August 2015
Why Mankind Stands Guilty Before a Righteous God. Part Two
“Why Mankind Stands Guilty Before a Righteous God” – (The Rational Sinner) Part Two – (Romans 1:17-23) In this second part of the passage, Pastor Pete outlines four major declarations: God’s Anger and Wrath, Man’s Foolish Reason, God’s Revealed Truth and Man’s Foolish Guilt. Salvation is truly a wondrous gift of God. We are wholly unable and unwilling to come to God on His terms. Apart from His drawing grace we would all joyfully choose hell and a life without God’s righteous scrutiny and ultimate judgment. As we approach the doctrine of Condemnation, we must do so humbly and broken over the utter depravity and unrighteousness of our fallen hearts. Only then and if God draws us, can we realize the depths of His grace and mercy and respond to His call on our lives. Listen for Life!
Why Mankind Stands Guilty Before A Righteous God
A person’s theology of sin and salvation speak volumes about what they believe about God and man. Most evangelicals begin their gospel message appealing to man’s felt needs: to be loved, to be needed, to be significant, to need approval. From there a theology is crafted, apart from the true claims of Scripture, that suggest God is responsible to save, redeem, justify and regenerate the fallen sinner. It’s as if sinners are not responsible for “falling into sin,” they are simply victims of the hole Satan and Adam left for them to fall into. If fallen humanity could only know God’s love, mercy, grace and loving-kindness in a non-judgmental, creative and loving presentation of their gospel they would inevitably respond in faith to such a compelling message. Any preaching of the cross, judgment, God’s righteousness, anger, retribution and accounting for sin is soundly rejected as being to condemning and judgmental. Isn’t it interesting, as the Apostle Paul begins this section in his book to the Romans on CONDEMNATION: Romans 1:18-3:20, that he begins with these words: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…” Was Paul so naïve that he would fail to recognize the obvious marketing mistake? To start with God’s anger might suggest this message of the gospel is all about God and has very little to do with man. In fact, it is God’s righteousness and holiness that is being defended here. It is high time we as professing believers believe the gospel record as it was written and heed its warning for our hearts and lives. In this message Pastor Pete gives four declarations from God and Man’s perspectives, from Romans 1:17-23. Listen for LIFE!
July 2015
GOOD NEWS in a Bad News World: The Power of the Gospel (Part III – C)
As believers we have witnessed the alarming erosion of Christianity in the West. We have witnessed apostasy and the disintegration of the bedrock values that have made this nation great. We hear of more churches closing or in decline than ever before in our nation’s history. We feel as though the church and Christianity has lost its voice, it’s power and influence. We feel that we have become marginalized and deemed irrelevant to our culture. What are we to do? How do we regain what has been lost? How does God restore what the enemy and the locusts have stolen? As the church in America we must faithfully return to the powerful, Spirit filled preaching of the gospel without apology. We must stop apologizing for our faith and we must unleash the truth of God’s holy and powerful Word one word, one verse, one chapter, one book at a time. We must preach the whole counsel of God to anyone who will listen for our God is not intimidated with the news of the disintegration of the evangelical church in the West. He has given us Good News in a bad news world. We have been given the promise of the gospel in Romans 1:1-7; We are called to the gospel in Romans 1:8-15 and we are given the power of the gospel in Romans 1:17,18. Listen for LIFE!
June 2015
Good News in a Bad World-Part Three
Pastor Pete in his third in a three part series on The Normal Christian Life, from Romans 1:8-14 shares the last five of ten points on the Anatomy of a Normal Christian's Life. What we consider to be normal is in truth the dysfunction of sin and possibly even ignorance in not understanding what God's expectations are for us. The Apostle Paul serves as a great example of what our new normal should look like. While most of us use our sinful human nature as an excuse for our flawed perception of normal we forget that we are in fact new creations in Christ. What God expects and inspects is for us to live supernatural Christian lives not from our will power or won't power but in the full sufficiency of Jesus Christ's life and power lived out in and through us to and for His glory. Listen for LIFE!
