First Pres Colorado Springs Sermons

Before the coming of Jesus, if you said, “God saves us by the blood,” you would think of Moses and the Passover dinner in Egypt when God freed the slaves. In this hall of faith is also a lot of mistakes being made, sins. God provided a sacrifice for sin in the Passover lamb at Exodus. We can see now that this was not only a defining event for the people of God, but an introduction of a theme in th...

God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah is a covenant. God does not only share His intentions to save the world but acts on them. A promise from God is as sure as done. God’s ability to declare and sustain covenants is a particular way God reveals Himself and His mission to us so we can understand it and participate in it. Our faith is trusting the promises God has made. Look again at the Abrahamic Cov...

The mission of God is clear from the beginning. God was not satisfied to have His creation fall into disobedience, self-destruction and decay. God sent His Son. “Mission” means being sent. Who sends God? Only God can send God. God sent Himself into the world to seek and to save the lost. God did not abandon the disobedient world, but revealed Himself as still in relationship, still involved, still...

God is not done writing the story. Hang in there. God is at work in good and ill. We like to think that God is enlisted in our story. We have a great plan, God, so please get on board! Christopher Wright wrote, “It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was ma...

Those who name Jesus are sent on mission. As we kick off the new year, let us look at 2025 as an opportunity to spread the name of Jesus around the world. The shepherds hurried off to see the child that was announced as a gift to the whole world. Mary could see that the nations were already longing to see her child. These same shepherds turned about and went to tell everyone they could find about...

A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” What you think about God changes you. What you name Jesus changes your name. God promised, all the way back in Isaiah, that if we name Jesus aright we will ourselves be renamed. You have a new identity now if you are in Christ. The old is gone; the new has come. (2 Cor 5:17) The person who n...

Joseph and Mary had to make a choice. They were ordered to name this child Jesus, but in the end it was up to them. They brought their baby boy to the Temple to be presented on the eighth day. It was more than a circumcision, the b’rit milah was a naming ceremony as well. The infant is presented to the community of faith. What shall we call him? They named him Jesus. Simeon the priest said, “I hav...

I once watched news footage of a black Friday shopping riot. On the wall behind the melee was a Christmas wall hanging saying “Peace.” We don’t just want peace as a wall decoration. Jesus brings true peace. The reign and rule of Jesus brings peace. Prince of Peace will be King of Kings and his Kingdom will be filled with peace. To name Jesus Prince of Peace is to trust in the hope of his promises....

I thought Jesus was the Son and God was the Father. Everything that is the Father’s is the Son’s. Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Spirit, foretells the coming messiah to be the Everlasting Father, the eternal God. Jesus is our Father. He is the progenitor of our salvation. Whatever your experience of your earthly father, know that Jesus is your Everlasting Father. Jesus said, “I will not leav...

The infant is named Jesus. It means God saves. But only God can save. To name Jesus Mighty God is to recognize that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, who is Himself God Almighty, worthy of praise. This is the mystery of the incarnation. God himself has come down. God himself is the shepherd who comes to gather the sheep. God himself, the Creator, enters his creation to save and redeem. If you wan...

The first title Isaiah gives the coming Savior is Wonderful Counselor. A good counselor is able to see things about you that you yourself cannot see. A good counselor can listen and empathize when you think no one would ever understand. A good counselor offers hope and healing where you think you are stuck. Jesus is more than a good counselor; Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. To name Jesus Wonder...

Jesus made a stunning claim. He said very clearly that the entire canon of Scripture is there to do one thing and one thing only—to point us to him! Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate. “The Word took up flesh and dwelled among us.” Jesus Christ should be read off every single page of Scripture. Every page speaks of Jesus (T Keller, Preaching, Ch 3). Without the Word we sat in silence. Witho...

Is the Word of God a regular part of your life? What are good ways to keep God’s holy Word pouring into your mind and heart? We receive all kinds of messages every day, many of them designed to inflame our desires, increase our devotion, or aggravate our needs, all in the name of getting us to buy new products or maintain our brand loyalty. Some messages are designed to erode our trust in God dire...

