Ambassador Presbyterian

Passage: Matthew 2:13-23 The birth of Jesus was indeed good news of great joy, but it was not received that way by everyone. The arrival of the King of kings immediately launched an assassination plot by Herod that threatened to bring a quick end to God’s plan of redemption. Indeed, the plot highlighted the depths of evil to which God’s enemy would go to stop the salvation of God’s people. But tha...

Passage: Matthew 1:21 As we continue looking at the "born identity" of Jesus in Matthew's gospel, we come to the clearest statement of why the baby Jesus was born into this world, a purpose that is reflected in the name given to him by his heavenly Father. The Hebrew name for Jesus means "Jehovah (God) saves." And Joseph is told to give this name the son to be born to Mary. Why? "Because he will s...

Passage: Matthew 2:1-12

Passage: Matthew 1:18-25 Immanuel, God with us. It's a name that is given by God in the prophecy of Isaiah to a newborn son as a sign to King Ahaz of God's presence and power to deliver his people. King Ahaz refuses the sign, but God does not forget his promise. And in Matthew's account of Jesus' birth we're told that this son, born to the virgin Mary, is indeed the fulfillment of that promise as...

Passage: Matthew 1:1-17 Tracing one's ancestors and family roots has become a fast growing interest and industry. Technology has made it easier, as we say in the South, to find our who your people are. Exploring your genealogy, however, comes with some risk, as you may find out there some characters in your family background you're not so excited about. As we start a study in the gospel of Matthew...

Passage: Colossians 1:15-23 As we come to the end of our series on being Created in the Image of God, we recognize more and more the negative impact of man's sin and rebellion in distorting and disfiguring that image and its design for human flourishing. We see the confusion, conflict and chaos of the cultural identity crisis all around us and wonder is there any hope? Who can fix this? The answer...

Passage: Judges 2:1-15 Guest Preacher: Chris Ellzey We serve a God who is exceedingly faithful to His people, loving them with a steadfast, covenantal love that can never be broken. But what about you, and what about me? Is our relationship with God characterized by the same faithfulness? Join us this Sunday as we hear God speak to us through His Word about the importance of faithfulness in the li...

Passage: Genesis 2:4-22; Matthew 25:14-30 From the opening verses of the Bible we see God at work, bringing all things into existence in an ordered, creative, beautiful fashion, including mankind whom he made in his image. And the first thing he gave to the man and woman in the garden was a job in which they were to be his co-regents in subduing and having dominion over creation. Though work becom...

Passage: Genesis 1:27-28; Matthew 28:16-20 We've seen in our series on being Created in the Image of God, that God created us male and female, equal in dignity but uniquely different in design to perfectly complement and complete one another as image bearers. And that dignity and value as well diversity extends to all life as part of God's plan and purpose for the flourishing of creation. This wee...

Passage: Genesis 8:20-9:17 Most of the news we hear, read or watch about our world is not good news. News of anger, hostility, fear, violence between individuals or groups pervades our news feeds, and the comments only add to the sense that there is an increasing devaluing of life. Even our entertainment often comes at the expense of others as we enjoy watching people be hurt or hurt others. We mi...

Passage: Genesis 11:1-9; Ephesians 2:11-22 We live in an increasingly multi-ethnic and multicultural society. Many of us have neighbors, coworkers, classmates, friends and some even family members of different ethnicities. Such diversity brings with it many blessings and opportunities to reflect the image of God and his redemptive purposes. But it also exposes the brokenness of our pride and sin a...

Passage: Genesis 2:18-25 Last week we saw that God created man in his image both male and female, alike in value and dignity as his image bearers, yet distinct and different as man and woman, a difference reflected in engendered bodies and minds that are essential to who God designed us to be individually and his good purposes for us corporately as humans. This week we will look at how that good p...

Passage: Genesis 2:5-24 One of the most beautiful and significant truths in the Bible is that God “created man in his own image.” (Genesis 1:27) As we saw last week in the introduction to our series Created in the Image of God, mankind was made to reflect, relate and rule with his Creator. And essential to that truth are the next words in that verse which say “in the image of God he created him, m...

