Providence Church

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. 

Psalm 63 is David praying in the wilderness. And the amazing thing is how he prays. He doesn’t ask God to get him out of the wilderness, but he simply seeks God himself. And David ends up finding satisfaction and security right there in the wilderness. What if we made this our prayer for the new year? What if it was our prayer for all of life?

Psalm 62 calls us to trust in God alone—resting in his character and relying on him at all times. Though we often place our trust in ourselves, others, or wealth, Jesus perfectly trusted the Father and delivers us from self-reliance.

In this Advent sermon from John 18:33–38, Jesus declares the purpose of his birth: to bear witness to it. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises and the truth that stands over every moment of our lives.

What happened on that very first Christmas gave us more than a heartwarming story. What happened on that first Christmas changed the world. Because Jesus came to accomplish the very will of God for the world.

Jesus came as light because the world is in darkness. Humanity is in hiding in rebellion against God, but the light has come. Darkness is not inevitable. Cynicism is not final. Anyone who believes in Jesus is rescued from darkness.

Advent is season celebrating the coming of Jesus and longing for him to come again. And we learn a lot about why Jesus came from what he reveals about himself. In this passage, he tells us who he is, what he came to do, and how he did it.

We are all capable of drifting from God and community, so we must watch out for one another. We are all responsible to bring back the wanderer. When we do this, we join the work of the good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to go after the one. 

As James closes his letter, the number one thing on his mind is prayer. Which makes sense, because prayer might be the main application of everything he’s been writing. True faith expresses itself through prayer.

James calls us to be  long-suffering —to endure injustice, pain, and grief without losing hope. That kind of patience doesn’t come from calm apps or techniques; it comes from knowing how the story ends.  When you know the end of the story—that Jesus will return to make all things new, to bring justice and flourishing—you can live differently in the midst of sorrow. You can endure. The gospel story...