TFRC Sermons

John 20:11-18 Oftentimes Jesus shows up and we don’t even realize it - Even Mary Magdalene thought He was the gardener. Jesus shows up in our lives and we think He is coincidence, luck, or we don’t even think twice about it. However, Mary knew Jesus well enough that all he had to do was say her name, and she realized it was him.

Mark 10:46-52 There are a lot of obstacles or adversities in our lives that seem to blind us from seeing and meeting Jesus. What we can learn from Bartimaeus is that despite being blinded, when he relentlessly pursued Jesus, his eyes were opened to the hope and restoration Jesus provided as messiah. When we relentlessly pursue Jesus in faith, Jesus will meet us and give us eyes to see the hope and...

Luke 9:57-62 One of our biggest temptations is to follow Jesus as efficiently as possible; we prefer to follow Jesus without making major sacrifices. But Jesus tells these would-be followers to make him more important than home and family. What is the one thing you find yourself not willing to sacrifice?

Luke 17:11-19 Too often we take God’s saving and healing grace for granted. In this parable it is the outsider that returns to Jesus, recognizing the significance of what he has done for him. We cannot take our faith for granted but must realize what the cross means for us, and when we do we will live differently. Rarely does meeting Jesus look like what we think it will.

John 8:2-11 When a group of Pharisees confront Jesus with an adulterous woman we find that when we meet Jesus in our sin, he meets us with compassion. That being said, after experiencing compassion from Jesus, we see the woman also instructed to change her ways and sin no more. With Jesus’ compassion there also comes a conviction to repent and return to the path God has for us.

John 3:16-21 Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, goes to meet Jesus under the cover of darkness. He recognizes that there is something special about this man that has come and wants to know why Jesus has come. Yet when Jesus tells him he has not come for earthly deliverance from Rome, but eternal deliverance from sin, Nicodemus struggles to understand. John then writes one of the mo...

Matthew 3:13-17 John sees Jesus as greater than himself, so in his view Jesus doesn’t need John’s water baptism, but John needs Jesus’ Holy Spirit and fire baptism. However, for Jesus, identifying with the penitent community was a vital piece of his role as the Messiah who submits.

Revelation 3:14-20 God blesses all of us in a number of different ways, but are we using his blessings to partner with Him in furthering his kingdom? We begin to compromise our Christianity when we choose to use our gifts/resources to further our kingdom or instead of God’s.

Ephesians 4:22-32 We live in privilege and in doing so we have learned to justify our self-righteousness. At some point we have to recognize the plank in our own eye just as the prodigal son's older brother does in order that we would forgive others in order that God would forgive us for our sins.

Philippians 4:7-8 tells us to think of things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. How do the music, movies, television, news, social media, etc that we consume measure up to these criteria?

Mark 7:14-23 It’s not just the world that values things contrary to God - our hearts do too. The challenge is being obedient to God’s calling on our lives against what the world and our hearts push us to do.

Hebrews 10:19-25 God created all of us to live in, and long for community. The church, the body of Christ, was created to be our primary source of community that would fill that longing in our lives. We find ourselves compromising our Christianity when we allow for other communities (work, athletics, etc) to take priority over the one that should anchor our faith. When we look at what Hebrews 10 s...

1 Kings 18:20-39 With our faith, with our politics, with our culture - in our self-centeredness we quickly lose sight of God and create our own idols that we chase and lust after instead of following God. We try to do both and in doing so we compromise our faith just as the prophets of Baal and people of Israel wavered between two opinions.

Exodus 24:15-18 Pastor Chuck Swoboda highlights incidents of the presence of God represented by fire: the burning bush, dedication of tabernacle and temple, pillar of fire, Pentecost, baptism of Holy Spirit and fire, etc. What does the fact that the presence of God is represented by fire tell us about Him?

Isaiah 26:3-4; Philippians 4:4-9 What is biblical peace? Shalom living is how life is meant to be. Our Scripture tells us that those who trust in God, whose minds are “stayed” on him, he will give perfect peace.

John 6:25-33 We celebrate Christmas by opening presents and by eating large delicious meals. As we feast this season, let us remember who can truly fill us to the point of never getting hungry, Jesus, the bread of life.

Matthew 2:1-12 Who are the Magi? Why do they seek Jesus at his birth? Why are they overjoyed to find the “king of the jews”? What is the significance of their gifts? All of these questions point to the anticipation of Jesus’ kingship.

Luke 2:1-7 As Mary and Joseph prepare for the birth of Jesus, have outside forces acting upon them and must get to where God wants them to be. Then they have unexpected surprises when they arrive. Their journey to Bethlehem has all the marks of a typical adventure - God’s acting in our lives is no different.

Luke 2:8-15 The shepherds were greeted by an astounding presence of angels, telling them of the birth of Jesus. Despite not being told directly to visit the newborn Savior, the shepherds were compelled to go on an adventure to see this new baby. What compels us to go in the name of Jesus?

Romans 14:17-18 Paul writes that “The kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking”. While eating and drinking are fundamental to our holiday celebrations, the kingdom is about doing what is right, with peace and joy. As we enter another year of holidays let’s hit the reset button and focus on the kingdom.

Ephesians 2:19-22 We can encounter God wherever we go. But to truly experience the life-changing power of God means meeting with Him in the temple he has set up for us - the body of Christ.

Mark 5: 11-20 When we experience the transforming power of Jesus there is power in our story. In our passage Jesus radically changes the life of a man and then directs him to tell others about what has happened to him. His faithfulness to do so had a domino effect that led to 4,000 people following Jesus when he returned to that region. When we are faithful in sharing how Jesus has changed our liv...

Matthew 25:14-30 God has given each of us a unique set of “talents,” spiritual gifts, and expects us to invest them for his kingdom. Are we utilizing the gifts we have been given? We have no way of knowing the domino effect and impact using our gifts will have for the kingdom, but God invites us, and expects us to participate in his kingdom work. The reward is more than we can imagine.

Acts 17:16-23 - The missional impact Paul had on the early church was unbelievable. One of the tipping points of his amazing ministry was his ability to become all things to all people. His ability and willingness to do this allowed for him to reach a broader audience and expand the Kingdom of God, and helps us see the domino effect of people coming to faith when you proclaim the Gospel in a way t...

Ephesians 4:22-29 Because of Christ, we put off the old self and put on a new self. That new self results in a transformation of how we live and we go from falsehood to truth, anger to patience, stealing to charity, and unwholesome talk to edifying. Pastor Chuck Swoboda encourages us in our transformation and challenges us to intentionally find a situation to be either truthful, patient, charitabl...