Fox Lake Community Church

The mindset of Satan is "I will ascend." By contrast, Jesus said, "I will descend." Pride is seen when we boast, but also when we give in to self-pity. Boasting says, "I deserve what I'm receiving." Self-pity says, "I deserve better." Humility recognizes that all we have comes from God, and seeks to glorify him.

Jesus' troubled soul doesn't spring from a lack of faith, but from the spiritual torment of bearing God's wrath on the cross—experiencing divine forsakenness for the first time in eternity. Yet through it all he never wavered in his faith.

Jesus only has a few more hours to instruct his disciples, before his imminent arrest and crucifixion. He will cover many topics, but he begins with love. Yet, not only does he teach them, but he does them one better and show them what love in action looks like.

One of the goals for Christians is to have a positive impact on this world due to our lives, which should be, in the words of our Lord, "salt and light."

John provides a summary of Jesus' teaching at the end of his public ministry to encourage his readers to put their faith in Christ. John tells us that Jesus cried out, because he understands that life and death, heaven and hell hang in the balance. .

Life is fleeting, and the urgency of the present moment requires believers to act wisely and purposefully. Spiritual complacency can lead to neglect in glorifying. Recognizing mortality and the brevity of life should motivate believers to live each day with intentionality, striving to glorify God in all things.

Jesus delivers His final public appeal to the Jewish crowd, urging them to believe in Him as the light of the world before the opportunity passes, emphasizing that time is short and unbelief leads to spiritual darkness. Though He performs numerous signs, many refuse to believe, not only due to their deliberate rejection of truth but also because of divine judicial hardening, as prophesied in Isaia...

Acts 17:11 highlights the noble-minded character of the Bereans as marked by open-hearted receptivity and diligent, daily examination of Scripture to verify the truth of the gospel message. Unlike the more resistant and hostile Thessalonians, the Bereans welcomed Paul and Silas's teaching with eagerness and a sincere desire to test its alignment with the Bible. This means that listening to Scriptu...

John 12:23–33 unfolds the paradox that Jesus' glorification occurs through crucifixion, where His death becomes the seed that bears much fruit. The cross is the ultimate act of divine triumph—where Jesus bears the world's judgment, defeats Satan's dominion through His humiliation and exaltation, and inaugurates a new spiritual order in which He now reigns, intercedes, and draws all nations to Hims...

God reveals himself generally in nature and specifically in his Word. Therefore, we should prize Scripture more than gold, as its benefits are manifold, like revival, wisdom, joy, and light for our eyes.

If we, Christians, are going to be sharp, effective tools in the hand's of God, then we must get out of our echo chambers and intentionally dialogue with other believers with differing theological interpretations. Humility is essential if iron is going to sharpen iron.

The sermon presents Christ's temptation in the wilderness as a pivotal moment that fulfills Old Testament patterns of failure—such as Israel's grumbling in the desert—while establishing a divine pattern for Christian life: growth through trial, not coasting after spiritual milestones. Centered on Matthew 4, it reveals how Jesus overcomes three temptations—hunger, testing God's protection, and idol...

How can sinful man come before the Holy God? God is a consuming fire, and yet He is rich in mercy, grace, long-suffering, and forgiveness. The burning coal that is Christ touches our lips and our iniquity is taken away, our sin purged. God has reversed the garden curse where man was cast out from the presence of God, and He calls us into His presence to worship Him. Worship must never become routi...

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem fulfills Old Testament prophecies and is a pivotal moment in redemptive history, as it reveals Jesus as the humble yet sovereign King of Israel. Jesus' entry is not a political triumph but a divine inauguration of His messianic kingship, which will be fully realized only after His crucifixion and resurrection.

This beatitude make it clear that persecution is not an anomaly for the Christian but a natural consequence of living a righteous life. It shows that as believers grow in humility, mercy, purity, and peacemaking, they increasingly reflect Christ's character—making them targets of opposition. The scope of persecution is broad, encompassing verbal abuse, social exclusion, and false accusations, not...

Mary's act of worship may be the most beautiful expression of love and devotion that ever occurred during Jesus' earthly ministry. It is contrasted with Judas' greed and betrayal. It seems that at this point Mary alone understood Jesus' true worth. And that she alone comprehended his teaching about his imminent death, and thus anointed his his body for burial. This was the result of sitting regula...

Proverbs warns us of the sin that precedes destruction of all manner in our lives.

Psalm 18 was written at the end of David's life, and it is a Psalm of thanksgiving and praise to God for a lifetime of faithfulness. It concludes with David looking forward to his offspring, Jesus Christ, also enjoying great salvation due to God's steadfast love. And Christians can be confident that just as God powerfully intervened in the life of David and his offspring, he will also do the same...

This beatitude emphasizes that peacemaking is ,first and foremost, about reconciling humanity to God through Christ, who alone achieved peace by the blood of the cross, making reconciliation the essence of the Christian mission. This beatitude calls all people to examine their personal relationship with God and with others, urging immediate restoration of broken relationships, even at the cost of...

John 11:45-57

Romans 12:11-13, Galatians 6:9, Revelation 2:4, Matthew 26:36-40, 1 Thessalonians Nations and individuals can cry out for God's blessing in times of crisis, yet quickly return to earthly concerns and casual faith. Believers might begin with a fervent love for God, lose their first love, growing weary in doing good, and becoming slothful in zeal. Scripture calls us to remain watchful, fervent in sp...

The sign of raising Lazarus from the dead was a manifestation of God's glory and designed to give faith or increase the faith of God's people. Many saw the glory, and thus believed in Jesus. Unfortunately, others merely saw a raw display of power, and went to tell the Pharisees what they witnessed. Salvation and sanctification only occurs when we see the glory.

To see God one must have a pure heart. This requires us to have a new heart. Once God has given us a new heart, we are responsible to guard it "with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Pro. 4:23).

David is confident that God is going to answer his prayer. It seems that this assurance is the result of providing God with reasons for why he should answer. David doesn't merely ask for what he wants. He explains to God precisely why he should grant his request.