Providence Church

If Psalm 22 is about the cross of Christ and Psalm 24 is about the crown of Christ, then Psalm 23 is about the confidence we can have in Christ. Psalm 23 is a confidence Psalm, a psalm of absolute trust. And there are three clear confessions of confidence in this Psalm that can be our confessions too.    

This is the Psalm of the Cross, quoted by Jesus as he suffers and dies for the sins of the world. This Psalm brings us into the experience of Christ’s premeditated passion to deliver and rescue us from the sin and death and bring us into the dwelling presence of God.

Jesus is the blessed man of Psalm 1. Through our union with him, we receive his righteousness and we resolve to walk with him in the way of Psalm 1.

In this beautiful story, God arranges a divine encounter to take the gospel to just one man. And he does it through another man. And, even though this story has some extraordinary elements, it’s really just the ordinary way God works to bring people to himself. The Spirit of God uses the man or woman of God to share the word of God to bring people to faith in the Son of God.

The gospels moves out in word and deed. It brings people in to fellowship and community. And it spills over in abundant joy.

In Acts 6–7, Stephen faithfully serves, boldly proclaims Jesus, and becomes the first Christian martyr. His story reveals that suffering is not evidence of God's absence but often part of following Christ. In this sermon, Brad Watson explores how opposition cannot stop the mission of God, why believers share in the life of Jesus, and how the hope of resurrection transforms even death into victory.

As the early church grew, it faced much opposition. But the greatest threat to the growing church might have been growth itself. Because growth brings challenges and complexities that can distract the church from the mission of God.    

The mission of God will always meet resistance and opposition. But whatever comes our way, we can seek God, and he can give us courage to do the work he has called us to do.

Here in Acts 4 we have a confrontation between the religious leaders and the apostles. And at the root of the confrontation is the name of Jesus. His name dominates the entire episode and is what the controversy is all about. There is no other name like the name of Jesus.    

The Holy Spirit forms ordinary people into a community devoted to the gospel and his people. This sermon explores how the gospel saves us not only from sin and death, but into a shared life marked by hope, belonging, and mission. Even in a world marked by church hurt and isolation, the Spirit-filled church becomes a visible witness that Jesus is making all things new.  

Acts 2:1-13 is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples. On the one hand, what happens in this account is unique, because the Holy Spirit only comes one time in this particular way. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit who comes in Acts 2 is the same Holy Spirit given to us. So, who is he? And what does he do?    

Jesus was "taken up into heaven," but his work continues. The kingdom of God advances as the Holy Spirit empowers us to bear witness to Jesus. We are called out of complacency into a renewed life of expectancy, prayer, and boldness.

The risen Jesus transforms the disciples' fear into joy, a timeless message because we are a fearful people. Jesus' bodily resurrection speaks to our deepest questions about God, showing that God cares for us and can change our lives.

The road to Emmaus is in many ways a model of Christian experience. It’s a description of the journey of faith. We walk it again and again. And the risen Jesus draws near to us on the journey.

Greed is a disordered desire for more money and things that money can buy. The love of money deteriorates our love for God and others. We combat greed by cultivating the virtue of generosity. Jesus is our example: He gave himself completely for our good. 

The original understanding of sloth is much deeper than laziness. Sloth is a spiritual resistance to spiritual progress. It’s a loss of care about the things we should care about most and an avoidance of the very things we’re made for (loving God and loving others). That’s why it’s so dangerous.   

Gluttony is a disordered desire for food or drink that drives us to excess and self-indulgence. The problem is not that we have appetites, but that we are controlled by them. When we remember that our citizenship is in heaven, we are able to enjoy food as a gift and experience it as a foretaste of the great feast to come.

Wrath is anger gone wrong. It’s anger expressed in the wrong ways and it’s anger about the wrong things. When we hold onto this kind of anger, it is incredibly harmful. It’s harmful to us personally, harmful to others, and harmful to our relationship with God. How can we overcome this kind of anger and loosen its grip on our lives?  

Lust is sexual desire that can only be satisfied outside of God’s good design. Instead of honoring others, lust objectifies and uses them. The gospel sets us free from this enslaving vice and empowers us to pursue God’s vision of life and love. 

Envy is rivalry and comparison gone off the rails. Envy produces sorrow over your neighbor’s success and joy over their misfortune. It’s so common  it can be described as the oldest and most consistent source of relational strife in the Bible. The first sin out of are the garden is fueled by it. So, in this sermon we look at Cain’s story. What is envy? Why is it so deadly? How does Jesus free us f...

Vainglory is the excessive and disordered desire for recognition and approval from others. It’s such a common sin, even among the people of God, that Jesus confronts it directly in the Sermon on the Mount. Why is vainglory so deadly? And how does the gospel address it?

God wants the whole world to find life through faith in Jesus, and the way he gets the message out is through his people. How do we do it? Praying, walking, and talking.

The gospel doesn’t just reconcile us to God — it forms us into a new kind of community, one marked by the love of Christ, governed by the peace of Christ, and shaped by the word of Christ.

The gospel has the power to change us personally. It is the basis for our conversion and the means by which we continue in the Christian life.

We are a gospel-centered church because of our conviction and experience that wherever the gospel goes, it has the power to change everything.