Creekside Sermons

Proverbs shows us that a wise leader seeks counsel, prioritizes integrity, focuses on their impact, and strives to serve rather than be served. Worldly leadership may sway us to be a lone wolf, value expediency & money, and prioritize self over those we lead, but a fear of the Lord can lead us to trust and walk with Him in the way we approach our leadership.

Just as good a father desires to prepare and equip their children to have the best life possible, God desires the same for us. The key to the best life? Wisdom. Biblical wisdom is more than knowledge or education, it is all about applying truth in our lives. In other words Biblical wisdom is all about skillful living. This wisdom is available to all, yet some will play the fool and go their own wa...

Sin is a major barrier in our relationship with God. If we want to walk closely with Him on a daily basis, we must deal with the reality that we often fall short of God's standards for our lives. When we confess our sin and ask for God's forgiveness, that paves the way for our fellowship with Him to be restored. And when we ask Him to protect us from sinning in the future, we can move ahead in con...

How should we ask God for what we need and desire? What attitudes should permeate our prayer lives as we make our requests? In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus instructs us with one sentence: “Give us this day our daily bread.” That sentence is short but powerful, though, and we can learn a lot about prayer from these few simple words. Jesus's model demonstrates that when we come befor...

When we pray, we're often tempted to begin by asking God to meet our needs and fulfill our desires. But Jesus encouraged His followers to begin their prayers by acknowledging who God is before asking for what they need. Our relationship with God takes priority over our requests of God, in other words. When we pray, we relate to God as our compassionate and perfect Father, but we also submit to Him...

Prayer is an essential part of our relationship with God. Prayer can be deeply rewarding, but it can also be challenging and difficult. That is why Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, and also how not to pray. As we examine the Lord's Prayer, we will see that prayer is not intended to be a performance, nor is it a means of manipulating God. Instead, prayer is about making a personal connection...

Sometimes we can learn as much from the questions Jesus asked as we can from the statements He made. In John 20, after He rose from the dead, Jesus asked His friends three questions: First, why are you weeping? Second, who are you looking for? Third, have you believed? Our answers to those questions will reveal the condition of our hearts and shape the trajectory of our future. We will find that e...

On Palm Sunday we celebrate the arrival of the King. But who was this King, and what was so great about his arrival? Today, we look at the prophecy that was fulfilled the day that Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem, and see what it teaches us about this great, Anticipated King.

Prayer is the right response to every situation. James tells us to pray in times of suffering, times of joy, and times of sickness. God hears our prayers and He responds to them powerfully. Prayer changes our hearts and it can even change the world. What is keeping us from developing a habit of faithful and faith-filled prayer?

It is tempting for us to believe that we can control our future by carefully planning our time and diligently building our wealth. But James reminds us that our plans often fail, and our money won't last. Bank accounts and calendars can never offer us the significance and security we long for. But Jesus can. Instead of arrogantly presuming that we can control the future, we can trust in God, who i...

God is Triune. We often wrongly view this doctrine as an annoying doctrine to explain away, when in reality it's a beautiful doctrine to celebrate. In this talk, we explain (1) what the Trinity is, (2) how we know that God is Triune, and (3) why any of it matters.

All too often, our hearts are divided between allegiance to God and our love for this world. We want to know and obey God, but we also want to rule our own lives. We feel entitled to things that God has not given us, whether money, power, prestige, or pleasure. Our entitlement leads to discontent, envy, and conflict with other Christians. But God offers us a way to escape this painful cycle of con...

Words are powerful and dangerous. We will one day answer to God for the words we speak. After all, words can destroy people's lives or heal their hearts. They can ruin our relationships or build a foundation of trust. Not only are words powerful, they also reflect what's in our hearts. For that reason, the only way we can control our speech is to ask God to change our character. We need His wisdom...

What is the relationship between faith and works in the Christian life? Do we earn eternal life by doing good works? Do we prove we're Christians by how good we are? James 2 is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible, and it addresses the connection between our faith in Christ and good works. James says that faith without works is worthless! However, it's important to carefully study w...

James, this week, targets a weed that desperately needs to be uprooted in our hearts: the sin of partiality. By examining a hypothetical scenario, discussing the “Royal Law” of Christ, and foreshadowing the coming eschatological judgment, James helps us see the danger of partiality and the beauty of love.

The trials of life can often cause us to act in angry and ungodly ways. But James tells us that there is a better way to navigate life's challenges: Listen to the Word of God and obey it! When we do, we will find the life of obedience is the life that God blesses. It's not that our problems will all be resolved. Instead, our lives will fulfill God's purposes and meet with His approval. We will bec...

In the midst of life's trials, we are often tempted to doubt God's goodness, or even to blame Him for the consequences of our own sinful choices. But sin comes from within our own hearts, and results in terrible consequences. Sin doesn't make our trials better; it actually makes everything worse. Therefore, James urges us to resist sin's lies, and instead to trust in the goodness of God. God never...

Suffering can either strengthen our faith or derail it. The difference lies in how we respond, and in where we place our hope when we're walking through hard times. James 1:1-12 tells us that the trials of life can become opportunities to deepen our faith and to focus our hope. Our response to suffering can be rooted in the reality of Christ's victory over death and sin, and the promise of eternal...

In order to be effective, a church must understand its mission and its core values. At Grace Bible Church, our mission is to help people find and follow Jesus. That mission is supported by our key values, or “pillars,” that support everything we do. We value God's Grace, God's Word, Next-Generation Ministry, and World Missions.

One of the greatest threats to our intimacy with God, this New Year, is noise. We're surrounded by noise, external and internal, digital and physical, and all of it threatens to drown out God's voice. Today, we take a look at the ancient spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude, and discuss how these practices of Jesus are imperative to our walk with him today, and how through practicing them...

The first Advent highlights a multitude of God's incredible attributes, but one of the most clear is His humility. The fact that the universe's Creator became a creation, the infinite became infant, the omniscient took on limits, is one of the most striking realities in all of human history. Today's message discusses the beauty of Christ's humility, and encourages us to model our lives after His.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God's world has been tainted by sin and death. The Bible is the story of how God is redeeming His world and His people through His Son Jesus. Throughout the book of Revelation, we have seen how He will one day destroy His enemies and establish His eternal kingdom on earth. In the final two chapters of Revelation, the apostle John describes what...

When Jesus returns to the earth, He will fulfill all of His promises and defeat all of His enemies. In Revelation 20, we see how Jesus will tie up every loose end as He establishes His kingdom on earth. He will reign with His people for 1,000 years. Then, He will destroy Satan, abolish death forever, and pave the way for the arrival of the new heavens and the new earth.

It has been said that, "Comparison is the thief of all joy." Therefore, in a world where we are constantly bombarded with opportunities to compare our lives with others, is joy possible? We will look at King Saul, who was given incredible promises yet lived most of his life consumed with lesser things. Through his life we will see the impact of comparison and then look at some practical steps to m...

Everybody follower of Jesus looks forward to His return with joy. When that day comes, Jesus will descend from heaven with His people following behind Him. He will gather His people together for a great feast, a party that will be better than anything we've ever experienced before. At the same time, he will destroy his enemies and rivals. Instead of celebrating with Jesus, they will face destructi...