Doxology Church

In a post-Covid America where church attendance has drastically declined, we ask the question, “Is church an idea whose time has come and gone?” Yet we are created for community and we long for belonging. In spite of division in the world today, the book of Acts models a church whose beginning cuts across all barriers, be they racial, ethnic, or linguistic. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit s...

The religious leaders and disciples each exhibit blindness toward Jesus, and Jesus warns His disciples against the danger of “seeing but not seeing” Him even though He’s right in front of their eyes. Like the religious leaders, we may have total blindness that stems from pride and inner darkness. Or, like the disciples, we can “see but not see” the whole Jesus even if we’ve known Him for years. St...

The Pharisees confront Jesus for allowing his disciples to break one of their traditions. In response, Jesus highlights how they've neglected God’s law and love for neighbor in favor of their traditions. While this narrative may feel detached from contemporary life, it offers valuable insights. Jesus’ warnings serve as a wake-up call for us to examine our hearts, words, and actions. Does our devot...

In a world filled with uncertainty and constant exposure to global crises, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by fear. We fear the possibilities of war, civil unrest, illness, fractured relationships, financial insecurity, etc. The list seems endless. In this sermon, we explore Matthew 14:22-36 examining Jesus' response to Peter and the other disciples during a deadly storm and how we can apply this wh...

Like Jesus and the disciples in Matthew 14:13-21, you may find yourself in a season of life where you have a lot of demands on your time, resources and energy but have very little to give in return. As we jump back into our sermon series on the Better Kingdom, we see how Jesus wants us to respond differently during such seasons of life than what other forces and voices around us may be telling us....

In this sermon, we look at Psalm 123. The psalmist’s prayer reminds us that when we pray, we must shift our focus towards God, recognizing His glory, presence, knowledge, and power. Prayer is an expression of our helplessness and through it, we appeal to God for His mercy, as we patiently submit to His timing in answering our prayers. Jeff Toomer (10.1.23) | Doxology Church | Psalm 123

In this sermon, we look at Nehemiah 13:1-31. To our surprise, Nehemiah ends the book with a list of reforms and fixes he has implemented and the frustrations he has dealt with, instead of his successful accomplishment of rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall and the people’s renewal of their covenant with God. It’s clear that Nehemiah’s primary goal was to restore God’s presence among the Israelites, leadin...

In a world filled with distractions and constant entertainment, we often overlook the importance of prayer and silence in nurturing our relationship with God. In this sermon, we look at the significance of the spiritual discipline of prayer and the practice of sitting in silence to wait on the Lord. Jeff Toomer (9.17.23) | Doxology Church | Psalm 61:1-2; Psalm 62:1-2, 5, 11

In this sermon, we see the Israelites accusing God of injustice. We may relate to this especially during those times in our lives when life seems unfair. It may seem that those who don't fear God are leading the "good life" while your own falls apart. Life, at times, can indeed appear unfair. Nevertheless, in this sermon scripture passage, we are reminded of God's abundant blessings, often overloo...

In this sermon, we look at the various ways we rob God and in the process, rob ourselves of his blessings. Malachi 3:6-12 reminds us that God is primarily after our hearts. He immediately responds to our unfaithfulness by calling us to repentance and reminds us of his promises. Finally, we see how Jesus Christ, through his perfect obedience and faithfulness breaks our cycle of unfaithfulness and b...

In this sermon, we look at God's double charge against the Priests and the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness. The Priests show unfaithfulness in their ministry and teaching; while the people show unfaithfulness in their marriages. The passage (Malachi 2:1-16) provides us with insights into the numerous ways we prove unfaithful to God. Recognizing this, we can acknowledge our need for a fai...

We live in a culture where money, comfort and convenience have a strong hold on us. We dedicate our time, energy and attention to pursuing them and every now and then, give what’s left over to God. We see the same thing happening with the Israelites in Malachi. In this sermon, we focus on Malachi 1:1-14 which shines a bright light on our polluted worship and yet still offers us hope by showing us...

In this sermon scripture passage, Matthew takes us back to the story of John the Baptist, highlighting the cost of following Jesus through John’s execution. This story serves as a reminder that embracing and following Jesus often leads to exclusion or rejection. How should we, as Christ followers, respond to this fact? Steve Reed (8.13.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 14:1-12

In this sermon, we look at some of Jesus’ parables illustrating the kingdom of God as hidden treasure. Although it has the power to transform our lives, we often overlook it due to its unassuming nature and the cost involved. Steve Reed (8.6.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 13:44-58

In this sermon, we see how Jesus, upon bringing us into the kingdom of God, takes our mini narrative and brings us into a story that is far bigger and greater. He paints for us a picture of what is ultimately true about God’s kingdom. Steve Reed (7.30.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 13:24-43

Jesus teaches us in the parable of the soil how each of us have difficultly hearing and receiving the gospel based on the “soil” of our hearts. Join us as we explore how to identify which soil we are and how to trust The Planter and the Seed of The Gospel. Steve Reed (7.23.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 13:1-23

In this week’s sermon, we see how Jesus challenges both the skeptic and the believer by revealing the true purpose of His coming, which was not just to make us a better people, but more importantly, to bring us into right relationship with God. Steve Reed (7.16.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 12:38-50

Steve Reed (7.9.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 12:22-37

In this sermon, our gust speaker Chris Cupit breaks down how Jesus brings us into a greater rest as He is the “lord of the Sabbath.” Chris Cupit (7.2.23) | Better Kingdom: The Gospel of Matthew | Matthew 12:1-21

As Christians, we often face situations where only God can provide the help we need. In these moments, God desires to hear from us and wants us to bring all our worries and burdens, both big and small, to Him. Where do you need God's help? Through prayer, let Him hear your requests. God is near and powerful enough to help us. In this sermon, we look at Psalm 119:169-176 and see how the Psalmist bo...

In this sermon, we continue to explore the better kingdom that Jesus brings us into. Our focus today is on the fact that one of the things that makes God's kingdom great is that Jesus brings us not to a set of values or moral principles, but to a person: the person of Jesus, who alone gives us rest. We look at how Jesus teaches us about rest by giving us a command, a promise, and practices. Steve...

Being in the kingdom of God requires us to hold to seemingly contradictory truths. In this sermon, we look at Matthew 11:1-19 and examine the paradox of faith and doubt in the life of a believer. Christians often believe they are not allowed to have doubts, contrary to what we see in this passage. Instead Jesus encourages us to not be afraid of our doubts, but to question them and to follow him in...

As we've been walking through the gospel of Matthew, we've seen that Jesus brings us into a better kingdom. In today's sermon from Matthew 9:35-10:25, Jesus shows us how the church should relate to the world by giving us helpful handholds to use as principles. In this sermon passage, Jesus shows us what our attitude should be, what our practices should be and what our expectations should be as we...

Conflict is all around us. It arises in our relationships with our spouses, children, friends, and coworkers. It may be in the form of verbal arguments, passive-aggressive behavior or differences in opinion. Unfortunately, one consequence of conflict is the breakdown of cherished relationships. But what is the root cause of conflict, and how can we effectively deal with it? In this sermo...

In this sermon, we look at Matthew 8:18-34 and get a deeper understanding of who the King of the better kingdom we've been talking about is. The passage presents Jesus in a confrontational light, which may challenge some of us. Nonetheless, we navigate the text by looking at three things: three encounters with the real Jesus; how do you know you've met the real Jesus; and how do you respond&n...