First Pres Orlando Sermons

Dr. David Swanson | Wealth, plan and simple, is a gift of God.  It should never be pursued as an end in itself, which is where we go wrong.  how much is enough?  We are to pursue God, and anything that replaces God becomes an idol. Mark 10:29-30

Dr. David Swanson

Dr. David Swanson | Those who did not see Christ in resurrected form did not believe, and yet the overwhelming eyewitness testimony was that He HAD been raised.  The Bodily resurrection - and its proofs - give us courage and confidence in this culture.  God is not all mystery.  he can be touched - and was.  Death is now - and finally - defeated.  Our future is secure.  Bodily resurrection makes al...

Dr. David Swanson | Teaching on historical past moments - and what God is calling us to do in such seasons. 2 Chron 7:13-14

Dr. David Swanson | We move so fast that we often fail to enjoy the beauty and wonders of God - in his creation, in others, all around us. Psalm 27:4-6

Dr. David Swanson | God is a relational God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As those created in His image, we are also made to be in relationship.  IN fact, this was the model for the spread of the gospel.  It was passed down 'face to face" and we need to return to that model of relational community as we live missionally. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15

Dr. David Swanson | We are victims of our culture's frenetic pace, but God calls us to have a different view of time - it is not our time, but His and so we learn to function in patience for when and how God acts and speaks. Hebrews 4::1-11

Dr. David Swanson | In the Christian life, we have to accept that we are failures each day.  We fail, all of us, together and so part of corporate worship is "confession."  We own it, offer it and then learn to live together. James 5:13-16

Dr. David Swanson | We often want a Christianity where God shows up in the mighty and powerful, but it is much more about cultivating spiritual practices/discipline that foster growth - and by their repeated practice - like making the bed. Mark 1:35-37

Dr. David Swanson | As we think about living missionally, we also remember our value of Loving the City. It comes from this Jeremiah text that we are to seek her "peace." This is so abjectly different that the norm of life. There is so much conflict and hatred.  How is God calling us to be peacemakers? Romans 12:17-18

Dr. Case Thorp | As we think about living missionally, we also remember our value of Loving the City.  It comes from this Jeremiah text that we are to seek her "peace."  This is so abjectly different that the norm of life.  There is so much conflict and hatred.  How is God calling us to be peacemakers? | Luke 10: 38-42

Dr. David Swanson | One of the big debates in theology was the spiritual/physical one - did the physical world matter or not? Thanks to the incarnation, God made a rather definitive statement that our physical world - and our physical bodies matter. How we use them and what we do with them become part of how we are living missionally. 

Dr. Jack Peebles | We continue our series on living missionally in the ORDINARY rhythms of life. This week, we explore the simple practice of eating. From what we choose to eat to how do we chose to eat it and with whom, eating impacts us in a variety of ways. Food can either serve to the detriment or improvement of our physical health. It also impacts our spiritual health. Food should be received...

Dr. David Swanson | The Son of God, having done nothing of any consequence, begins his ministry with a simple "note" from the Father: I love you. This is how we center into each day - - and how we enter community. We begin at our baptism. It is the reminder that we have done nothing to deserve the life we have, and yet God offers it freely. So we begin - refreshed and alive. Matthew 3: 1...

Dr. David Swanson | As we begin this series on living missionally in the "ordinariness of life", we must first encounter the ordinariness of the gospel. In Mark 6, people were offended by how ordinary the Son of God was.....and it still offend today. We are ordinary people who worship a God who came to live in the ordinariness of daily life on earth - and as such, we must learn to as wel...

Richard J. Mouw | This is obviously a great missionary text, but I will focus on the risen Christ's claim that he possesses all authority in heaven and on earth. I will discuss how this applies to how we view the various ways in which authority is exercised in our world. One of the applications I will make is to emphasize church office-bearers lead as persons who are themselves led by Christ....

Rev. Tanner Fox | At the beginning of a new year we ought to feel geared up, rested and ready to go… If I had to guess, and I did, I would say we feel more hurried, busy and tired than we do rested. Today we will look at two ancient promises to provide us with a basic need. If the mantra of the culture is “Hurry be busy there is so much to do,” the Christian can respond, “Jesus, my heart is restle...

Dr. David Swanson | When we step back from the events of Christmas as John does, we begin to see what the entirety of the message looks like.  This should give us confidence as we go out to light our world.  1 John 1:1-4

Dr. David Swanson | Simeon has some great words to share with Mary and Joseph, but also some very harsh words. The harsh ones have not had hymns made about them - and tend to be less well known. The nature of Jesus' coming means there will be conflicts - external and internal - and some may well pierce us. Luke 2:25-35

Dr. Jack Peebles | The story of Mary is one that is both inspiring and instructive. Mary, knowing that she faced potential ridicule in the short-term, chose simple obedience and participation in God's four-chapter Gospel of CREATION-FALL-REDEMPTION-RESTORATION. Although we don't quite have the responsibility of Mary as the mother of the Savior, God still invites us into this narrative, a...

Dr. David Swanson | Matthew is the only gospel writer who includes this violent, harrowing account of Jesus flight from Herod. He was in a position of weakness, not power, and that continues to be the nature of how he comes in the world.  He comes to the broken.  But the broken are the very ones He uses to change the world. Matthew 2:1-8

Dr. David Swanson | We often skip over the genealogy in Matthew, but it is full of hidden treasure:  Christmas is not a fairy tale, but human history, that informs how we see God, how we see ourselves and how we learn to rest in the Savior King. Matthew 1:1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 17

Dr. David Swanson | We come to the season of Thanksgiving, and our response to our abundance should always be our generosity.  Proverbs tell us how.  We give "freely" which means "to scatter."  When we give, we throw it out in abundance and without measurement, and we don't hold on to it.  We let it go.  when we do, we get a return, but it is different that what we sowed. ...

Dr. David Swanson | The missional church is one that is a true reflection of the nature and character of God, therefore, the last quality must be one of diversity.  As we move into the world to form relationships, we do that with a grasp of the nature of God's Kingdom from every tongue, tribe, people and nation. Rev 7:9-10

Dr. Jack Peebles | The missional church centers its life on worship. We often think of “worship” as something done for an hour (or a few minutes more!) on Sunday mornings. While corporate worship is foundational to our lives as Christians, the worship of God is carried forth into our rhythms of life. Worship on Sunday mornings entails a twofold experience with God: It affords us the opportunity to...