Redemption Hill Church

This Sunday is the penultimate sermon in our series in Revelation, we will wrap it all up next week. Revelation 21:9-22:5 gives us a portrait of the future glory of the New Jerusalem. It is a passage that is packed with beautiful imagery, ultimately showing us an image of the glory of God on earth. This is the end point of the whole biblical storyline and all of human history. Understanding it res...

This Sunday we celebrated Pastor Chuy Rodriguez’s ordination. In our denomination, ordination marks the completion of a 5-year process at minimum. The candidate is evaluated for his character, competency, and calling to ministry through the local church and through a rigorous theological evaluation that includes a paper that Chuy defended before our council. It is a lifetime credential that confir...

This passage closes out the third vision of the book. It shows us the reality of final judgment before God that all people will face, and the eternal consequences of our lives. This passage also gives us a taste of eternity in God’s presence as we see the powerful and beautiful renewal and restoration of all things.

This is the most hotly debated and deeply studied passage in the entire book – which is saying something! It is another that is filled with powerful imagery. Satan will be bound, only to be released to wreak havoc before his final demise. Chapters 19-20 show us three stages of final judgment, first for the Antichrist and False Prophet, then for the Devil himself, and finally for all of humanity. W...

We finally see the return of Jesus in this week’s passage! As we have seen, there is much more to this book than just the second coming of Christ. However, Jesus has promised He will return and reign as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The second half of chapter 19 shows that return in its splendor.

This is a beautiful and glorious passage that shows us an image of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Life can be so hard, and the Christian life can be so hard. This passage shows us the great hope we have in Christ. And it shows us that the gospel is a celebration and a feast.

This Sunday we continue our series with Revelation 17-18. That’s right, we are covering two chapters again. After this, we will slow down a bit in the book. I think you will see that these two chapters really do hang together, though. In them, we see powerful imagery of a Prostitute and Babylon the great. Ultimately, it shows us that the indulgences we are offered in this world that draw us away f...

There is a massive debate within American Christianity over the topic of justice. In this week’s passage we see a major theme of divine justice brought to bear. It’s a heavy passage, but it shows us that God is working both for our salvation and to let justice roll.

This Easter Sunday, we worked through Matthew 28 together. There may never have been a year that we more desperately longed for the light of resurrection and life to break through the darkness of death. 

Throughout the ages, the church has gathered on the Friday before Easter to remember the path Christ took to the cross. Good Friday is an invitation for us to stop and reflect upon Jesus as He lived out the lowest of human experience. It is a call to sit in the dust, hand in hand with our own doubts and sorrows. This Good Friday, we gather as a church to reflect upon the sufferings of Christ, see...

This passage has both glorious and terrifying imagery of the end. It focuses in on the great harvest as Christ collects those who are His, just as He said He would. It’s an important passage for us to consider and a timely call to repent and reset our priorities on Palm Sunday. As with so much of Revelation, it is a call to us to faithfully endure to the end in great hope.

This Sunday we continue with Revelation 13. This is the passage many of you have been waiting for – the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the mark of the beast. All of this flows out of chapter 12 as Satan, the great dragon, stands poised to make war against God’s people. We will see in our study together that in that war, Satan mimics God in his efforts to deceive and destroy. There is a clear c...

Revelation 12 starts a new section of Revelation. Chapters 12-16 take a pause to give powerful imagery that peels back the curtain to allow us to see the spiritual reality that exists throughout human history. Chapter 12 shows us the cosmic conflict between the woman and the great dragon. It’s a great passage that teaches us a lot about our enemy and the reality of suffering in our lives. I look f...

This Sunday we continue with Revelation 10-11. These two chapters are an interlude that follows the 6th Trumpet and leads into the 7th. This week’s passage brings up one of the most controversial sections of the book. There are lots of opinions about the identity of the Two Witnesses in chapter 11. The good news is that this section ends with incredible hope and promise. It also answers an importa...

This week takes a turn toward judgment in the end, but even that is not without reason or hope. As six of the seven Trumpets sound in these chapters, we are met with disturbing imagery and prophecy. It’s worth taking the time to read them before Sunday, but make sure you read all the way through the end of chapter 9. In our study together we will see that the Trumpets are wakeup calls, alarms soun...

This Sunday we continue with Revelation 7. This chapter is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, and it gives us one of the most beautiful and compelling pictures of God’s people that is found in Scripture. We will explore together the 144,000 who are sealed as we look at the Great Multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language. I’m eager to walk through the imagery and impli...

So far in our study of Revelation the imagery and text has been relatively clear. Sure, there has been some symbolism to sort out together, but a vision of Jesus, and visions of the Throne in Heaven, along with the letters to the churches, are fairly clear. This week the drama of the book takes off as the seals of the scroll are broken. It’s the first of three major movements in Revelation – seals...

Today we continue our series with Revelation 5. Last week set the stage with a vision of God’s throne. In this chapter the drama of the book begins to unfold with a powerful image of the One who is worthy to open the scrolls, revealing God’s plan for redemption in its fullness. The Lion of Judah is the Lamb who was slain.

This Sunday we will walk through Revelation 4. Chapter 4 sets the stage for the drama to unfold throughout the rest of the book. As I have already emphasized, Revelation it primarily a book about hope. It is intensely practical and helps us in moments and seasons of uncertainty and despair. Even while our city feels like it is taking a collective breath this week, the most important source of our...

This Sunday we continue our series with Revelation 2-3. We see a summary of the encouragements, warnings, exhortations, and promises given to these churches. All of it extends to us today. This is the biggest section we will cover in a single sermon in this series. We will cover all the letters to the Seven Churches in one sermon! I decided to take it on this way because I preached a whole series...

This book is as mysterious as it is misinterpreted. It looks to the revealing of the glory of Jesus Christ. Our theme in this study will be “Kingdom Come” as we see why we pray for it to be on earth as it is in heaven and find a settled confidence in God’s power to make all things new. This week we begin with Revelation 1:1-20. The opening scene of the book jumps right in with a vision of the Rise...

A Christmas reflection for Redemption Hill Church.

This week we close our series with Romans 16:25-27. This closing benediction to the letter gives us a beautiful, gospel-rich, densely packed summary of the entire letter that precedes. It’s a chance for us to be reminded of everything we have seen and learned over the past year in our study of Romans together.

Our passage this week is a closing warning to the church in Rome about the dangerous potential of divisive people in the church. It’s an important passage for us as we walk through one of the most divisive times in many of our lifetimes. The beauty and unity of the church is itself a witness to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a reflection of our hope that the day is coming when Satan...

This passage lists a whole bunch of names and people that Paul sent personal greetings to in Rome. At first blush, it may be tough to see how it applies to us, but it does! Paul’s ministry is deeply interconnected with people who were fellow-workers. There is a lot we can learn about the makeup of the early church, who were key contributors, and what it looks like for us to work alongside each oth...