Covenant of Grace Messages

In Matthew 26:69-75, we witness Peter’s denial of Jesus—a heartbreaking moment of failure in the life of one of Jesus’ closest followers. This passage confronts us with the sobering reality of our sin and weakness but also reveals a powerful hope: even in our darkest moments, God’s grace reaches deeper still.

In this sermon from Matthew 26:47-68, we’ll explore the profound moments where Jesus willingly submits to betrayal, arrest, and condemnation. Though He had the power to stop it all, Jesus chose obedience to the Father’s plan, showing us the depths of His love. As we look at His submission, we’ll be challenged to trust God’s purposes, even while suffering and injustice.

In this week's passage, we come to the Holy of Holies of our Lord's life on earth. Sinclair Ferguson once said, “The Garden of Gethsemane is one of the most sacred and solemn scenes in the entire Bible.” There is much for us to learn here, not the least of which is what it meant to Christ, the Holy One, to bear away our sins.

The church faces pressure from the world to conform to unbiblical values and, if left unchecked, can also see internal disagreements lead to disunity. We need to hear Paul's exhortation to humbly conduct our lives in accordance with the gospel as we stand courageously together for the sake of Christ. Thankfully, the Spirit is working in us to this end.

Although it is very, very obvious we often miss that almost all the writings in the NT were written to a local church. It can be exciting to talk about the Church Universal or to criticize "the church" or "evangelical churches' broadly. But, really, the local church is where the action is. The local church is where the game is played. The local church is where we see best how powerful the Gospel i...

In this week's study of 1 Corinthians 11:17–32, we will answer important questions about the Lord’s Supper, such as: Who should participate? Where should we have this meal? When should we have it? How should we understand it? And, at the most fundamental level, why should we celebrate the Lord’s Supper? As we’ll see, this meal is a crucial part of new covenant worship and a joyful expression of ne...

Many Christians aren’t quite sure about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. They know it’s important, but they’re not sure how it’s supposed to affect them. In this week's sermon, we'll study Jesus' institution of the Lord's Supper and its significance in the Christian life.

What does it mean to be a Christian? In our study this week, we see that a Christian isn't just someone who believes in Jesus and goes to church. A true Christian is someone who sees and responds to the glory and the worth of Christ. A Christian is someone who is fully devoted to Christ and gives Him their all.

When Christ returns, he will do so suddenly, exposing every heart and bringing judgment. Christ’s second coming should shape the way we live in the present, and the way we look to the future, for nothing short of heaven and hell are at stake.

As Christians, we seek to discern God's will. This includes not only what His will is but also how He wants us to carry it out. The what matters, but so does the how. We aren't just to do His will; we are to do it zealously. But what exactly is zeal, and how do we get more of it?

We are stewards of everything we have received from the hand of God. So we must ask, "What do I have, and how can I use it for the Lord?" In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus calls his disciples to work responsibly until his coming and emphasizes the incredible reward of faithful stewardship and the severe consequence of lazy stewardship.

In this parable of the ten virgins, Jesus continues to focus on the need for his disciples to be ready for his return. Though in our eyes his coming has been delayed, his return will be sudden and irreversible, so we must remain vigilant and expectant to meet the bridegroom when he comes for his bride.

In a world that tempts disciples to doze and drives the culture to distraction, Jesus calls his followers to remain awake and alert to the Kingdom he is building the Return he has promised.

The fact that Christ has not returned after 2,000 years makes some people doubt the reality of his second coming. Others obsess over possible signs of his return. In our second study through Matthew 24, we'll look at Christ's teaching on the sign of His return and consider how we should live in light of his imminent return.

When it comes to the topic of Christ’s return, many Christians either get confused or become engrossed in speculation and date setting. However, in our study of Matthew 24:1-14, we are urged to focus less on predicting the end and more on how we should live in light of it.

It’s sobering to realize that some of Jesus’s harshest words were aimed at those considered the most religious. In Matthew 23, we find Jesus judging those whose lives are marked by hypocrisy, pride, and self-centeredness. At the same time, He urges His disciples to live lives marked by service, humility, and integrity.

Jesus' enemies have been trying to entangle him. And until this point, Jesus has been the one questioned. But in this week's passage, we see Jesus go on the offensive. Jesus asks his own question, and not surprisingly, it's the question.

This week we see that corporate prayer is an essential means of grace for the body of Christ.

Most of us spend most of our waking hours engaged in some kind of work. This is good because God created us to work. But it is imperative that we connect Sunday worship to Monday work. We must connect what Scripture teaches us about rest to what it teaches us about work.

In this well-known but sometimes misunderstood teaching of Jesus, we discover that love is the measure of spiritual maturity. Nothing else. And that Jesus’s definition of love differs greatly from our culture's.

Special songs often mark special occasions. On the happy occasion of our church's 40th anniversary, we will study an inspired song to help us respond to God's blessing.

Once again Jesus masterfully refutes the attacks of the religious leader. He takes their complete lack of knowing the Scriptures or the power of God as an opportunity to affirm the consummation and regeneration of all things in the resurrection.

Lying about taxes and bowing to public opinion could be called national pastimes. The Pharisees bring both of these to bear on Jesus in hopes of publicly entangling him in his words. Jesus easily exposes their hypocrisy and enlightens them, and us, to the right way to think about him, public opinion and taxes.

Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders' challenge to his authority with three parables that spoke of consequences on those who oppose Christ. In telling this second parable, Jesus turned the tables on the leaders, revealing their rejection of God—a rejection that would lead to a reconstitution of God’s people by the one who has all authority.