"Roadblocks to Faith" Sermon Series

In recent weeks we have explored four common roadblocks to spiritual growth and faith: doubt, fear, worry, and guilt/shame. These are, in many ways, autobiographical. When considering them I looked at my own life in order to preach to myself. Yet it is my belief that these roadblocks are common among us all. At the root of each of them is an attack on our faith. The answer, of course, is to stay focused on Jesus.


Sermons:

November 22, 2015 | Matthew 11:1-6: From Doubt to Faith
November 29, 2015 | Joshua 1:1-18: From Fear to Faith
December 6, 2015 | Matthew 6:25-34: From Worry to Faith
December 27, 2015 | Leviticus 16:1-22: From Guilt and Shame to Faith


Other:

Ravi Zacharias' 12 Arguments For the Historicity of the Resurrection
Does God Exist? The Cosmological Argument
Does God Exist?: The Moral Argument



Previous Sermon Series:

The Gospel Is . . .: Sermon Series on Galatians
"The Beatitudes" Sermon Series

December 27, 2015 | Leviticus 16:1-22: From Guilt and Shame to Faith

We conclude our series on Roadblocks to Faith by exploring the burdens of guilt and shame. Our passage was Leviticus 16:1-22:

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

¹¹ “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³ He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. ¹⁴ Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶ He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. ¹⁷ When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ¹⁹ With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.

²⁰ “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

Audio
Notes


For more:
November 22, 2015 | Matthew 11:1-6: From Doubt to Faith
November 29, 2015 | Joshua 1:1-18: From Fear to Faith
December 6, 2015 | Matthew 6:25-34: From Worry to Faith
December 27, 2015 | Leviticus 16:1-22: From Guilt and Shame to Faith

Worship Minimovie: The Incarnation Spoken Word

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday morning.

Worship Minimovie: Christmas According to Children

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday evening.

Worship Minimovie: Good News Scale

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday morning.

December 20, 2015 | Matthew 2:13-15; Hosea 11:1-11

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening taken from Matthew 2:13-15 and Hosea 11:1-11. Matthew claims that Hosea 11 is a prophecy about the birth narrative of Jesus. As we see in the sermon below, it is prophetic, but its a different type of prophecy.

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Audio
Notes


For more:
December 20, 2015 | Micah 5:1-6
December 13, 2015 | Isaiah 9:1-7

December 20, 2015 | Micah 5:1-6

Below you will find the sermon links from yesterday morning taken from Micah 5:1-6.

“Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
² “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
³ Therefore He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has borne a child.
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
⁴ And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
⁵ This One will be our peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
⁶ They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.

Audio
Notes


For more:
December 13, 2015 | Isaiah 9:1-7

Why the "X" in Xmas is not an Anti-Christmas Conspiracy

Every year I am inevitably asked the same question: what's with abbreviating Christmas to "Xmas?" There are usually two types of people who ask this question. On the one hand is the conspirator who assumes that "Xmas" is a secular coo against Christ. On the other hand is the confused who simply wonder why anyone would abbreviate "Christ" with a simple "X."

Good news American Christians, the abbreviation is not that big of a deal.

The Greek word for "Christ" is christos. The first letter of christos is the Greek letter chi which is transliterated into the English letters "ch." The chi itself looks like an English "X." Christians would often abbreviate christos with the Greek letter chi. A good example of this would be the Chi-Rho monogram which was a type of cross with the first two letters of christos - the chi and the rho. A picture of the Chi-Rho Monogram is available below.

Another example would be the ichthus. The word "ichthus" is Greek meaning "fish." Christians turned it into an acronym with each Greek letter representing something about Christ. The iota ("i") meaning "Jesus," the chi (ch) meaning "Christ," the theta ("th") meaning God, the upsilon ("u") meaning "son," and the sigma ("s") meaning Savior.

