Florida Coast Church

One of the most familiar of Jesus’ parables is the Good Samaritan, found only in Luke 10:25-37 . Jesus told the parable in a conversation with an expert in the law about how to have eternal life. While the parable’s story line is simple and memorable, it includes twists that turn the whole conversation on its head. Jesus opened the way to eternal life, although it wasn’t quite the way that the exp...

Every once in a while there comes along an opportunity that is so fabulous that it is too good to pass up. However, such opportunities often require us to give up all our other options and put all our eggs in one basket. In Matthew 13:44-46 , Jesus told two very short parables about the kingdom of heaven. In each parable, a man seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, giving up everything for the...

It is easy to miss something right in front of us when we are looking for something else. Many people missed Jesus, because they were looking for a different kind of kingdom than the one Jesus came to establish. Specifically, they were expecting immediate judgment on sinners, but Jesus surprised everyone by associating with sinners and then dying for them. Following the Parable of the Sower are th...

In our summer sermon series on some of Jesus’ parables, we start with The Parable of the Sower (or Soils) in Mark 4:1-20 . This one is especially helpful, because it includes Jesus’ explanation of the purpose of parables. It also includes his interpretation of the parable but with some key elements missing. As it turns out, Jesus pointed to the secret that will unlock all the parables for us, but...

If you have ever asked what God wants you to do, the whole letter of James will help answer your question. The final section, James 5:13-20 , tells us what to do in four specific situations. In three of the four situations, the activity is the same: to pray. In the fourth, we have the opportunity to do for others what Christ has done for us: to rescue the wandering.

A depressingly common theme that runs through human history is the oppression of the poor by the rich. In the first century, Christians were often on the side of the poor and oppressed. Certainly the readers of James’ letter were in that category. In James 5:1-12 , we find warnings about the dangers of wealth and encouragement when we find ourselves unjustly treated. We can respond well, because s...

Since James is the likely the oldest writing of the New Testament, it appears from James 4:1-17 that church conflicts have been around almost as long as the Christian church has existed. Instead of treating fights as a normal part of church life, this text exposes their causes and provides the solution. Some of the words are blunt, but they are necessary to drive us to God’s grace, which is greate...

One of the most prominent themes in James is human speech. While James mentioned the importance of controlling our tongues in James 1:19 and 1:26 , he dedicated most of James 3 to the power of speech for good or for evil. He also pointed us to the help we need to harness our speech for good.

One of the most controversial sections of James is James 2:14-26 , because some verses sounds very different from what we find in Paul’s teaching. However, it contains a very straightforward message. James simply insisted that the faith that saves us is a faith that produces good works. In contrast, a faith that does nothing, does nothing!

Western society has recently become sensitive to discrimination based on race, nationality, sex, age, appearance, etc. However, discrimination is not new. In fact, James 2:1-13 focuses on the contradiction between having faith in Jesus and treating other people with partiality based on their status. It turns out that the antidote for such partiality is God’s mercy.

If someone hears a message but does not act upon it, sometimes we say that “it went in one ear and out the other.” In James 1:19-27 , God calls us not only to hear his word but to incorporate it into our lives. Only by doing the word can Christians demonstrate that we truly heard it and really believe it. (We thank Dr. Tim Sansbury of Knox Theological Seminary for this excellent sermon.)

In James 1:9-18 , the author continues to urge us to have a biblical perspective on the difficult and the good things in life, including poverty and riches, trials and temptations, and perfect gifts from God. Although we may not be able to change our circumstances, we can develop a Christian approach to them.

After a very brief greeting, James launched into his letter of practical instruction in James 1:1-8 by urging believers in Jesus to consider trials an opportunity to experience pure joy. Because this instruction is so contrary to our natural reaction to trials, we need help! James provides just the help we need by giving us a proper perspective on what God is doing for us in our trials. It turns o...

In Acts 17:24-34 we get to hear a sermon that Paul preached to philosophers in Athens. He presented to them biblical truths about God, humans, Jesus, and our response. The game-changing declaration that got Paul laughed off stage was the resurrection of Jesus. The news about the resurrection left others curious enough to want to hear more, some of whom ended up believing the gospel message. That g...

Before Jesus left this earth, he entrusted the gospel ministry to the apostles, but to whom did the apostles entrust it before they departed? The answer found in Acts 20:17-35 is that they entrusted ministry to the elders of the church. In fact, elders are not only God’s design for the church but also essential to its well-being.

The expression, “the body of Christ,” has become such a common name for the church that we may not reflect upon what it means for the life of the church. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 , we have the most complete explanation of the similarity between the human body and the church. Both the human body and the church are unities made up of many diverse members. Therefore, the church needs all of its memb...

In some of his last words, in Matthew 28:16-20 , Jesus gave a clear mission to his disciples: to make more disciples of all people groups until the end of the age. As it is easy for the church to get distracted from our mission by many other good activities, Jesus’ words refocus us and send us out. Today’s sermon reviews not only what our mission is but also ways we can accomplish it in our daily...

From the very first preaching of the gospel after Jesus’ ascension, the new believers were “added” to local churches. Once God added them to churches, the believers devoted themselves to simple practices that God used to add even more people both to himself and to the churches. These activities, found in Acts 2:36-47 , are marks of a solid church, so make sure that your church has them, and devote...

Although the word church appears only three times in all of the gospels, in Matthew 16:13-23 and Matthew 18:15-20 . However, the church figured large in the mission of the apostles, who they went out and made disciples by starting churches everywhere. By studying these three instances of the word church, we discover that Christ gave authority to his church to open the kingdom of God to those who r...

When we considered the Covenant of Law given through Moses, we detected a major problem that we have with God’s law: we cannot keep it. In light of this fact, in Jeremiah 31:31-34 , God announced a New Covenant that would transform our relationship to the law by providing what we all need – complete forgiveness for all our sins.

After Abraham’s family became a great nation, it also became a kingdom, and no one ever equalled the greatness of King David. Even so, in 2 Samuel 7:1-17 , God announced to David that he had even greater plans for his offspring. Those plans were so great that even today we are seeing only part of their realization. However, we often miss out on what God is doing, because we are looking for him to...

Because God had fulfilled one of his promises to Abraham by making his descendants a great nation, the next announcement of the Covenant of Grace contained laws that were necessary for the life of the nation of Israel. In God’s sealing of this covenant with Moses and the people in Exodus 24:1-11 , we discover that the law cannot put us in a right relationship with God, but it can guide us into the...

Even though you enjoy many good things in life, is there one big thing that is missing? Abram (later called Abraham) was rich, powerful, and famous, but he longed for one key element to complete his life. In Genesis 15 , God confirmed his promises to Abram by means of a covenant and a ceremony that apparently put God in a dangerous position but secured all that Abram and we need for our lives.

After the Covenant of Works/Life resulted in failure and death for humans, God dealt with them on the basis of his grace, or free favor toward sinners. The first mention of the Covenant of Grace appears in Genesis 6:17-18 and then receives fuller explanation in Genesis 9:8-17 . Every day we are still enjoying the benefits of this covenant that he announced to Noah long ago.

What can help us get a grasp on the whole Bible? There are several good answers to this question, but the idea of covenant is a handy way to understand the whole Bible. More importantly, it is the way for us to relate to God properly. In our new series on the covenants of the Bible, we first looked at Genesis 2:15-25 , where we learn about the first covenant between God and humanity: the Covenant...