Icon Church Sermons

This week we tackled the dual practices of fasting and feasting. These two practices, taken together, allow us to see clearly what it is we reach for in times of stress and to appreciate the ways in which God always provides for us. This focus on seeing clearly and appreciating fully fills us with the peace of God. For more information, visit iconchurch.org. 

This teaching in our Rule for Life series explores the principles of life together as Christians that can bring peace and rescue us from the isolating nature of anxiety. We look at how the Christian community is poised and resourced to be a loving and patient people, and how this type of community becomes the voice and presence of God, manifesting the gospel to us outside of us. For more informati...

Vocation and Sabbath are interdependent and integral parts of our lives. We tackle both in this installment of the Rule for Life series. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

This teaching from our Rule for Life series focuses on our need for silence and solitude as a way to “partner” with God. When we carve out moments to quiet both the external and internal noise, we find peace in the presence of God, and only then do we have something of value to offer the people around us. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

In this week of our Rule for Life series, Pastor Justin teaches us that peace needs a language that honestly communicates about the reality that we face and clings to the promises of the Gospel. Jesus modeled a language, and arguably, if we learned to pray and not just recite the Lord's Prayer, it contains all the language we need to find peace. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Jumping back into our Rule for Life series, Pastor Justin reminds us that to navigate the uncertain and unfamiliar, we need a guide to tell us where we are and where we should go. As Christians, we have such a guide in the Bible, the words of God meant to direct our path. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Pastor Justin preached from John 20:1-30 and talked about how Everyone Believes, Everyone Hopes and Everyone Doubts. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

In week 2 of our Rule for Life series, Pastor Justin will show us how "Peace needs a Focus" and – spoiler alert – it's not you! We will never find peace as long as we are at the center of our own attention. We have to have another focus. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

This week kicked off our new series called A Rule For Life, Seeking Peace in an Anxious World. In this first sermon, Pastor Justin outlined what a Rule of Life is and how it can form our character and not just modify our behavior. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Our final sermon of our first John series was providentially about healing. John heals a man who has been disabled for 38 years, demonstrating his power over the physical world. In light of the current worldwide pandemic, Jesus challenges us to ask ourselves, what is it that we are truly leaning on for healing? For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

This week, in our very first virtual edition of the Sunday sermon, Pastor Justin preached about "Jesus the Evangelist" from John 4:27-54. We'll see how Jesus approached three different groups of people and the methods he used to share the good news of the gospel with them. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

We wrapped up the second major section of John this week by looking at the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. John juxtaposes the way that Jesus interacted with Nicodemus, a powerful Jewish man with this marginalized outcast in a remarkable way. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

John the Baptist makes his final appearance in this week's passage and he leaves us a challenging message about ambition. Basically, it's poison and our pursuit of it is hurting our lives and actually making our work less effective. Work is good, but ambition is sin. Find out why! For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

John 3 is a remarkable recounting of Jesus' conversation with the religious leader Nicodemus. It's remarkable in its candor and its insight as Jesus sees Nicodemus' apparent flattery as an attempt to gain leverage and an ally. Jesus completely flips the conversation by stripping Nicodemus of all his power and influence, explaining to him that Jesus has done everything necessary and that Nicodemus...

This week's sermon comes from John 3, one of the most famous passages in all of scripture. In it, Jesus has a long conversation with a powerful Jewish leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night to confess his belief only to be challenged by Jesus to rethink everything he knows about power, influence and the Kingdom of God. This is the first of...

This week's message forms the second half of a two part series that the Gospel of John uses to frame the character and mission of Jesus. Last week we looked at Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. This week, John tells us the story of Jesus entering the temple, being disgusted by the buying and selling of animals for ritual sacrifices that he saw and, as a result, drivin...

This week in the John series is the first half of a two part mini-series that looks at the tension between Jesus's Gratuitous Grace and his Seriousness about Sin. Both of these ideas are held in tension with each other in Jesus' life and teaching and well illustrated in the stories of John 2. The Wedding at Cana is up first, in which Jesus turns water into wine, lavishing grace and provision on a...

Week 3 the John series takes us to Jesus' first words in this gospel. He asks two of John's disciples who have begun following him, "what are you seeking". John uses this moment to ask the reader this same question. Why are we here? What has taken us to Jesus, to this church, to this faith, or this podcast? What do we want from Jesus? For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Week 2 of our John series takes us back to chapter 1 and a reintroduction of John the Baptist. Emissaries of the Pharisees question John, asking him, "who are you?" This simple question is the existential one that all of us have to answer. See how John's answer doesn't only tell us who he is but can help us answer that question for ourselves. For more information, go to iconchurch.org.

This week kicked off our official Gospel of John series, 'Witness to the Light.' Pastor Justin preached from John 20:30-31, which serves as a thesis statement for the entire book. In it, John says that he wrote his gospel so that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing people would have life in his name. This is the frame through which John sees the life...

This week, we kicked off 2020 with a Vision Sunday. Pastor Justin took time to look back at all God has done at Icon in 2019 and then looked forward to what God might have for us in 2020. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

We finished our advent series this week by looking at the theme of Joy from John 1:14-18. Joy is different from happiness because it is rooted in truths that are constant, like the redemptive pursuit of God, the bottomless well of grace and the simplicity of faith in Jesus. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Week 3 of our advent series was about Love. How do you know someone loves you? How do you know God loves you? Our lives are filled with both promises and distractions, how can we sift through them all to get to the heart of what matters most? John answers these questions and challenges us to simply believe. For more information, visit iconchurch.org.

Week 2 of our advent series was about the kind of Peace that can come from knowing who you are and what you were made for. John the Baptist served as a great example of someone who was secure in who he was and what God had sent him to do, which meant that he wasn't striving for something more. He wasn't trying to control the future or reaching for more control. He was confident and content to be w...

Our Advent series kicked off this week by looking at the theme of Hope from John 1:1-5. Pastor Justin challenged the congregation to consider what it is they hope for and what do they depend on to bring about that hope. John 1 teaches us that life in Christ is our greatest hope and that Jesus, the Light for the world is the only means by which we can realize that truest hope. Find more information...