This brings us back to "Xmas." What appears to be the English letter "X" is actually a Greek chi which has a sacred history of being an abbreviation for "Christ" Thus, "Xmas" is short for "Christmas." Christ, therefore, has not been taken out of Christmas nor is this a secular, anti-Christian attack on Christmas. Abbreviating Christmas does not make one less a Christian or anti-Christmas anymore than abbreviating any other word. The chi is a reminder that Christmas is about the incarnation of God who condescended himself as a man in order to save mankind. The confusion over "Xmas" is not part of the so-called War on Christmas (or Xmas if you so desire).

There is a bigger issue here.All around us are people lost without the gospel. Many bible-believing, Jesus-worshipping, church-going Christians will fight against the secularism of Christmas, yet at the same time do not know the spiritual state or needs of their neighbors. Jesus is more offended by our lack of missional obedience than he is how we write "Christmas" on our cards. He cares more about the truth of the incarnation and the power of the cross than he does about more trivial matters. He cares more about the heart of the Target cashier than whether or not she uttered the words "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays."


For more:
Advent: God With Us 
Odd Thomas - The Incarnation (Spoken Word)
An Anti-Santy Ranty: A Moralistic God vs. the God in the Manger
Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas

December 13, 2015 | Isaiah 9:1-7

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning taken from Isaiah 9:1-7:

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Audio
Notes

Worship Minimovie: God With Us

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday morning. It is one of my personal favorites.


Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Worship Minimovie: Christmas Chaos

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday evening.

Worship Minimovie: Risking It All

We are currently taking up our annual Lottie Moon Christmas offering which goes to support the work of foreign missionaries. We encourage you to give sacrificially as we continue to seek to reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus.


Risking it all and following Jesus - A Future City - David Platt from IMB on Vimeo.

December 6, 2015 | Matthew 6:25-34 - From Worry to Faith

I'm a few days behind, but here the sermon from Sunday morning continuing our series on Spiritual Roadblocks. This time we focused on the roadblock of worry. Our passage was Matthew 6:25-34:

²⁵ “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? ²⁷ And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸ And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, ²⁹ yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹ Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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Notes



For more:
November 22, 2015 | Matthew 11:1-6: From Doubt to Faith
November 29, 2015 | Joshua 1:1-18: From Fear to Faith
December 6, 2015 | Matthew 6:25-34: From Worry to Faith

Worship Minimovie: By Faith

Here is the minimovie from Sunday evening:

Worship Minimovie: Faith on a Wire

Here is the minimovie from this past Sunday morning:

Ravi Zacharias' 12 Arguments For the Historicity of the Resurrection

In his sermon He is Risen given at the 2013 Ligonier Conference (video below), Ravi Zacharias offers twelve arguments in favor of the historicity of the resurrection.

1. The disciples eye-witness experience where they saw and touched.
2. The early proclamation the resurrection.
3. The transformation from fear to martyrdom
4. The empty tomb
5. They proclaimed the resurrection in Jerusalem itself.
6. No one was able to produce the body.
7. The existence of the church founded by law-abiding Jews.
8. The change of the day of worship to Sunday
9. The conversion of James.
10. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus.
11. Why on earth would they have put the evidence in the mouths of women?
12. Why would Jesus claim He was going to rise bodily when He could have claimed He was going to raise spiritually?

For more:
April 5, 2015 | Zechariah 3:1-10 - Easter 2015

November 29, 2015 | Joshua 1:1-18: From Fear to Faith

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning on the subject of fear - a major roadblock to faith. The sermon passage was taken from Joshua 1:1-18:

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, ² “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. ³ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. ⁵ No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ¹¹ “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.’”
¹² To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them, ¹⁵ until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land, and possess that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. ¹⁸ Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”

Audio
Notes



For more:
November 22, 2015 | Matthew 11:1-6: From Doubt to Faith
November 29, 2015 | Joshua 1:1-18: From Fear to Faith
December 6, 2015 | Matthew 6:25-34: From Worry to Faith