Anthem Church

No matter our outlook on how the world should work, we can all agree on one thing: the world is not as it should be. Ecclesiastes agrees with this assessment - where there should be justice and righteousness, we find rampant wickedness. Our nostalgia for Eden can’t be fulfilled through our own efforts, but only through a deep dependence on God, the author and perfecter of our faith and the archite...

If the wise and the fool both meet the same end of death, what is to be gained from a life of wisdom? Solomon says he hates life - so what’s the point of even trying to do good or to be loving? We are also commended to eat, drink, and be merry - why not just throw in the towel on life and do whatever makes us happy? All of these verses can be taken wildly out of context to do harm - but a redeemed...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 is one of the most well known passages in all of Scripture. The Preacher has experienced everything life has to offer, but to what gain? In this passage we discover that our toil under heaven is both a burden and a gift given by God designed so that people fear Him. God is in complete control over everything at all times. He has a plan of redemption and there nothing anyone can...

Through thorough examination, Solomon puts before us a difficult reality: while the world offers and promises much, there are truly no new pleasures under the sun. We can either validate the heart and all of its desires and longings, or we can orient our heart to that which truly satisfies. Though the Scriptures commend us to pleasure in this life, we are commended to a deeper and truer pleasure,...

Ecclesiastes reminds us that there are no new formulas under the sun - the “next big thing” never fully delivers in the ways hoped for. The ‘formulaic life” is the naive belief that if we do or know enough we can make life manageable. This lifestyle is exhausting, futile, and depressing; we will either live clinging to formulas for hope and purpose or we will live by faith in the God who cares for...

As we reintroduce ourselves to the book of Ecclesiastes we are reminded that an important theme found throughout Ecclesiastes is nostalgia. Nostalgia is prominent, deficient, and transient. Ecclesiastes teaches us there is nothing new under the sun and that this life is but a breath through the eyes of eternity. Everything in this world falls short when compared to the life that awaits those who h...

Closing our series on spiritual disciplines, we focus on a lesser known practice of watchfulness. In Scripture we are commended to be watchful; we are to watch over ourselves and over our relationships, and we are to be looking out for evil and celebrating the good. As we examine ourselves, we keep our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, the good shepherd who watches and protect...

The next spiritual practice we examine together is prayer aimed at fellowship with God. Far from simply a religious ritual, prayer is to be at the heartbeat of our lives as we commune with our loving Father. Though prayer takes a variety of forms and holds a number of purposes, we should always endeavor to spend time praying with holy fellowship in mind, thus strengthening and encouraging our fait...

Continuing our series on spiritual disciplines, we turn our focus to the practice of reading scripture for spiritual transformation. Reading scripture deeper than the surface helps us to see more of Christ, the chief subject of each page. We abide in him, his words abide in us, and we are changed in fullness of joy.

Beginning a series on spiritual practices, or disciplines, we focus first on the discipline of silence and solitude. Learning from the model of Jesus, we see that the practice of silence and solitude provides space, limits distractions, adjusts our priorities, and prepares us for the work God has for each of us. While difficult to implement, especially in this busy day and age, we examined practic...

Guest speaker Dr. Hud McWilliams joined us this Sunday, reminding us the importance of “starting with death.” Our world does all it can to avoid seeing and experiencing death, yet it is a fate that awaits us all. God’s desire for his created people, however, is not death but life, and through his son Jesus he has offered us eternal life. We can now face the reality of death, not with despair but w...

As we conclude the book of Acts, we look back on how this book relays the story of the church’s start, scattering, and subsequent strengthening. We also learn from Paul’s time on Malta and his final arrival to Rome. Paul’s circumstances, while often undesirable, were divinely appointed for the good work God had for him to do in those times and places. The movement and work of God is not always in...

After making his appeal to Caesar, the apostle Paul, along with others, begin the journey to Rome by ship. Along the way they encounter rough sailing conditions that ultimately lead way to a hurricane type storm that lasts two weeks and ends in everyone being shipwrecked on the island of Malta. The storm leaves the crew and passengers losing all hope of survival, and it is in that moment that God...

