Your Master's Joy

Originally preached on July 6, 2025.

scripture

Matthew 25:14–30

summary

In Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus teaches that discipleship is faithful stewardship of what God has entrusted to us while we await His return. Our identity as servants of a good Master shapes our calling to use our gifts, time, and resources not fearfully or passively, but actively and fruitfully. The faithful servants are commended for their trust-filled obedience, while the unfaithful servant is condemned for hiding what he was given out of fear. The passage exhorts believers to live with courage and generosity, investing all that God has entrusted for His kingdom and glory.

Your Master's Joy (Matthew 25:14-30)

Sam Tunell

The Lord Is at Hand

Originally preached on August 3, 2025.

scripture

The Book of Philippians

summary

Philippians forms believers around a vision of Jesus who humbled himself, suffered, and was exalted, shaping Christians into the same pattern of humility, unity, and sacrificial love. Because Christ is supreme and worth more than all else, suffering becomes participation in his mission rather than loss, producing joy, perseverance, and hope.

The Lord Is at Hand (Philippians)

Rik Maxedon

Prepare to Follow

Originally preached March 15, 2026.

scripture

Matthew 4:218–22

series

Prepare the Way

summary

Jesus, early in his ministry and based in Capernaum in Galilee, walks along the lakeshore and calls four fishermen to follow him. To Simon, Andrew, James, and John (blue-collar workers with no standing in the religious world) he issues a simple, personal invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Each pair immediately drops their nets, their boat, and even their father to go with him. In the sermon, this moment was presented as a window into the nature of true discipleship: Jesus takes the initiative, he calls ordinary people, he promises to do the transforming work himself, and that call reshapes every commitment they have ever made.

Prepare to Follow (Matthew 4:18-22)

Aaron Halstead

for reflection:

1. What stands out to you about Jesus’ initiative in calling ordinary fishermen, and how does that challenge your assumptions about who God uses for his work?

2. Where in your life do you sense Jesus inviting you to “drop your nets”—that is, to release a comfort, identity, or priority in order to follow him more fully?

3. The disciples immediately reordered their commitments in response to Jesus’ call. What commitments in your life currently compete most with wholehearted discipleship, and what might it look like to place them under Jesus’ authority?

Prepare for the Kingdom

Originally preached March 22, 2026.

scripture

Matthew 4:23–25

series

Prepare the Way

summary

Matthew 4:23–25 is a compact summary of Jesus’ entire ministry in Galilee—and, in many ways, a summary of his ministry as a whole. In three short verses, we see him teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and affliction. His fame spreads beyond Jewish territory into the Roman province of Syria, drawing crowds of sick and suffering people who are brought to him from every direction. And those crowds, from both Jewish and Gentile regions, follow him (a word Matthew used just one paragraph earlier to describe his first disciples). This passage is a portrait of what it looks like to live on mission the way Jesus did: discipling others, declaring the gospel, and demonstrating the kingdom.

Prepare for the Kingdom (Matthew 4:23-25)

Aaron Halstead

for reflection:

1. In what ways do you most naturally participate in Jesus’ mission—through teaching, proclaiming the gospel, or showing compassion—and which of these feels most unfamiliar or challenging for you?

2. The crowds came to Jesus with every kind of need and affliction. How does this shape your view of the kinds of people Jesus invites into his kingdom today?

3. What would it look like for you to intentionally “follow Jesus” this week in a way that includes both declaring his truth and demonstrating his compassion to others?

The King

Originally preached March 29, 2026.

scripture

Matthew 21:1–11

series

King, Priest, & Lord

summary

On Palm Sunday, Jesus arrives at the outskirts of Jerusalem—the moment toward which his entire ministry has been building. Rather than entering the city quietly, he deliberately arranges to ride in on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy of a humble king coming in peace. His entry draws three very different responses: his disciples obey simply and quietly; a large crowd shouts and celebrates, yet reveals it barely knows him; and the city itself is shaken, asking, “Who is this?” The same three responses people had to Jesus then are the same three ways people respond to him today. The question Matthew is asking every reader is the same one he asked on that first Palm Sunday—how will you respond to the King?

The King (Matthew 21:1-11)

Aaron Halstead

for reflection:

1. Which of the three responses to Jesus in Matthew 21:1–11 (quiet obedience, enthusiastic but shallow familiarity, or uncertainty) most closely reflects your own posture right now? Why?

2. The crowd celebrated Jesus but didn’t fully know him. In what ways might you be tempted to celebrate Jesus outwardly while keeping him at a distance inwardly?

3. If Jesus truly enters as the humble King who fulfills prophecy and brings peace, what would it look like for you to respond to him with deeper trust and obedience this week?