Heart of Flesh

This episode is a sermon on Ephesians 1:4 given by Jackson Hankey at River City Church on Thursday, January 30th, 2025. This verse unfolds for us the doctrine of Unconditional Election and the sermon draws out 8 things that we learn from this passage about this doctrine. Listed below is the definition I give of Unconditional Election and the 8 things I highlighted about it from Ephesians 1:4 Def:...

This episode is a sermon on Ephesians 1:1-2 which was given by James Kaczor at River City Church on Thursday, Jan. 16th, 2025. This is Paul's introduction to the letter, and as James' mentions it is like an embryo which contains many of the things we see throughout the rest of the book. Now, these are verses that, if we're honest, we are often prone to quickly skimming without really thinking abou...

This episode is an introduction to the book of Ephesians which was taught by Jackson Hankey at River City Church on Thursday, Jan. 9th, 2025. As stated in the episode, the book of Ephesians is one of the most important documents in the history of the world. That is largely due to the fact that even though this letter is relatively short, it is one of the clearest and most comprehensive statements...

This episode is a sermon on Isaiah 53:10-12 that was preached by Jackson Hankey at River City Church on 12/29/2024. Isaiah 53 is one of the most beloved passages by Christians of all ages because of how clearly it speaks of the work of Jesus even though it was written hundreds of years before he came into the world. Verses 10-12 finish this great passage in the same way that the Bible itself finis...

This episode is a sermon on Isaiah 53:4-6 that was preached by Jackson Hankey at River City Church in Fargo, ND, on 12/15/2024. Isaiah 53 is one of the most beloved passages in the Bible by Christians of all ages and verses 4-6 are at the very heart of the passage. Perhaps nowhere else in the Bible is there such a clear explanation of the significance of the death of Christ as in Isaiah 53:4-6, an...

This episode is a sermon on Isaiah 52:13-15 that was preached by Jackson Hankey at River City Church in Fargo, ND, on 12/1/2024. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is one the most beloved passages of Scripture by Christians in all ages. This is because it is one of the clearest and most thorough passages that we find about the person and work of Jesus Christ in the entire Bible (despite the fact that it was writt...

This episode is a sermon on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) that was preached by Jackson Hankey on November 10th, 2024, at Bethel Baptist Church in Park River, ND. The Lord's Prayer is perhaps the most well known and most repeated passage in the entire Bible. Yet, it seems that very few of us have really understood it and taken it to heart. Many of us, in spite of it's familiarity, have been en...

In this episode, I (Jackson Hankey) address the debate surrounding the topic of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. As we have moved to the Holy Spirit in our discussion of the Doctrine of God, it seems fitting to address some of the current controversies surrounding the work of the Holy Spirit, especially those that have arisen out of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. With this in mind, we've dec...

In this episode, James Kaczor and I continue our series on the Doctrine of God and now progress to a discussion of the Holy Spirit. This episode has a feeling of unique relevance given the degree of confusion that fills the church today in regard to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. For many, there is a strong tendency to overemphasize or overrealize the person and work of the Holy Spirit in...

This episode is a sermon that was preached at River City Church by James Kaczor on August 25th, 2024. James' main idea in this sermon is that in the midst of all the trials and tribulations that we encounter in this life, our greatest need is always God himself! 1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;...

Throughout history there have been many people and groups who have sought to challenge and subvert the Orthodox beliefs of the church about the Deity of Christ. Oftentimes, these people will point to specific verses in the Bible that they believe prove that Jesus is not truly God. In this episode, I examine a number of those arguments and seek to show how a proper understanding of the Hypostatic U...

This episode is a sermon on Psalm 61 that was preached by Joshua Molden at River City Church on 8/11/2024. In this sermon, Joshua emphasizes the neediness of God's people, the power and strength of God as their refuge, provider, and protector, and the ultimate way in which in Psalm 61 is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This Psalm gives us a picture of what it looks like to be a n...

