Heart of Flesh

In this episode James and I share the exciting announcement that we are going to be involved in planting a new church in Grand Forks, ND, that is expecting to launch before the end of 2026! By God's grace River City Church in Fargo, ND, has recently sent out a number of families (including the Kaczor and Hankey families) and singles to plant Christ Redeemer Church in Grand Forks, ND! Both James an...

In Mark 8:34 Jesus says that " if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Jesus is stressing the cost of discipleship and it is a high cost. Jesus calls us to come to him and die. For many people this cost seems too high. However, this passage is not only about the cost of following Jesus. In the next 4 verses, Jesus gives us 4 reasons why we should f...

In Ephesians 5:19-21, the Apostle Paul gives us 3 things that characterize the lives of people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Such a person will live a life of (1) Singing (2) Thanksgiving and (3) Humbly submitting themselves to others. Tune into this episode to hear more about the role that these 3 things play in the lives of God's people.

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit..." In this episode, Jackson Hankey preaches about the sin of drunkenness and the need for Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Charles Spurgeon once said that, “without the Spirit of God we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind or chariots without steeds. Like branc...

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." - Matthew 7:13-14 In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus boils all the world down into two types of people. All people have entered through one of two gates (the wide or the narrow) and a...

In Acts 19, we read that the ministry of the Apostle Paul and other Christians in the ancient city of Ephesus was so powerful that it threatened the false religion that was at the heart of the city. This led to a violent riot that Paul and others were only narrowly able to escape. In this sermon on Acts 19:21-41, Jackson Hankey explains the passage and discusses the Bible's teaching on the persecu...

This episode is a sermon on Psalm 1. Psalm begins by saying, " Blessed is the man..." In many ways, Psalm 1 teaches us about what it looks like to live a life that is characterized by the blessing of God. It is a picture of the good life as God sees it. Also, Psalm 1 gives us a vivid contrast between the two different types of people in the world. In the Psalms (including Psalm 1), these two types...

The famous Missionary, David Brainerd, once said that " the essence of true religion is the soul's conformity to God." This idea is something that we see clearly in Ephesians 5:1-2, where the Apostle Paul gives a beautiful summary command for the Christian life. He says that we are to " be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fra...

After commanding Christians to " put off the old self" and to " put on the new self" in Ephesians 4:22-24, the Apostle Paul then goes on to give several examples of what this looks like in practice. In this sermon on Ephesians 4:29-30, James Kaczor points out 4 things from the text that characterize Christian speech. #1 - Christian Speech is not Rotten #2 - Christian Speech Builds Up #3 - Christia...

What happens when someone becomes a Christian? One of the ways that the Bible answers that question is to say that a Christian is a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17). To be a Christian means that a person has undergone a powerful and supernatural transformation whereby God has made them into a new person. Ephesians 4:22-24 builds on this reality, as the Apostle Paul calls Christians to "put off the old s...

There are many opinions in the world today about what it means to follow Jesus., and ironically, the one opinion that is often most neglected is the opinion of Jesus himself. In Mark 8:34-38, Jesus tells us exactly what it means to follow him. Even further, after Jesus tells us what it means, he then goes on to give us 4 astounding reasons why we ought to follow him, no matter what it may cost. Th...

Leon Morris once said that Romans 3:21-27 is the most important paragraph ever written. The reason that he said this is captured well by what Charles Spurgeon said of this passage. He said " I do not know any passage in Scripture in which the way of salvation is more clearly and fully set forth than this one." John Piper said about this passage that, " if you understand this passage, you understan...

In Ephesians 4:7-10, we see that the risen and victorious king Jesus is now blessing his church with an abundance of spiritual gifts, and in verse 8 Paul even quotes Psalm 68 as something that pointed to this very reality. Now despite all the controversy about spiritual gifts, as well as the many ways they are misunderstood today, one thing we do see here is that spiritual gifts are essential for...

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus addresses the dangers of false Christianity. He confronts the people who say to him "Lord, Lord" but do not live in obedience to the Father. He makes clear that not everyone who says (and even sincerely believes) that they are a Christian will go to heaven. Rather, Jesus says that there will be " many" who thought themselves to be saved, who thought themselves to be right...

In Acts 13:13-52, we get a glimpse at the first recorded sermon of the Apostle Paul. After sitting down in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, Paul is asked to speak and he takes the opportunity to preach to them about Jesus the Messiah. And here in this passage Luke gives us a record of what Paul had to say, and he also records the remarkable response to Paul's preaching that took place in the city....

In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul is discussing the unity of the church. He gives 7 reasons for unity, using the word "one" 7 times. The final and climactic use is in v. 6 when Paul says that the church has, " One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." In this verse, as elsewhere in Scripture, we see that the church is the family of God. The greatest cause for Christian unity i...

J.I. Packer once said that, " Adoption is the highest privilege of the gospel. The traitor is forgiven, brought in for supper, and given the family name. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater. " One of the most beautiful truths of Scripture is that Christians are those who have been adopted by God. They have been "born of God" (...

If someone asked you the question, " what is a Christian?" What would you say? For many people the answer to that question is simply someone who has been baptized... or perhaps someone who goes to church... or who reads the Bible... or someone who says they are a Christian. But the truth is that none of those things actually make anyone a Christian. The truth is that a Christian is someone who has...

Charles Spurgeon once said, " I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love. "...

In Isaiah 6 the prophet Isaiah receives a shocking revelation of God. And chief among the attributes of God that are on display in this vision is his transcendent holiness. Indeed, the Seraphim, in their praise of God, cry out that, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts..." Sadly, there are many today, even amongst professing Christians, that have lost a sense of the holiness of God. But Scriptu...

The book of Ephesians has a beautiful balance. The first half is all about the doctrine of the gospel and the second half is all about the duty of the gospel. The first half is about gospel principles and the second is about gospel practices. In Ephesians 4:1, we see the transition take place. However, we also see in this verse that these two things must never be separated. Gospel living always fl...

The author of Hebrews begins his letter by saying, " Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..." With the advent season in full swing, this sermon is intended to intended to focus us on Jesus and his role as the greatest prophet that God ever sent. This reality is seen very well in the opening of the...

Chuck Swindoll once wrote: “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture . . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! In this episode, James and I talk all about the lost practice of Scripture Memorization and the benefits it has for the Christian life. We also discuss a very simple and practical syst...

In Ephesians 3:17 we find one of the greatest descriptions of Christians to be found. We are a people who are, " rooted and grounded in love." You see, love is the peculiar mark of a Christian. It is the one thing, above all others, that sets apart the people of God from the world. In this sermon I highlight two things that this verse teaches us about love: #1 - Love is Essential to Being a Christ...

The Bible has a great deal to say about wisdom and how much we ought to value and seek it. In fact, there is a whole category of books in the Bible that we often refer to as "Wisdom Literature." One of these books is the book of Job, and near the middle of the book, in chapter 28, Job gives some very interesting reflections on the topic of wisdom. Quite interestingly, this unique chapter actually...