Weekly Sermons
Fresh Faith: Blaming God
April 21, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Malachi 2:17—3:5, Genesis 3:11–13, Romans 3:23, 1 John 3:5, Psalm 46:10
Ever stepped on your dog's tail and then get angry at your dog for what you did? We do it all the time. Blaming prevents us from seeing the full truth. In this sermon, Pastor Joel will address Malachi's third indictment against God's people that had led to a stale faith.
Fresh Faith: Shallow Relationships
April 14, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Numbers 30, Malachi 2:10–16, Malachi 1:6—2:9, Genesis 3:15, Jeremiah 3:6–9
God through the prophet Malachi indicts Israel of 7 different patterns of stale faith. In this week's Fresh Faith sermon, God moves from the first pattern of stubbornness and addresses the pastors/priests of the day (1:6-2:9). You can find an article on "Warning to Today's Pastors: 7 Ways to Evaluate a Pastor" in the sermon notes for this sermon. This was not addressed in the sermon for the day but was written to be read latter. Moving on to the 4th indictment or the 2nd one addressed to all the people of Israel, God speaks through Malachi about the pattern of shallow relationships (2:10-16). One of the toughest verses in all of the Old Testament to translate is 2:16 "God hates divorce." Listen here to hear how the root of divorce is found in the pattern of shallow relationships.
Fresh Faith: Stubbornness
April 7, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Malachi 1:1–5, 2 Timothy 3:1–5, Matthew 21:18, Ephesians 1:4–5
In the last book of the Old Testament, God asks His people five specific question through the prophet Malachi. There's actually seven questions. The extra two are addressed to the priest/pastors of the day. After this conversation through Malachi, God will not speak to His people for 400 years. Not until John the Baptist arrives on the scene will God speak to His people again. In these five questions are found 5 patterns that have led God's people to a stale faith. This week we looked at stubbornness and how it effects our relationship with God.
Good Friday Service 2024
March 29, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Isaiah 53
For thousands of years, the Church has gathered on Good Friday to remember the betrayal, arrest, torture, and death of Jesus Christ. The Apostolic Constitutions called Good Friday “a day of mourning, not a day of festive joy.” Yet we do not mourn as those without hope, but we mourn because it was our sin that Christ took upon Himself in His death on the cross. This Good Friday service takes place between Palm Sunday, where we celebrate the triumphal entry of King Jesus into the city, and Resurrection Sunday, where we celebrate the King’s victory over death and begin the season of Easter. Yet, between these days of celebration, we gather to mourn and lament, to remember that the triumph of the King over sin, Satan, and death required the King to wear a crown of thorns, to be mocked instead of praised, and to be nailed to a cross. On Good Friday, we worship God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our great God and Father, according to His wisdom and love, ordained the plan of redemption. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ accomplished salvation through His suffering and resurrection. And God the Holy Spirit applies the work of salvation to all who are called and believe. We look at the events leading up to the Crucifixion and Christ’s ultimate suffering and death, marveling at what a Savior we have in Jesus Christ. The cross should bring us to the collision of seemingly contradictory places. For at the cross, we see the collision of purity and depravity, mercy and judgment, sorrow and thanksgiving, and on and on we could go. On Good Friday, we remember that “He who hung the earth upon the waters was hung upon the cross.”
Ps 23 God is My Shepherd
March 17, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Matthew 14:22–33, Revelation 21:1–5, Psalm 23:2–4
Last week, we discovered in verse 1 that the image of God as Shepherd used in this passage has more to do with God's rule than anything else. While it is true that Ps 23 has provided comfort to many, God as Shepherd, as David wrote it, is more about God's dominion over all creation. This week we discover that the major characteristic about God's rule is that He leads. Because this is true, it naturally follows that the major characteristic about a disciple is that he or she follows. We are here because we are not there...yet!
Ps23 God is Our Shepherd
March 10, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Psalm 23:1, John 10:1–15
In this first of three sermons grounded in Ps 23, we discover that God is not only King David's Shepherd but our Good Shepherd in Jesus Christ. While Ps 23 is a Psalm of comfort, the context of this Psalm finds David in a moment of clarity as he looks back on how God's faithfulness was demonstrated in leading him through many difficult moments.
Silence - Habakkuk (week 3)
February 18, 2024 • Joel Brantner • Habakkuk 3:1–16
This week we discussed the importance of remembering God's covenant when it feels like God has gone silent in our lives. For the Old Testament believer this represented circumcision. For the New Testament believer today, this means baptism.
