Sermons

When you go to a minor league baseball game, things are a little different than the big boys. There are creative shenanigans between innings. There are more freebies. You can sit closer to the field and to the players. Crowd sizes are smaller than the massive, major league stadiums. Tickets and concessions are (slightly) cheaper. It’s just different. But one thing is not different. The game. Professional baseball is professional baseball. The game is played nine players vs. nine players for nine innings. The basepaths are the same length. All players utilize the same regulation gloves, bats, and uniforms. The game is the same. In the Old Testament, scholars have created a dividing line between the major prophets and the minor prophets. The major prophets’ writings are quite lengthy while the minor prophets’ writings are much shorter. We tend to quote prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah – and rarely quote from Habakkuk or Zephaniah. The major and minor prophets are different. But one thing is not different. They all boldly spoke the Word of God to a people headed into exile or already in exile. They all spoke messages the people desperately needed to hear. They all speak to us today. The message is the same. For our summer book series this year, we are going to walk through the 12 minor prophets – one book a week. Some are a few chapters long – some are just a page. But as is our custom, we will all, as a church family, be reading and studying the same books over the course of our summer. Plan now to read and reflect. And plan to let these “minor” messages make a major impact on your life.

Exiles play a large part in the thematic progression of the Bible. In essence, Joseph is exiled from his homeland by his own family. But in exile, he rescues his family when famine ravages the world. After their continued disobedience, God Himself exiles the nations of Israel and Judah into prolonged captivity. In captivity we see a remnant maintain the Jewish faith, reestablishing that faith in Jerusalem with the rebuilding of that great city. In both of those particular instances, exile was forced on someone else. Then, along comes Peter, who writes in 1 Peter 1:1 that, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are an exile in your own world. Christians are exiles by choice – choosing to live in a world that is not our own until we can go to our homeland, the Promised Land of heaven. In many ways, our current national/global crisis has made each of us exiles not by our own choice – cast into exile by a mysterious, yet deadly disease. Many have become, in many ways, exiles in their own homes. The questions arise, how then do we live as exiles? How can we live in social isolation but still be the salt and light Jesus has called us to be? How can we love our neighbor when we can’t get close to our neighbor? What does a life in isolation look like behind the closed doors of our homes? These are important questions for exiles to ask. This May, the preaching team will be working through 1 Peter and sharing five action steps for thriving in isolation. We want to survive this odd time – but, more importantly, we want to come out on the other side of isolation stronger in our faith and stronger in our witness. Like the Jews returning to rebuild Jerusalem, we all look forward to being together again as soon as possible. Until then, please join us each week online – invite your friends to join us as well.

If you think about it, we really don’t have many firm details about heaven. What we DO know is pretty telling, though. David says that it will be a place where we will be with God. Jesus says that He is building us a home there. Revelation says it will be a place of indescribable beauty and splendor. Revelation also gives us a few hints at what we will do in heaven. If our actions in heaven were to be boiled down to one word, that word would be “worship”. Worship is fundamental to who we are as Christians. We worship a God who loves us and has provided an avenue to eternal life. We worship a God who has created this immense universe and the baby cooing in a crib. We worship a God who invented grace, love, forgiveness, and hope. Worship is a part of who we are and is built into our DNA. Though we often think of worship as what we do during our worship hour on Sunday morning, worship is actually a lifestyle. It is something we do privately, as a church family, and wherever we go on a daily basis. On March 1 we will begin a sermon series on worship that we are entitling … “Worship”. That one word says it all. We live a life of worship. What does a lifestyle of worship look like? How do I worship alone? What should worship on Sunday mornings look like? How do I worship meaningfully through the many elements of a worship service? Our preaching team will tackle these and many other questions regarding worship. Too often we focus on what WE get out of worship. Worship becomes about OUR likes, OUR preferences. We forget that worship has nothing to do with us. Worship is 100% entirely about God. The awesome thing is, though … when we focus on God and God alone, we emerge from worship more blessed than we ever imagined. Bring some friends with you and be blessed as we learn about worship – as we are inspired to worship – and, most importantly, as we actually WORSHIP!

Have you ever found yourself saying – to yourself or to a friend – “Now you know … God will never give you more than you can handle.” Did you know that this is not found anywhere in the Bible? It’s not found there because God never said it. Yet we hear it often when folks are struggling, and maybe we’ve even said it. How often do we share advice from the Bible that actually isn’t in the Bible? How many common misconceptions do we carry with us when it comes to God’s Word? In our next sermon series, “God Never Said That”, we are going to look at some of the common errors that good, Bible-centered Christians believe when it comes to Biblical truth. We’ll address these misconceptions and discover God’s deeper – and much better – truths. There are more than likely some corrections each of us need. Quite likely, there are several corrections your unchurched friends and neighbors need. Why not invite them to walk through this series with you? And don’t forget, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” That’s in the Bible … right?

