Southwood Sermons

What is the Church? Why does it exist? What should it do? Listen in as we discuss the early church represented in the book of acts and search for the answers to these questions and more about church planting.

Why care for others? Listen in as we discuss compassionate care and why it is such an important aspect of the christian life.

When life gets hard we want to know why. Why would a good and loving God allow pain, suffering, and disappointment into our lives? Like Job, we cry out for God to show up and give us an explanation. But God rarely if ever tells us why we're suffering. He's much more interested in telling us something far more important: why He is worthy of our trust even when life is falling apart. For additional...

The path to obedience is made possible when we trust in God's presence, promise and power. The story of Moses helps us to understand that God sees our circumstances, God knows our inadequacies, yet God acts to use us anyway. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

When Saul met Jesus, his life was radically transformed. Jesus provided him with a new perspective, a new identity, and a new mission. Do you believe that He can provide the same for you and for those around you? For additional sermons in this series, click here .

God's plans are often difficult to understand, but we can trust His character. The unusual conquest of Jericho reveals God's faithfulness, holiness, and mercy, and paves the way for His fame to grow throughout the nations.

God gives us supernatural tasks that are beyond our ability, but He also provides us with the strength and courage to do what He asks.

Jesus promised us freedom, but that freedom only comes to those who live in the truth. When we believe lies, we become slaves of fear, guilt, comparisons, and busyness. Discover the lies that bind us and the true freedom that comes from the promises of God.

When Jesus returns, He will defeat every enemy and fulfill every promise. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

There's nothing that will fulfill you more than discovering how you fit into God's eternal plan to bless the world through His church. But to find our place in Jesus' church, we must understand what it is, how it works, and what it's meant to do in this world. We must come to see the church as God's great mystery, a new humanity united in one family around the faith and mission of the Messiah. For...

Whether you realize it or not, your entire life hangs on just one thing, one extraordinary event the Bible claims happened 2000 years ago: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If it didn't actually happen - if it's just a story, a metaphor, a legend - then your life is utterly meaningless, and there is no hope for any of us. If it did happen - if Jesus really did conquer death and rise from the dead...

No question in life is as important as Jesus' question in Matthew 16, "Who do you say that I am?" Our answer to that question determines everything. But to find the answer we must go back to the beginning, to the book of Genesis, to the problem and the promises that all of history are built upon. To understand Jesus, we must find Him in Genesis. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

Forgiveness and reconciliation are possible because of God's power. Joseph knew that he could forgive his brothers, because God was loving and powerful. In Him there are no hopeless relationships or unforgivable sins. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

We will all suffer at some point in this life, so let us prepare to suffer well by learning these four beliefs from the life of Joseph which will give us hope and strength even in our darkest days. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

Sexual sin is a cancer running rampant through our culture and through our churches. It threatens to destroy our marriages and sideline a whole generation of believers. But we can learn to resist. Discover four strategies from Joseph that will help you say "no" when temptation comes calling. Learn it, apply it, and then teach it to your children. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

Parenting can bring out the worst in us; but it can also bring out the best if we'll learn from Jacob's failures and follow his successes. No family on earth is beyond hope of redemption or beyond need of growth. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

How do you know you're acceptable to God? Is it because of something you've done, or because of what Jesus has done? Philippians 3 urges us to stand firm in the truth that we are right before God only through Jesus.

There are parts of our lives that are broken beyond our ability to repair. But there is hope because we have a God who can fix the unfixable and fill the unfillable parts of our lives. He can give you a new name with a new future, and all you must do is cling to Him. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

There is a way of life that works - a way of life full of God's love, joy, peace, and hope. But that way of life is only available to the humble of heart. God must break us of pride before He can grow us in grace. He must break those He loves by showing us His terrifying glory, His surprising grace, and the terrible cost of our sin. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

In the story of Jacob and Esau we see that destiny is determined by BOTH God's sovereign election AND our free will. I can't logically explain how both are true. But I must hold tenaciously to both because the Bible teaches both and because I need both if I am to know REST deep in my soul and take RESPONSIBILITY for the life I live. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

In studying the life of Isaac, we discover a man who was unfaithful to his God despite his promised blessings. Thankfully, God is faithful even to the unfaithful. We often find ourselves assuming we have to be "good enough" for God to truly love us. But the truth is that God doesn't love you because you're good; God loves you because He's good. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

God can hit a home run with a crooked stick. He can take ordinary, weak, fearful, forgettable men and women and accomplish extraordinary things through them... if they will trust and obey. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

In the rolling sea of life there are unchanging, unyielding truths revealed in God's Word, many of which are very uncomfortable. We will discover four such truths in the ashes of Sodom, and we will see the destruction that comes to the person who ignores those truths. For additional sermons in this series, click here . Following this sermon, Matt, Brian, and Blake recorded two follow up podcasts w...

Faith is the essence of the Christian religion - to be a Christian is to have faith. But what exactly is faith? How does it work? How does it grow? And what if you have doubts - are you not a Christian? Find out as we learn from Abraham's example of faith in Genesis 15. For additional sermons in this series, click here .

After a huge failure in Genesis 12, Abraham finds a fresh start and the strength to win incredible victories through the power of worship. Not just singing on a Sunday morning, worship was a 7-day-a-week habit for Abraham that strengthened his faith, inspired his courage, and broke the hold of sin on his life. That same transformative power is available to any and all who will build a habit of wor...