Evangelicals and the Gospel of God
Christianity Focused on God
Acts 4:23-31
Matthew Raley (12/27/09)
| Human significance, ethics, and sufferings do not make sense – cannot ever make sense – unless they are measured from the point of view of God. |
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Christianity Taught from the Bible
2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5
Matthew Raley (01/03/10)
| In every field of inquiry, humans have learned to return to primary sources of information. In science, we go back to the field or the lab. In history, we return to letters, diaries and memoirs. In the arts, we return to works of art themselves, and to what the artists said about those works.
In this sermon we see that God-focused evangelicalism always returns to the Bible.
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Christianity that Names Sin
Romans 5:12-21
Matthew Raley (01/10/10)
| Christianity that is focused on God and taught by the Bible always uses the word sin.
In this sermon we’ll see that sin is not an idea, an emotion or a subjective condition only, but an historical reality that comprehensively dooms humanity.
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Christianity Embodied by Christ
Hebrews 1:1-4
Matthew Raley (01/17/10)
| To preach one sermon on the doctrine of Jesus Christ seems absurd. But there is this excuse that Christ is what we preach every Sunday, no matter what part of Scripture we are in. This is not an accident: we must drive our thoughts to him again and again because our minds are easily turned to other subjects.
In this sermon you will see how rich and incomprehensible Christ is.
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Christianity Empowered by the Spirit
Romans 8:1-30
Matthew Raley (01/24/10)
| When Christians lose their focus on God, they lose everything essential to their faith at one stroke. They feel safe turning from the Bible to other sources of “truth.” They come up with less offensive names for sin. They no longer elevate Christ, but sidle up to him as a buddy, and no longer feel a need for his atonement.
As if all that weren’t catastrophic enough, they also lose the new birth. Spirituality becomes a series of modification to life, refinements of this, techniques for that.
In this sermon we’ll see that for human beings there are only two destinies, death or life – which way you go depends on the Spirit. |
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Christianity Preached by the Church
Matthew 26:26-29; 28:18-20
Matthew Raley (01/31/10)
| We are all quite ready to affirm that God and his word are our focus, that our problem is sin, that our Savior is Jesus Christ, and that the Holy Spirit gives us life in his name. We affirm these doctrines because we hear no offense against our individual autonomy.
But the biblical doctrine of the Church takes all of these teachings and binds us to each other in Crhist’s name. And for many today, this is nothing but trouble. This biblical doctrine vests the community of believers with authority, and many today are unwilling to yield to anything of the kind.
In this sermon we see that the doctrine of the church means that we are accountable to each other as forgiven sinners under the authority of the King and his apostles. |
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Christianity Expressed in Action
Acts 2:42-47
Matthew Raley (02/07/10)
| One of the great issues of today among evangelicals is whether life-change is part of the salvation experience.
In this sermon we’ll see that to excuse believers from the Spirit-led way of life is to harden their hearts against the true gospel, and to change the terms of God’s redemptive plan.
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Christianity Targeted on Christ's Return
1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11
Matthew Raley (02/14/10)
| Evangelicals have lost the art of defiance.
On one side, they are too ingratiating toward the lies our culture tells. In particular, they are intimidated by the insistence of our culture that all spiritual traditions are equivalent and that there are many ways to God.
On the other, they stubbornly position themselves in the stupidest places. They spew political rhetoric. They try to use insult humor on people they disagree with. They oversimplify other people’s pain.
In this sermon we’ll see the correct grounds for defying this world. |
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