IBCD Sermon Weekly

Empathy is a very big part of Christianity. Our faith is not supposed to be one of coldly following rules for the sake of order and the benefits of order. Christianity is a faith based upon the heart of God. Hebrews 13:3 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Hospitality in the Bible is deeply rooted in the idea of love, charity, and unity within the community and toward outsiders. In both the Old and New Testaments, hospitality is portrayed as an act of kindness and righteousness, reflecting God's love and care for all people. So today we will be looking at living in the Way of Hospitality. Hebrews 13:2. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by...

As we come to the last chapter of Hebrews, we are going to use the series of short, almost proverb-like statements in chapter 13 to look at the question of how to live “The Way”. Today we are looking at “The Way of Love”. Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.

Cities offer great opportunities for the gospel and great exposure to sin. In Acts, we encounter both sides of the city. In today’s passage, Paul proclaims God in Athens, where people worshipped what they didn’t know. Acts 17:16 & 23 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. [...] 23 For as I passed along and...

God cares about each individual person, and that’s also how He reaches out to us. If we follow Him, that means putting ourselves in situations where we can share the gospel one at a time. Acts 8:29–31 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said...

As we start to look at the book of Acts, one thing becomes clear from the beginning on: God did not create us for individual faith. He wants us to be in community, and He uses this community to reach the people with His love and truth. Acts 2:46–47 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising Go...

As we look at the passage in Hebrews today, the author talks about two mountains. Mount Sinia and Mount Zion. Mount Sinia is the mountain upon which God gave Moses the law, which becomes known as the Law of Moses. Mount Zion is, in this passage, a metaphor of grace and future hope for those who place their trust in Christ. One says “stay away!”, the other says “come near”. Hebrews 12:18, 22 18 You...

Peter is the disciple we have the most information about from the Gospels and book of Acts. He goes through a long character arc and, as a result, is a person many people feel they can identify with as he traverses the ups and downs of faith. John 21:2-3 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going...

Today is Palm Sunday. It is the time when Jesus enters Jerusalem as the “king” prophesied in scriptures. However, he is not the king people were expecting, and this enthusiastic greeting did not lead to a throne, but rather to a Cross. A Cross which looked like complete failure and defeat, but in hindsight was the victory we needed from the king we needed.

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disc...

The book of Hebrews portrays our journey of faith as a race. The examples of the lives of the faithful who have raced before us, help us face uncertainty with perseverance, despite the challenges we encounter. As the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ is the ultimate champion of the race. Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us thr...

How do we know when we have clearly heard from God? Today I am going to talk about this, and we will also hear a testimony from a brother in the faith who has an experience many of you can probably relate to about hearing from God. This is not a complete list, but these are ways that God definitely uses as seen in the scripture and throughout history. John 14:26 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spir...

You are not called to be perfect; you have been given the credit for perfection through Christ. You are not called be a hero, you might be, but most of us will not have stories remembered long after our deaths. But we are called to faith. If the Bible is any indication, we will all likely face that impossible situation, that thing we cannot control. Hebrews 11:39-40 39 These were all commended for...

We talk about faith all the time. It is the basis for Christianity, but it is not easy to define. In this sermon, we will look at how the Bible defines it and what the five main aspects of faith are. Understanding the concept of faith better helps us all to experience God more closely. Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

When I read this passage while preparing to write this sermon, I was struck by the phrase, "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light…" I remember those days. I remember when I didn’t care at all how I lived, as long as I was living for Jesus. Remembering those early days can sometimes help us get through the difficult days.

For the last two weeks, as we have been going through Hebrews chapter 10, we have been looking at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have looked at the supremacy of Christ’s sacrifice which means no other sacrifice for sin is necessary, and last week we have looked at how this sacrifice affects the person who has “faith” in the sacrifice (the Cross) of Christ. Today we are going to be looking at ho...

As we have been journeying through the book of Hebrews, last week we looked at the supremacy of Jesus’ sacrifice and saw that the reason there is no need for continuing sacrifice to take place is because the sacrifice of Christ was for the forgiveness of sin, once and for all, and there was no need for repeated sacrifice to be made. This week we are going to be looking at the effect of that sacrif...

Many Christians start their journey with Jesus by reading the New Testament. This is great, but it can leave some questions about the need for Jesus’ sacrifice and what it means in the bigger picture. In the passage we are looking at today, the sacrifice of Jesus is compared to the sacrifice in the Old Testament. Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-- not the re...

"We dream of being a Christ-Centered, life transforming church where people of all nations and generations feel like they belong and are joyfully engaged in Kingdom work." In the past two weeks, we looked at what we mean by being a “Christ-Centered church” and a “Life transforming church”. This week we want to focus on for whom (people of all nations and generations) and why (kingdom work) the chu...

"We dream of being a Christ-Centered, life transforming church where people of all nations and generations feel like they belong and are joyfully engaged in Kingdom work." Last week we looked at what we mean by being a “Christ-Centered church” and this week we are going to look at the phrase “Life transforming church” and put some understanding and context around this so that we can live out the v...

As we head into the New Year we are going to walk through our vision statement: "We dream of being a Christ-Centered, life transforming church where people of all nations and generations feel like they belong and are joyfully engaged in Kingdom work." Today we are going to look at what it means to be a Christ-Centered Church. Matthew 7:18-20 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree can...

Sometimes it feels like we go through spiritual ups and downs. It is really easy to get discouraged with these cycles, be they personal cycles or national cycles but while God sometimes has to discipline his people, he does not give up on them. In the book of Isaiah, there is a chapter which the author gives a pep talk to a downtrodden nation and in the process gives some good advice for all of us...

Sunday Sermon by Christopher Uchegbuo 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Happiness is the ultimate goal of most people. The Bible often tells us to rejoice. But is joy and happiness the same? And how can we actively pursue it, is it not connected to external circumstances? And what does Jesus' birth have to do with all of that? Let us find out together what the Bible tells us about all of that. Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you go...

As we journey through Advent, we come to the theme of love. We are all aware that the word “love” is one which means very different things based on context. When someone says they “love” a movie or “love” a food, it is different from someone, even the same person, saying they love their family. But even with that said, the love of God is hard to fully understand. I think the closest we can come to...