Mercy Fellowship Sermons

Immaturity is never a goal. We cannot produce growth by sheer will any more than a child can grow taller merely wishing it, at the same time there is a tension in that a child cannot help but grow into adulthood as they are designed to. However, we can engage in activities and practices that cultivate opportunities for growth or choose to disengage or pursue other activities that can hinder our gr...

Physical growth is typically organic. When we are young, we cannot “will” ourselves to grow taller or stronger it just happens naturally. This can make us think spiritual growth can be assumed and we can remain passive rather than pursuing growth with intentionality. Even organic growth is more fruitful when it is carefully cultivated. Character qualities like wisdom, holiness, maturity, joy, etc....

God gave so we give. Nothing is truly independently ours. We are not owners, we are stewards. We belong to God so everything we possess, each dollar, breath, minute, talent, or ounce of energy has been graciously given to us as a gift by God to be stewarded (directed) for His glory and our joy. Everything means everything, including money. This means all of a church’s individual and collective fin...

If Christ is first in our lives it will be evident in how we spend our time, talent, and treasure. When we are needy or greedy, we close our hands on what we have out of fear we will not have enough. To have our hands opened to be generous in ways which cost us requires courage. This courage is birthed from a reorientation to see what we have been given. 

In the first chapters of Acts we see the birth of the early Christian Church. Gathered around the resurrection of Jesus, empowered by a unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit, fearful disciples became faithful evangelist. The Gospel was preached to a massive gathering of pilgrims from many tribes and tongues all drawn to Jerusalem. The response was nothing less than overwhelming as the church grew e...

It is easy to make ourselves first when we focus on us as an individual. When alone or isolated, we easily become discouraged, overwhelmed by our circumstances, or be picked off by the enemy. Sin separates, the gospel gathers. Jesus being preeminent gathers individual scattered sinners to be a new people. God’s plan for us has never been an individual one. Gospel Community is a necessary part of h...

What do you think about when you think of Heaven? Do images of babies with wings and harps come to mind? Do you think of near-death experiences and stories from people who claim to have seen the “other side”? Or maybe you think it’ll be boring, but at least it’s better than the other place. Daniel closes his book with a final reflection on one more of his visions, this time concerning the end of b...

In a meeting with a messenger from God, Daniel once again realizes that there is more to this world than we often see. This week we’ll be looking at Daniel 10 together and joining with Daniel in having the curtain pulled back as we peer into the ongoing siege of creation and God’s ongoing plan of redemption. 

Jesus is THE central figure of His Story. From Jesus himself in Luke 24, we learn we can only understand His Story as much as we know it is a narrative all about Him. While the Bible, His Story, is written to show the Preeminence of Jesus, it also serves to show us Jesus is FOR us. Our story can only truly be understood when know Jesus is First.  

Most of Daniel 9 is a prayer for God’s people, and at the end of this chapter, Daniel receives another vision about what the end of this world will bring. Prayer leads to spiritual insight, but praying for others leads to spiritual insight about others, God’s word, and your own life. Intercessory prayer leads us to deep knowledge of God and His purposes.

History is literally His story. In this chapter, we see that throughout history and in the time of the End, evil rulers with wicked powers will rise up and bring destruction to this world. But at the end of time there will be one called the “Prince of Princes” who will bring all history into subjection under God. Part of being a Christian is having confidence in God’s sovereignty, which is God’s a...

The historical confession of the Christian church has always been that Jesus Christ will come back. Several places in the New Testament tell us that this is actually a crucial part of the Gospel. This section of Scripture is one of the most powerful in all of the Bible to assure believers that our Messiah will come back and bring his Kingdom into His whole world—not only spiritually, which He acco...

God is calling for His people in this world is to be a faithful presence. God has promised, as we do this, He will be with us, defend us, and care for us. In one of the most famous stories of the Bible, Daniel descends into the lion’s den. In this story, we see a model for Christians and the church as we live in the secular world. In Chapter 6, Daniel is punished for praying to God. Many of the of...

With every day, history is quickly approaching the day of God’s justice. For all who reject God in their pride (remember last week’s discussion), there is only the justice and judgement of God. But for those who turn to God and trust in Jesus Christ as the bearer of their judgment, there is forgiveness of sin and fullness of life. In Daniel 5, King Nebuchadnezzar has died and his son, Belshazzar,...

Pride - It’s the sin behind every sin. It was the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden. It is the root of each and every sin you struggle with today. Pride is the great sin of our hearts. It shows its face every time we proclaim, “I know better than God! I don’t need him! I am the master of my own fate!” Humility, on the other hand, is when we affirm the order of the universe and say, “God i...

Throughout Scripture the command for God’s people is to obey, respect, and pray for their government and leaders. The only exception to this command is when the government directly calls us to sin against God. At that point, the people of God have both the right and duty to disobey their government. The Chinese house church movement, evangelistic and church planting movements in Muslim countries,...

500 years ago the Protestant Reformation changed the way we viewed God, the Bible, and ourselves. One of the central teachings of the Reformation was the doctrine of vocation (calling, profession, career). God cares deeply about all work, not just work that involves teaching the Bible or feeding the poor. Throughout history, theologians refer to God using both his left hand (vocation of all people...

What does it mean to be “in the world, but not of the world?” Jesus prays in John 17:15-18, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” In this chapter, Daniel and some of his f...