Transit Church Sermons

Jesus disciples had been raised attending synagogues since they were little boys. They knew the Torah. They knew what it meant to worship God. They had probably been taught to pray, yet they come to Jesus and acknowledge..."When we watch you pray, there’s something different. Teach us to pray like you pray."

For the apostle Paul, the secret of learning contentment was a shift of focus. Contentment comes only when we shift our focus from our circumstances and unto Christ.

When we replace prayer for worry and anxiety we get the peace of God. When we meditate on and practice things that are true, honorable...we gain the God of peace.

According to Paul, rejoicing in the Bible must be more than a religious commitment and favorable circumstances, because he's writing from prison. That said, what does it mean to rejoice?

While Paul doesn't bring up egregious issues with the church at Philippi, he does write about points of tension, to include one conflict in the church. This text is about leaders helping people live in forgiveness so that the church can stay on mission and not be distracted.

Our Christian life is not just about getting heaven. Jesus wants to grow us in our faith while we're on earth, so that we're fit to be citizens of heaven. How do we grow? Paul says we press on; we stand firm.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In Philippians 3:1-11 the Apostle Paul beautifully unpacks to the church at Philippi where their treasure should ultimately be.

We all need Christian examples. Paul gives us three role models to look up to; all three men show us what happens when the gospel really transforms us from the inside out. We begin to look, be, and act like Jesus.

We can obey God out of duty or delight. Paul is trying to get into our motivations and desires. He’s trying to get the us from a surface level obedience to the heart level; that we would begin to obey not out of obligation/duty but out of joy.

A unified church is a humble church, and a humble church is a church that continually beholds the beauty and wonder of their humble Savior. Philippians 2:5-11 is a call to the church at Philippi to adopt the mindset of Jesus Christ, the ultimate portrait of humility.

Pride-like character has the potential to undermine unity and can ultimately divide a church. What's the key to being humble? Be like Jesus. True humility is treating others as if their needs and concerns surpass my own.

The basic idea of this text is a command; a duty that falls on all those who call themselves citizen - soldiers of heaven. Paul says a lot about the courageous solidarity we’re to have as Christians, but what he undergirds that with is the gospel.

The core of the gospel is that we're a people who are set free because of our faith. God calls us to participate with Him in the work of freedom in the world. Freedom Sunday is an effort by IJM to make Christians aware of the injustices that exist around the world and the justice of God.

Paul is writing from prison, yet despite his suffering, he’s writing about joy. Suffering doesn’t play favorites. I doesn’t matter who you are, we all experience it. And the question is not if you will suffer, but how you will suffer.

Introductions play a huge role in how we communicate. In these eleven verses that comprise the introduction to Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, he greets the saints at Philippi, expresses his thankfulness for them, and then reveals how he's been praying for them.

This is a church plant; the only one in the bible that the Holy Spirit sovereignly decided to give us an up close glimpse of its beginnings. We learn the backstory of Philippians not in the letter itself, but in the book of Acts during Paul’s second missionary journey.

When Jesus Christ calls the disciples to follow Him, He calls them to be fishers of men. As the people of God this is our mission, to know Jesus and make Him known to the nations.

Jesus Christ has made us a people who are to proclaim both who He is and what He has done by how we love our brothers and sisters in the faith. With that said, it is simply impossible to live out this Biblical mandate in isolation. In John 13, we see Jesus not only teach this principle, but humbly model it for us as well.

Community is not just what we do, it is what we are. As the Church, we are a community that has been reconciled both to God and to others thanks to the unifying work of Jesus Christ.

The relationship we have with the Lord is never based on our goodness. It’s because God is loving, gracious and kind. Like Paul writes in Roman 2:4, "God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance."

A Psalm of Asaph about the justice of God.

No matter how big the mess of your sin is, Jesus can walk into your grave and bring you to home in Him.

What's going on in this event is unique. There's nothing else like it in the bible. God takes a physical form, and fights with Jacob, changes his name, and invites him to trust him.

The events of Jacobs life are instructive for the daily events of our lives. We learn that sin is still sin; it has consequences. But is God is greater than our sin.

One thing continues to characterize this patriarchal family—sin. While the work of Satan seeks to destroy this family, there's still good news. Satan and his schemes are not all-powerful and he can't undo the grace of God.