Fairfield Church of Christ Sermons

Before you can even begin to see past your weariness, you must first be ready to embrace the strength that only God can give.  Isaiah is going to give a nation a few verses for strength in fatigue and the place of strengthlessness.  The worries of life can be burdensome when you rely on your own strength. So how do you persevere through tough times without breaking down?  The key is to rely on God...

As we come to the end of this series, everything comes back around to the key verse to this series – Genesis 50:19.  You see, God cared about Joseph all along and could have stopped the evil from happening to him.  Why did God let happen? Joesph has the answer:  “You intended harm to me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. “ God always sees...

In this episode of Joseph’s life, we witness the emotional and dramatic reunion of his family after 20 long years of separation. It’s a messy, complicated moment filled with plenty of drama and intrigue. As outsiders looking in, it may be challenging to grasp the key takeaway from this part of the story. However, it's important to remember that the Bible doesn’t focus on perfect people, but rather...

It came to pass” means “Time is passing by”.  For Joseph it meant older, weaker, abandoned, and rejected.  God’s appointed time is on His timetable.  God had an appointed time for Joseph.  God has an appointed time for you.  God had an appointed time for him to remember his assignment.  Every God assignment has a God appointed time.  God has an appointed time for the puzzle pieces to come together...

I love the words of Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, “Now, with God’s help, I will become myself.”  Joseph, the man in the center of today’s scripture, is forged into the person God wants him to be while a slave, while being tempted, while in prison.  In or out of prison, God’s will is for you to be a man or woman of high character. That is who Joseph is becoming… “Now, with God’s help, I wil...

Ever look around and see that you’re in the pits and it’s because of the hurts of others?  We’re going to be in Genesis 37 as we continue looking at the life and times of Joseph, understanding that God’s detour in our lives are good detours.  That is such an incredibly difficult principle for us to learn sometimes.  So many times, especially in our lesson today, we’ll see that God’s detours can be...

Genesis 35, 37:1-11 (Brian) - Dreams were highly respected in Bible days as a source of divine revelation.  God had given this gift to Joseph.  Joseph is the character we will study, and I pray we will see how God’s plan continues to move forward.  God allows this gift to used so His purpose continues to move ahead. In this part of the story, Joseph will have 2 dreams which do not require much ima...

You can GET BETTER:  God ‘s Answer to Hopelessness – Matt. 14:22-33; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; Ps. 78:5-7; (Brian) – Life can feel like a storm sometimes.  Peter gets himself into several storms.  But he always discovers that things get better when you put your Hope in the One who dishes out Hope regularly.  The general rule to feeling hopeless is to pray the Word of God, to pray the truth about God, and...

You can DO MORE THAN YOU THINK:  God’s Answer to Despair – Phil.4:13; Psalm 77; Psalm 40:1-3; Rom. 15:4; Col. 1:11– (Brian) When you review the great names and personalities of Scripture, you become quickly aware that almost all of them knew, at one time or another, great discouragement, and deep despair. Job is singled as a man of God, blameless and upright, whose staggering losses and long and p...

You can MOVE MOUNTAINS:  God’s Answer to Impossibility –  Matt. 17; Mark 11:20-25 (Brian) – We all have mountains of difficulty in our lives.  They come to us and seemingly, have little personal strength to meet them. Sometimes those “mountains” are broken relationships or habits of sin. Your “mountain” may involve believing God regarding a health issue or a loved one who is far from the Lord. Or...

You can LEARN TO FORGIVE:  God’s Answer to Resentment – Matt. 18:15-35; Eph. 4:29-32 -  (Brian) - C. S. Lewis made this telling remark: “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.”  Then it becomes difficult. One day Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive someone who sins against us (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus told him, “Seventy times seven.” Do the...

You HAVE A GREAT FUTURE:  God’s Answer to Failure –John 8:1-1;  Rom. 3:23; Jer. 29:11;  (Brian) - God will not always do what we expect him to do, but He will always do what He says He will do.  God is always interested in what’s next for you.  That’s the miracle of the gospel.  Jesus Christ can give away a future from any failure we can fall into. He can take a life that is down and raise it up....

