First Pres Orlando Sermons

Jesus reminds the disciples of two things that await them: hatred and help. It will not be an easy life to be His disciple, but the Spirit of God will help us remain faithful.

Before Jesus serves the Passover meal, he washes their feet and then asks, "Do you understand what I have done to you?" Unfortunately, most of us would say "No." We need to understand what a God of humility means for us as we begin Lent.

Isaiah paints a beautiful early picture (Ch 11) of the one who would come to rule in unity and righteousness, but that gives way to the means of how that is accomplished: the king must be brought low. The Deliverer must suffer. 

Set against the failures of Israel once more, Ezekiel brings God's vision of a coming Shepherd who will feed, rescue and tend them with justice in all things.

Judges shows us a Lord of the Flies experience in which the people of God have no king. In the absence of such, they wonder. They do what they want and it is failure and anarchy. This is not a pro-monarchy sort of text, but a pro-kingship model that leads people to live under the rule of God.

Our skepticism leads us to roll our eyes at the thought of looking back into old scriptures and finding whatever we "types and shadows" of Jesus that we want. There are four additional ways to see Christ in the Old Testament beyond types and shadows; Jesus is also seen in Old Testament promises, prophecies, places, and in things. Yet, if the New Testament writers speak to Jesus' fin...

Every good story must have a solid beginning, something that hooks you, and gives you a taste of what is to come. The story of God's plan to redeem the world through Christ begins at the beginning: Genesis. We are introduced to the chaos, to the seed, and to the kingship and rule that is to come.

Given the sin of our lives, it is sometimes hard to "approach the throne of God with confidence," but that is what our baptism ensures – a welcome – a desire – for God to receive us and to forgive us even as we move out into the world to be His people.

On this day when we ordain and install the new officers at FPCO, it is important to look at the manner of Jesus' leadership, a prayerful, servant model.

God's design and desire is for his creatures to have a full experience of belonging. He delights in them belonging to him, to each other, and to the world around them. While this plan is fractured in the fall, God is no less committed to it as he weave redemption through the Biblical narrative calling his people back home!

We look at another song, Silent Night, and the hope that in the darkness of that night - and the darkness of our world, the light did dawn. 

Simeon's is a song of praise for having SEEN Jesus. Do we see Him, in ways large and small, or do we remain blind to the work of God all around us? His song reveals a life of joy and hardship.

Zechariah sings of God's faithfulness, our response, God's tenderness, and our purpose.

Initially greatly troubled by the pronouncement from Gabriel and what the announcement might mean for her personally, Mary is overcome with joy, and offers a song that illustrates a deeper understanding of God’s larger story of Redemption and Restoration, and the part she plays in that story!

She sings of joy amidst the blessing of God's favor on Mary. Though we wait, we trust in God's faithfulness.

God has so much to say to us about our material/financial world, but I am not sure we take Him at His word. He tells us the best way to be in relationship with money, but we don't seem to be listening.

In the wake of the Cup of Rice year and God's outpouring of generosity, our call is to remain humble in the knowledge that ALL of it belongs to HIM.

The work of gospel sharing is embedded in our faith, even back to the age of our covenant ancestors in the Old Testament. Evangelism doesn't just begin with the work of Christ and the Church, but is the very heart of our God. 

As we celebrate the World Reformed Fellowship's conference in Orlando and Reformation Sunday, we look at the essence of the Church's message, how it can be watered down, and our need to continue in faithful gospel sharing!

Gospel sharing is never simple, but we can start by thinking about personal conversations that move from external to internal (pain points) to eternal (here is the better gospel story.) Practically, what does that look like?. Wagner lesson on Evangelism -desk

In our gospel sharing series we are talking about the better story. I don’t know that there is a better story or metaphor for our hearts than the story of the prodigal son. The story of these sons and their father reaches beyond the good news that we are saved from the debt of sin and reveals the warmth of the Father’s intimate love. The younger son is saved from the foreign land of isolation and...

When we start to think about how we tell the gospel story, Jesus gives us a good strategy in the story of Zaccheus. (Chatraw Ch 8 - a better happiness) - he invites him to a meal during which Z realizes Jesus is a better happiness – not in wealth and material things, but in people and generosity and service, leading to transformation of heart – and action.

The car commercial says "I have chosen to be unapologetically me." That was the woman at the well. (Chatraw Ch 7) She was living her life just the way she wanted - unconstrained - but Jesus offers her a better way - a picture of self in which she is satisfied by the love of God. And she walks away from it - having been revealed - in a positive way, saying "Come meet this guy."

Paul introduces us to a new way of gospel sharing, one that moves from "let me convince you" to building on common ground (they were religious) and showing them that the gospel is a better story – but done in such a way that leaves them wanting more. Could we do that?

Angels have always been part of our curiosity but they are more than that - they point to our interest in what lies beyond the physical world. We want to believe in worlds beyond, but our minds and hearts seem unable to apprehend that world. Angels, and other texts, remind us to pray about and take hope in the reality of the spiritual world. (Psalm 91:9-13)