This episode is a sermon on Psalm 58 that was preached by Jackson Hankey at River City Church on July 21st, 2024. Psalm 58 is what is known as an imprecatory Psalm. It is a Psalm of David in which he describes and prays against the wickedness of his own day, and in which he also looks forward to the final day when God will bring perfect justice. In this Psalm, David is both looking backward to Gen...

In this episode, James and I discuss and recommend some of our favorite resources that have helped us to grow in Christ. This includes many of our favorite books, favorite Podcasts, Favorite Christian Music Artists, Favorite Phone Apps, etc... *Please note that these things should be in addition to, and never replace, the most important spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, and fellowshi...

In this episode, James Kaczor and I continue discussing the Doctrine of God and the Person of Christ. Here we aim not only to show that the Bible teaches the true humanity of Jesus (that he is "Like us in all respects, apart from sin") but we also aim to draw out some of the theological and practical significance of this reality. Jeremiah 9:23-24 23  Thus says the Lord: “Let not the...

In this episode, James Kaczor and I continue our discussion of the Doctrine of God by focusing on the Divine nature of Jesus. The New Testament presents Jesus as not just a man but as God incarnate. And it does this in a great variety of ways. Some of these ways are simple and obvious and some of these ways are more subtle. Our goal in this episode is to present these many different ways and espec...

This episode is a short sermon by James Kaczor from John 7:37-39. In this sermon, James explains how these few short verses have much to say about who Jesus is and what he has come to do! John 7:37-39 37  On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  38  Whoever believes in me, as the...

In this episode, James Kaczor and I build on the previous one, where we discussed some of the Trinitarian hints of the Old Testament. Our goal is to show beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the New Testament undeniably teaches the Doctrine of the Trinity, and brings further clarity to what is hinted throughout the Old Testament. We believe this is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith, and...

In this episode, James Kaczor and I continue our discussion on the Doctrine of God and specifically the Doctrine of the Trinity. We firmly believe (along with all of historic and orthodox Christianity) that the one God is and has always existed as a Trinity of Persons , each person being truly God. And even though we don't get a fully revealed doctrine of the Trinity until the New Testament and th...

In this episode, Joshua Molden and I give an introduction to the Doctrine of the Trinity. After establishing our need of the Scriptures for a sufficient knowledge of God (previous episode), we now begin to examine what the Scriptures reveal to us about God, and we begin with this glorious doctrine of the Trinity. Our goal in the episode is to lay out and defend three statements that the Bible teac...

Is it possible for humans to know God apart from the Bible? If it is, what can we learn about God? Is it possible to know God through the use of human reason? Or what about observing God's creation? Are these things enough for a person to be saved? In this episode, we discuss the necessity of Special Revelation (i.e. the Bible) for a saving knowledge of God. This means that in order for us to know...

In this episode, James and I introduce a new series we're beginning on the Doctrine of God. In doing so, our prayer for our listeners is much like that of the Apostle Peter for his readers - that you might "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) and like that of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians - that you might be "bearing fruit in every good work and...

In this episode, Joshua Molden preaches a short sermon from Joshua chapter 6. In this chapter of the Bible, we find the ancient people of God taking their first steps into the promised land and facing off against the city of Jericho. This was the land that God had promised to give to Abraham and his offspring hundreds of years earlier (Genesis 12:1; 17:8), and now the time has come for God to fulf...

This episode is a short sermon by James Kaczor on Esther Chapter 6. In the book of Esther we find something very interesting, and it's that there is no mention of God anywhere in the entire book. This is especially strange considering that the different names for God (God/Lord) are by far the most commonly found nouns in the Bible (Because the Bible is a book about God). However, in this short boo...

This episode is a 20-minute sermon on the first 12 verses of the book of Job. Even though the book of Job is perhaps the oldest book in the Bible, it deals with an issue that is relevant to every age and every culture. That issue is the reality of human suffering. This is an issue that we all must face and it's an issue that confounds the best of human wisdom. However, the Word of God in general (...