Christchurch Miami Audio Podcast

Is America a Christian nation? On the weekend the country turned 250, Pastor Kent Keller takes the question head-on from Acts 17 — where the early Christians were dragged before the authorities for proclaiming "there is another king, Jesus." His answer is more careful, and more freeing, than either side expects. We can thank God for a nation profoundly shaped by Scripture — the Mayflower Compact,...

Do you ever think about eternity? Pastor Kent Keller closes our "But What About?" series with the biggest question of all. For Kent this is no abstract exercise — much of his work as a pastor is sitting with people in their final hours, and just two weeks ago he buried a lifelong friend. He preaches this knowing exactly where his friend is this morning. Preaching from Revelation 21, this message w...

What does it mean to be a man? On Father's Day — preaching from his deployment in the Middle East — Pastor James Drake walks through David and Goliath and finds three men, but only one who understands true manhood: biblical masculinity is strength surrendered to God for His glory and the good of others. We're not David in this story; we're Israel, until our Champion steps forward. Jesus is the gre...

What about the hypocrites in the church — and what if one of them is you? When NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope, its mirror had been ground with breathtaking precision — against the wrong standard. It passed every test it gave itself, blind to its own blindness. In this message from our What About? series, Elder Rick Closius shows that this is exactly what hypocrisy and self-righteousness...

Can a 2,000-year-old book really stand up to modern scrutiny — or is the Bible just a collection of "cleverly devised myths"? In this eighth sermon in our spring apologetics series What About?, Pastor Kent Keller takes on one of the hardest questions skeptics and Christians wrestle with: is the Bible actually reliable? Kent walks through the textual evidence — comparing New Testament manuscript co...

If God is all good, all loving, and all powerful — why is there so much sin, suffering, and evil in the world? In this seventh sermon in our spring apologetics series What About?, Pastor Kent Keller takes on the hardest question Christians and skeptics share. From 1 Peter 4:12–19, Kent walks us through three movements: don't be surprised by suffering, don't be unprepared for what comes next, and d...

How do you pass faith to your kids when life won't slow down? Pastor James Drake — preaching from the field during his current Army Chaplain deployment — answers one of the most pastoral questions parents ask: how do we hand on a living faith in a culture engineered to crowd it out? Drawing on Deuteronomy 6:4-9 — the Great Shema — and Jesus' citation of it in Mark 12:29-30 as the greatest commandm...

What if science and faith were never actually divorced — and the people who told you they were got the story backwards? Pastor Kent Keller takes us through one of the most contested cultural narratives of our day: the story that science and the Christian faith are at war. Drawing on Genesis 1, Psalm 19, and the work of modern thinkers like John Lennox, this message moves through three movements: h...

Don't all religions lead to the same place? If you're following Jesus, you've probably been asked that question — by a coworker, a family member, maybe even your own quiet doubts. On Missions Sunday, special guest Missionary Edwin Martinez — who has spent 50 years training evangelists across Latin America and the Muslim world — sits with us in that question and walks us back to what Scripture actu...

Sermon | From Anxiety to Peace | Pastor David McCloud In Week 3 of our spring series What About...?, guest preacher Pastor David McCloud - a longtime PCA pastor and licensed counselor at Granada Presbyterian Church - opens Philippians 4:6-7 to walk through what Scripture actually teaches about a worried heart. Drawing from his own years as a counselor, two illustrations from his own struggle with...

Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead? | Pastor James Drake The resurrection of Jesus is not only the foundation of our faith — it is the source of our hope, our purpose, and our mission as the Christchurch family. In this message, Pastor James Drake opens 1 Corinthians 15 and walks us through the truth that has changed everything: Jesus Christ is risen. Through Scripture, historical evidence, fulfi...

Isaiah 53 stands as one of the most compelling prophecies in Scripture, written centuries before Jesus was born yet describing His suffering and sacrifice with astonishing detail. The prophet describes a suffering servant who would grow up as a tender plant from dry ground - humble origins that perfectly match Jesus' birth in Nazareth, a backwater town to a carpenter's family. This servant would b...

