Sermons

What does it mean to have something at the center of your life? That word, center, can be a verb like focus or aim. It can also be a noun like heart. What’s the focus, aim, or heart of your life? In the introduction to his letter to the Christians in the Corinth, Paul laid out a strong case that for a Christian the only possible center is Jesus himself. And the same goes for a church. A Christ centered church keeps Christ at the center. That’s what we, Fountain City Church, want to be and do.

If you could ask Jesus to do one thing in your community or in the lives of people close to you, what would that be? The answers we might give would likely be varied, but together they belong to a phrase that gives the basis of the vision for our church: Gospel Renewal. Behind our vision is a defining “Why”: why have and pursue this vision? Because through Jesus and his church, God is moving all things from the failure of the garden to the glory of new creation.

This week, as we reflect on the good news of Christmas, that in Christ God’s grace has come to us all, we’ll take a deeper look at what God intends for this gift of grace to do in our lives. What is it that Jesus has come to do for us? Could our view or understanding of life with Jesus be too small? Through one of the Bible’s best known passages, we’ll see that God’s gift of grace through Christ is so powerful in our lives that you can say we are born again.

On Christmas Eve, gifts will be on all our minds. What am I getting? Will my family like what I got them? Gifts are things we love to give and receive. And when we give them, they are things we’re excited for others to receive. On Christmas Eve we are reminded of the truth that God is a gift giver and so presents us all with a choice: will we accept God’s gift or not? Through the example of Mary, we’ll see that there’s no better response than to receive it with joy.

There’s longing that runs through every culture throughout time that can be hard to put into words. We can all see that our world is a broken place and when we’re honest, we know that we ourselves are broken people. The longing we have is for this world and for our lives to be made whole; to be restored. The good news in this Advent season is that we are not longing in vain, but longing for what God has promised he will do. Jesus, our Prince of Peace, is coming to make everything whole.

A theme that transcends time and culture, that works its way into literature, music and fine art is the desire of wanting to go home. Home is that place where we belong, where we’re protected and provided for, where we’re reminded of who we truly are. This week, from the prophet Isaiah, we’ll see that because Jesus is our Everlasting Father, we can look forward to what our hearts long for: going to our true home.

One of the key themes of Advent is waiting. Just like kids have to wait until the glory of Christmas morning, we have to wait for the full glory of our life in Christ. Often waiting is hard, sometimes our waiting is full of grief, pain, and tears because we long for a healing but we’re powerless in our situation. This week we will see what it means for Jesus, our Mighty God, to enter our waiting; and the good news we’ll see is that Jesus our Mighty God will turn our weeping into rejoicing.

Advent is a season of great hope and in days like ours, we need hope. All of us, no matter our background, circumstances, beliefs, long for something to give us rest in our souls and lead us to rejoice in our hearts, because all of us experience what this passage describes as gloom. Often we look at our lives or we look at this world and we ask, “Can anyone lead us out of this mess?!” The good news of advent is “Yes. Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor”.

Recent headlines tell us that new AI technology will soon be creating distortions and copies of reality that we won’t be able to distinguish from the real thing. When it comes to our Christian faith, there have been distortions of reality, attempts to twist and mimic the real thing for centuries. In a new age of deep fakes, how can you and I know the real Jesus? This passage about the people of Berea is one that Christians have long looked to as an example for knowing the truth.

In 1979, Bob Dylan wrote a song with a chorus saying “You’re gonna serve somebody, it might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody”. I think he’s right. I think the Bible says Bob Dylan’s right. All of us serve something or someone. This passage will press us to look into our hearts and reflect on what or whom we serve. What King do you serve, because we’re all gonna serve somebody.