Church of The Redeemer - Sermons

In our age, sinful self-promotion is the rite of worship. This is seen especially as we look out for ourselves in interpersonal conflicts and as we relate to those who wish to harm us. But for kingdom citizens, we are called to follow Christ in showing mercy to people who insult us and giving grace to those who hate us.

The heart conjures up a lot of images, from Valentine's day to cultural phrases like "follow your heart" to even heartburn from buffalo chicken dip. But Biblically speaking, the heart is the governing center of a person and in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:21-37, the law is meant to shape the heart. Rather than being an unbearable yoke, Christ fulfills the law, giving us a new heart, so...

The flourishing life of a kingdom citizen through humility, hunger, and hospitality must be visible to the world. This is the point Jesus makes in Matthew 5:13-20 as he follows the Beatitudes. Kingdom living is not just internal, it is external; it results in a public witness anchored in the work of Jesus.

Having just begun the ministry of the kingdom, Jesus gives His followers kingdom ethics or what it looks like to be a kingdom citizen in Mathew 5. These beatitudes are blessings intended to provide the Christian with a pathway to a flourishing life.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means that we have accepted the gift of repentance but not without a heavy, glorious cost. This is seen at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry in Matthew 4, where He calls the Gentiles to repent and His disciples to follow in His example.

Throughout our lives, we are caught up in different rhythms. In John the Baptist's identification of Jesus in John 1:29-42, we are invited into the rhythms of living by faith.

In the early account of Matthew's gospel in chapter 2, one thing is clear: Jesus is king. From the wise men's response to creation's herald, because Jesus is King we treat him like King.

Life doesn't always go the way we expect it to, just ask Mary and Joseph in Matthew 2:13-23. But as God preserved and protected Jesus, we are called to trust that God will preserve and protect us in our sin and suffering.

The arrival of Jesus brings the love, joy, hope, and peace we have been longing for. When we encounter our true king, we can't help but proclaim the good news.

Christmas is all around us. From lights to nativity scenes, there’s a sense in which we can become all too familiar with Christmas. The familiar glories of texts like Jesus' birth can become tiresome instead of wonderous. But, the birth of Jesus is anything but tiring. Matthew 1:18-25 is a text that reminds us of the reason for Christmas: that Jesus came to save us from the penalty and power of si...

During the Christmas season, we have lots of expectations. From gifts to holiday plans, we often find ourselves disappointed in the expectations we have. This is the case for John the Baptist in Matthew 11. Things did not turn out the way he expected, which led John to doubt Jesus. In the same way, our failed expectations cause us to doubt Jesus. But, Jesus helps us to address our failed expectati...

In the account of John the Baptist in Matthew 3, we see that because God keeps his promises, we must respond to God's offer of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ or receive God's judgment for our rejection of Jesus Christ. 

The season of Advent has always had a special focus on both the first and last coming of Jesus. In Matthew 24, Jesus wants His disciples, and consequently us, to get and stay ready for His return. This is a readiness only made possible by the gift of faith.

Over 100 years ago, Lottie Moon was called by God to take the gospel to China. What called her to go on this mission? It was a radical encounter with the glory of God. In Isaiah 6:1-10, Isaiah is taken into the throneroom of God. From this account, we see that, like Lottie Moon and Isaiah, when we encounter the glory of God and the grace of God, we are empowered for the mission of God.

As the book of Lamentations closes, we are left with seemingly no resolution. How can the poet find hope amid his despair? Lamentations shows us that even in our despair, prayer is the answer. It's only because the Lord is on His throne that we can pray with confidence, knowing that He will always remember His promise to us.

After the high point of Lamentations 3, we think the book should be over. But the poet continues to lament the destruction of Jerusalem in chapters 4-5. What are we to make of this? Even when lament continues, we can hope in God’s restoration.

On October 24th, 2022 a gunman opened fire at a local high school here in St. Louis, killing two and leaving many wounded. In response to this, many are asking where God was in the midst of this tragedy. As God's poet records within the pages of Lamentations, He's near to us when we cry, when we are in danger, and He's drawn near to redeem us. This causes God's people to properly lament because we...

In the center of Lamentations, we see the truth that grace is at the center of God, not punishment. While punishment may be necessary in our lives to remind us of the seriousness of sin, God never delights in it. In fact, because the love of the Lord never fails we can experience God's grace in our grief.

Lamentations can be a hard book that forces us to ask hard questions. How can God be compassionate and angry? What do we do when God feels like the enemy? Though God's anger against sin is righteous and we should lament and despair of our sin, Jesus took the fullness of God’s righteous anger on our behalf so that His love endures forever for us.

The book of Lamentations is a heart-wrenching book that depicts the aftermath of God's judgment on Israel. In it we see a people coming to terms with why this happened to them. In the opening chapter of Lamentations, the poet makes it clear that the ramifications of sin against a holy God are serious but that there is grace available with a holy God as well.

Lamentations is a collection of Hebrew poetry that takes place during the sacking of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In these poems, we see the godly way to process our grief and pain. We learn to be honest about our sin and situation because we have a God who is faithful.

We all have things in our lives that we share with other people. From our favorite movies to restaurants, recipes to coffee, we all feel called to share things we love with other people. This is we what are called to do in 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2, to share the Story of Redemption because it is gloriously good!

In the beginning, God created us for life together. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, remind us that we were made for community. This community is known as the Church, a people that have been reconciled together by the blood of Christ. Acts 2:42-47 gives us a brief but powerful portrait of what it means to live life together under the blood of Christ.

At Church of The Redeemer, God has called us to invite our city to participate in God's Story of Redemption. But what is the Story? And what does it mean to participate in it? This week from Psalm 19, we explore how God’s revelation is His invitation to embrace the Story of Redemption.

As we end our series through the Apostles' Creed, we look back on how our beliefs should change how we live in this world. From 1 Timothy 3:14-16, we see that Jesus is worthy of our faithful confession and fruitful conduct.