanity.  And yet, God has chosen to declare some of those same people to be his children, to be 'not guilty' and instead righteous.  How??

The answer is simple: In Jesus Christ

God justifies (declares not guilty) those who have faith in Jesus because Jesus' life of righteousness and total absence of sin enables him to be our substitute, to take our place.

Once God has done that, who is left to condemn us?  Nobody.

Not ourselves, not other people, not Satan himself.  Nobody.

Sermon Video: The Gospel is incompatible with boasting - Romans 3:27-31

Concluding his section on the triumph of faith in Christ, being both our means to justification and forgiveness, the Apostle Paul asks what room is left for boasting?  The answer, clearly, is none.  All who come to God by faith do so because they realize they are not self-sufficient, that they don't measure up on their own.  

Along with this thought, Paul points out that God is the God of both his covenant people (Jews and Church) and the rest of the world (Gentile and un-Churched).  That being said, faith is the solution for both even though one group has the advantage of knowing more about God, both need Christ's salvation, both need grace.

Pride?  We don't have room for it.

Sermon Video: "justified freely by his grace" - Romans 3:21-24

After establishing that the Law is incapable of saving those who have broken it, as all of humanity has, Paul then begins to explain HOW the righteousness of God, as revealed through the Incarnation, can be applied to humanity.  How can the righteousness of Jesus save us?  The answer is faith.  Faith, belief, trust, hope, in Jesus...From here the Good News gets better, everyone who believes in Jesus can be "justified freely by his grace."  What does this mean?  It means that God, as the judge of the living and the dead, will declare sinners 'innocent', not because of anything we have done, but because we have faith in what Jesus has done for us, taking our sins upon his shoulders while on the Cross.

Sermon Video: Pity the Christians? - 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Here's a hypothetical: What if there is no resurrection from the dead (Jesus included)? For Christianity and Christians this is catastrophic, not only would our message and mission be invalidated, and worse yet be found to be a lie, but our own hope of salvation from our sins would be false. There is no Christianity, no Gospel, without the triumph of Jesus Christ on Easter. To those who imagine a better world without Christianity (and religion in general), that world has no hope at all, for humanity's embrace of evil is indisputable, and it cannot be solved by non-spiritual means. Without the resurrection there is no hope, not just for us, but for the whole world. Praise be to God, then, that Jesus Christ has risen in triumph from the grave.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: "Everyone who believes is justified" - Acts 13:13-39

As the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas continues, the team leaves Cyprus and sails to Perga on their way to Pisidian Antioch.  It is at this juncture that John Mark, Barnabas' cousin, leaves the expedition and returns to Jerusalem.  Why did Mark leave?  In the end, any answer is just a guess as the text tells us nothing, but it does remind us that the journey was a difficult one and that those making it were ordinary people like us with real problems and limitations.
At Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas enter the local synagogue where they are invited to speak.  Paul's message begins with a recap of God's provision for the people of Israel under the Covenant from Abraham to David.  Next Paul speaks of the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist who proclaimed the coming of God's Messiah, the Savior Jesus.  Paul briefly explains that Jesus was rejected by his own people, just as the prophets of old whose rejection the Scriptures mourn, and put to death without cause.  However, God vindicated his Son Jesus by raising him from the dead, a miracle that many witnessed.  After this, Paul cites examples of prophetic predictions about Jesus from the Scriptures as further proof of Jesus' validity.
The conclusion of Paul's message is both simple and timeless: forgiveness of sins and justification before God are available through Jesus.  What's the big deal about forgiveness, isn't it available through the Law?  Sadly, no, the Law can cover guilt and hold back the wrath of God, but as the book of Hebrews will later make crystal clear, it can never take away sins.  Sin no only separates man from God, it also corrupts, ruins, and destroys our minds, hearts, and souls.  If we cannot find forgiveness for our sins, we are doomed.  If God has forgiven us in Jesus, we cannot fail.  Likewise, justification, the salvation of man from the guilty verdict hanging over our heads is also available through Jesus.  Instead of the just punishment for our sins falling upon us, it has been redirected to the only one who could accept it, the perfect and sinless Son of God. 
The song "In Christ Alone" has a great line that reflects the truth of Paul's message here: "no guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me".  It is a message of hope, a message of reconciliation, the very core and essence of the Gospel that we have been commanded to take to the ends of the earth.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video