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Current Sermon Series
Don't Be a Gomer:
Your Faithfulness to the Husband of the Church
In the Old Testament God told the story of His broken heart over the unfaithfulness of His people through the life of one of His prophets, Hosea. This man of God was commanded to marry “a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry” as a living sermon to Israel’s infidelity to the LORD. The prophet obeyed, marrying a woman named Gomer. She represented a people saved by the LORD, given His Word, and called to be set apart solely for Him – but like Gomer, they were adulterous (Hosea 1:2-3:5). We hear echoes of this in the New Testament, as the glorified Jesus said of the Church of Ephesus that they had “left their first love” (Revelation 2:1-7).
Today the true Church shares the apostle Paul’s passion to have a “godly jealousy” for the faithfulness of God’s people, “betrothed…to one husband,” that His Bride, the Church, might be presented to Christ as “a pure virgin” (2 Corinthians 11:2). What does that mean for the member of the Church today? We’re going to spend a few weeks trying to answer that question from the Word of God.
Don’t be a Gomer, but be found faithful to the Husband of the Church!
Sunday, July 25 - Special Speaker Dr. Don Dykhouse
"Let's Eat" from Luke 15:11-32
Sunday, June 6 - Pastor Michael Head
"I Give Thanks for Your Faith, Love, and Hope" from Colossians 1:1-8
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Why the sermon? It's a good question in a day of fast-paced, well-produced, and unendingly variable forms of entertainment. How can sitting and listening to a live orator compete with the numerous forms of technology that make all sorts of communication extremely accessible to everyone?
First, the sermon is still justifiable because of the Bible. In the Bible, which we regard as the infallible Word of God and the only source of absolute, timeless truth in the world, gives us both command to preach sermons and the examples of sermons given.
Second, the moment of the sermon is not merely passive. It is an active and divine encounter as the preacher speaks the Bible, a book inspired by God the Holy Spirit. He does so by the impulse and guidance of that same Spirit, and speaks to a people united around the Bible by the Spirit. It is a Spirit-empowered and dynamic moment of relationship between the people of God and God the Holy Spirit, and between the people of God and the pastor God has given them. It is a moment of relationship as God's people follow the pastor through the Bible toward the singular goal of human existence: God Himself.
Third, the primary purpose of the Church is to be the "pillar and support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). The Word of God is "the true center of Christian union" (Baptist Faith & Message). The gathered people of God cannot help but lift up their voices proclaiming, praising, and applying His Word to their lives.