Lighthouse Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Are you wise? Some would say yes, others would say no. But this leads to a further question: which kind of wisdom do you have? In 1 Corinthians 1:26 -27a we read, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful not many were of noble birth, But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;” Clearly, the Scripture co...

If you aren’t careful, our tongue can create some awkward situations. A man named Tony shared an example when he put his foot in his mouth: “Once, while working customer service at the meat counter, I asked a mother with a toddler and a rather protruding stomach area, ‘When is the baby due?’ She informed me she wasn’t pregnant. Catching my mistake, I countered with, ‘No, I mean, when is the baby d...

📖 Main Text: James 2:18-26 In C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters, he brilliantly portrays a senior demon (Screwtape) advising his inexperienced nephew (Wormwood) who is seeking to lead a 'patient' away from God. Through a series of carefully crafted letters, Lewis seeks to show the spiritual warfare going on continually in the unseen realm. Readers will observe that demons believe many ortho...

📖 Main Text: James 2:14-17 You may as well separate weight from lead or heat from fire as works from faith,” said the Puritan Thomas Watson. This illustrates the point James makes in the next section of his letter: a true and living faith is always accompanied by good works. Anyone who claims to be a Christian but does not live a life of good works has reason to seriously doubt the authenticity o...

As mentioned last week, in chapter one James exposes three areas where we are in danger of deceiving ourselves: the first is with regard to temptation (v. 16); the second is when we hear the Word without acting on it (v. 22); and the third is when we do not control our speech (v. 26). Our Lord is not interested in our accumulation of Bible knowledge if it doesn’t transfer from our heads to our han...

The Puritan John Owen once said, "Temptations... put nothing into a man, but only draw out what was in him before." This captures a key part of James's teaching in the next section of his letter. As believers, it is important to our sanctification that we understand how temptation works in our lives. We need to understand where it comes from and what is its awful potential. As someon...

We are excited to have Aaron Bolduc and his family with us this week! Aaron will be preaching on the important topic of “A Christian Testimony”. He is a gifted Evangelist that Lighthouse has supported for just over one year. His passion is to strengthen local churches through preaching and teaching, training pastors, conducting evangelistic training, and ultimately by raising up the next generatio...

The words of James 1:2 are familiar to many Christians, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” “Count it all joy” is the first command of the letter, but what could James possibly mean by this? Are we really to consider the trials of life joyful? Understanding what James means is critical if we are to respond correctly to trials. The hymn writer, John Newton, wrote...

Out of 108 verses, the book of James contains 59 different commands! This is more per total word count than any other book in the New Testament. The numerous commands make the book eminently practical, and for this reason it is a favorite for many believers. But why so many commands? This question gets to the heart of James’ purpose: to clearly distinguish between living faith (which saves) and dea...

He Is Risen! Christianity does not open by telling us how we must live. Instead, it begins by telling us what Jesus did for us in history. He humbled Himself and became a man, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for the sins of all who repent and believe. However, He did not remain in the tomb! Three days later, He arose, victorious over death! As the Apostle Paul wrote, " .... If...

Tonight we gather to remember the cross of Christ and reflect on the suffering, sacrifice, and love displayed in His death. Good Friday calls us to slow down, behold the weight of what Jesus endured for sinners, and worship with gratitude for the redemption He purchased in our place.

Christianity does not open by telling us how we must live. Instead, it begins by telling us what Jesus did for us in history. He humbled Himself and became a man, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for the sins of all who repent and believe. However, He did not remain in the tomb! Three days later, He arose, victorious over death! As the Apostle Paul wrote, “ … If Christ has not been r...

Christianity does not open by telling us how we must live. Instead, it begins by telling us what Jesus did for us in history. He humbled Himself and became a man, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for the sins of all who repent and believe. However, He did not remain in the tomb! Three days later, He arose, victorious over death! As the Apostle Paul wrote, "...if Christ has not b...

How important is it for Christians to live in harmony with one another? Francis Schaeffer said it well, "We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus's claims are true, and that Christianity is true unless the world see some reality of the oneness of true Christians." So how important is it? Extremely important! But how is this achieved, and what doe...

Main Text: Colossians 3:16An important role of church leaders is teaching and admonishing (cf. Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:24-25). But did you know that Paul also expected all Christians to teach and admonish one another? For example, Colossians 3:16a says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom …" (cf. Romans 15:...

Let's welcome our guest speaker, Craig Apel as he preaches on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. We need to develop a biblical theology of suffering; believing that God has a purpose for our pain and having faith in him to use it for his glory and our good.

Here at Lighthouse we have the firm conviction that God is sovereign. Not sovereign in the sense of generally orchestrating the major actors in the world, but sovereign in a meticulous way. So much so that we can affirm with the Westminster Confession of Faith, "God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass...

Can you think of a time when a friend or loved one encouraged you? Can you think of a time you intentionally sought to encourage another? Someone has said, "More people fail for lack of encouragement than for any other reason." Whether that is true or not, our Lord knows that we need encouragement; you can only go so long without it! So it should be no surprise that we are commanded to e...

Every person has burdens in life. A burden can be a duty or responsibility that we carry, or it can be a trial, like a health problem, a financial struggle, a loss, or a relationship difficulty. Sometimes the burdens of life are too heavy to carry by ourselves; we need brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside and help shoulder the weight. This is what we typically think about when we read Pa...

Acceptance is something every person longs for, and according to the Apostle Paul, Christians should find it and offer it in their local community of Jesus followers. But acceptance is often lacking in the body of Christ. As fallen sinners we tend to accept only people who are like us: people who share our views, or our economic status, or our level of education. This becomes a problem because of t...

📖 This Week’s Message: Is Abortion Morally Wrong? According to Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most states. A member of the Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board, Reverend Mark Bigelow, said, “Even as a minister I am careful what I presume Jesus would do if he were alive today, but one thing I know from the Bible is that Jesus was not against wo...

As we continue looking at the “one another” commands of the New Testament, the next one can be exceptionally difficult. In Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13 we are commanded to forgive one another. As people who claim to have been forgiven by God, we ought to be forgiving of one another. Once our eyes have been opened to see the depth of our sins against God, the sins committed against us appear mi...

God designed us to need deep, meaningful relationships with others, and He intends this need to be met through the Body of Christ. The longer we are connected to a local body of believers, the deeper and more substantial our relationships should become. But how does this happen? Enter the “one another” commands sprinkled throughout the letters of the New Testament. Today we will consider one of th...

As we read the New Testament letters, one phrase appears again and again: “one another.” The Apostle Paul uses this expression nearly forty times to describe the responsibilities believers have toward each other within the church. Commands like “love one another,” “live in harmony with one another,” and “welcome one another” show us that the Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation....

📖  Main Text:  James 1:19–25 How should preaching shape the life of a Christian? In this standalone message, Pastor Doug explores James’s warning against being hearers only of the Word. True faith listens humbly, responds obediently, and allows God’s Word to produce real change. This message helps us understand how preaching is meant to grow us in godliness and guard us from spiritual self-decept...