Palm Sunday begins the most momentous week in human history, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey during Passover week in 33 AD. Fresh from raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus entered the crowded city not as a conquering military leader but as the Prince of Peace, fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy about the humble king. The enthusiastic crowds laid cloaks and palm branches before him, shoutin...

Jesus delivers a sobering warning about the difference between genuine faith and religious appearance. Many people who seem devoted - those who prophesy, cast out demons, and perform mighty works - will be rejected because they trusted in their performance rather than in Christ as a person. These individuals made the critical mistake of presenting their works instead of pleading Christ's righteous...

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus provides crucial guidance for navigating a world filled with competing spiritual voices. His warning about false prophets dressed as sheep but inwardly being ravenous wolves reveals the hidden danger of spiritual deception. The most dangerous false teachers don't announce themselves as wolves - they speak religious language, appear to do good works, and often seem genuine...

In a world dominated by self-centered ethics, Jesus introduces a transformative approach to relationships through the Golden Rule. Most people operate unconsciously from various ethical frameworks - utilitarian ethics that prioritize the greatest good for the most people, egocentric ethics that protect personal rights without harming others, or relativistic ethics that determine right and wrong ba...

The Christian journey often proves more challenging than new believers initially expect. While the gospel promises of forgiveness, grace, and eternal life remain wonderfully true, following Jesus means living by kingdom priorities in a world that increasingly disagrees with and resents Christian values. The difficulty isn't just about avoiding certain behaviors, but about living in ways that spotl...

In a world filled with judgment and criticism, Jesus offers a radically different approach to how we should treat others. His teaching about not judging doesn't mean abandoning moral discernment, but rather recognizing that ultimate judgment belongs to God alone. We don't have the complete picture that God has - we see actions and hear words, but only God sees the heart. Jesus warns of a boomerang...

Anxiety has reached epidemic levels in our modern world, with nearly half of Americans reporting increased stress. Jesus addressed this universal struggle in His Sermon on the Mount, specifically in Matthew 6:25-34, where He commands us three times not to worry about basic needs like food, water, and clothing. Using powerful illustrations from nature, Jesus demonstrates God's faithful provision th...

Our relationship with money is deeply personal and often shaped by past experiences of scarcity or the belief that more wealth will solve our problems. However, Jesus addresses this directly in Matthew 6:19-24, teaching that earthly treasures are temporary and vulnerable to destruction or theft. The key principle is that our hearts naturally follow our investments - when we focus on accumulating w...

Jesus addresses the practice of fasting in Matthew 6:16-18, revealing a fundamental truth about authentic faith versus religious performance. He doesn't condemn fasting itself but rather the hypocritical approach of religious leaders who disfigured their faces to display their spirituality publicly. These individuals received their reward in human admiration but gained nothing from God. Jesus assu...

In a culture obsessed with image and performance, Jesus calls us to authentic prayer that rejects the hypocritical practices of religious leaders who prayed elaborate prayers in public for show. These performers received their reward in human admiration but missed genuine connection with God. Instead, Jesus instructs us to pray privately, emphasizing that our primary prayer life should be secret c...

In a culture obsessed with public recognition and social media validation, Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:1-4 cuts straight to the heart of our motivations. He warns against the spiritual danger of practicing righteousness before others in order to be seen by them. This challenge hits close to home when we consider whether we sometimes ensure others notice our giving, use our 'holy voice' when prayi...

Jesus presents a revolutionary approach to relationships by commanding us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This wasn't merely countercultural advice but a fundamental requirement for serious followers of Christ. Speaking to people under Roman occupation who faced real persecution, Jesus challenged them to turn the entire system of retaliation upside down through radical lov...

The concept of going the second mile comes from Jesus' revolutionary teaching in Matthew 5:38-42, where He challenges the conventional eye-for-an-eye mentality with a radically different approach to living. This wasn't merely a suggestion but a complete departure from cultural norms that seemed almost impossible to follow. Jesus essentially introduced new principles for His followers that would se...