Deacon & Elder Ordination 2023

Where is the Lamb?

October 14, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Genesis 22:1–14, Exodus 12:1–14, John 1:29, Luke 22:14–20

We hear Jesus referred to as the "lamb of God" a lot, but what does that actually mean? Many people will tell you that a great way to sum up the gospel is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he GAVE..." We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God because he gave himself as an offering on our behalf. But there's so much more to it than that. In this message, Brock takes a deep dive on the idea of the "lamb of God" as it appears all through scripture, and by doing that we can see that Jesus is ultimately revealed to be the answer to a question going all the way back to Genesis: "Where is the Lamb?"

Rhythms of Rest

August 19, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • Leviticus 25:1–7, Leviticus 25:20–21, Exodus 31:12–13

When God gave the command to observe the Sabbath to ancient Israel, the world was very different. The ancient Hebrews, like many other people groups of the time, lived off of what the land produced. And it was into that context that God gave the almost-crazy command of the Sabbath year: every seventh year, they were to let the soil rest for one entire year. That concept was crazy then, and it's crazy now. More and more our society is becoming season-less. We don't structure our days and weeks around what the land is producing, and we live our lives in a similar way. We often place the expectation on ourselves that we ought to always be producing, without any seasons of rest. What is there to learn about the rhythm of our lives, as well as how we are to do ministry as the church, from ancient Israel's rhythm of Sabbath? In this message, Cody explores these things, and also casts vision toward the future of discipleship at White Stone.

Those Who Are With Us Are More Than Those Who Are With Them

August 12, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • 2 Kings 6:8–17, Matthew 8

As we wrapped our series on First John last week, Brock left us with the truth that Satan's ultimate goal is that our faith might fail. He encouraged us as John encouraged his readers to resist the enemy's attacks on our faith. It can be easy to become overwhelmed when we think about the forces that stand against us having vibrant faith. We can easily become disheartened when we see our own strength compared to Satan's vast resources. In this message Brock reassures us with a message from the life of the prophet Elisha. In three back-to-back moves of God, we are shown that God has power and authority over the natural world, over the chaos we feel in our lives, and over the supernatural world. Because of that, we can boldly resist the enemy's attacks on our faith, because those who are with us are more than those who are with him.

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