Orchard Community Church Sermon Audio

Why do some people accept the gospel and others don't? In this sermon, called "The Parable of the Soils", we will look at Matthew 13:1-23 where Jesus talks about this difficult issue. Jesus talks about God's amazing grace in spreading the truth of the gospel to all different people and the difficult reality that not all accept the gospel. He also talks about God's sovereig...

In this sermon we look at Matthew 12:22-50 where Jesus talks about the unforgivable sin. We look very carefully at this important issue to see exactly what Jesus is talking about. In a sermon called "Worst Decision Ever," we see that the Pharisees decide that there is no way Jesus is the Messiah. Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunitychurch.com Listening to sermons online can be...

When one of my kids tries to boss one of my other kids, I point out that I'm right there and then I ask them, "Who is the father here? Who has the authority?" They begrudgingly say, "you are and you do..." They want to exercise authority over each other, but as their father I have a greater authority than they do.  In a sermon called "A Greater Authority", we loo...

Imagine giving your whole life for something and then wondering if it was all for nothing. I think we all have expectations in our life that have been disappointing. In Matthew 11, we see John the Baptist, who has given his life to prepare the way for Jesus and is now in jail because of this, send messengers to Jesus with a difficult question. John's question to Jesus is basically, "Was...

Being a Christian is not easy. In our current culture we see disturbing trends, difficult events, and growing resentment against Christians. We are also bombarded with causes, movements, and social philosophies that demand immediate reaction and complete support. We are pushed to seek our own happiness at all cost, yet are forced to step carefully around the happiness of others. In this difficult...

At the beginning of each new year, I like to take a Sunday to look at the big picture of Scripture. We always need a proper perspective when entering a New Year. God's truth from Genesis to Revelation gives us that proper perspective. This sermon is called "The Big Picture" and looks at the entire message of the Bible. Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunitychurch.com Listeni...

For the last sermon of 2020, we will be stepping out of our sermon series on Matthew for a sermon I'm calling "Look Both Ways." As we close out 2020 and look forward to 2021, it is appropriate to look back and look forward. We look back to see God's faithfulness and look forward in faith as we seek to follow where he leads. This has been a very difficult year, but God has been...

We often think about Jesus being the greatest gift of Christmas. Christmas also reminds us that Jesus is our joy, peace, hope, and love. I wonder, though, if we ever think about the mission of Christmas? Jesus came because he was on a mission to save us from our sins and restore us to a right relationship with God. When we celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas, we are celebrating that he came...

I remember sending out invitations for our wedding. At the end of the invitation were four letters - "RSVP". These four letters represent a French Phrase that I will not attempt to spell out here, but basically it means please send a response. We needed to know how many people were coming to our wedding so we needed people to send their response to the invitation to let us know if they w...

We think of the birth of Jesus as something sweet and beautiful. As we learn more about his life from the gospels, I wonder if we should think about his birth more like the Allies storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. The incarnation is more than a sweet gesture of love. The incarnation is an invasion of our world by the kingdom of God! In a sermon called "Confronted by J...

After they heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount, the crowds declared that Jesus taught with authority that they had never heard before.  In a sermon called "The Powerful Authority of Jesus", we look at Matthew 8:1-17.  Matthew continues this theme by giving us three incredible examples of Christ's powerful authority at work. His authority continues today as well! Orchard Commu...

Choices can be difficult. Sometimes choices are tough because there are too many good things to choose from. Other times choices are tough because there are very few options, but the consequence of the choice is very serious. So which of these applies to our choice of what to believe in? This sermon is called "Choose" and we will be looking at Matthew 7:13-29. As Jesus ends the Sermon on...

Ever feel like the world is just completely messed up? Ever wonder what to do and how to live? This is what Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. In a sermon called "Kingdom Living Part 8: How to Live in a Messed Up World", we look at Matthew 7:1-12.  I think we all need a biblical perspective on this very important topic right now! This sermon is pa...

There is something called the "overview effect", which is experienced by some astronauts when they see the earth from a distance. The astronauts see the earth as a whole and as something very small seemingly hanging in the vastness of space. They describe a sense of perspective that diminishes the many divisions of humanity. This unique perspective changes how they think about life. In a...

We tend to make prayer very complicated. We try for the right words or the right emotion so that God will hear our prayer or, if we're honest, sometimes just to impress those who are listening to us pray. In a sermon called "Kingdom Living Part 6: How to Pray", we look at the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:7-15  This is part 6 on the Sermon on the Mount and is part 13 of our sermon...

Have you ever had someone tell you that all Christians are hypocrites? Have you ever wondered if you were a hypocrite? In Matthew 6:1-18 Jesus preaches about hypocrisy. We continue our sermon series called "The King Has Come" on the Gospel of Matthew with a sermon called "Kingdom Living Part 5: How Not To Be A Hypocrite". Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunitychurch.com...

We have a guest speaker for this sermon.  Orchard began supporting Dan Doyle and his family when they were in Nicaragua. The Doyles then moved to Ecuador where they have been serving until the COVID shutdown forced them to return to the states.  The focus of Dan's message is You Can't Have The Great Commission Without The Great Commandment. Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunityc...

Minor cuts and scrapes, bruises, or sore muscles don't warrant a trip to the hospital. But what if we are having chest pains and heart trouble? Anyone with any sense would tell us to get to the doctor right away because we could have something wrong with our heart! I think we often get this backwards in our relationship with Christ. We look at outward things and treat them as most important b...

Do you ever feel like you're not good enough for God? What if I told you this was good? Those who know they are not good enough are ready to accept the gift of grace that God has given us in His Son, Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about what it means to be righteous, but the whole point to what he is saying is that we will never be enough. Our response to Jesus' message i...

Our guest preacher is one of the missionaries we support as a church. He has asked that his name not be used due to the difficulties on the mission field where he serves. He will be preaching from Psalm 51 in a sermon titled "Marks of Genuine Repentance". Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunitychurch.com Listening to sermons online can be a great way to keep up with a sermon serie...

A Newspaper once reached out to famous authors asking them to write an answer to the question, "What is wrong with the world." G.K. Chesterton famously sent in his article for publication which read, simply, "Dear sir, I am". Chesterton understood that when we look at problems in the world we need to start by looking at ourselves.  In this sermon called "Salt and Light&quo...

I am doing something a bit unusual, for this sermon. I am preaching a sermon that was preached by someone else. I hope you will bear with me, though, as that someone else was Jesus Christ and the sermon is the Sermon on the Mount. We are looking at the first part of this amazing sermon, as we look at Matthew 5:1-12, in a sermon called "Kingdom Living Part 1 – The Blessed Life". Orchard C...

What does it mean to follow Jesus? I think we have lost a sense of the importance of this question. We talk about believing in Jesus, trusting Jesus, and even receiving Jesus. All these are helpful in some ways, but I believe Jesus summed up what it means to be a Christian when he invited people to follow him. In this sermon, called "Follow Me", we look at Matthew 4:18-25. We will look a...

The world is facing a difficult time right now. What should our attitude be? Should we seek to avoid the difficulty? Should we try easy ways out? Should we just do what we want? In Matthew 4:1-17 we see Jesus tempted in ways that we struggle with. We see how he responds and endures as an example for us and to prove that he is qualified to be our savior. This sermon is called "Difficult Trials...

When I was in college in downtown Chicago, it was easy to get lost walking around the city. Fortunately, just about anywhere you are in downtown Chicago you can see either the Willis Tower (which was the Sears Tower when I was there) or the John Hancock Building. These landmarks gave me reference points to know where I was and where I should go. In part 5 of our sermon series on the Gospel of Matt...