Hill Country Bible Church Dripping Springs Sermons

Human measures of success, such as status and wealth, can keep us from following Jesus’ true calling. In God’s kingdom, humility, generosity and grace reign supreme. We are called to surrender and depend on God’s gift of divine mercy, given totally devoid of any merit we might think we have.

God's created marriage, only He has the right to define it. Marriage's purpose is to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church. Therefore, divorce is at odds with God's plan. It is permitted, in some circumstances, due to hardness of heart. Yet even then, He redeems it.

Culturally, we are motivated to outdo each other, driven by individual pride. Not so in the kingdom of Heaven. To become a citizen of God’s Kingdom we must become His children, living with a recognition we are dependent on Him. That fosters a life of humility, love, and a wiliness to lavish forgiveness of others.  

To behold something or someone is more than a casual glance. It implies intense observation.  Over time we will become what we behold, whether good or bad. As Jesus’ disciples our desire is to behold Him so that our character, our love and our lives becomes like His. This is sanctification.

Opposition to Jesus grows. The Pharisees, together with their rivals ,the Sadducees. ask for "one more sign" from Jesus to prove He is who He says He is. Rather than comply, He challenges their inclination. Once alone with His disciples, He asks "who am I?" Peter, responds "The Christ". Peter responses as he does, because God revealed that to him. We declare Jesus as Christ because the Lord is at...

Isaiah warned of a people who honor God in words and deeds but worship in vain because their hearts are not in the right place. Jesus is interested in our hearts. He is teaching us that God’s word should never be nullified by human traditions and commandments.

People see Jesus’ miracles, hear his teaching and are offended. However, there are two different types of responses to this offense. One group outright rejects Him. Others, like the disciples, respond in repentance and worship Him because they see in Him, Someone greater than themselves. Who do you see when you are confronted by Jesus?

Jesus was a powerful storyteller. Using parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven, He confronts us with the necessity of a heart change to be His follower. Only then do His parables show us His Kingdom as it is and as it will be. Otherwise, we only hear without understanding and see without perceiving.  

Jesus never leaves room to accept Him only as a good moral teacher. When the Pharisees challenge His disciples’ rule-breaking, He questions their willingness to make rules that reject Scripture. Theirs is a self-righteous, self-driven moralism. Instead, Jesus shows us that accepting Him means we join in an intimate relationship inspired by inner transformation of our hearts. That is a work of the...

Doubts arise when unmet expectations collide with current circumstances. John was in prison in the most difficult conditions, giving rise to his question whether Jesus was the Messiah. Rather than scold him, Jesus shares what He is doing that fulfills Messianic prophecies. Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest from our doubts.

Jesus was driven by a compassion for the lost. When He sent twelve disciples to heal and spread the Good News, He told them it would be hard. We must, like Him, be willing to go so far as to sacrifice our lives carrying out the missions He gave us as His disciples today.

God’s presence on the mountaintop is undeniable. We see it in stories about Moses, Abraham, and Elijah. Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount. We experience it during the high points of our lives. However, in a fallen world, we may wonder if God really is in the valleys. Matthew takes us from the words of Jesus to His works where He demonstrates His absolute authority everywhere. This merits our un...

There are two ways to pursue God. One is the religious path where we srive to look virtuous, winning accolades from people. However, inside that person is empty. The second is to abide in our relationship with Jesus being filled with His righteousness, letting Him define our worth. This gives God glory and leads to eternal life.

Judging, or taking a critical attitude toward others, leads us to eventually condemn them. Jesus warns that attitude results in being held to the standard we held to others. Instead, He calls His people to humbly seek moral discernment, treating others as we want them to treat us.

In Jesus’ time, Pharisees modeled holiness. Their acts of kindness; helping the poor, fasting, or prayer, had to be performed publicly. Jesus uses a theatric term, hypocrite, a masked actor performing for people, to describe this. However, Jesus teaches it is not public acts for societal approval but it is pious acts, done in private, that God treasures.

Jesus calls His followers to respond to God's commands by living radically different lives.

Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount with a description of Kingdom citizens' role in the world. He calls for us to live radically different lives. Our response to His commands goes beyond religious rule-keeping.

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, bold statements about the character traits of citizens of God’s Kingdom. They are foundational to understanding how the LORD works to shape a people that are approved (blessed) by Him.

Follow Me! That is the life changing call by Jesus to His earliest disciples and to us today. We need to grasp who is calling us first. Then we have the proper perspective on the earthly hardships and difficulties that come with being a disciple.

In fighting temptation, we must recognize there is a spiritual world and the enemy wages a spiritual war. His weapon of choice is to assault our relationship to God our Father. However we are equipped, in Christ, to resist temptation. Jesus shows us how. Satan tempts for evil intent. God turns those into tests for our good.

The salvation story says that Jesus paid the price for our sin but there is more. Salvation means Jesus deals with the damage sin inflicts in our lives and He fulfilled the law. Fulfilment of the law involves big changes for us. We are called to immediate and continual repentance, which leads us from sin into a holy life. Repentance leads us to Jesus.

Reports from various ministries including Jason's vision statement for 2024.

Throughout the Bible, we see that God acts distinctly toward and through His chosen people. Today we see Him working when the local church gathers in weekly worship.

Modern people strive to live life without being known or knowing others. That is not God's plan. There is plenty of Scripture to attest to His design for life to be lived in community with others. Small Biblical community is essential to spiritual growth.