Florida Coast Church

Who would have thought that a book called Numbers would contain interesting stories that are applicable to our lives today?  Actually, the Jews call the book In the Desert , which is not only a more engaging title but also more descriptive of the history the book records about the wanderings of the people of God in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land.  The New Testament refers several t...

While Leviticus makes for difficult reading for people today, it contains a simple message that everyone needs to learn: God is holy, so we may approach him only in the manner he determines. In the context of Leviticus, God determined that his people approach him through a holy priest offering a perfect sacrifice.  However, the fact that the people had to offer many sacrifices through many priests...

We left off the story at the end of Genesis with Joseph’s coffin in Egypt and his words about God visiting his people in the future to bring them up from Egypt.  In Exodus , we pick up the story some generations later when the Hebrews found themselves enslaved and calling out to God for rescue.  He heard them and did indeed rescue them through the agency of a man named Moses.  However, things did...

In our new series, “Building Blocks for Life,” we began at the beginning, with Genesis , the book of beginnings.  This first book of the Bible records the beginnings of the universe, humanity, marriage, the family, the 7-day week, work, rest, sin, and redemption.  It also introduces the patriarchs whose lives shaped ancient biblical history.  In its story form, Genesis answers the big questions of...

For Easter Sunday, we reviewed Acts 2:22-36 , part of the first Christian sermon ever preached, in order to discover what are the essential points of the Christian message.  We found that it is the announcement of events that happened, not instruction about commandments to keep.  In other words, it is good news, not good advice.

In Matthew 21:1-10 , we read about what is traditionally called the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which set the stage for the events that rapidly developed over the final week of Jesus’ life on earth, because this event holds a key to understanding the events that unfolded after it.  In fact, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was the event that set the other ones in motion.

From Colossians 1:24-2:7 , Dr. Jim Garretson explained the nature of the gospel ministry, applying lessons from Paul’s ministry to our situation at Florida Coast Church, reminding us to give thanks for faithful pastors, and calling us all to remain true to God’s purpose for the church in taking the gospel to others and building each other up in our faith.

We concluded our series with I Peter 5:1-14 , in which Peter described the three ways in which God cares for his people: through the elders of the church, through the other members of the church, and directly.  The letter also ends where is began, with concepts that sum up the Christian faith and life: grace, love, peace.

In  I Peter 4:1-19 , Peter continued the call for us to follow Christ by living exemplary lives according to God’s will.  Above all, we are to love each other earnestly, knowing that love functions in the church to cover a multitude of sins.

Although the original readers of Peter’s letter were experiencing relatively mild opposition from their neighbors, in I Peter 3:8-22 , he wanted to prepare them for worse persecution to come and the unfair suffering they would have to endure.  As in all the letter, God calls on us both to preach and to practice what we preach, no matter how others might be treating us.  In fact, when we endure unf...

Continuing the call to live outstanding lives among unbelievers, Peter focused his attention on wives and husbands in I Peter 3:1-7 .  Although the specific instructions to wives and husbands sounded at first glance to be similar to traditional cultural norms, they were in fact radically Christian in their placing both wives and husbands under God’s authority and motivating both by the love of Chr...

Because the early Christians were accused falsely of all sorts of outrageous behavior, Peter urged his readers in I Peter 2:11-25 to be especially careful to live such honorable lives that even their enemies would end up glorifying God. This calling was especially difficult, because they often found themselves in unfair situations that they were powerless to change, in which they suffered unjustly...

In Romans 15:14-26 , Paul explained his ministry as a presentation of the nations to God though presenting the Gospel of God to the nations. He also expressed his pioneering desire always to push out into new territory. Although our church is not in completely new territory, we share something of the pioneering spirit of Paul as we go out to take the gospel to those who have not heard. Today we ce...

Human beings love using metaphors, comparisons between two things that are unlike to bring out some special way in which they are alike.  In I Peter 2:4-12 , the author piled on a series of metaphors and quotations from the Old Testament to explain, first, who Christ is and, second, who Christians are.  The first metaphor he used was that Christ is a living stone, the cornerstone in fact.  Christi...

Although we may not long to be holy as much as we long to be hopeful (see last week’s sermon), the way Peter describes holiness in I Peter 1:13-2:3 shows how very beautiful and attractive it is, not only for us but also for everyone around us.

Recognizing the key role that hope plays in our lives, we encourage each other by saying, “Keep your hopes up!”  We also realize that a situation is lost if someone gives up hope.  With so many difficulties in our lives, we need hope to keep going.  In I Peter 1:3-12 , God calls his people to be a hopeful people, but not based on wishful thinking but on his own work for us.

To start the year, we are studying Peter’s first letter by beginning with I Peter 1:1-2 .  In each section, we will see how he describes the people of God.  In his greeting, Peter calls Christians “elect exiles,” which is a curious expression that mixes something positive (elect, chosen, selected) with something negative (exiles, driven out, rejected).  As it turns out, God’s election makes his pe...

In order to prepare for the happiest 2018 possible, we ended 2017 focusing on God’s word and how we hear it, looking at Jesus’ Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-20 .  Nothing will be more beneficial to our lives, our family, and our happiness than careful attention to God’s word.  As a church, we are joining together to read the New Testament during 2018 following this plan .

At first glance, it looked like Matthew made a big mistake in his genealogy of Jesus by placing him in the line of David, since he admitted that Jesus was born of Mary, not of Joseph.  In Matthew 1:18-25 , he went on to explain how Jesus was conceived and what role Joseph played in his life, which in turn explains how Jesus entered the line of David.  He also revealed the meanings of the two names...

If genealogies are not the most engaging reading, why would Matthew begin his history of Jesus with one in Matthew 1:1-17 ?  Actually, genealogies can be very engaging if we find in them connections with our story.  Because Matthew wanted to connect Jesus with Jewish people, he emphasized Jesus’ descent from the patriarch Abraham and from King David.  At the same time, he included some fascinating...

In Jonah 4 , we find the most successful preacher of his day angry enough to die after his greatest triumph, because God had done in Nineveh exactly what Jonah had suspected he would do.  In this final chapter, God presented two arguments to teach Jonah about compassion, the same two arguments that still hold for us who have received God’s compassion in Christ.

In Jonah 3 , we find that God did not give up on Jonah or on the people of Nineveh, which encourages us to believe that he has not given up on us either.  Upon hearing Jonah’s preaching of impending destruction, the Ninevites surprised everyone by believing God and turning from their sins to him.  According to Jesus, they became an example for later generations of what it means to repent.  God’s r...

In Jonah 2 , we take a break from the narrative to read a poem of thanksgiving that Jonah prayed when he was detained for three days and three nights.  It turns out that the fish that swallowed Jonah was God’s appointed means not for Jonah’s destruction but for his rescue.  By surviving his brush with death, Jonah learned an important lesson that we all must learn.

In  Jonah 1 , we meet the Israelite prophet who preferred to flee rather than obey the Lord’s call to do something new, surprising, and unpleasant, namely, go preach to the Ninevites, the mortal enemies of the Israelites.  However, God did not give up on Jonah, or, as we shall see, on the Ninevites, or on us.

“Priorities for Parents” – Ephesians 6:4 and Deuteronomy 6 . All families develop customs that reflect their priorities. Today we look at three biblical priorities for parents to establish and maintain in their family customs so that it may go well for our children throughout their lives.