Stonebrook Church, Ames, Iowa, Sermons

Money can seem like a necessary evil at times: we need and want more of it; we stress over it; we argue about it. Yet we also see good from money: providing for needs; giving it away to good causes. What is the Lord’s view on money? He is our Creator and heavenly Father, so what does he tell us? What heavenly perspectives and solutions does he have?

Time is short and the days are evil. How will we live? How will we spend our time? In light of the glorious calling from God into his eternal kingdom, we are to carefully examine our lives and to spend them in wisdom.

Two thousand years ago, God sent His son into the world. It was God’s plan that He be born into obscurity, to a poor family, without privilege or power or fame. Yet it seems that God couldn’t resist celebrating His coming and sent angels to announce His birth to lowly shepherds. Centuries later, Charles Wesley wrote a hymn celebrating His birth—Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Steeped in rich theology...

In this season we celebrate the Advent, i.e., the Coming, of Jesus Christ to earth. While we may think primarily of his First Coming to earth, we also ought to consider his Second Coming. A favorite song, Joy to the World, has relevance in the days leading up to celebrating the birth of Christ, but its author, Isaac Watts, wrote it 300 years ago with the Second Coming in mind. “Joy to the world, t...

Our expectations shape our experiences, steer our emotions, and mold our hopes and dreams. But how can we keep our expectations rooted in what is real? This week, we’ll look at a true, hope-filled expectation that we can cling to on our darkest day, as we sing through a beautiful Advent hymn: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.

Jesus Christ has come. And he is coming again. Advent means “coming,” so the Advent season looks both backward and forward to the eternal work of God through his Son. Emmanuel has come. We gratefully remember the past. We patiently wait in the present. We longingly hope for the future.

It’s hard to live without hope. Many of the Psalms narrate the psalmists’ renewal of hope in the midst of tragedy and trial. But several of the psalms also point to a broader, more universal hope—the Messianic Hope. God has a solution for all the wickedness, corruption and evil so prevalent throughout the world and its institutions. He will install His King on Zion, His holy hill. We must live in...

SERMON POWERPOINT Sunday, November 17, 2019  Brad Barrett David’s Psalms:  Mirror of the Soul–Week 5  To You, O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul 150 years ago, a classic hymn was penned.  What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Ev’rything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry        E...

Where do we go with our faith when God seems absent? How do we maintain faith when prayers seem unanswered, our circumstances all seem to be stacked against us, and we are filled with grief and sorrow and darkness in our hearts? Are we trapped, or is there a way out? We’ll explore what David did during these times and how we can rightly follow his example.

Life occasionally, or even often, brings us “hits,” that is, intense trials of all sorts. Some of these we bring on ourselves through foolishness or sin. Some of these are brought upon us by others, whether unintentionally or maliciously. And there are some trials that just seem to happen for no apparent reason or cause. David of Israel took many hits in life, and his legacy to us is, in part, the...

In the Psalms we see the heart of a man of God. King David was a man of passion, yet humble and faith-filled. His passion drew Him to seek God’s person and His will. He desperately wanted more than just to know about God, He wanted to experience God through the ups and downs in life. Each of us is designed for spiritual experience, whether we know it or not. Those who have been united with Christ...

Having completed 1-2 Samuel which largely looks at David’s life, we are beginning a series on the Psalms that David wrote. Psalms is a unique book in the Scriptures, teaching us to pray, becoming like a mirror that reflects back to our souls. We learn from David (and other psalmists) how to be honest with God in prayer with all our praise, joy, sorrow, grief, anger, needs, and confusion. Today our...

This week we conclude our series with 2 Samuel 21-24, a carefully constructed epilogue to “The book of Samuel” which compiles scenes from the life of Samuel, Saul, and David. In it we find connections with the introduction to the book, Hannah’s poem/prayer, that help us see the main thrust of the prophet’s message: God is faithful to his promise in spite of man’s failures, God opposes the proud an...

David, a great man of faith, fell from the glorious heights of intimacy with God to the lowest point of rebellion, even despising God and his word. Yet he repented and rejoiced in his forgiveness, and even though some devastating consequences from his sin followed him to the end of his life, he continued walking with the Lord. How did he endure in the midst of those consequences? For us today, Dav...

David was a “man after God’s own heart,” and we can be inspired by his faith and many good qualities. Yet David was also a mere mortal like us and capable of sin, and in fact he sinned greatly against the Lord. But he later repented and found great joy in God’s mercy and forgiveness. So we are both warned by David’s sin and inspired by his response to it.

David desired to build a house, a temple for God. But God said, “No, I’m going to build a house for you,” and promised David that his lineage and dynasty would last forever. Yet, no descendant of David has reigned over Israel for over 2,500 years. The prophets who spoke after David foretold the coming of a greater, eternal king who would fulfill all of God’s promises to Israel and to David. Yet, t...

David is the undisputed hero of the Old Testament, and perhaps, second only to Jesus in the entire Bible. Certainly he is a model of faith, courage, and godliness… except when he’s not. How are we supposed to relate to David’s example? That’s what I want to talk about today: how we are to relate to David’s example.

Only in his 20’s, David was a great warrior and a man after God’s own heart. And because the Lord was with David, King Saul was afraid and jealous of him, which quickly turned into a demonic pursuit to kill him, his own son-in-law. But even through years of running for his life, David remarkably doesn’t grow bitter or vengeful. Instead he keeps his heart fixed on the Lord.

God chose David to succeed Saul as king, not because of his physical strength or his wisdom or his position in Israel, but because of His faith-filled, God-honoring heart. In an act of amazing faith, David faces Goliath, risking his life to defend His people and to honor and glorify God. We also can put our trust in the Living God and bring Him glory.

When we lack strength for the Christian life, 1 Samuel 12 points us to the answer. In his final days, Israel’s leader Samuel called the people to follow the Lord with all their hearts. His appeal was to look to the Lord and consider all the great things he had done for them, not only then but over the centuries. Similarly, we Christians are called to consider what great things the Lord has done fo...

This week we will be looking at the rise and fall of King Saul, the King the Israelites demanded from God, but not the one they needed. Faith vs. Self-reliance, and what it means that “God regretted making Saul king…”

From childhood to the end of his life, Samuel walked by faith in the Lord. His consistent life is a stark contrast to the people of Israel who, though they had brief periods of faith, generally rejected the Lord as their king.

In our new sermon series through the books of Samuel, we will be challenged by the rise and fall of “heroes” and “villains”. The first story we read is that of a grieving woman named Hannah who, in the midst of severe trial was also humble and faith-filled. And God used her to raise up a godly servant of the Lord, Samuel, who influenced an entire nation. Hannah can inspire us to know and trust the...