Let’s get very pragmatic and down to the brass tacks! We believe this book, the Bible, is a canon of inspired literature which comes to our hands by the direct work of the Holy Spirit who inspired the original writing, protected and conveyed the texts to the church down through the ages, and opens our minds and hearts to understanding and hearing the Word of God as from God’s very voice into our l...

Overcoming apathy. Jesus comes to meet us in our chambers. He stands at the door and knocks. Do we have enough energy to get up and let him in? Or are we, like the church of Laodicea, lukewarm, neither hot nor cold? Apathy is numbing. Jesus is enlivening. It is like moving from black and white to color when Jesus enters your life. Open the door to Jesus Christ today. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Disengagement apathy. I just don’t want to get involved. We are tempted to stay disengaged even when a problem presents itself to us. “God bless you,” we say, and then we go our way. No. It’s time to step up and put skin in the game. Faith that saves is faith that works. Don’t give in to the temptation to say “Whatever. Someone else will do it.” I want to give you another “whatever.” Whatever your...

Exhaustion apathy. I would care, but I’m just so exhausted! This even happened to Elijah after his battle with the priests of Baal. Sometimes we are just too tired to care. But when we give in to the lethargy, it takes over. The angel visited Elijah telling him to rest, get some sleep, then get up and eat a little food. Keep moving. You don’t have to do everything right now. One next step. One hea...

Motivation apathy. Moses did all he could to make his people happy, but it only seemed to make things worse. When you don’t feel like anything you do will make a difference, it is very hard to get out of bed in the morning. Moses opened up to God with lament – complaining with a purpose. God responded with help. What helps you when you lose track of your purpose? Speaker: John Goodale

Compassionless apathy. We return to Jonah this week. Remember the series this May? There are few better pictures of compassionless apathy. It is hard to keep an open heart to the suffering of our common man. Your news feed flows by: NFL quarterback to divorce; cat falls in well; 3,000 die in flooding in Libya; new drug promises relief from acne. A million things demand your attention and eventuall...

The commonality of apathy. Does the Bible understand how I feel? Time and again we find that God does know and understand how we feel, and we most often find that in the Psalms. Why do I feel like this? Why should I care? The soul longs for deeper meaning and purpose. Your soul remembers a time when it was moved and full of life. Apathy and lethargy are common experiences brought on by many factor...

The appeal of apathy. Actually, there is something that makes us want to be more apathetic these days. It is a pseudo-wisdom that claims to be sophisticatedly disassociated and disengaged from the meaninglessness of life. It claims to be brave, intellectually honest, and unflinching, but it is actually nothing more than cynicism and sarcasm of the most childish sort. Solomon went deep into it in h...

The danger of apathy. What a comical picture! This sluggard is so full of lethargy he reaches into the chip bowl and falls asleep with his hand still outstretched, with not enough energy to even retrieve his hand. He rolls around on his bed like a squeaky hinge on a door, moving without getting anywhere. How do we get so stuck? Some say we are in the “meh” generation, a generation unable to find a...

From start to finish, the work of salvation belongs to the Lord. Our work is to cultivate a listening heart that is responsive to the voice and call of Jesus. Lydia’s story reminds us of how God works in the life of a listener. Speaker: Jennifer Holz

God cares about the heart not the face, the inner life not the resume. Jesus calls us to do good things in the secret places where no one sees. It is easy to give to the poor in order to gain a reputation or be rewarded by accolades. It is harder to do it in secret where only you and the Lord know. It is easy to show off our religiosity as a show of virtue, but harder to pray in private. As the sa...

One of the greatest roadblocks for non-Christians approaching Christ is the challenge of a higher sexual ethic. “Isn’t it horrible and backwards that Christians refuse to accept the simple truth that love is love?” Jesus calls us to a higher ethic of sexuality and human relationships. Believers have always stood out on this point. Could this roadblock be turned into a signpost to a better way? The...