Orchard Community Church Sermon Audio

Some people really don't like surprises. Some surprises are great - like getting a gift that you really wanted. Other surprises are not so great - like finding out the direction you've been driving for five hours was incorrect. In a sermon called "Don't Be Surprised", we look at 1 Peter 4:12-19 where Peter tells us not to be surprised at the difficulties we face as we foll...

In this sermon, titled "Living with the End in Sight", we look at 1 Peter 4:7-11.  In this passage, Peter reminds us that what we are going through now is only temporary. God has a great plan for all things and, through Christ, he is bringing all things to their appropriate conclusion. As followers of Christ, we must live with this end in sight. Peter gives us several helpful, yet challe...

In part 16 of our sermon series on 1 Peter, we are looking at 1 Peter 4:1-6 in a sermon called "Gospel Difference." Christians are called to be different. Our attitudes and our actions must be shaped by the gospel. But this will never be a reality unless we accept that the gospel is a completely different standard than the way this world looks at things. Orchard Community Church  www.orc...

In this sermon called "Hope for the Journey", we look at 1 Peter 3:18-22.  This passage contains incredible hope for us in those moments when we are weary. Peter turns our thoughts to certainty of hope we have in Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension to reign eternally at the right hand of the Father. When we go through difficult times, we must look to the certainty of the gos...

In this sermon called "Highest Priority", on 1 Peter 3:13-17, Peter makes it clear that when we are in fear filled, frustrating, or even dangerous situations because of our faith in Christ, we still must hold on to our highest priority which is to display and proclaim the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunitychurch.com Listening to sermons online...

In this sermon called "New House Rules", we look at 1 Peter 3:8-12. Here, Peter instructs Christians in a way that shows that he sees the church as a sort of new household. The relationships between Christians form a new basic unit of society. Peter tells us how we should relate to each other and how we should relate to the world around us. Orchard Community Church  www.orchardcommunityc...

We are returning to our sermon series called "Scattered: The Hope of the Gospel in a Changing World" by looking at 1 Peter 2:18 - 3:7. This sermon is called "Gospel Submission - Part 2" because Peter is continuing a theme of how the gospel shapes our submission to the authorities in our lives. We looked at 1 Peter 2:13-17 back in late November and now we will look at the rest o...

Happy New Year! I am excited to see what God has planned for Orchard Community Church during this new year. This sermon is called "The Big Picture from Genesis to Revelation". I like to start each new year as a church looking at an overview of God's plan from all of Scripture. The more we can understand the big picture of God's plan in Scripture, the more we will be able to hav...

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  In a sermon called "Looking Back: Seeing God's Past Faithfulness" we take a moment to reflect on this past year and challenge ourselves to see these things through eyes of faith. We look at two particular Psalms (Psalm 77 and Psalm 18) and see that when we lo...

In this sermon: The Perfect Son of Man (1 Timothy 1:15), we look at the amazing gospel-laced revelation of why God the Son came to earth in the flesh.  We will look into the Scriptures to see that Jesus has two complete natures: one fully human and one fully divine. This is known, in theological circles, as the hypostatic union of Christ and teaches that these two natures are united in one person;...

"They will call him Immanuel (which means 'God with us')." These words written about Jesus in Matthew 1:23 (which are a quote from Isaiah 7:14) are such an important part of Christmas. This is one of those concepts I believe we could explore for years and years and never quite reach the depths of the meaning of this important idea. The baby Jesus, born on Christmas morning, is...

Ever had the experience of walking in a dark room and not being able to turn on the light. After awhile your eyes adjust a bit and maybe you can see some faint outlines of the furniture so you don't hurt yourself as you move around. Maybe, if it is too dark, you just have to feel around with our hands. What if at that moment someone turned on a very bright light. We might think that our first...

