The Garden Church // Sunday Teachings

On the last Sunday of Advent, we're going to take time to reflect on a popular passage of Scripture— John 3:16. If you grew up in church you know it well, and perhaps it's lost its meaning to you. But as we actively await the Messiah's second coming, we must do so by remembering his great love, humility, and lavish generosity towards us. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Many of us know the story of Jesus' birth well, and we know that his conception was nothing short of miraculous. When the angel of the Lord appears to Mary, he tells her not to be afraid, but comforts her with a reason not to fear— great joy is coming! From Luke 2:1-12, Sarah Cowan Johnson reminds us that God is with us, and is as work.

As we continue our sermon series in the season of Advent in Luke 1, we see God choose to come to us in a vulnerable state— that of an infant. Not only that, but through an unlikely woman, carefully set aside to care for and raise him. We see God's faithfulness to go to great lengths to bring salvation to the children he loves. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Each year we immerse ourselves in the story of Jesus' birth, the arrival of God-With-Us. We anticipate the arrival of what John 1 calls the "True Light", who shines into the darkness, illuminating with unsurpassed clarity who God is and what He thinks of us. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Joshua recounts the history of God’s goodness to Israel, back to the call of Abraham until the present. He leaves them with a final decision to make: who will you serve? The people choose YHWH and Joshua renews the covenant with them and sets up a memorial stone as a witness to remind the people of this choice to serve God alone. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

After allotting each tribe their land inheritance, Joshua reflects on all that God has done in his lifetime. Not one single word had failed of all the good things God promised Israel. This reminder of God’s faithfulness is also a charge to the people to remain faithful to God. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

If God is victorious and keeps his promises, why should we fear loosing the battle? When we recall the many miracles of God, our faith rises, and this should be what fuels our obedience to trust his command not to fear. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

The sin of one man in Israel has greater consequences both for himself and for the whole community than he could have imagined. God exposes this breach of covenant faithfulness and Joshua acts to uphold the justice and holiness of God. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Joshua trusts God’s unusual means and follows His instructions to capture Jericho. Without battle the city and everything in it is given to Israel. Rahab and her family are spared as promised. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Rahab and the spies. Israel crossing the Jordan River. 12 Memorial stones. This is a story about a God who accomplishes His purposes and keeps His promises. And a people who bear witness and participate in this work, for their own sake and for the sake of the world. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Joshua and the people of God find themselves in a very unfamiliar place. Moses, their leader is gone, and now they have to trust God through the leadership of Joshua to lead them to a place they have never been before. In unprecedented circumstances God calls on his people not to shrink back, but to take up the courage to step out into new places for the new season— all for His glory. For sermon s...

Moses asks God to appoint his successor to shepherd the people. God tells Moses to commission Joshua, a man who possesses the Spirit, to lead His people. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Pastor Rashad Clemons continues our sermon series on the life of Joshua picking up in the book of Numbers. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

Where we're headed in life is almost always tied to how we steward our present moments. The earliest recorded stories of Joshua, before he became the leader of the people of God, was of a young man who was faithful and obedient to Moses and the call of God. From Exodus 17, we explore how God calls us to steward the season we find ourselves in through the example of Joshua, the apprentice of Moses....

Arrest. Trial. Threats. This is the reality of Peter, John and the early Church for healing and proclaiming the Good News. Upon their release, they return to the community of believers and pray -- not for safety but for boldness. As followers of Jesus, we will be called to heal and to speak truth to power. We will be judged and threatened in spaces beyond our competency and influence. In these mom...

In life it's so easy to fall into the trap of showing the best version of ourselves. This can also be true of our approach to God in prayer. In Luke 18 Jesus contrasts two different people and their posture to prayer, and in this parable, he points out that the calling of prayer is about brutal honesty with who we really are in the light of God's presence, and our great need for HIm. For sermon sl...

There are few things we despise more in life than being asked to wait. Proverbs 13 says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Throughout the scriptures and in our own experience we find ourselves and others waiting on God. Waiting is such a common part of life, but how, as followers of Jesus, do we wait well? In Luke 2 we are introduced to Simeon and Anna, two godly people who show us a path fo...

When it comes to asking God for forgiveness, many doubt that God is willing to forgive them. Not only that, we likely mistake worldly sorrow with Godly sorrow and true repentance. From Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance from King David, Ruthie Kim shares about how passionate God is about forgiveness, and true intimacy with Him. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.

What do you do when things in life seem to have taken a turn for the worse? God oftentimes strategically places us in a particular time and place to stand up in prayer and to petition the things that counter His kingdom. Nehemiah here in chapter 1 was in a time and place where he had the opportunity to stand in the gap for the people of God who were being exploited and oppressed. This Sunday we wi...

When we hear the words, "the last shall be first," it sounds like a promise that won't come to pass in our lifetime, or a platitude. In the Old Testament, the story of Hannah shows us something different-- God hears, and answers the prayers of the lowly, and it seems that he is very much so interested in raising us up from the ashes and restoring our joy. While the Lord will allow deep pain into o...

We cannot talk about prayer without looking at the lives and prayers of those who came before us. In Exodus 33 we find Moses praying to God on behalf of the people of Israel, not for things, but for God's presence. Pastor Rashad explores this prayer and how God longs for us to desire Him. The shape and direction of our prayers ought to be rooted in presence, because that's the goal. For sermon sli...

Throughout scripture, God's word commands us to pray. When we consider how our relationship with the Father directly influences our prayer life, we see that the beginning stages look very different from the latter years as maturity comes. Our desires begin taking on the shape of the Kingdom, and our requests begin to look different as we surrender our lives to Christ. From Luke 22:39-46, Jon Tyson...

Intercession is the action of intervening on behalf of another before God in prayer. How do we stand in the gap for a world ravaged by sickness, injustice, oppression and death? Hebrews 11:22-28 describes our perfect intercessor, Jesus Christ. We need him to show us how to pray and how to stand in the messy middle of our world. As we pray for people around us, is it possible that our perfect inter...

Throughout the Bible, God uses weak people for great works. In 1 Corinthians 1 we see that God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to bring to nothing the wise and powerful. In this message Austin Baten explores how the seemingly upside-down ways of God should lead us deeper into prayer and dependence on Him as we seek to engage in our world. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/te...

Prayer was an integral part of Jesus' ministry and how he related to the Father, because Jesus knew who he was in relation to the Father. Rashad Clemons will teach from Hebrews 3 and explore our primary identity of being God's sons and daughters, and how our understanding of that will unlock the posture in which we approach God. For sermon slides, visit realityboston.com/teachings.