Redemption Hill Church

The regular weekly grind can make the most rewarding jobs feel like they are empty and pointless at times. Last week we saw that we can join God's work in forming, filling, and cultivating this world. This week we will bring that down to a very practical level and see how our work connects to God's work in His world, whatever the career field.

There is a terrible misconception that work is only a result of the curse. This makes people feel as if any work other than full-time vocational ministry is fruitless and a lesser option. The Biblical reality is that God designed us for work from the very beginning, modeling it for us Himself. Understanding God’s design for work is fundamental in understanding our purpose in cultivation and servic...

This has been a timely series for us as a church, and I have had a lot of fun preaching through the Beginnings of the early church, seeing the foundation of what we are and what we should pursue as a church. This Sunday we will focus in on Acts 6:7, which shows us what we should pursue in order to be a part of the advance of God's Word.

This is a huge narrative section that shows us the ministry, life, and death of Stephen. Death is a shadow that hangs over every one of us. In a world that seems every-increasingly bent toward self-realization and expression, it is a shocking text to see someone self-sacrificially committed to the transcendent kingdom and cause of another. This text shows us how Jesus reorients our lives, and how...

As the early church grew quickly, some complaints rose up within the church family. The Apostles, filled with the Spirit, led with wisdom, though, and didn't allow things to fester. An all-church meeting was called to roll out some new structures to accommodate the needs of the growing church. This passage is essential for us. It shows us that the church is one body with many members, and that the...

This passage shows the Apostles brought back in front of the Sanhedrin to be questioned, for a second time. The council was in a rage and ready to kill the Apostles, just like they had killed Jesus. Peter stood boldly, though, and an older Pharisee named Gamaliel spoke up with some prophetic words of caution. This passage will show us why Christians can rejoice even in the midst of real opposition...

This Sunday we will pause our series in Acts, picking that up next Sunday. Pastor Chris Bennett, who leads Renewal Church in Memphis, and is speaking at our Men's Conference, will preach from Lamentations.

The Holy Spirit moved through the early church to shape it with great grace and great fear. In this week's passage, we see that the power of God was not limited to stay within the already-existing community that had formed. This new community, the Church, took ministry to the streets. There was a public-facing witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That also doesn't mean it was easy or unopp...

This passage shows a massive contrast in the early church. It was a community shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ that showed off the grace of God beautifully. Still, in those earliest days, people tried to take advantage of the community and elevate themselves to notoriety. That's right, the first Sunday after Easter we're jumping into the story of Ananias and Sapphira. This passage shows us the...

Friday and Saturday give a powerful picture of our reality, and the waiting anticipation to see if God will work in our clouded grief. The sorrow of Friday and the silence of Saturday look ahead with a building anticipation to the celebration on Sunday. The grave could not hold Jesus, He was raised from death to life! This Easter’s sermon will come from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 as we see the bold his...

After Peter and John stood boldly in the face of their own arrest and questioning at the hands of the men who had killed Jesus, they were set free. This passage shows us that they went straight to their friends and church family, and that they all gathered together to pray. It's a helpful passage because it shows us how we can pray together in the face of massive opposition and suffering.

After Peter healed a crippled beggar at the Temple gate, and preached a sermon showing how all of Scripture points to Jesus, he and John were arrested. They were dragged in front of the same group of religious leaders who condemned Jesus to death just a couple of months earlier. Peter, who abandoned Jesus the night of his arrest, and denied even knowing him in the High Priest's courtyards, is back...

Last week we saw Jesus heal a crippled beggar at the gateway into the Temple courts, through the Apostle Peter. That healing created a ruckus. Everyone knew that old crippled man and were shocked that he was walking around on strong legs. As a crowd gathered on a covered porch in the Temple called Solomon’s Portico. The once shy Peter stood and preached his second sermon in Jerusalem since the Hol...

This passage transitions us from the day of Pentecost to the earliest days of this newly formed, Spirit-empowered community. A shocking event occurred one day in the Temple courts, as Peter and John strolled through the gate into the Temple grounds. Peter healed a crippled beggar in the name and by the power of Jesus Christ. This surprised everyone who saw it, just like it would surprise us today....

This passage is absolutely foundational for us as a church. It is referenced in every Foundations Class we have ever taught, and shaped our longings and vision from the earliest days of planting Redemption Hill. It shows us what the earliest church devoted itself to, and how it was shaped by the gospel into a new family and community. It also shows us the incredible impact that a gospel-shaped com...

As the first Christian sermon concludes, Peter’s hearers were “cut to the heart” and asked what they should do. Their sin was exposed. Peter’s call was to repent and be baptized. This is the normative pattern in the New Testament: God’s Word is proclaimed, people are cut to the heart, they repent, and they are baptized. We will take time to explore what real repentance is and why baptism is import...

In the first Christian sermon, Peter established that Jesus the man is the Savior we need. He didn’t stop there, though. He went on to proclaim the powerful reality that Jesus is the King we need as well. He came in the line of David, anticipated by David’s own Psalms, and Jesus is the ultimate King that was promised to David. The implications for us are massive, not only individually, but on the...

After the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles in power, just like Jesus promised, the Apostles spilled into the streets of Jerusalem speaking in tongues. The crowds responded with wonder and amazement, while some mocked them and thought they were drunk. Peter stood up and delivered the first Christian sermon. The same man who had denied knowing Jesus just a couple of months earlier now stood with b...

The waiting finally came to an end on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and worked in power in Jerusalem. Christianity swept through the Roman Empire and on across the world in the most unlikely of ways. This passage is what started it all. Join us as we take a look at how to recognize the movement of the Spirit of God in our own lives and church.

The Apostles and their friends, 120 total people, followed Jesus' instructions after His Ascension and headed back to Jerusalem to wait. This passage shows us what they did in the interim. I'm not good at waiting. Most of us aren't. Living in a city exacerbates that whole problem. Everything is fast-paced all the time. This week we are going to see what it actually looks like to wait on the Lord t...

The book of Acts details the first days of the early church, the beginning of God's movement to form a people for His glory from all the peoples of the earth. It shows how the Word of God advances and spreads in the most unlikely of ways, through the most unlikely people. As we begin a new year together, we will see new beginnings through Acts 1-7. This Sunday we begin with Acts 1:1-11, the Ascens...

This is the final chapter in this prophetic book. After the Lord had spoken through chapter 2, Habakkuk responded with a prayer. His prayer is again helpful for us. We have already seen that it is good for us to come before God in open lament, and that His plans will not always make sense to us in the moment, but that we can trust that God is good and sovereign. Now we see what it looks like to tr...

In this passage God continues His answer to Habakkuk, but it takes a hard turn. After detailing the profile of the wicked, and calling the righteous to live by faith, God went on to mock the arrogant Chaldeans. There are five "Woes" in this passage, but it could also be taken or translated as five "Ha's!" It's an important passage for us because it shows that even when the world seems like it is d...

Last week we saw the despair of the prophet’s complaint, and that what he saw continues to reverberate through today – that violence, wickedness, and injustice are everywhere and it can feel like God is distant from it all. God’s answer was that He is active, and has a plan, but that we wouldn’t believe it if we knew what He was doing. This week we see that God laid out His plan to Habakkuk, and i...

Habakkuk is a powerful book that expresses the cry and complaint of the prophet, and receives God’s answer. How can God use a wicked nation for His purposes and glory? Where is He in the midst of suffering? How long will God wait to bring righteousness and justice, and fulfillment of His promises?