Risen Church NC

In part two of our look at 1 Corinthians 6, we learn more about what it means to be lights in our world and how our witness has the potential to make a tremendous impact on those around us. In this message, we focus on how our own recovery from sin and resistance to sin proclaims the Gospel to our neighbors. We hear Paul emphasize that no sin should be underestimated and all of us should be commun...

In part one of our look at 1 Corinthians 6, we discuss the importance of our Christian testimony and witness. Paul begins by addressing how we should react to being sinned against. Listen as we discuss how he builds off of Jesus' radical commands that Christians should be the lights of their world, and how our detachment from the material and temporary should help us always react with grace and me...

In our final message in our "On Loan" series, we once more connect the dots between our commitment to God now and our capacity for all He has for us in the next life. We look one of Jesus' most famous sermons, where He reminds us that we all will lose this life one day, and He urges us to lose it for a purpose. This raises the question, if we know we're going to lose it one day, why not give it aw...

Jesus instilled in the hearts and minds of the early church that the Kingdom of God was very near. We are all created by God and we are all headed back to Him. Our time on earth is just temporary. We are all like sojourners or exiles, awaiting our entrance into God's Kingdom. Our current reality is merely preparation for our eternal future. The early Christians took this framework and ran with it,...

We all respond to responsibilities in this life differently. Some of us take great amounts of pride in our work and are very possessive over that which belongs to us. In other cases, we are more passive and less concerned about what we should do. All of this falls under the presumption that we answer to no one for our lives and we can do as we please. But if our lives don't really belong to us......

Having established how important the local church is to every Christian, Paul begins addressing some of the problems persisting within the church at Corinth. He's made it clear that every body has a vital role to play in the Body of Christ, and thus we cannot separate individual selves from the whole, and vice versa. Beginning in chapter 5, Paul admonishes the Corinthians how they ought to react t...

What would life be like if we lived from an understanding that everything - including us - is borrowed and on loan from God? What would life look like if we lived as if nothing really belonged to us, and would one day go back to God? In this introduction to a series all about this premise, we consider how all of our lives come from God, exist for Him, and will one day return to Him. The Bible has...

After addressing how each of us individually will be judged for our service to Christ, Paul tells us that we will also be held accountable for our participation in the Body of Christ. He calls us the New Temple of God, echoing the words of Jesus that the gathering of God's people becomes His dwelling place. How we treat God's Temple - Christ's Body - is crucial in our Christian service. From here,...

What if our greatest weakness turned out to be our unexpected ally? What if God doesn't remove them because He chooses to use them to remind us of Him? While we often conceal our weaknesses, Jesus invites us to bring them to Him. In those moments we are discouraged, distracted, or tempted, we can actually be reminded of God's grace and power. It's in our weakest moments that we can be full of God'...

In our look at 1 Corinthians 3 we discuss: - The Spiritual Nature vs the Fleshly Nature: There is a vast difference between God and everyone else. He is higher and greater and above us all. Apart from Him, we are helpless and hopeless in our sin. However, Jesus and His Cross bring salvation to us all. In Him, we can be revived from sin and regenerated by His Spirit. Our fleshly nature still linger...

In our final look at Ezekiel's unique, unexpected, yet transformative experience with God, we step into the Valley of Dry Bones. In this vision, Ezekiel's difficult ministry met its most devastating scene yet. In spite of all the hope he had been given by God, how could Israel come back from this? How was he supposed to motivate the remnant after seeing this? At this point, nobody would've blamed...

Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 1 that we all come to Christ, seeking God's glory and His Body's good. In the next chapter, he uses his own approach to preaching as an example for everyone to follow in their participation in the Church. He states that he always handles God's Word, and by extension, he conducts his life through the lens of Christ and Him crucified. Paul tells the Corinthians th...