Acts chapters 24-26 tell us of the continued trials of Paul the apostle. While he repeatedly finds himself in frustrating, unjust, and dangerous situations, he is always prepared to defend his innocence and to provide a reason for the hope that is within him. As we look at these chapters, we note how Paul prepared himself in term of his conscience, his courage, his content, and his conviction. God...

Many of us consider our lives as sweeping narratives; however, all of our lives are actually made up of many individual moments, both positive and negative. For those who follow Christ, each of these moments is an opportunity for the grace of God to work and move in and through our lives. His grace changes us, encourages us, and is with us in the small details of our life. Our God desires to be ne...

As Paul is being moved closer and closer to torture and imprisonment, he has opportunities to share his past and experience with those who have captured him. While these may be seemingly simple remarks, Paul shows the power of redeemed experiences in the life of a believer. This text reminds us that our audiences and our experiences can all be used by God. Even our greatest hurts and mistakes can...

As Paul stands to make his defense before the people gathered to see him imprisoned or killed, he gives his testimony, the story of how Christ spoke to him, saved him, and set him on a new course. In his words we are given a template for our own testimony, a reminder that our stories can be framed in a meaningful way that put’s God’s goodness on display. Our testimonies, while perhaps boring or mu...

At long last, Paul lands in Jerusalem, and he is greeted warmly by the church. However, it doesn’t take long for him to meet opposition; despite efforts made by Paul and the church to protect him, Paul is beaten and arrested for his ministry yet again. Our best intentions and plans to do God’s will don’t always go the way we plan them. However, we can take comfort in the fact that even if things t...

Following Paul having to say goodbye to the Ephesian elders he finds himself again surrounded by other Christians having to say goodbye again. As we read through this narrative we can see Paul modeling for us a healthy way of saying goodbye. Prayer, heartbreak and the gospel all play an important role when it comes to saying goodbye. However, as Christians are goodbyes are never really goodbyes; t...

The role of pastor is a gift from God to the local church. Acts 20:17-38 records a meeting with the Apostle Paul and the Ephesian elders (pastors). This gathering of pastors is an intimate gathering of Christian brothers who are serving the body of Christ. Through examination of the text we get insight into how a pastor should live, how a pastor should speak, and how a pastor’s heart should be mot...

Picking up in Chapter 20 of Acts, we find Paul journeying great distances while encouraging and equipping the people of God. While his plans were at times thwarted and changed, he was always present to the work in front of him, which even included raising a dead man to life. This passage of Scripture reminds us to be engaged with those we find around us today, to encourage and remind them of the l...

On Easter Sunday, we are reminded of our own inadequacy: we will never be enough to fully satisfy ourselves and others. However, this solemn fact is confronted with an even greater, more glorious truth - wherever we lack, in whatever we lack, Christ is more than sufficient on our behalf. In his life, death, and resurrection, he is all we could never be, and through our faith in him we receive his...

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - this is the air that we breathe in our culture. We as persons were created to be joyful, but why doesn’t this joy ever last? Why can’t we find enduring happiness in all the things around us? God is far from indifferent to our joy. He desires his people to delight, rejoice, and find life in him through his Son Jesus. Followers of Christ have the most re...

Anger is an ever growing concern. According to the American Psychological Association anger is at the root of many mental health disorders, and there is no better place to look than Holy Scripture to how we should confront anger. Proverbs provides many warnings of what can happen when the stronghold of anger takes root in our lives. Knowing that anger can be righteous and unrighteous, this sermon...

The stronghold of busyness affects our ability to engage in work and rest properly. God intended for us to receive creative, restorative input in our recovery and to produce creative, life-giving output in our work. However, when we don’t rest fully and we engage work in an unhealthy manner, we are unable to recover or produce in sustainable, gospel-centered ways. People, trauma, and environment c...