May 2015
Good News in a Bad News World: The CALLED to the Gospel
Have you ever wondered or considered what is the normal Christian life? We tend to compare our faith to others around us and we either feel the emotions of shame at not being good enough, as compared to the super Christians around us or we feel a sense of superiority that we at least have our act together as being better than most. What is the standard? Who do we go to so we can get an honest self-evaluation of the truth of the matter? This week’s message is taken from Romans 1:8-15 and the standard bearer for the normal Christian life is none other than the Apostle Paul himself. Lest you or I shrink from that lofty standard we must realize the same Holy Spirit that lived in him lives in us as well. What’s my, our excuse for not being faithful? Of course we are sinners saved by grace, but we must measure truth by God’s Word and His Holy Spirit that lives within us. Imagine what might happen if we were to actually take our lives seriously for the KING in His kingdom work? Listen for LIFE!
GOOD NEWS in a Bad News World
GOOD NEWS in a Bad News World. Pastor Pete continues with the sermon he started last week on the Promise of the Gospel. We will examine Romans 1:1-7, The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes hearts, can be trusted, is full of truth and power, is a free gift for all peoples and brings peace. Listen for LIFE!
April 2015
Good News in a Bad News World
Are you as sick and tired of all the bad news as I am? We live in a bad news world. It seems as if wherever we turn we are accosted with negativity and bad news. We’ve almost become numbed to it. What we all need is a good dose of GOOD NEWS. Here’s some good news for you: Jesus Christ was sent by His Father to bring a gospel message of GOOD NEWS to all who would hear it and receive it by faith! In this fourth message, in the book of Romans, Pastor Pete shares five good news truths about the gospel message of Jesus Christ. It is a great apologetic for the need for sharing the good news of the gospel message and the truth of the Jesus Christ for a sin sick, lost and hopeless world. Listen for life!
February 2015
ROMANS: A Peek Inside the Door Part Two
In Part Two from last week’s sermon on an introduction to the Book of Romans, Pastor Pete takes us on an overview of Saul, later to become Paul’s life. From Saul’s impressive religious credentials and passion to destroy the people of “the Way,” in his youth, to his amazing conversion on the road to Damascus, his changed heart, life and Spirit filled passion for Christ and His Gospel, we see Saul the Persecutor turn into Paul the Persecuted. Listen for LIFE!
Romans: A Peek Inside the Door
Where does one begin when trying to give a proper introduction to such an amazing doctrinal book such as the Book of Romans? In this week’s sermon, Pastor Pete will ask and answer seven fundamental questions to help us take a peek inside this amazing book. Why was the letter written? Who was it written to? What is the theme and simple outline? How does the Old Testament Tabernacle wonderfully illustrate the flow of the book of Romans in: Condemnation, Justification, Sanctification, Consecration and Glorification? What questions does the book of Romans answer for the believer? What made the ministry and legacy of the Apostle Paul so great? Listen for Life!
ROMANS: A Book of Doctrinal Foundations
Do you remember Super Bowl 49? The last play of the game was one for the record books. Some might think it was the worst play in the history of the game. Isn’t it funny what we get so excited about? Many will remember all the stats for either the Patriots or the Seahawks for years to come but after this week Super Bowl 49 will likely become a fading memory. This week Pastor Pete begins another study in one of the greatest books of the Bible: The Book of Romans. Here’s something to get excited about! For over 2000 years this book has been the source of great debates and discussions. It was written by a zealous, educated Jew who hated followers of “the Way”, despised Christ, persecuted Christians and became one of the greatest believers and Christians of all time, from Saul the persecutor to the great Apostle Paul. In this message we will look at why this book is so foundational for our Christian doctrinal teaching and understanding of true salvation and the walk of the believer. This series will be preached throughout 2015 and 2016 every other month in partnership with the Old Testament Book of Psalms. Listen for Life!
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