Passage: Genesis 1:1-31 I think it is safe to say that we currently live in a world, and in particular a culture that is suffering from extreme identity crisis. There seems to be a desperate search for the answer to the age old philosophical question, “Who am I?” However, most of the answers that are being given by the world do not give clarity, but actually contribute more to the confusion and co...

Passage: Psalm 103 Pastor Eddie Brown Do you ever make a list? I'm pretty sure we all do and we make all kinds of lists. We make lists because its not a good idea to simply rely on our memories. Otherwise we'll be standing in an aisle at the grocery store asking ourselves the question: What do I need to buy for that recipe? In Psalm 103 David makes a list of all of God's benefits, blessing, he has...

Passage: Titus 3:1-11 As we come to the final months before the elections in our nation, the pressure increases to enter into the fray of political debate and echo the heated rhetoric of pundits on social media or in our social gatherings. As the days wind down on the calendar towards election day, the temperature cranks up on the campaign trail. There is nothing wrong, indeed it is right as belie...

Passage: Romans 13:1-7 As we head into another presidential election season, there is no shortage of rhetoric and appeals to Christians as to how we should think and engage (and vote) in political affairs, a privilege and responsibility we share with all our fellow citizens of the USA. Yet much of that rhetoric and appeal tends to foster tensions and divisions among believers, and threatens to und...

Passage: Malachi 4:4-6 The final words of the Old Testament given by God through the prophet Malachi are words of preparation. God has been calling his people to return to him in faith and obedience, and he has promised the day of his coming to refine and purify a people for himself and to bring judgment on all the wicked and evil. His final words give instruction in how they are to live in prepar...

Passage: Malachi 4:1-3 As the book of Malachi comes to a close, God focuses the attention of his people forward towards the day of the Lord's coming. It is a day that will bring cataclysmic judgement for those who do evil. But for God's people, those who fear and trust him, it will be a like a new day dawning, bringing healing, joy and freedom. God closes the Old Testament with a promised sunrise...

Passage: Malachi 3:13-18 How do you view your service to the Lord? How do you respond to the call and commands of God to worship him and walk in his ways? For many in the days of the prophet Malachi, that call and command had become burdensome, resulting in words of grumbling and complaining, and wondering if such service is really worth it. But for some, their service flowed out of a sense of bel...

Passage: Acts 11:19-26 We welcome Rev. Josh Grimm to the pulpit this Sunday. Josh is Campus Pastor for RUF at Queens University in Charlotte, and one or our supported ministers/missionaries at APC. In our relationships with others it can be tempting to either put ourselves down in withdrawal, or to seek the status of what we think is power or self-importance. Instead, in how God used Barnabas we s...

Passage: Psalm 84:5-9 Mr. Chris Ellzey, Director of Ministry at Christ Covenant ARP in Greensboro and student of theology at RTS, under care of Grace Presbytery. The last time we heard God’s Word from Psalm 84 we looked at the first beatitude which described the blessedness of dwelling in the presence of God. This week the Psalmist directs our attention to the second beatitude by focusing our atte...

Passage: Malachi 3:6-12 Billy Graham once said, "Your checkbook (we might say today, your credit card statement) is a theological document." It is an indicator of who or what you worship. Jesus put it like this, "where your treasure is, there your heart is will be also." (Matt. 6:21). How we view and relate to money and possessions says a great deal about how we view and relate to God. Indeed, as...

Passage: Malachi 2:17-3:6 One of the ongoing struggles that those who know and believe God have to deal with is how can there be so much evil, so much injustice in the world; so much prospering of the wicked and suffering of the righteous? And it's a struggle that can quickly turn from genuine concern to guarded cynicism in which we begin to question God's goodness and justice. And as we see in Ma...

Passage: Malachi 2:10-16 This week we return to our study of the book of Malachi. God’s people, having returned from decades of exile in Babylon, resettled in Jerusalem and restored worship in the temple, have nevertheless grown cold in their love for God. Despite his covenant love for them, expressed so clearly in chapter 1 verse 2, worship has become a half-hearted ritual, the leaders have turne...