Fellowship Bible Church, Tacoma - Weekly Sermon

How should parents pray for their kids? Far too often, Christian parents communicate an unspoken list of expectations for their children that isn't much different than a list you'd hear from a non-Christian (except maybe with some sin-management no-no's thrown in). In this exploration of Paul's prayer in the opening of Philippians, Bruce helps us see that the life we should point our kids to is so...

What's wrong with being bored? A lot, actually. Boredom can be a symptom of a disoriented heart. Many addictions begin with boredom. The end of many marriages begins with boredom. Lots of other struggles and sins are downstream of a persistent, pervasive posture of boredom. Here's the good news: we serve a God who not only saves us through Jesus, but through Jesus, by the Spirit, empowers us for m...

If you spend much time getting to know the teachings of Jesus, you will find there are times he asks you to do things you don't want to do. Like a fork in the road, you'll have to ask: will I listen to Jesus or not? Luke 8:16-21 is intended to prepare us to listen to Jesus and obey. We'll note four different questions we can ask ourselves to help us make the right decision at the fork in the road,...

What's going on with the "parable of the soils?" In this sermon, Bruce explains how Jesus prepares us for varied responses to the gospel - and resets our expectations for what Christian faithfulness and Christian fruitfulness might look like in an increasingly hostile culture.

What's the deal with Christians and doubt? In this passage, John the Baptist asks what may be the most surprising question in all of scripture. How will Jesus respond? Is doubt always a sin? Where can I find some hope if I'm a believer who wrestles with doubt? In this sermon, you'll hear hope from a fellow doubter and explore a pathway to building trust in the Person who won't let you down.

What does it mean to have "faith" in Jesus? In these two stories in Luke 7, Jesus crosses paths with a wealthy Roman military leader and a destitute Jewish widow...and changes both forever. We'll explore what "trust" looks like, the kind of people Jesus came to rescue, the hope of resurrection, reunion with those who have died in Christ, and - most importantly - the identity of Jesus as our strong...

In this section of Luke's gospel, Jesus concludes his "Sermon on the Plain" with two word pictures: the healthy tree vs. the rotten tree; the stable house vs. the ruined house. The unifying principle, in all of this? Our behavior flows from our hearts. We'll explore the implications of these principles for self-assessment, personal transformation, and most important, our relationship with Jesus. C...

In this "introduction" to his first major public sermon in Luke's gospel, Jesus begins with a shocker: blessed are the poor....woe to the rich. Jesus goes on to turn prevailing wisdom on its head and present an alternate vision of reality. What can we expect if we sign on to follow Jesus? How should we think about money? What are the dangers of wealth? What sort of hope is there for those who suff...

Have you been fearful to make a full commitment to follow Jesus? Maybe you've been a Christian "on paper" for some time now, but you know there's part of you you're holding back. What will happen if you take that step and fully "repent"? What IS repentance, anyway? In this section of Luke's gospel, we see a vivid picture of repentance in the story of Levi, and we also see that repentance is not a...

Last week in Luke, we saw the authority of Jesus over demons; here, we see the authority of Jesus over disease. Which raises the question: how should we respond to a Person with this kind of authority?

How should Christians think about demonic powers? Should we be afraid? Are they fairy tales? Is it ok for Christians to explore shamanism, or witchcraft, or Wicca? In this text, we see a direct encounter between Jesus and demonic powers...and Jesus wins. With this view of Christ's authority over evil, Christians can know how to think about demonic powers without fear or minimization, but sobriety...