You have A WAY OUT: God’s Answer to Temptation – (Brian) Eph. 2:1-3;  1 Cor. 10:12-13; Matt. 11:28 - We struggle because temptation tends to come when we least expect it. If we could schedule our enticements, we’d do much better. “I’ve decided to fight against lust next Saturday at 4 PM,” we would say. Unfortunately, those wrong desires often show up unannounced at 9:30 Wednesday morning when our...

You are NEVER ALONE:  God’s Answer to Fear- Joshua 1:1-9; Heb. 4:14-16 (Brian) So many people in the world feel lonely or they feel alone. You can be in a large crowd of people and still feel alone. And a lot of people feel that no one understands them. Do you ever feel like that? Nobody really gets me. You know, first of all, we rarely understand ourselves so I don't know why we can expect anybod...

You are FORGIVEN:  God’s Answer to Guilt – Ps. 51; Heb. 9:11-14;  Is. 43:25 (Brian) -Guilt is a powerful emotion.  It can leave people feeling depressed, as beamed, and rejected.  They may feel isolated and unworthy of love.  Many desperately try to prove they are good enough.  Feelings stemming from false guilt can cause people to fell burdened by impossible standards.  The emotion can keep them...

Ephesians 6:10-24 What do you think would happen if you were an athlete and you knew that you had already won the game before you even started?  How do you think that would affect your performance?  Would you go through the motions?  Would you try even harder?   It’s kind of a catch 22, because you would have to play well to win and yet you knew that you already won, but still had to do what was n...

We understand light… it is a normal  element.   It affects … everything; it defines day and night; it provides photosynthesis to plants to make them grow; and it gives us a tan in the summer.  There’s a saying I grew up with: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians! They praise God with their lips, but walk out the door and do not let on by their lifestyle. That is w...

What is Christ’s gift to you? Well, it’s the spoils of His victory over sin and death. We know that he has all authority in heaven and on earth, he has inherited all of creation.  So, the measure of his gift is unlimited.  There’s the idea again of Jesus, by the nature of his victory, taking his own people captive as King and Lord, but also giving us gifts. They are all His and He can give them as...

Most of us don’t feel like fighters. Many of us in these days are just wondering what we ought to do or how to stay put. And so sometimes we need a little fighting spirit. You may feel particularly weak.  Ephesians 6:10 says, “Be Strong in the Lord!”  It’s the same power by which He caused Jesus Christ to be raised from the dead. That’s the power of His mighty strength. You and I are not told to m...

Ephesians 1:1-5; 6:1-4 You need to know today that if you follow after Jesus, that you are Fathered.  If you are truly a child of God, then you will look like your Father. How do you do that?  You must spend time with Him.   You need to be in His word.   You need to do what He tells you to do.   You cannot rebel against Him.  You need to act like joint heirs, not trust fund kids.   You bear the na...

Ephesians 2:11-22 Does anybody here have an enemy?  Someone with whom you are at odds? Or you just don’t like? We live in a deeply divided world.  People hate each other based on religion, race, nationality, economics, status, and even sports teams.  I’m betting that some of you have enemies; you have people with whom you need to be reconciled. The good news from Ephesians is that in Christ, God h...

Death never seems so real until you face it for the first time. Maybe that was the time you ran out in front of a fast-moving car.  Or the time you went rock climbing and slipped. Today we find that Christ awakens you by giving you life. He has given you his Spirit to live inside of you, to guide you, to strengthen you. The deal is you are not your own anymore.  Life is not about you.  The Spirit...

In Christ you are blessed to the glory of God, not so that he can glorify us.  You should reflect and recount the ways God has blessed you, and then use that recollection of blessings to encourage you in times when it’s tough or finding struggles. And this is what you can share with others that will in turn glorify God even more.  The blessings you have in Christ help in the make up of your spirit...

What does the Bible teach about worship?  True worship is importance, because the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.  It refers to worth ship, God is worthy to be praised. It stems from a heart that overflows with gratitude.  Our worship is reinforced with godly living. True worship is seen in the fragrance of worship prepared in the Old Testament. Your worship go...

Jacob Hoover - FCC Student Minister One last foundation, that is also one of our core missions to to have compassion for people.  Jesus was about having compassion for people.  Christ-like compassion moves you to meet the needs of others.  This comes from having the right understanding of compassion.  It is not merely a sentimental feeing or emotion.  Perhaps you take pity on someone in trouble, b...