FRCP Sunday Morning Sermons

In Hebrews 11:1, we are told that hope is one of the essential ingredients of faith. This morning Hayden Axe, our Student Ministries Intern, shares about how his family kept hope alive for his faith during a difficult time for him in high school. When it looked like he was far away from the Lord, they kept praying for him and encouraging him and God opened doors, like serving on summer staff and M...

In Psalm 145, David uses the Hebrew alphabet to make an acrostic poem that talks of some of God's greatest attributes and encourages the hearers to respond in worship. Most of that response is summarized in the final verse which says "my mouth will speak in praise of the Lord". This sermon is about how gratitude for God, shared out loud, draws us into God's presence. Half of the message is an open...

In Matthew 8:28-34, a lot of bacon throws itself into the sea. Why? Because demons asked Jesus for permission to be put into the pigs if they were to be cast out from the men they had previously been tormenting. Let that soak in for a minute. This sermon explores this strange, exciting (scary?) story for what it tells us about demons, but also what it says about the reality of interacting with Jes...

In Matthew 8:18-27, Jesus responds awkwardly, if not insensitively, to two eager disciples. Rather than praise the first for his declarations of loyalty or permit the second to "care for his family", Jesus tempers enthusiasm and raises the bar. Then, to cap it off Matthew shares the stormy nap situation in which Jesus is woken up, not by waves and water, but by terrified disciples certain of their...

In Matthew 8:14-17, Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law who was sick and laid up with a serious fever. As soon as she is better, she goes right waiting on Jesus. Did Jesus heal her just because he was hungry and wanted a meal? Is serving and showing hospitality a demeaning job? Or was the Servant of All showing his great power and kindness to a fellow servant of family and friends? Isaiah 53 gives u...

In Matthew 8:5-13, a pagan outsider comes to Jesus and amazes him with his faith. What does this kind of amazing faith look like? And Jesus includes a statement that warns those of us who too carelessly assume we are in the kingdom. God’s kingdom will draw all kinds of people from all different cultures. It’s not your religion that gets you in, it’s your trust in the Messiah.

In Matthew 8:1-4, Jesus comes down from the Mount where he gave the bulk of his ethical teaching. He's now become exceedingly popular and large crowds follow him. What do we see him do? Matthew's first recorded act is Jesus healing a man with leprosy. This man is an unclean outcast and being healed from leprosy involved a complicated and long process of ceremonial cleansing. Jesus reveals his hear...

In Matthew 7:24-29, Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount with a final exhortative metaphor. He says the wise man, who both listens to the words he just gave and actually does them, will be like a person who built his house on the rock. That person will weather the storms of life and the final hurricane of judgment. On the other hand, those who ignore his teaching, will be like a person who buil...

In Matthew 7:15-23, Jesus warns about the danger of "wolves in sheep's clothing". These are false prophets who take advantage of God's people. The way to recognize them, since they are disguised, is by the fruit their lives bear. But as for the wolves, so for the sheep. The sheep also need to be wary that they don't live lives full of religious activity, but end up being rejected by Christ on the...

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus gives us the two alternative destinations for our lives (Life and Destruction) along with a description of the way to those places. The path and gateway to destruction are easy and wide, but like most good things in life, the path to Life is initially uncomfortable. The narrow road and the small gate restricts our choices and experiences in this life, but leads to reconne...

In Matthew 7:6-12, Jesus tells us that we can seek the Lord and find Him, easily. Why? Because He is our good Father who wants to be found. He wants to give us what we need for life in Him, so he's quick to respond to our requests. This is especially true in college, when young adults are seeking direction, success and the purpose for their lives with newfound independence. This sermon includes a...

In Matthew 7:6, Jesus shares a saying that almost seems out of place. After considering how to love our enemies, not judge, and taking beams out of our own eyes, we are now told that some people are "dogs" and "pigs" and that we can protect ourselves from them. This sermon explores how Jesus is avoiding a misinterpretation of his other teachings and telling us it's okay to be careful with the prec...

In Isaiah 5, the Song of the Vineyard explains that God set his people up for success by providing them a context for growth. But despite the work, the vine refused to grow and God's judgement was coming. As we think about our mission as a local church for Kick-off Sunday, Kyle challenged the congregation to take advantage of the "trellis" of the programming at First Reformed. We trust God that by...

In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus tells us that we should not judge one another. To follow this command is to acknowledge the God is the only true Judge, and recognizes that we are all equally sinful and deserving of God's judgment. Apart from God's grace, we have no hope. So rather than point out other's mistakes and failures, we ought to humbly acknowledge our own and allow God to heal us. If we do take t...

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus provides the logical consequence of making God our Master, rather than money: no need to worry. If God is truly our provider and sustainer, and he loves and values us, then we will be taken care of. This requires faith, though! We won't get everything we want, but if we prioritize the kingdom of heaven and God's righteousness, Jesus says we will get our basic needs met pl...

Why are you a Christian? What's the ultimate center of your faith? Is it God or something else? In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus takes us through three godly practices that should be a part of our Christian walk: giving to the poor, prayer and fasting. But why and how we do these things is just as important as doing them. If it's about self-promotion, then we've gotten off-center. Jesus tells how we can g...

In the last of Jesus's "you have heard it said...but I tell you" teachings from Matthew 5:43-48, we are told to love our enemies. It's easy to love those who love us, but to be like our Father in Heaven, we must love those who oppose us and even persecute us. The world tells us that good guys and bad guys should fight it out for control, but hatred and disension are tools of the one true Enemy we...

In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus tells us to put away the "eye for eye" mentality, and instead go the extra mile for those who would harm us or take advantage of us. Wow. This is a hard teaching! Are we doormats? Can we not defend ourselves or get justice? Or are we to acknowledge where our true security and provision lies, then with intentionality work to bring grace, forgiveness, and kindness into a wo...

In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus teaches us to have integrity with our words. What we say should be simply true, without needing to invoke some power greater than ourselves to lend weight to our honesty. Also, Pastor Steve gets a hole in one.

In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus gives his second "you have heard it said" teaching about adultery. He "fills up" the law that says "You shall not commit adultery" by stating even if a man lusts after a woman, he has already committed adultery with her in his mind. This sermon explores the starting point for the command, which is the glorious goodness of marriage, and investigates some of why our inner t...

Jesus begins his ethical teaching talking about murder. No one disagrees that murder is wrong, but Jesus "fills up" the Law by saying that anger, and even name calling, makes us vulnerable to the same judgment as a murderer! Today's teaching dives into the why of Jesus' teaching and invites us to be Life Givers, not Life Takers through our words and actions

Jesus completes his "intro" to his ethical teaching by clarifying his view of the Old Testament and that he has come to "fill up" the law, not lessen it. This does two things for his followers: 1) makes them take seriously his commands and 2) forces them to depend on him for the power to obey. This helps us understand how grace works with obedience to produce the righteousness that allows us to en...

Matthew 5:13-16 - Pastor Steve takes us through the passage where Jesus tells his followers that they should be a preservative and seasoning influence on their culture and to be a light that points others to God's goodness.

Executive Director Mike Kemple shares with us how Missional Chaplains is serving First Responders and local businesses in our area.

Matthew 5:1-12 - Jesus begins his famous Sermon on the Mount with a series of statements about how to be happy. Sounds good. Thank you, Jesus, for letting us know that God wants us to be happy. But there's one catch; none of the ways to attain happiness feel...happy. They are counter-intuitive, difficult character qualities or positions to be in. But what Jesus tells us is that these things lead t...