The Town

Every marriage will end. Will your marriage end with a full heart or a hard heart. God's design for marriage guarantees that at the end of our marriage, until death, that we will come to the finish line with a full heart.

Expectations are a strong mental image which we often associate with hope, future joy or fulfillment. Yet our expectations fail us because we were made for so much more than the broken offerings of this world. Jesus has given us the greatest expectation by his word and backed up by the power of God. Our expectations are either grounded in God's Word or they will fall short and break our hearts.

We know that the Christian life is filled with times of both exhaustion and complacency, but we also know that Jesus has secured for us an ultimate victory that cannot be taken away. Thus, our journey becomes a victorious one. This isn't just about positive thinking; it's recognizing that God is guarding both our inheritance (heaven and perfect communion with him) and our souls. We will persevere...

As Christians we can often fall into spiritual routines that allow us to become complacent to the Christian life we are called to live. We think we have it all together and don't realize how desperately we daily need the Word of God until our lives have been put into a tailspin. In this sermon we look at some of the ways God has called us out of spiritual complacency in Romans 12:9-21.

Spiritual exhaustion happens to all of us. The reasons for it can vary but it is most likely that we have begun to look for joy in all the wrong places. Joseph's brothers were exhausted with guilt and shame. They were sorry for the evil they had caused Joseph but were under such guilt and shame that they believed Joseph would condemn them to slavery or worse. We often approach God in the same way....

Your legacy is not defined by the amount of people you know or the amount of years you live. Your legacy is defined by your character, your message, and your love. Our character, message, and love is defined by the gods that we serve.

What hope do we have when evil seems to thwart the goodness of God? Can there be true light in darkness? The Bible teaches that God is sovereign and good even over the evil acts of men. But this is not just a lofty doctrine that we know is true. This doctrine affects the way in which we live and the way in which we go about our mission.

Not many of us will have a biography written about us. But we still should consider the question, what will I be remembered for? Judah's story is filled with moral failure and short comings, but by the grace of God, he made progress. His biography is about progress. We too, after we are declared righteous in His sight and by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, ought to strive for progress!

Easter cannot be toned down. It is a celebration of facts. These facts changed the future and hope of humanity. It is in these facts, in this defiant declaration of the resurrection that we have any hope at all.

Joseph was living in 2 Kingdoms but he never lost sight that he was a citizen of one. His name would be remembered not by his power in Egypt but by God's power working in him. What is in our name? Where is our identity? Like Joseph, our identity comes from where we hold our citizenship - of which Kingdom are you a citizen? The world or the Kingdom of God?

The temptation to sin is relentless. By default, the human condition is predisposed to protect, gratify and preserve self. But Jesus offers a better way to live in the Kingdom. In the story of Joseph we learn essential principles about how one can resist temptation.

There are times in our lives when we just don't understand what God is doing. We can only see a few things when God is really up to millions of things. He is always moving us toward redemption. God is always watching us, always working in us, and will ultimately win us for Himself.

There are so many things and so many reasons that call us to hold onto this world and to find our joy in the here and now. The message of the world is to find peace and joy in the finite and broken things that this world has to offer. But the message of the Bible is that God has something so much greater for us in mind. The only way to obtain what God is freely giving is to strive for the narrow d...

This sermon was preached by Jim Weaver formerly of Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Middletown, DE.

Jacob had plans. He would run for his life and wait out the fury of his brother Esau. He had stolen the blessing and received the covenant promise from his dad. But God had other plans. God met Jacob when he least expected it and the fugitive would become a pilgrim. God showed Jacob a new reality of what life would be like in the Kingdom he would bring to this earth.

In this scene, we see the epitome of a dysfunctional family. There is competition between brothers and spouses. Everyone is out for their own selfish good. It would seem God couldn't move in the midst of such sinners, but the Sovereign God's plan to save sinners from the curse of the law, cannot be thwarted: by your family drama or your selfish sinful tendencies.

The story of Jacob and Esau is an illustration of God's great mercy and relentless love for his people.

Whatever happens in our life, in our land, or in our world is exactly the way that God had planned it to be. This is a hard teaching because many of the things that we see are hard to understand, if we can understand them at all. The story of Isaac and Rebekah's marriage demonstrates that God is always working and that he has plan. God's plan is born from his covenantal love for us. The Bible call...

We are refugees in a foreign land. As much beauty as this world has to offer we are constantly reminded that this ain't it. God established a foothold on this earth in Canaan through his servant Abraham - but this was just the beginning. God had much more in mind than a land for Israel. God's intent has always been to dwell among us and to be our God. Jesus promises the homesick heart that he is p...

No matter the trial, the test or the tribulation, those that belong to the Lord know that God has provided for every need in the person and work of Christ.

Abraham and Sarah had every earthly reason to be joyful when their firstborn son was born. They were very old yet God performed a miracle and enabled these faithful saints to enjoy a newborn baby when it seemed impossible. But their joy was not founded upon earthly reasons. They laughed on this great day because their joy was found in their Lord. They were joyful in God's Word, God's work in them...

It's the New Year, and this is the season for us to look ahead at all the things we wish to accomplish or change over the next twelve months. But have we slowed down to consider God's role in our plans? Or, more accurately, have we considered our role in his plans? We see very clearly in Scripture that as we go about our lives doing all manner of things, it is the purposes of the Lord that will ul...

Had God missed a detail in his plan when there was not one room available to Mary and Joseph. Certainly not. This was just the beginning of Jesus' road to Calvary.