Edgefield Church Nashville – Sermons

The opening of John?s Gospel gets at questions all of us must address at one point or another. Where did we come from? Why are we here? What?s wrong with us and our environment? Who can we trust to solve problems that are too big for us? John places Jesus at the center of these questions, and confronts us with questions of his own, the questions his book will address all the way through: Who is Je...

John wrote this book to persuade readers that Jesus is the only one who can give us the life we?re made for. And though he originally aimed at first-century Jewish readers, John?s Gospel is for all of us because all of us need to trust Jesus more than we do.

One of the most challenging problems in the heart of a Christian is forgetfulness. David gives us hope by encouraging us to remember all that God has done for us in Christ: He has saved us from sin, saved us from death, saved us by love, and saved us for joy in Him.

God became a child to make you a child of God.

Speaker: Bill Heerman

Paul?s first letter to the church in Corinth covers a full range of issues basic to human life across the centuries. It?s a letter about politics and competition, about fashion and style, about sex and money and food. And straight through every issue it?s about selfishness and the power of cross-centered love to overcome the root of evil. It?s a letter well-summarized by Paul?s final instruction:...

Jesus does more than remove the threat of death. He promises to give us bodies that won?t die through which we?ll know joy that is endless and complete. With this promise before us, there is nothing in this life we can?t do without for the sake of his kingdom.

For Paul, Christianity stands or falls on whether Jesus is alive. But why? Only a living Jesus can truly free us from guilt in life and fear in death. And only a living Jesus makes the Christian life anything less than pitiful.

The church comes together not for private communion with God but to encourage each other with the gospel. We encourage each other by using our minds to engage our hearts.

Christians are defined by love, not by what they possess or how they perform. Christians are bound by love, because only love like God?s can keep sinful, selfish people together. And Christians are destined for love, for the endless world of love that we taste in part when we love each other well.

For the good of the church, God?s Spirit gives each believer gifts that are unique and indispensable. We?re all gifted. But we?re not self-sufficient. As members of one body, we each need others and others need each of us.

Confronting self-centered divisiveness at Corinth, Paul helps us understand what we do in the Lord?s Supper and what the Lord?s Supper does in us.

What do we do when the message and cultural context of the Bible seem far removed from our values and assumptions?

What does it look like to live our lives ?to the glory of God?? We were made to glorify God by loving his gifts for God?s sake, and by loving each other in God?s strength.

Paul points to the example of Israel to show that receiving great blessing from God doesn?t mean you won?t crave something more and fall into idolatry. Because comfort in Christian trappings isn?t the same as faith in Christ, be careful what you crave.

Christian freedom is not finally about what?s permissible for us but what?s beneficial for others. Jesus frees us from bondage to our own interests, and he frees us for binding ourselves to each other.

As Christians, we?re defined not by what we know but by who knows us?our loving God?and what we?re known for?our love for each other.

All of us have a idea of what we hope to get out of our lives before we die. And all of us have a future beyond the grave promised to us by God if we trust in Jesus. The question is this: To which unrealized future does your heart belong?

How can we be free from restlessness and discontent? Paul helps us connect with God?s acceptance of us, his sovereignty over us, and his future for us.

Why do Christians think sex outside of marriage is such a bad thing? Given what Paul says here, the answer to that question has much to do with the sacredness of the body, the power of sex, and the purpose of sex within marriage.

How we handle conflict shows what we love and where we belong. When our hearts are locked on the things of this world, we?re driven to protect what we have and compete for even more. When we realize God has not given us what we deserve, we?re free to lay aside our rights and love with forgiveness.

Could it ever be a good thing to remove someone from the church because of their sin? Paul?s stern warning explains why we must confront sin if we truly love each other, if we truly love the church body, and if we truly love God and his glory.

Paul uses his own life to call his friends to a humility rooted in the promises of the gospel. When we embrace God?s approval of us through Jesus, our security isn?t tied to what others think of us or what we think of ourselves. And when we taste the sweetness of what?s ours in Jesus, we?re set free from the restless pursuit of what we think we need or deserve.

The church in Corinth was falling apart because its members were insecure and self-obsessed; or, in Paul?s words, they were behaving like infants, in a merely human way. The unflinching challenge of this text confronts all of us with two crucial questions: Who are you? And what are you doing with your life?

When we add to the gospel, we nullify it.