ARCC Sermons

Wisdom is a good thing, even a great thing. But when Solomon turns to consider wisdom in his pursuit for ultimate meaning, it fails the test just like indulgence did before. But a thousand years later, we learn through the magi that to truly be wise men, we must begin by fearing God and end our pursuit in Christ.

In an age where Christmas comes with the greatest of expectations, we can find ourselves thrust into a situation where it has to be the best or bust. Solomon, in all of his wisdom, is going to come along and free us from the bonds of an idealized Christmas. God has good for you to experience this season and there is no need for the ultimate Christmas.

Nothing could bring about change in your life more than prayer and obedience to God. In this text we will explore how the life and ministry of Christ should effect our view of these common elements in the Christian life. We need them to be more than mere duty.

Under the Old Covenant, a High Priest mediated between God and Israel for the nation’s sins. In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, our High Priest, has now provided direct access to God the Father by His Spirit through His death and resurrection. In this text, we will examine the severity of sin, the inadequacy of the Old Covenant, and if God really has a specific role for each of us on His mission.

The writer of Hebrews introduces Jesus as the “great high priest”. He is in fact THE mediator between God and man. Our Christianity needs a healthy robust view of a resurrected, living, reigning Jesus who is interceding for us right now in this very moment. Do you have a “right now” view of Jesus Christ to go along with the past and future?

There can be no real rest here in this life without the promise and assurance of ultimate rest in the next. In order to have rest here we are to “strive” for the rest to come when we will finally be in the presence of God in the fulness of joy.

Belief leads to rest. If this is so, then we can understand why the writer is so adamant about defending the “promises” of God. If God has failed on His promises then we really don’t have anything to cling to in belief. In this text we begin to understand that the promise of God was and is much bigger in scope than just the generation of Moses and much better than a piece of land.

At the root of all sin is belief in a lie. In this text we further dive into the reality that unbelief is the ultimate barrier to our rest. How do we diagnose our unbelief and what truth needs to be exchanged in return?

As the writer of Hebrews begins this discourse on rest we are going to look at two specific things that keep us from entering this rest. When we harden our hearts we always have this tendency to revert back to trying to work in order to obtain rest rather than working because we have rest.

We have been sent out with a heavenly calling that is greater than any internal calling we feel pressured to fulfill. In this heavenly calling, we become part of the house God is building. It is a house Moses was a faithful servant in and a house Christ is faithful over as a son.

In this text we see the inextricable link between our faith and our faith family. There seems to be a level of comfort, thanksgiving, and joy that we simply cannot attain on our own. All of this is bound up in the reality that we need each other to build up our faith in the areas that we are lacking.

Jesus as our Savior is better news than we tend to comprehend. It is truly fitting, as the writer tells us that our Jesus, the author of our salvation, would be made perfect through suffering. The idea of Jesus being “perfected” is certainly a provocative one, but we will see that it is the greatest news ever.

The writer starts Hebrews by answering the most important question anyone could possibly ask: Who is Jesus? In this text the writer seems to answer or begin to answer the question that everyone seems to be asking. If Jesus is God and He is in control then why the suffering and chaos?

God has promised to preserve His own and one of the ways He does this is through severe warnings. From our perspective we find confidence and assurance when such texts in scripture jolt our heart and mind back into focus.

The writer of Hebrews spends a significant amount of space making sure everyone knows that Jesus is superior to angels. In the process we learn that the glorious and the mundane are coming together to produce that which God desires to produce in us.

The writer of Hebrews wastes no time answering the most important question in the world: Who is Jesus? The claims of scripture regarding Jesus are so outrageously beyond anything that people then and now could surmise on their own. If such claims were true then the reality of being associated with this Jesus would change everything.

There has never been a moment in history where man did not need God’s revelation. We learn from the Psalmist that your view of the word has everything to do with your relationship to the Word.

On Sunday we make all the same proclamations that the Psalmist makes. Monday comes to see if we meant what we said. The Psalmist reminds us that the good fight is a war that we were equipped and chosen to fight by the grace of God.

After a prolonged explanation of all God had been to him and had done for him, David speaks of his righteousness. Like Noah and Abraham before him, David's righteousness is not of his own, but it is a righteousness that comes by faith. It did not originate in him, but was given to him. This is what it means that the "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith."

David eloquently reflects upon the transcendent love of God displayed through His faithful deliverance of David from his enemies. The Lord’s wondrous attributes were on showcase for the world to see that He moves heaven and earth to save His people. David’s life is a reminder to us today that we love Him because He first loved us.

Prayer is going to accomplish the purpose for which God intended. We catch a glimpse of how prayer effects the heart of the one praying.

In some sense, the Psalmist shows us how our relationship with God impacts our relationship with other believers. Refreshingly, we are reminded that even the saints need to be reminded of the woes of idolatry. David teaches us that the distance from sorrow to joy is short because Jesus has already crossed the chasm.

When we come to Psalm 15, it seems that David is taking a more relaxed tone than that of Psalm 14. We soon find out, though, that sinful humanity represents the “fool” in Psalm 14, while Jesus is the only man that can sojourn in God’s tent an dwell on His holy hill. While this should crush the unconverted sinner, it gives those of us who are hidden in Christ great hope and joy to know what we’ve b...

God’s people need to be equipped to handle an ever increasingly secular society. The idea of God is being challenged more with each new day. In this Psalm the writer is actually going to push back against those who would reject the existence of God. It really shouldn’t surprise us that the Word of God gives incredible wisdom for believers to hold onto in times of secular cynicism. It is, indeed, f...

In this Psalm we see what it looks like to make the most of your suffering. If, in fact, suffering falls under the providence of God then it would seem prudent to draw out all that God intended for us in that particular season. There always seems to be some intentionality in the way that David interacts with the Lord. In relationship with the Lord we are always getting a clearer picture of ourselv...