Coram Deo Church — Bremerton, WA

Jew and Gentile. Circumcision, food laws, and the ceremonial law. The Holy Spirit and the conversion of the Gentile centurion Cornelius and his household. Ethnic identity and covenant identity. "Ordinances" and the "elementary principles of the world." Why does the Old Testament have laws that Christians don't observe anymore, while it has other laws that they do? In this episode of Sermon B-Sides...

Fathers have a uniquely weighty job as they are called by God to lead their families and raise their children in the fear and admonition of the LORD. In this training, Elder Candidate Kim Highfield looks at how fathers ought to discipline their children by making and executing a plan to train them in righteousness.

The church in Corinth was a mess! Divisions, incest, and drunkenness at the Lord's Supper are a few of the problems we learn are going on there. Yet Paul expresses his gratitude to God for them, and even says he is confident Jesus will sustain and be faithful to them. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the reality of God's grace and the messiness of Church.

Big Ideas 1. Stephen’s seminary This text is primarily made up of a sermon that Paul delivered on the Sabbath. He began with the calling of Abraham and followed the story of God through Egypt, King David, and the prophets, claiming that the entire story was about Jesus. Where did Paul learn to preach Christ from the Old Testament in this way? Paul heard a very similar sermon from the lips of Steph...

In this episode of The Blitz, Pastor Jon explores the simple wisdom and truth that Genesis 1 provides for a world gone mad.

On the evening of November 2, 2021 at Hale's Ales Barrelhouse in Bremerton, Washington, Dr. Glenn Sunshine delivered a lecture on the history of the Christian theology of resistance to tyranny. He concluded the lecture with a brief time of Q&A.

Jesus commands his disciples to love their enemies because he wants them to reflect the kindness and love of God expressed in the Gospel. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten looks at this section of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke 6 and considers what it means to love our enemies.

Big Ideas 1. Prayer and fasting In this text, the Holy Spirit calls out Paul and Barnabas for a particular missionary venture. This call, however, came in the context of worship, devotion, prayer, and fasting. As the Church pursued God through worship and devotion, God spoke to the Church. How did the Holy Spirit speak to the Church? Well, we don’t exactly know. But we do know that this encounter...

Big Ideas 1. Angels and Peter’s great escape Once again in our text, we find angels doing God’s work and providing aid and rescue to God’s people. Christians often don’t know what to do when it comes to angels. Some obsess over angels while others try to avoid the topic altogether. What’s clear throughout the Bible is that angels do exist and God does use them to help his people in times of great...

Soon after meeting Jesus and beginning to preach that he was the Christ, Saul was on a hit-list. In Acts 9 we read of two separate conspiracies to kill Saul. Saul could've avoided this by being silent or by pursuing a life of private piety. But that wasn't an option for Saul. Instead, God used him to stir up holy controversy. In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, Pastor Jon and Pastor Rusten discuss...

The letter of Jude is a letter of warning. It seeks to convict, equip, and strengthen its readers to stand against the temptations of unbelief, sexual immorality, and rebellion against God's authority. It encourages God's people to persevere in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. But the power that makes all this encouragement possible is found in the last two verses of the letter. In...

In this episode of The Blitz, Pastor Jon discusses how God used evil for good in the life of Joseph. Then he explores how God might be using this season to bring an explosion of Christian entrepreneurship in our community.

Big Ideas 1. An imperfect Church While the majority of this text is about faithful and obedient Christians loving and serving others, Luke does mention those Jewish believers who refused to share their lives with non-Jews. This issue was among the biggest issues the Church in Acts faced. This isn’t the first time Luke has mentioned it, and it’s not the last. Being a historian, Luke is not interest...

Being a mother is hard work. Moms have the rewarding yet difficult job of raising little disciples of Christ while also growing in Him themselves. In this teaching, Lacey Kuhns reminds moms about the joy and challenge of growing as Godly mothers in Christ.

When Saul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, everything changed. The sovereign grace of God met Saul and made a train wreck of his life as it was. He went from persecutor to ardent supporter of the Church; from opposed to mixing with Gentiles to uniting Gentiles and Jews within the Church; from hauling Christians to the magistrate to preaching the Gospel to kings. In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, P...

There is a sense in which the gospel of Jesus is both "against the world" and "for the world." This isn't just a theoretical tension, but a tension that shows up in our relationships and lives in tumultuous ways. It is a tension that we are called to walk through in faith and the love of God. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the letter of Jude, specifically the call on th...

Big Ideas 1. Circumcised critics The Church has no lack of critics. Sometimes, when the Church is in error or in sin, the criticism is warranted and should be received as God’s gracious invitation to repent. But at other times, the criticism is baseless and motivated by jealousy, insecurity, and fear. The circumcised critics in this text fall into the latter category. What better way to respond to...

In this episode of The Blitz, Pastor Jon explores some of the theological, Christological, philosophical, ethical, and legal issues that must be considered when thinking through whether or not the COVID19 vax mandates are biblical.

Who doesn't want to be liked? Who doesn't want to be thought of as wonderfully winsome and radically relevant by all people? It's a temptation for the church today, and it's been a temptation in the past as well. So, Jesus warns his disciples of it. What might it mean if everyone speaks well of you? Jesus compares this situation to the false prophets that went before, and he pronounces his "woe" u...

Big Ideas 1. Dreams, visions, and angels The primary way God speaks to his people is through his Word. However, at times, God uses dreams, visions, and angels to communicate with and instruct individuals. God used the angel Gabriel to announce the coming birth of Jesus to Mary. God used an angel in a vision to instruct Joseph not to leave his pregnant virgin fiancé. In this story, God uses both vi...