Epikos Church Sermons

In this week's message, Pastor Mark Deering explains how Satan attempts to imitate God by creating false versions of divine authority, worship, and power, positioning himself as a deceptive alternative to Christ. The message warns against the subtle seduction of "Babylon" in modern life, particularly how Christians in religiously free societies may be lulled into complacency and drawn toward world...

In this sermon, Pastor Mark Deering teaches on Revelation chapter 12, using a sports analogy to present it as a "scouting report" on Satan (identified as the dragon in the text). Pastor Mark analyzes the chapter through three sections that depict the woman representing God's people, the war in heaven resulting in Satan's expulsion to earth, and Satan's continued attacks on believers. He makes thre...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark Deering focuses on understanding the judgment passages in the book of Revelation, specifically the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls that represent God's confrontation with evil. Pastor Mark explains that these judgments shouldn't be viewed as chronological events but rather as different perspectives on the same period of time, like watching a footbal...

Pastor Jacob Michalski's sermon on chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation focuses on two main themes: "Behold the Almighty God" and "Behold the Victorious Lamb." John witnesses the throne room of heaven where God Almighty sits in majesty, surrounded by 24 elders and four living creatures who worship Him continuously, establishing that God is the center of all worship. When a sealed scroll appears that no...

This week's sermon introduces a new series on the book of Revelation with Pastor Jacob Michalski addressing the congregation's mixed feelings about this challenging biblical book. Using the metaphor of hiking guideposts, he presents four principles for studying Revelation: interpretations must be understandable to first-century readers, the book has many valid interpretations requiring humility, i...

This sermon concludes an 18-week series on Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, focusing on three illustrations from Matthew 7 that emphasize the importance of choice in following Christ. Pastor Anthony Caples explains that Jesus presents believers with clear choices: the narrow gate versus the wide gate (with Jesus being the narrow gate leading to life), discerning between good and bad spiritual fruit to...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark Deering summarizes Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, identifying its central message as "living the kingdom life now" rather than waiting for eternity. He outlines three key elements of kingdom living: better values (emphasizing humility and vulnerability over worldly power), better relationships (focusing on the heart behind God's commands rather than legalistic rul...

In this week's sermon, Pastor Mark Deering focuses on Jesus's teaching about prayer in the "ask, seek, and knock" passage, emphasizing that God invites believers to come to Him continually with their requests without fear of being annoying. Pastor Mark explains that during difficult seasons when God seems unresponsive to our prayers, we must remember to rest in God's goodness rather than judging H...

In this week’s message, Pastor Mark Deering focuses on Jesus's teaching "Judge not, that you be not judged" explaining that while we shouldn't judge others, we should maintain a discerning spirit. Pastor Mark defines judgment as forming fixed opinions about others, assuming their motives, and viewing them through a lens of self-righteousness. Jesus calls believers to help one another grow spiritua...

In this week's sermon, Pastor Tommy Hutchison preaches on Jesus's command, "Do not be anxious about your life" clarifying that Jesus is specifically addressing anxiety that stems from chasing after material possessions rather than all forms of anxiety. He explained that when we serve "mammon" (money and possessions) instead of God, we inevitably experience more worry and anxiety because accumulati...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark Deering explores Jesus's teaching about treasures in heaven versus treasures on earth, explaining that where we place our treasures reveals where our hearts truly are. He unpacks Jesus's metaphor about the "bad eye" as referring to stinginess and lack of generosity, contrasting it with having a "good eye" that generously shares what God has provided. Pastor Mark...

In this week's sermon, Pastor Jacob Michalski explores the spiritual practice of voluntarily abstaining from food as a means of deepening one's relationship with God. Drawing from biblical context, he explains that fasting is not about performance or manipulating God, but rather about creating intentional moments of presence and communion with the divine. He highlights three key reasons for fastin...

This week's message by Pastor Jacob Michalski focuses on prayer through three key questions: should I pray, why am I praying, and how should I pray. Pastor Jacob emphasizes that Jesus expects followers to pray genuinely seeking God's presence rather than human approval, breaking down the Lord's Prayer line by line to show how it connects to other teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. From personal...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark explains Jesus's teachings about generosity and reward, particularly how Christians should practice righteousness not for public recognition but for God's approval. The message traces generosity throughout scripture, from God's creation to Old Testament tithing practices to Jesus's teachings, emphasizing that generosity should flow from the heart in all areas of...

This Easter Sunday message focuses on the concept of being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Pastor Mark explains that this resurrection power gives believers three key benefits: a radical new identity as children of God that transcends worldly identities; a restored purpose to share Jesus; and a resilient transformation that allows Christians to...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark encourages us to explore who our enemies might be—spiritual, relational/social, or political—and challenges listeners to identify those they might consider enemies in their lives. A story shared by a member of Epikos demonstrates the transformative power of following Jesus's command to love enemies. Pastor Mark provides practical guidance on loving enemies: firs...

In this week's message, Pastor Tommy addresses how Christians should respond when wronged by others. He explains that while Old Testament "eye for an eye" laws were meant to limit retaliation, Jesus takes this further by redefining retaliation completely. Instead of responding to wrongs with equal harm, Jesus calls his followers to practice "upside down retaliation" - responding to wrongs by givin...

In this week's message, Pastor Tommy speaks on Jesus's teachings about oaths. He explains that in Jesus's time, people were exploiting loopholes by swearing oaths on things "God-adjacent" rather than directly on God's name to avoid keeping their promises. Jesus responds by instructing his followers to "let your yes be yes and your no be no," advocating for radical trustworthiness instead of oath-t...

In this week’s message, Pastor Mark explores the biblical perspective on marriage and divorce, emphasizing that while God's design for marriage was originally perfect, human brokenness has distorted it. It traces how divorce was addressed in the Old Testament and how interpretations of these laws evolved, sometimes to justify unjust divorces. Jesus confronted this distortion in his teachings, call...

In this week's message, Pastor Mark focuses on Jesus's teachings about adultery, lust, and sexuality in Matthew 5. Pastor Mark uses the metaphor of a basket filled with items we need to keep, throw away, or add to represent our understanding of these topics. He establishes that God created a "kingdom sexual ethic" where sex is designed for marriage as a reflection of our relationship with God, emp...

In this week's message, Pastor Jacob continues the "Upside Down Kingdom" series, focusing on Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5 about anger. He explains that Jesus expands the commandment "do not murder" beyond physical violence to include anger, insults, and name-calling, treating these as seriously as murder itself. Jesus teaches that the commandment is more than a rule to follow; it's a guiding prin...

Pastor Tommy explores Matthew 5:17-20 in this week's message, explaining Jesus's statement that he came to fulfill, not abolish, the law and prophets. He emphasizes that "the law and prophets" refers to God's rescue plan for humanity through Israel, which Jesus claims to be fulfilling. Pastor Tommy explains that when Jesus says our "righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees," he'...

In this sermon, Pastor Mark Deering continues the "Upside Down Kingdom" series, exploring Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. He examines Matthew 5:13–16, where Jesus tells his followers they are "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." Pastor Mark explains three key insights: to be effective salt, believers must be authentic and avoid hypocrisy; to be light in the world, we must work togeth...

In this week's sermon, Pastor Jacob Michalski focuses on The Beatitudes and what it means to "live the good life." He explains that the word "blessed" in the Beatitudes equates to "happy" or having "the good life," and then contrasts Jesus's unexpected view of who has the good life with common perspectives. While people typically think of the good life in terms of comfort, security, and material s...