Edgefield Church Nashville – Sermons

Micah promised that a ruler to come, Israel?s Messiah, would emerge from Bethlehem, and a basic piece of the Christmas story is Jesus?s fulfillment of Micah?s prophecy. But why is Bethlehem so important? Bethlehem?s significance has everything to do with the kingdom of God, and with the goal of that kingdom, the glory of God.

Luke begins his story of Jesus?s life not with Jesus but with the announcement and birth of another character, John the Baptist. Why was he so important? The answer has everything to do with an ancient story, a story left off by the Minor Prophets and picked up here by Luke.

?I have loved you??so begins God?s communication with his people in this final book of the Old Testament. It?s a fitting summary of the story of God?s dealings with Israel to that point. But Malachi is essentially a disputation between God and unbelieving Israel over whether and how he had loved them. If the prophets dramatize the character of God for us, this prophet illustrates what God?s love i...

Though cloaked in often mysterious prophetic imagery, Zechariah?s message offers a beautiful elaboration on the coming kingdom, of God?s promise to deliver his people from threats on the outside?their enemies?and on the inside?their sin. And in a couple key passages, Zechariah suggests this deliverance will be accomplished by an unprecedented divine ruler, a priest-king.

When the people of Israel first returned to Jerusalem after the exile, what they found was a far cry from what they had hoped for. Haggai confronted their disillusionment, recasting their expectations and calling for trust in the faithfulness of God. His message gives us insight into how Jesus fulfills the hope of the prophets, and what it looks like for us to live as if God?s promises are true.

this point, illustrates how God?s roles as Judge and Redeemer are both guided by a single goal: to vindicate his name as the one true Lord. He will reveal his true identity once and for all by exposing those who proudly believe they can do better elsewhere, and by perfectly meeting the needs of those humble enough to rest everything on him.

Habakkuk wonderfully frames a question that runs through the Bible and human experience: if God is good and powerful, why do evil and injustice flourish? God?s unexpected answer and Habakkuk?s prayerful response show us what realistic faith looks like.

Nahum is a book of shocking images. They are images that challenge our common notions of what God is like, that challenge our tendency to flatten the character of God. They are images that show us clearly that God is against all evil, that make us ask whether God is against us. And they are images meant to send us running to Jesus.

Like so many of the Minor Prophets, Micah focuses on coming judgment and promises a kingdom of peace and security on the other side of judgment. But Micah is unique in his focus on leadership. Israel?s unfaithful leaders led to the nation?s downfall. So who would lead them?and us?to peace?

Jonah is a powerful story celebrating the extent of God?s mercy that reaches even to the enemies of his people. But even more, it is an ironic and witty satire exposing the foolishness and hypocrisy of Jonah. The story contrasts, on one hand, Jonah?s experience of God?s mercy when he deserved to die for his disobedience; and, on the other hand, Jonah?s burning resentment when Ninevah receives the...

In the wake of their exile, and especially given their treatment at the hands of their enemy Edom, Israel had to wonder whether the promises of God would come to nothing. Obadiah prophesied against Edom, but his was a message Israel was meant to overhear. It?s a message meant to encourage them and all who have ever had cause to doubt whether God could deliver on his promises.

A contemporary of Hosea, Amos prophesied to dispel Israel?s mistaken assumption that sin and judgment were someone else?s problem. Amos is unique among the prophets for his emphasis on Israel?s exploitation of the weak and vulnerable. His words, full of beauty and laced with satire, help us understand why God takes injustice personally. And they help us understand why Jesus is the only hope for th...

Like so many of the Minor Prophets, Joel is a book of warning. He speaks especially of a coming ?Day of the Lord,? a decisive and terrible day when everyone opposed to God?s rule will be destroyed. That has never been a fashionable message, perhaps never less so than now. But what if Joel is right? How could we avoid our share in that judgment?

Hosea offers one of the Bible?s most vivid illustrations of the nature of sin: sin boils down to spiritual adultery, rejecting God?s love in favor of other options. But Hosea offers just as vivid an illustration of redemption in the face of judgment, what one author has called ?an anticipation in pageant form of Christ?s story.?

This series introduction answers three basic questions: What are the Minor Prophets? What can we learn from the Minor Prophets? And how can we make the most of this study?

The nature of the gospel ? Paul?s ?mystery of Christ? ? controls how we communicate this message to those who don?t follow Jesus. In other words, the message should control the medium.

. We should approach Jesus with the same desire.

In this text Paul drives the implications of the gospel even deeper into real life, into those relationships where our selfishness and idolatry are most likely to flourish. He calls us to gospel-centered relationships in marriage, in the family, and in the workplace.

If salvation comes only through trusting what Jesus has done for us, as Paul?s been arguing, why does it matter how we live? The answer shapes everything. Union with Jesus changes who we are in God?s eyes, offering all the security we need; so we live in response to God?s favor, not to earn it.

By nature, we?re all prone to moralism?to measure ourselves before God and others by our moral performance. This tendency is the enemy of the gospel. In this section of Colossians, Paul makes his case against moralism; he argues that it?s without substance, arbitrary and powerless. The implications for us are both convicting and encouraging: we don?t get to judge others, but we don?t have to fear...

Everyone has something at the center of life that explains how to be fulfilled in life and what values are worth pursuing. According to Paul, the choice is simple. You can build your life on Christ as the only sure source of purpose and hope. Or you can fall for something that seems plausible at first but ultimately won?t satisfy, what he labels ?empty deceit.? The reason Jesus satisfies where not...

Writing to a church he?d never visited in person, Paul uses this section of his letter to explain his philosophy of ministry. Not surprisingly, it begins and ends with the gospel, with what he calls ?God?s mystery.? If modeled on Paul?s, our philosophy of ministry as a church and as individuals will be gospel-centered in content, in methods, and in goals.

Why trust in Christ for redemption rather than some other source of hope? The burden of this question is the one Paul?s hymn to Christ is meant to carry. Knowing his readers were tempted to look elsewhere for security, or at the very least supplement what the cross offers, Paul explains why Christ?s identity as both God and man makes him the perfect mediator and only fit solution to our problem.

In letters like Colossians, Paul gives us a model for how to pray for ourselves and others. His prayer for the Colossians reflects a basic tension of the Christian life: through Christ we are redeemed already, transferred from darkness into light, but in our experience we are not yet what we will be. So Paul prays a prayer of gospel-centered thanksgiving, for what God has done already, and gospel-...

If God is loving and powerful, why is there evil and suffering in the world? It?s a timeless question that has kept many from faith and unsettled the confidence of many an ardent believer. It?s a question the story of Joseph addresses with remarkable complexity and nuance. On one hand, the story illustrates what we know from experience: suffering comes even to those who don?t deserve it. There?s a...