Salvation often gets reduced down to an insurance plan, to being bailed out of trouble and whatever consequences that we may have coming. However, Christian Salvation is much more than that. Our salvation is a redeeming work of God. Redemption evokes buying something back that has been lost. In Christ, God has bought us all back from sin and desires to bring us back to life. Like with some things...

The first item on Paul's lengthy agenda in 1 Corinthians is the subject of unity and division. He addresses this first, because the mission of the Church was so very contingent on the ambition of the Church. The people at Corinth were dividing up into factions, quarreling with each other over what made one right and righteous. Paul quickly reminded them about the Cross. Each faction was boasting o...

The nation of Israel was in disbelief about their situation in exile, but God raised up the prophet Ezekiel to shine a different light on their circumstances. In this message, we hear how God is always working in our lives so that we might know Him in a personal, intimate way. Ezekiel invites us to see our lives, specifically our defining moments as entry points into the Kingdom of God - as opport...

The demands and ways of true, Biblical Christianity fly in the face of the desires and ways of culture. There is a temptation to dilute what the Bible teaches and the movement that Jesus started, but we risk jettisoning the salvation we so desperately need. In this message, God invites us into the discomfort zone so that we might find true, abundant, eternal life. What we first resist for fear of...

This message is an introduction to our 1 Corinthians study, with some important context about the circumstances that led to the Corinth church plant and the pressure it would have been under from its secular culture. Listen as we discover how Paul's word to Corinth is just as relevant to the Church in today's world as it was so many years ago. In many ways, the spirit of selfishness that sought to...

Everything that Ezekiel had ever anticipated and prepared for unraveled right before his eyes, when he and many others were taken captive by Babylon. All he had ever known was serving God in and around the temple and his chance to be part of the priesthood ripped away. He along with the entire nation, couldn't even imagine how to serve God in these circumstances. Much to Ezekiel's surprise, God ap...

In this conclusion to our series, "Ready, Set, Go", we discuss the history of the Church and consider why we continue in traditions from thousands of years ago. We hear from God's Word about the power of God that is at work when we cling to His Kingdom's promises and deflect this world's alternative, inferior invitations. We trace it all back to Jesus, how He displayed the wonders of Heaven, yet d...

The book of Romans is a masterful presentation and summation of the Gospel. It takes us from condemnation to salvation, and details every possible layer regarding humanity's stance with God. Specifically, Romans teaches us what salvation does for us and tells us what we should do with our salvation. In our study, we've heard Paul teach on justification and sanctification, showing us how our lives...

As Paul reflects on his overall message to the Roman Church and looks back across his ministry in general, he invites us to consider how we are participating and delighting in the plan of God. The Church age is the culmination of thousands of years of preparation by God and His chosen, to bring the whole world under Him. Paul took great joy in being part of the realization of this plan, and longed...

Jesus came from Heaven to Earth on a mission. He wasted no time and cut no corners in proclaiming the high stakes nature of His invitation. To miss out on what He was offering, would be eternally costly. He also made it clear that choosing to pursue Him and finding a relationship with God would be the most rewarding experience obtainable. God has spared nothing to redeem us, so it's not extreme to...

To put a wrap on what it means to truly be transformed by the power of Christ, Paul gives us one last word about doing for others just as Jesus has done for us. Having received so much from God, those remade in His image will give so much to and for one another. There is no better way to describe or characterize Christianity in practice. In this message, we hear how Paul's words are rooted in Jesu...

David experienced life's highest of highs and lowest of lows, yet through it all He never lost faith in God. Perhaps the height of His confidence in God came at his lowest personal and professional moment. After suffering the breakdown of his family and facing an insurrection led by his own son, David was ready to leave it all behind. Empty handed, exiled from his own kingdom, David's faith was ro...

Romans 14 continues with the theme of sanctification, in that it calls us to examine and evaluate our motives and ambitions. Paul wants us to consider the decisions that we make and the stances that we take, in light of how they contribute to the greater Kingdom of God and how they build up the body of Christ. This chapter is a true intersect of individual liberty and communal responsibility, as P...