Death and Taxes, those are said to be the certainties of life. But there is one more certainty. One day, each one of us will stand before his Creator to testify, to give an account of a life lived. How do we know if we are prepared for that moment? Is there a way to examine our lives now and have confidence that we will be able to present back to God a fruitful and productive life? Is there a simp...

Submission is an ugly word today. Instead, we value strength, ambition, and authority. Our culture sees submission as being something for the weak. Yet Peter tells Christians who are struggling under persecution that they are to submit. In a sermon called "Gospel Submission Part 1" we look at 1 Peter 2:13-17. Here, we face the important, but uncomfortable idea that as Christians who want...

What does it mean to live with purpose? Many of our actions and decisions are simply responses to other things going on in our lives. Our schedule is determined by our jobs, family obligations, or other obligations. These situations can then shape our mood and our goals. Our moment by moment decisions are shaped by these things as well. After a while we can feel like life is something that is happ...

Ancient Roman temples were built using mammoth blocks of stone from nearby quarries. These stones would be cut in the quarry to the exact shaped necessary for a particular location in the temple structure. The stones were numbered or marked in some way to designate where they should be placed once they arrived at the construction site. In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter says that Christians are "living st...

The church should be a visible demonstration of the gospel at work in our lives so that we love each other in a way the world cannot explain. In a sermon called "Loving as the People of God" we look at 1 Peter 1:22 - 2:3 where we will see that Peter links our understanding and commitment to the truth of the gospel with our commitment to loving each other. Orchard Community Church  www.or...

Do you ever wonder, "what do I do now?" I think we face this question a lot in our relationship with God. Maybe when we accept Christ as our savior we then wonder what we are supposed to do. We learn more about God and his plan for us and we wonder how to respond. In a sermon called "Living as the People of God" we look at 1 Peter 1:13-21. This passage answers the question &quo...

Ever get in a tough situation and wonder "Why me?" When we face struggles we can feel like God has turned against us. I wonder, though, if we ever give enough consideration to the incredible blessings God has given us in his grace. In a sermon called "Why Me?", we look at 1 Peter 1:10-12.  We see that we have the amazing privilege of living in a time when Jesus Christ has alrea...

Have you ever been in so much sorrow or stress that you felt your world was ripping apart? Have you struggled to put that sorrow into words or even struggled with whether or not it was right to be feeling that way at all? 1 Peter 1:5 says that the recipients of Peter's letter "may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials". The book of 1 Peter deals with Christians going throu...

The purpose of Realign Rochester is to equip Christians in the Rochester area to be better prepared to live out their faith in the midst of a challenging cultural context. This conference is an effort to gather like-minded, gospel-centered, Christians who believe in the supremacy of God's Word so that we can be encouraged and challenged to be salt and light for Christ in this area. Our speake...

The purpose of Realign Rochester is to equip Christians in the Rochester area to be better prepared to live out their faith in the midst of a challenging cultural context. This conference is an effort to gather like-minded, gospel-centered, Christians who believe in the supremacy of God's Word so that we can be encouraged and challenged to be salt and light for Christ in this area. Our speake...

The purpose of Realign Rochester is to equip Christians in the Rochester area to be better prepared to live out their faith in the midst of a challenging cultural context. This conference is an effort to gather like-minded, gospel-centered, Christians who believe in the supremacy of God's Word so that we can be encouraged and challenged to be salt and light for Christ in this area. Our speake...

The purpose of Realign Rochester is to equip Christians in the Rochester area to be better prepared to live out their faith in the midst of a challenging cultural context. This conference is an effort to gather like-minded, gospel-centered, Christians who believe in the supremacy of God's Word so that we can be encouraged and challenged to be salt and light for Christ in this area. Our speake...

The purpose of Realign Rochester is to equip Christians in the Rochester area to be better prepared to live out their faith in the midst of a challenging cultural context. This conference is an effort to gather like-minded, gospel-centered, Christians who believe in the supremacy of God's Word so that we can be encouraged and challenged to be salt and light for Christ in this area. Our speake...