ARCC Sermons

There is something profound to consider that in the garden of Eden “very good” and “not good” were realities taking place at the same time. This paints an incredible picture of the fact that “very good” could be used to describe the things around us and yet our deepest longing not be satisfied. It seems that we as sinful humans will do just about anything to avoid addressing this issue. God addres...

What if Adam could speak to us today? What if he, as the one through whom sin entered the world, could give us some insight that could help us not fall into the same trap that he fell into? In a very real sense, Jesus, the second Adam, does this very thing. If we listen closely, Jesus speaks in His day as One who was there in those days. Jesus, as the One through whom righteousness would enter the...

This is the beginning of mankind’s existence in the world God created. As the crowning achievement of God’s creation, how would this omnipotent creator relate to man? In our day there are those who do not believe in a creator. They believe all that we see and know is the result of time and chance. Others believe there must be a “higher power” who created it all but is like an absentee landlord—a c...

It should absolutely grab our attention that the day the Lord blesses and sets a part is the day that God rests from His work. It is a wondrous thing that God would want us to know that rest was a part of His created order. May we see the goodness of God for us in His mandate that we join Him in it. This section is written in such a way that we realize that the kind of rest that God has from His w...

Oh that we would live considering all that it means for us that we were created in the very image of God. The Imago Dei. How would encouraged and strengthened we would be to live life believing God! And yet, how humbled we would be so as to truly live life considering others as more significant than ourselves! May this truth forever and always dictate the way we view God and man…and ourselves. Thi...

The creation account is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is worthy of study that many have put into. God reveals Himself through His Word, through His delight, and through His ordering. In creation we have reason to trust our God as He sets forth His wonderful purposes which beautifully come into the light. In this text, there is so much to celebrate. Within the account of creation we can see Go...

The second verse in Genesis seems to be often overlooked in the excitement to get to verse three. After all, who can wait to get to the part where God speaks and brings light out of darkness? But what if verse two was meant to enhance the whole experience? It’s possible that verse two could help us enjoy the rest of the creation narrative all the more! The implications of the reality that God star...

For the one seeking to live from a biblical world view the beginning is of utmost importance. Therefore it is of utmost importance that we begin with God. Most who will listen to this series will have no problem with this sentiment. However, scripture itself seems to point to a reality that we as humans have a tendency to forget, deviate from, and even willfully suppress this truth. If we are hone...

Right now. Could you go “be” with Jesus? Jesus’ mission was to reconcile us to God. Christ put on flesh and came to us that we might be His people and He would be our God. As a part of making disciples at ARCC we desire to equip the saints with a yearning to take advantage of the welcome we have in Christ to come into the presence of God and simply be still and KNOW Him. We believe that Disciplesh...

Outside of Jesus and His twelve disciples the relationship between Paul and Timothy might be regarded as the most explicit example of mentor discipleship that we have. In essence, young Timothy was invited to join Paul on his missionary journey. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul reminds Timothy of the primary purpose for getting to be with Paul for all these years. By the power of the grace tha...

Jesus, the Son of God, has been in community from all eternity. We believe that He has been satisfied completely by and in and through the eternal presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came to earth He did His ministry alongside others. He knew them and they knew Him. There is an important aspect of Christian discipleship that cannot happen outside of community. Living life in com...

What would you do if you believe you were going to meet with God? Certainly what you believe about who God is and where you are in relation to Him would make a difference. At ARCC we desire to reclaim the meaning and depth and value of the privilege that it is for the people of God to gather together for worship on Sundays. Not only are we experiencing a foretaste of what it will be like when Jesu...

Sometimes the warrior can lose sight of the point of being a warrior. Sometimes in weariness and exhaustion and wounded-ness the warrior can believe that it is safer and easier to find sure footing by simply viewing everyone and everything as the enemy. To be sure, life impacts the way your flesh is conditioned to view, perceive, and respond to every situation you walk into. The Psalmist seems to...

Longing is an emotion that most of us are pretty uncomfortable with. We don’t like the feeling that it creates in us. This uneasiness that there is something out there that my heart deeply wants, and I don’t have it. We deal with this in many different ways. Most often, when we do experience a deep longing in our heart, we try to satisfy it as fast as we can or at least distract ourselves from it....

Hebrews tells us that God shakes things so that we will know what belongs to His Kingdom and what belongs to the kingdom of this world. We live in a time where it seems like everything is being shaken and it truly seems difficult to know where to find firm footing. The writer of Ecclesiastes looked in many places and in many directions only to come to the conclusion that all was vanity. In Psalm 5...

The Psalmist, whose heart is growing faint, seems to be giving us something of a simplified checklist of things to work through in order to give his heart the care it needs. These things are all aspects of the life of one who belongs to the Lord. The profundity of these things is that they are NOT profound at all. In fact, the danger lies in that we would have a tendency to assume or overlook or e...

For the next several Psalms we are going to read David’s lament over suffering at the hands of evil men. It is a great thing that the people of God would learn to excel (by the power of the Holy Spirit) at glorifying God through their suffering. There is much room for us to grow in the way of “entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator while doing good”…especially in times of suffering. We are liv...

In Psalm 57, as David runs and hides from Saul, he acknowledges that his only refuge is in God Most High. Knowing that to be true his repeated refrain is “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” In Psalm 58, David describes one way the LORD God’s glory is displayed on earth. The God who judges the earth, the One who makes all things right, will receive blessing...

The more you read the scriptures, meditate on the Psalms, and become familiar with the story of David the more you realize that his battle with Goliath was hardly the defining reality of his life especially in his own eyes. Over and over again in the Psalms you don’t read about the man who ran into the battle with a sling shot and five stones, but rather a man who was constantly taking refuge in t...

Psalm 56 picks up where Psalm 55 leaves off - David bringing his frustration and complaint before the Lord. David knows that God is the only one who can deliver him from the trouble he faces everywhere he goes. Oftentimes, we don't know what to do with Psalms like these - Psalms of Imprecation and Lament, and because of our misunderstanding of what God is inviting us into through these particular...

There seems to be a need to look more closely at this idea of the heart being deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Read and quoted by itself it comes across like a warning…a warning that says that our hearts are never to be trusted. If Proverbs is true, in that from our hearts flow the wellspring of life, then a rejection of our hearts actually becomes the source of more destruction a...

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. It is truly a blessing to trust in the Lord, but it is even greater so if the Lord, Himself is the entire reason for our trust. It is not good news simply that God is good and generous and capable of pouring out blessing upon those who trust Him. It is good news that our God has actually pledged His faithfulness toward us in such...

By the grace of God something was instilled in us that has made us hyper vigilant towards finding a savior. The curse is that we continue to seek that in the trust of men which usually, eventually results in self isolating self reliance. This truly is a curse. This is also why it was profoundly relevant for Jesus to describe His yoke as easy and His burden as light. Anyone who has trusted in their...

We will see the trustworthiness of the anger of God over sin and its destruction. Somewhere in here there might just be an invitation to join the Lord in a Spirit-filled righteous anger that lends itself toward redemption.