Doxa College Ministry Sermons

Those who are united in Christ are transformed into children of light, starkly contrasting the way they used to be. Those children of light are to live fruitful lives by not only avoiding the unfruitful works of darkness, but by also warning the world around them of the eternal consequences of those works. Scriptures: Ephesians 5:8-14

A person united with Christ will live in a drastically different manner than before that union took place. Believers must learn to be imitators of God, walking in His love, which was displayed in Christ's sacrifice. Believers must be sure that certain sins, so prevalent in the world, are non-existent in their lives. The sexual sin, impurity, and greed so common in the world are not fitting for tho...

Dennis and Wendy Dougherty, Josh and Pam Gilchrist, and Tanya Cammack answered some student-generated questions related to sharing the gospel with unbelievers and people with different religious backgrounds. Questions also covered forgiveness and authority in male-female relationships.

The old self that we are to lay aside is drastically different from the new self we are to put on. The new life in Christ must be, and can be, marked by gracious speech, controlled passions, and the fear of God. Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32

As believers, we are to walk worthily and consistently with our calling. However, we are still in the world and must lay our old ways aside, realizing their emptiness and the damage they do to our lives. Instead, we are to put on the new self, pursuing the renewal of our minds and spirits and displaying Christ's righteousness and holiness. Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–24

God wants his children to walk worthy while preserving the unity He has given. He has given them common ground and individual gifts to help them make His name known in the world as they corporately become more and more like Him. Scripture: Ephesians 4:4-16

As Paul begins talking about righteous living that flows from a believer's calling, he stresses the importance of a believer's character toward his brothers and sisters in Christ. Those character traits help believers to bear with one another and to preserve the unity of the Holy Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3

The epistle to the Ephesians transitions from talking about all of the things that Christ has done in unifying believers to Himself and to one another. If those blessings are true, and believers have been called to belong to Christ, that calling will result in conduct that is consistent with it. As believers, we need to walk worthy of God's calling in Christ Jesus. Passage: Ephesians 4:1

Paul ends the first half of his letter with a prayer. All of these blessings that he has explained in chapters 1–3 do not happen automatically. They are ours in Christ. But since they are from the Lord, we need to seek the Lord in laying hold of them. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21

We all need regular reminders of the bigger picture of our salvation... the bigger picture of the church. And 'bigger picture' doesn't mean 'something we should think about every once in a while for an interesting perspective,' it means the purpose of our faith! Passage: Ephesians 3:7–13

Truly good, God-honoring works flow from regeneration and are God's creation. God makes those who were formerly dead alive in him by grace, and he has prepared the good works that his new creations will walk in. Scripture: Ephesians 2:10

Believers can rejoice in the spiritual blessings in Christ because of God’s commitment to his purposes. He blesses believers by making his master plan known to them, by making believers his possession, and by guaranteeing their inheritance by the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Passage: Ephesians 1:9-14

The last piece of Spiritual Armor Paul describes is the only piece of armor that is offensive. It helps us answer the question, “How do I attack?” Up to this point, every piece of armor has been a defensive tool against the enemy’s tactics. This Sword of the Spirit is an offensive weapon against the Evil One himself. Fighting sin, fighting the flesh, and fighting off the devil’s attacks requires t...

The believer’s confidence, strength, and hope for daily obedience is anchored in the eternal promise of their salvation. The realities of justification, sanctification, and glorification which are accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ teach the believer what it means to live saved from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and one day the presence of sin. To take up the helmet of salvatio...

The devil’s arrows are dipped in the tar of deceit and lit by the flame of wickedness. Lies, deception, half-truths, doubts: These are what the flaming darts are made of. The shield of faith is the believer’s only hope when it comes to defending against these attacks. The promises of God, assurance of salvation, eternal blessings in the Gospel of Christ: These are what the shield of faith are made...

The devil’s arrows are dipped in the tar of deceit and lit by the flame of wickedness. Lies, deception, half-truths, doubts: These are what the flaming darts are made of. The shield of faith is the believer’s only hope when it comes to defending against these attacks. The promises of God, assurance of salvation, eternal blessings in the Gospel of Christ: These are what the shield of faith are made...

What’s the first thing you picture when you imagine a soldier prepared to fight? It probably wasn’t their feet, was it? And yet, when faced with a charging enemy, among the first preparations anyone does before they engage is stagger their feet into a ready stance. But what good is a ready stance if their footwear is not adequate for stability and resistance? The Gospel of Peace is compared to the...

This message continues our Walking and Warring series looking at the second and third pieces of the armor of God: the breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of the readiness given from the gospel of peace, from Ephesians 6:14b-15.

How can you tell the difference between a street fighter and a professional MMA fighter? Many things: Stance, strength, agility, body control, technique, and various evidence of training (or lack thereof). How can you tell the difference between someone equipped for spiritual fighting vs. someone not equipped? It all depends on if they’re wearing a belt: The Belt of Truth. This message on Ephesian...

If we are going to stand against the schemes of the devil, we need to be aware of what he is like. In any feat of competition, battle, or contest, a contender is wise to be knowledgeable of their opponent. If Christians have an adversary, shouldn’t we be so wise? Shouldn’t we know the enemy’s schemes and character? Scripture says so. Our adversary, the devil, is amazingly effective at making lies...

This section of Scripture shows us our natural state and that we desperately need new life in Christ, or regeneration. Out natural state is this: we are spiritually dead and unable to save ourselves, nor are we able to resist sin, the world, the Devil and his demons, or our passions and desires. More resources from Faith.

Ephesians 6:10-20 is the foundation which this series will be built on, and if verses 10-13 tell us anything, it’s this: Scripture is crystal clear that spiritual warfare is real, and we’re commanded to engage in it. This is a vital reminder to every Christian today. It has become too easy in our cultural moment, our own worldview, and in our sinful weaknesses to prefer ‘easy walking’ over ‘Walkin...

To wrap up this dating series, Jared Millican moderates a Q&A with five of our current College Ministry volunteer leaders. Combined, these five have almost 40 years of experience with serving in college ministry. They’ve been through these dating series before, and they love to help college students think about the important questions that surround dating and marriage. More importantly, each o...

“Can I ______; can I ______? What’s ok, what isn’t? I can agree sex should be kept for marriage, but I still want to show physical affection while dating.” It is unavoidable that this tension will come up in a dating relationship. In this message we consider again what tension-causers in our thinking might exist regarding these questions. Then we look at some explicit commands in scripture regardi...

This message finishes where last week’s left off: Biblical principles for addressing the tension some feel about Christians putting too much pressure on dating for marriage. The two principles proposed here are (1) The believer’s first responsibility in any decision in life must be to please God; (2) The believer must remember that everything they have from God is a stewardship, including their re...