Glorifying God by making disciples.

If James is a field manual of authentic faith lived out, it is fitting that he wastes no time at all getting to the topic of wisdom. Wisdom is God's will lived out. It's living out a godly life. So a life built on the wisdom of God is a life of authentic faith. But there is a problem; we don't always know the wise thing to do. On this side of heaven, we lack wisdom. James gives us the solution of what to do when we lack wisdom and how we carry that out. If you need wisdom right now in life, James 1:5-8 has a very clear direction for you.

Joy in trials? How is that so? And what does that mean? Are Christians to be gluttons for pain, taking joy in the hardship itself? Are we just to "grin and bear it" with no acknowledgement of the pain and hardships of life? Is James sticking a band-aid of a cliche on the deep pains of life? Not at all. James 1:2-4 is deep theology that allows us at Christians to rejoice in our trials knowing what God is ultimately accomplishing as we respond rightly to the troubles and trials of life. Let's be equipped together to joyfully endure the trials life brings.

God is after doers of the word.  He is after us applying the principles of the Christian life in our day-to-day life.  James is the field manual God has given us for what it looks like to live out an authentic faith.  We begin our five-month journey in the book of James by looking at James 1:1 and letting that orient us to the book as a whole.  Who wrote it?  Who was he writing to? And what is this letter's purpose?  We set the course this week for a study in a book that will deeply transform our everyday walk with Jesus. 

Disciples are made as we pursue others the way God has pursued us. Let’s dive further into this pursuit and the ministry of reconciliation.

In the midst of such busy and stressful lives, how do we learn to rely on the Spirit’s life giving freedom? Let’s dive into Corinthians 3:12-18 to find out.

At the heart of our ministry lies this mission statement: To glorify God by making disciples.  This isn't a mission we came up with but is a mission Jesus left us with in his teaching of the Great Commission.  If we are going to make disciples and fulfill our mission, we better be able to answer some simple questions about disciples and discipleship.  In this four week series, we tackle four basic questions, beginning with this one: What is a disciple?  Let's look at what Jesus teaches in John 3 about the need to be born again as foundational to what it means to be a disciple of him. 

At the heart of our ministry lies this mission statement: To glorify God by making disciples.  This isn't a mission we came up with but is a mission Jesus left us with in his teaching of the Great Commission.  If we are going to make disciples and fulfill our mission, we better be able to answer some simple questions about disciples and discipleship.  In this four week series, we tackle four basic questions, beginning with this one: What is a disciple?  Let's look at what Jesus teaches in John 3 about the need to be born again as foundational to what it means to be a disciple of him. 

Let’s dive into the five features of the Parable of the Sower: the secret, the sower, the seed, the soil, and the success.

In two verses, Isaiah prophesies of the majesty of the child who would one day come as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  He also in these verses shows us what will mark the Kingdom of this coming Savior-King. Isaiah 9:6-7 contain the truths our hearts need again this Christmas to behold the majesty of Christ and take hold of the marks of His Kingdom.  These are two verses that will stoke the fire of our worship as we gather this Sunday, three days before another Christmas morning. 

We see in Isaiah 7 that we are called to a faith in Christ to save, not a faith in man. But as we make our way through this passage, we’ll notice four things play out: a problem for God’s people, a plea for faith, a pious faithlessness, and a promise to faithfully save.

Of all the places in the world, it was Bethlehem that hosted the birth of the Messiah.  Micah says, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel..." From this little place came the Christ.  God, once again, working in an unexpected way in an unexpected place. The highest of Kings born in the humblest of places.  Sunday we look at how an unexpected place brought us an unrivaled king who brings us unending blessings. 

So many advent sermons are soft and sentimental.  This is not one of them.  We begin Advent in a passage that at first glance might not strike you as much of a Christmas passage. As we look at Genesis 3:15, though, I hope we see the cosmic war that was being raged as Christ came that holy Christmas night.  I also hope we can see how the scriptures had already predicted and promised the winner of that cosmic war between God and Satan.  Genesis 3:15 will show us how we can have ourselves a merry snake-crushing Christmas this year and why that is such great news!

Pastor Robbie Symons of Hope Bible Church Oakville leads us through a study of Isaiah 66:1-2, and the three character traits God promises to show favor toward.

Ok, here we are. The final words of Paul's letter to the Romans. The letter closes with a worshipful doxology, declaring that God is worthy of all glory forever. As Paul glorifies God, he reminds us of an important reality that we must cling to as we close this book: the gospel is not only the power to save us, it is the power to strengthen us as well. So as we close our series in the book of Romans, we do so with the strong reminder that God, who strengthens us in the gospel, is worthy of all glory forever.

The end of Romans has many features customary of how Paul closes a letter, but there are two unique features. One of these uniquenesses is that he interrupts his greeting section for some final exhortations and encouragements to the church.  Today we look at what was so important to Paul that he interrupts his greetings to make sure he says these final words to the Romans.  In this, he highlights a problem for us to watch out for, a promise for us to believe, and a prayer for us to live by.