Forest Park Church Sermons

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He has been casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, and teaching about the kingdom of God through parables. Jesus often veiled His identity until Palm Sunday, which hastened His death. What was Jesus declaring about Himself, and what does it mean for us today? 

The city of Sardis believed it was invincible to attacks, just as the church in Sardis believed it was alive. However, it was actually dead or at least near death. The church needed the power and fullness of the Spirit to come alive again, which Jesus possessed. Jesus calls them to wake up and take action. The matter is urgent. The church is urged to remember and repent, with the promise of eterna...

The church in Thyatira is commended for its love, faithfulness, service, endurance, and progress in the Christian faith. However, the church began to grow soft in its love and turned to permissiveness and tolerance of evil. We learn that genuine love abides in truth; there is both tenderness and toughness, grace and truth. Jesus instructs His people to distance themselves from any teachings that t...

The church in Pergamum is commended for its perseverance in the faith, holding on to Christ and refusing to deny Him, despite severe persecution. However, the church began to compromise on God’s Word, putting itself in danger of destruction and judgment. We, too, are tempted to compromise on God’s Word, and the call to repentance for Pergamum is also for us.

Revelation 2:8–11 draws us into the heart of a suffering church—Smyrna—a people facing pressure, poverty, and slander because they belonged to Jesus. Yet Christ meets them withcomfort, courage, and a call to remain faithful, reminding them that He is the First and the Last, the One who died and rose again, and the One who limits suffering and secures eternal life. Today we’ll explore how Jesus kno...

The church in Ephesus is commended for its works, endurance, spiritual discernment, and hatred of evil. However, over time, callousness has arisen among its people. They have forgotten the mercy and grace they have received in Christ. The Lord Jesus calls them to remember and repent, and Hepromises a reward of eternal life. The message to the church in Ephesus is for our church today.

John encounters a vision of the Son of Man, and is overwhelmed by what he saw, and falls as if dead. The Son of Man speaks, reveals who He is, and instructs John to write what He sees, what is, and what will be. As we take a close look at the Son of Man, we will discover who He is, what He reveals about Himself, and what it means for the believer. 

John extends a prayer of grace and peace, reminding these seven churches that this grace and peace come from the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. This means we can experience peace amid chaos, for God is everlasting, unchanging, faithful, and all-powerful, and He will establish His rule in a new and decisive way. To this, we can join John in a hymn of praise. 

John is writing to seven churches in a culture of increasing hostility and intolerance, where they are tempted to compromise and conform to social pressures. He repeatedly calls upon these churches to persevere to the very end, reminding them that Christ is coming back and sovereign over the evil they face. As we come to the prologue, we discover that Revelation is about Jesus and from Jesus, give...

When the apostles wrote about Christ's return, they did so to encourage believers and remind them of their hope, not to instill fear. It was meant to be eagerly awaited and to require diligent preparation. In our text, Peter instructs us on the preparations we should make while waiting for Christ's return.  

Peter, who rebuked the scoffer for deliberately overlooking the truth, turns to the faithful Christian and reminds them not to overlook the certainty of Christ’s return. Peter also recognizes that the faithful Christian will have questions about the return of Christ, especially after the seeds of doubt sown by the false teachers. We will examine the apparent delay, what Christ will do, and what so...

Peter turns his attention to the content of these false teachers’ teachings. These false teachers deny the return of Christ. Peter is going to encourage us to remember the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel we have come to believe, warn us of the dangers of scoffers who sow seeds of doubt, and provide us with evidence of God’s involvement in human history. 

Luke 2:21–38 takes us beyond the manger to the temple, where Simeon and Anna meet the long-awaited Messiah. Their response—faithful obedience, Spirit-led praise, and boldproclamation—teaches us that hope fulfilled in Christ isn’t the end of the story; it’s the beginning of a life that worships and witnesses. Today we’ll explore how Jesus makes obedience and intimacy with God possible—and how we ca...

In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, a pattern of twos emerges: expectant mothers, two infants, two songs of praise, and two birth narratives. There is a central theme in this pattern: Great mercy comes from a great God through His great Savior. As we take a closer look at the birth of John and the song of praise and prophecy from Zechariah, we will see the effects and the implications of G...

In our passage, Luke combines these two separate birth announcements of John and Jesus by showing us what happened when these two mothers encountered each other. Usually, when pregnant women meet, they naturally discuss their expected babies. From maternity leave, birthing plans, car seats, and baby clothes. But these women, in joy and filled with the Holy Spirit, speak about the Lord’s favor, His...

Luke turns our attention to the announcement of Jesus’ birth, as we compare it with the announcement of John’s birth. We will discover that the mighty work God had done in John’s conception would be surpassed by an even greater miracle in the conception of Jesus. This leads us to ask, “What does it mean, and how should we respond?

As Advent begins, we open the Gospel of Luke with the story of Zechariah—a faithful man caught in a long season of silence. But in that silence, God was not absent. He was preparing something beautiful. This week’s message, “Hope in the Silence,” reminds us that waiting is not wasted, and that God often does His deepest work in the quiet. For the believer, it’s a call to trust again, to listen aga...

In our passage, Peter continues to address false teachers by raising a question that many of us have: How is it that, as false teachers seem to be succeeding, it appears God remains silent while they distort God’s Word and lead people astray? Peter will answer this question and show us that their judgment is coming soon. He will also equip his readers to recognize a false teacher by their characte...

As Peter directly addresses false teachers, one wonders whythe Lord allows them to infiltrate the church. The Christian life is hardenough in dealing with the world, our flesh, and the devil; now we need to dealwith false teachers as well. How do we discern between a false and a trueteacher?

In Peter’s last letter, he makes clear that he will soon facedeath, and Peter wants to leave his readers with a final reminder of what he has taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ: The return of Christ in glory. Peter is going to provide us with two witnesses to establish the truthfulness of Christ’s return in glory—the witness of the apostles and the prophetic word.

If God has given us a faith that is equal to that of other Christians, what is our responsibility in receiving and possessing this faith? Peter, in addressing us with the challenging task of exercising our faith, providestwo essential truths that must serve as the foundation for exercising our faith. These two truths keep us grounded from falling into the trap of performance-based Christianity or...

In the first letter of Peter, the hostile powers came fromoutside the church, and in the second letter of Peter, the hostile powers comefrom inside the church through false teachers. If there are dangers outside andinside the church, how is the Christian supposed to live?  Peter, in his greeting, encourages the churchby reminding them that they have received a faith equal to that of otherChristian...

As Peter closes his letter, he speaks from personal experience — not as a perfect leader, but as one who has failed, suffered, and been restored by Jesus. He calls the church to lead with humility, to clothe themselves in trust, and to stay spiritually alert as the enemy seeks to devour.

In times of fiery trials, believers are called to remember God's sovereignty, knowing that suffering is not random but part of His refining purpose. We are to trust God's faithfulness, rejoicing that we share in Christ’s sufferings and will also share in His glory. And in every circumstance, we must do good, even when wronged, because Jesus is our example—He entrusted Himself to the Father and end...

Peter instructs us by reminding us that because of Christand his suffering in the flesh, we must have a different mindset or perspective when it comes to suffering. This mindset of suffering affects our relationship with sin, our relationship with the world, and our perspective on the end of all things.