Sunshine Community Church's Podcast

Isaiah 55 The world likes to put God on trial when things go badly. We wonder how God can be good when things go badly? How can he claim to be for me when circumstances seem to be against me? What has he done to prove that he would be a better planner for my life than I would? In the end, when we read God's Word, we see that he demands our trust and insists that his plan is better, and the only pr...

Philippians 2:1-11 The Christian faith is built on the altruism and self-sacrifice of its Founder, the one and only Son of God. We don't just think selflessness is good, though - we think that it is the essential remedy to its opposite: Self-interest and self-worship. Selfishness is common to man, but believers are called to self-sacrifice; we must develop our stamina for willing servanthood, if w...

Luke 12:1-12 Sylvester was actually the first real Pope in the history of the church. In terms of Rome and its government, Sylvester's ministry went from leading a forbidden and persecuted minority to being publicly recognized and given broad cultural influence. In his story, we see that Christmas truth will change the fate of nations; we must be prepared to face danger and fearlessly preach the W...

Ephesians 5:1-21 The Feast of St. Lucia is connected with Christmas traditions in several cultures, especially in Sweden. The real saint, though, is no more legend or tradition - Lucy's story is gritty, painful, and also amazingly powerful. She illustrates the way that the light and truth of Christ empower us to live pure lives of self-giving and love in the brutal world. Christmas shines the ligh...

Jude 1 Ambrose is a saint known as "Doctor of the Church," which means he was one of the teachers whose intellectual contributions helped shape the Church. Ambrose helped people think more clearly about the beauty of the Gospel and its impact on philosophy, music, art, politics, and more. He also fought against false teaching - A LOT. Christmas initiates a battle for truth and requires that we con...

1 John 4:7-21 You may not know much about Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, unless you know the classic Christmas carol about him. But the early church knew his name and knew that he was brave and principled leader who showed what can happen when a ruler converts to Christianity and governs in a way that is modeled after Jesus' love and kindness. In the story of Wenceslaus, we see that Christmas introd...

Luke 10:1-24 The Lord of the Harvest sends out his laborers in teams and ensures that all of their needs are met in advance and in Him!

John 4:31-38   When Jesus met with the women at the well of Samaria, he talked a lot about the harvest. What does it mean when he calls the Samaritan town a field and the people grain? Jesus was clear: there is great satisfaction and nourishment in obeying God and harvesting the fruit he and others before us have sown.

Psalm 126 This message begins by sharing and celebrating the reveal of the FORWARD campaign. As we reflect on the way God uses the gospel to spread the kingdom, we can't help but notice that he has an amazing ability to bring joyous fruit and growth at the end of very difficult seasons. Things that the world would call pointless and too costly are often the very places where God restores the fortu...

Lord of the Harvest Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Fall has always been a time when people gather, count up, and store their blessings for the winter and share comfort and kindness with each other. This passage discusses God's goodness to deliver us out of slavery and into rich harvest. Offering him our first fruits creates a testimony of faith and freedom, and is cause for rejoicing!

1 Timothy 6: 2-21. This message concludes our FORWARD series. It studies one more question of biblical, sacrificial stewardship: WHEN? It would be easy to think of stewardship as a future event; it is so oriented toward long-term strategy and eternal benefits that we could easily see it as a "tomorrow" item. Stewardship may be about the future, but it always takes place NOW; the sacrifices and inv...

2 Corinthians 9 This message discusses the heart condition of the giver. Stewardship is first and foremost a matter of the manner in which we give - only a free heart full of joyful generosity can please God. So we must learn to cultivate and curate our heart motives if we wish to give in a life-giving way.

1 Thessalonians 2 When we think about WHAT we are stewarding as Christians, we often jump immediately to issues of finacne and tithing. Stewardship is about SO much more than money; in fact, if all we give to God is our money, we are really falling short of missing the point. True stewardship recognizes that investing tangible and temporary treasures is a great way to increase our ability to inves...

Exodus 35:4-10, 20-29; Mark 12:41-44 This message explores the WHO of generous stewardship. Many think that the gift of generosity is only given to some people, and that most likely they will be the wealthy ones who have an excess and can give more away without much discomfort. The problem is that there is always someone wealthier and always reason to feel like giving will put us at risk. The trut...

Philippians 3:12-21 Sunshine Community Church has a rich history, dating back to over 100 years, but God's not done with us! What's next in the life of this ministry? 

2 Chronicles 20:1-30 In this passage, we see that worship isn't a passive and quiet act that takes us out of battle - rather, worship is a defiant act of insurrection against the Prince of this world! We can't be surprised that it comes under attack, requires divine power to maintain, takes great courage. Worship is war, and it isn't pie in the sky, by and by - it is the most powerful way of appro...

John 4:1-30 What does it mean to have an identity as a worshipper of God? How would we live differently if this vocation and role were our main self-understanding and way of seeing the world? Often, we think of worship as just an task to be checked off the list or a theological concept to understand. In truth, though, worship runs far deeper than a mere abstraction or activity – it is an identity...

1 Corinthians 13 When we think about worship, we inevitably end up talking about feelings. We talk about our motivation, our interest, our preferences, our distractions, and our sensibilities. It seems right that worship should be about loved nd that faking it would be wrong. On the other hand, we are called to worship, even when we DON'T feel like it, which seems to raise the risk of phoning thin...

Former Elder, Josh Hendricks, gives a message on John 1:1-18.

Acts  11:1-18 Missionaries Mike & Amy Martin share about their 20 year journey translating the New Testament for the people of Papua Indonesia.

Psalm 62 God promises to be our Fortress and to love us in such a way that we will never be shaken or uprooted again.

1 Corinthians 15-50-58; 15:13-14 How often do you face fear in your life? Some may say very little, and others may be able to list many instances in which fear cripples their courage or slows their obedience to God. the Bible indicates that behind all smaller fears is the fear of death; we dread the end of our lives and the reckoning we must face for all the sins in our lives. Death is doorway int...

Romans 8:26-39 Romans 8 is one of the most encouraging chapters in the entire Bible, because it is so chock-full of assurance and security. It assures us that our faith and salvation rest on God's perfection, rather than our changeability. There are so many big things out in the world, but NONE of them are bigger than God or able to separate us from him!

1 Peter 1:13-25 In this new series, Seeds of Worship, we'll combine scripture memory songs with messages on those verses. The idea is to encourage households of all ages to be creative about internalizing and keeping the Bible's teachings. This message focuses on the Apostle Peter's teaching that assures us that God and his Word never die or fade, and if we pattern our lives after what he says, we...

Guest Speaker Ryan Waalkes gives a message on Matthew 4:18-22