Join us each Sunday over the next four weeks for a new sermon series focusing on a Godly view of work. Beginning September 8th, we’ll study what the Bible has to teach us about maximizing the relationships we develop for Christ in the work place. In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon writes extensively about the major role work takes in our lives. He writes about the misery and unhappiness that many associate with their work. However, he sums up his thoughts with these words in verse 24: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.” Together, we’ll learn to find satisfaction in our work using the following acrostic: WORSHIP - Work is an act of worship. OUTREACH - Work is an opportunity for outreach. REFLECTION - Work is a reflection of Christ. KINGDOM - Work is a means of supporting the Kingdom of God.

Summer is a good time for reading. Summer gives you the chance to grab a good book – head to the pool or the river or the beach or the back porch – and enjoy the escape that only a good book can bring. School kids are encouraged (or required) to read over the summer – and that’s a good thing. Bookstores have entire sales campaigns based around summer reading. Fairmount is no different. As a congregation that loves the Bible, each year for the last nine, we have taken one book of the Bible and worked through that book together. Our Sunday morning sermons have been based on that book and each of us have been encouraged, while away on vacation, to keep up by reading along. The tradition continues this summer. If you’re looking for some light reading, though, you’ve come to the wrong place! This summer, we’re going to tackle Paul’s letter to the Romans. This is one of the Apostle’s heavyweights – sometimes referred to as his magnus opus, his greatest work. Romans has perhaps more Christian doctrine than any other Biblical text. It is filled with page after page of the very pillars of our faith. We will consider the book in several manageable chunks – sometimes one chapter, sometimes a couple each week. Each section will cover significantly more than we could ever cover on a Sunday morning, so it is imperative that you do your own reading and your own study. Share your discoveries on social media. Tell them to a friend. Shoot the preachers an email. Enjoy the text – learn from the text. If you would like a good, systematic way to tackle the Book of Romans, consider the SOAP method of Bible study. Read the entire passage – then SOAP it:

• Scripture – Write down one or two verses that were particularly meaningful to you.
• Observation – What was interesting in the passage – What did you learn – What is God teaching you?
• Application – How can you apply this passage to your life – In what ways does it change you?
• Prayer – Use the passage to guide you as pray about this passage in your life.

Who is the most mentioned person in the Bible? Jesus, of course. Jesus’s name shows up over 1200 times in Scripture. But – perhaps more tricky – who comes in second? Mentioned, by name, almost 1000 times is David, the shepherd who would become king. David’s life is unique in the annals of the Bible. His rise to fame and power from the obscurity of the pastureland is the stuff of Hollywood movies. Only David’s story is fact, not fiction. Perhaps what makes the accounts of David so compelling is that his life mirrors ours in so many ways. Not many of us have had the opportunity to fell a giant, but all of us have faced many giant problems throughout our lives. All of us understand the temptation of revenge – and the lure of irresponsible passions. All of us have had moments of incredible triumph and moments of humiliating failure. All of us have had painful family experiences. In truth, David is a real hero for real people. This May and June we are going to dive into the life of David, considering the most notable events of his life and comparing them to our own lives. God said that David was a “man after His own heart”. With such a Godly, Biblical descriptor, this slingshot slinging hero has much to teach us all.

Forgiveness is a challenging concept for a lot of us. According to Barna Group, three-quarters of us identify ourselves as forgiving people, but only half of us would say we've been forgiven by someone else, and one out of four really struggle to forgive someone and one out of four struggle to receive forgiveness. That is a reality that needs to be improved. We're going to take four Sundays and talk about forgiveness. In offering us forgiveness, God erases our sin, and then we can, in turn, offer forgiveness to others. We can live a life of forgiveness and grace.

The joke has always been that, when asked a question in Bible School or a Bible study and you don’t know the answer, just say “Jesus”! After all, who can go wrong with that as an answer? In truth, Jesus really IS the answer – the answer to life’s questions, life’s problems, and life’s direction. The question for us becomes: am I willing to apply the answer of “Jesus” to all of those areas of my life? This spring, as we build our way to Easter, we are going to dig into Jesus’ ultimate answer to life. Jesus gives this answer to the Disciples as they gather with Him one last time before His crucifixion. Seeking an answer that will comfort them and give them hope and direction, Jesus answers in John 14:6 with these simple words: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” THIS is the answer to life. If you are looking for answers – if you have friends looking for answers – if you want to firm up your answers to life – don’t miss a week of this sermon series. When the answer is known, it can be applied to our lives. And that answer will change us for all eternity.

What does it mean to be part of a church? What does serious church involvement really look like? How can each of us contribute to a strong local church and a strong global church? These are questions we will answer over the course of this series. “ChURch” has been inspired by the short book, “I Am A Church Member” by Thom S. Rainer. We are excited about this series and the emphasis it will bring for all of us – regardless of age, ability, or spiritual maturity – to take seriously the valuable role we play in this most amazing of Godly inventions: the church. We look forward to strengthening Fairmount for the weeks, months, and years ahead as we continue to fulfill the Lord’s mission for our congregation.

For the month of January, we want to consider the word "hope." Hope appears to be in short supply, until we look to the Lord.