Messiah Church Ottawa Sermons

A Letter From Quarantine: Philippians Personal Growth Philippians 2:5-13 1. Almighty God, if the turning point of human history, is the sacrificial life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, then in Him, may it be the turning point of my whole life, and my life each day. 2. Almighty God, since for the good of others the Lord did not cling to His advantages, then in Him, neither will I. 3. Almighty God, since for the good of others the Lord humbled Himself, then in Him, so will I. 4. Almighty God, since for the good of others the Lord was obedient to You, then in Him, so will I.

A Letter From Quarantine: Philippians Humility Phil. 1:27-2:11 1. You enter the Jesus way "alone," but you walk the Jesus way with Jesus and others. 2. Jesus will lead you to walk towards, and through, hard things. 3. Jesus rescued you for a fullness of joy.. 4. On the Jesus Way, the problem is not different insights, the problem is selfishness and pride. 5. Pride and selfishness give temporary pleasure, but rob you of joy. 6. You cannot escape pride. You need to be rescued. 7. The Gospel is the good news that the Triune God has acted to rescue you. 8. It is a rescue that shapes you, draws you, and brings you into a new relationship with the rescuer.

A Letter From Quarantine: Philippians To live is Christ, To Die is Gain. Phil. 1:19-26 1. Spiritualities and religions require the diminishment and even the death of people. The Good News is that the true and living God diminished Himself and died for the good of people. 2. Every human being is fearfully and wonderfully made, and bears an unsurpassed dignity and worth. 3. In seeking to become like God, with the true God under us, humans became bent, and death became the doom of every human being. 4. Jesus is the Triune God's provision. Life itself took flesh and lived and died, so that the sin that dooms you to death, and your life itself, would be swallowed by eternal life. 5. By faith in Christ, the Triune God unites you to Christ, and you become regenerate, a new creation. 6. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:21) 7. You will be delivered "naturally," supernaturally, or eternally. 8. The Holy Spirit flows in and through you for your good, the spread of the gospel, the good

A Letter From Quarantine: Philippians Envy Phil. 1:12-18 1. Envy is corrupted, poisonous aspiration. 2. Envy is zero-sum. 3. It is a short walk from envy to hatred. 4. Envy creates and sustains fear. 5. Envy gives no pleasure. 6. It is hard to see envy in yourself, easy to see in others. 7. You matter to the Triune God, so He convicts of sin to connect with you for your good.

Letter From Quarantine: Philippians Cynicism and Grace Philippians 1:1-11 1. Lord, please grow in me a humble, trusting, remembering of Your gift of grace and peace to me. 2. Lord, by Your grace, help me to die to cynicism and instead, grow in thankfulness to You. 3. Lord, by Your grace, help me to put to death my confidence in my work, and instead, grow in me great confidence that You work in me for my eternal good. 4. Lord, by Your grace, please teach me and help me to pray for others.

Pandemic Easter A Sure and Certain Hope 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 1. Good news! Just outside of Jerusalem, in the spring of 30 or 33, Jesus died by crucifixion on a Friday, and was resurrected on Sunday. 2. Good news! By trust in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ will enter into a union with you, that even death cannot break. 3. Good news! In union with Christ, you will be resurrected body and soul. 4. Good news! If the end of your story changes, the whole story of your life changes. In Christ, the end of your story is now the Father smiling, welcoming you, His redeemed child.

Pandemic Holy Week Forsaken? Shamed? Psalm 22 1. David predicted the death and resurrection of Jesus Messiah 1000 years in advance. 2. Jesus is the Messiah who was forsaken and died to give ordinary people who trust in Him a new, eternal status - His sister, His brother. 3. He was forsaken to save you, so He will never forsake you. 4. He was forsaken to save you, so when you are shamed, mocked, and abandoned, you can pour out your heart to Him. 5. He was forsaken to save you, so in Him, your suffering will have meaning. 6. He was forsaken to save you, so no matter how hard life gets, the final word about you will be LIFE!

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God The Need for Justice Judges 19:1-21:25 1. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Triune God." (Rom 3:23) 2. You have a yearning for perfect justice and mercy, goodness and love, truth and strength, in some place with some One, not in this world. 3. In the death of Jesus upon the cross, yearning became fact. 4. You have a yearning to be with others, at home in the Garden, walking with the Triune God, in the cool of the day, naked and unashamed.

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God To Strong to Fail? Judges 16:1-31 1. Being blessed with great power can make you arrogant, foolish and contemptuous of the Triune God who is the true source of blessing. 2. You easily believe that you are too powerful to collapse. 3. Jesus is the true and greater Samson. 4. The Lord takes no delight in the death of a sinner - He delights when you turn and call on Him to redeem you as His own. 5. In the real world, the Triune God is present, powerful, active, sovereign and never needs a contingency plan.

1. Samson is God's monkey wrench in Israel's plans. 2. The Lord is saving Israel despite Samson and despite Israel. 3. The Lord saves you despite you! 4. In the whole counsel of God, the end never justifies the means. 5. Cheap grace whitewashes and baptizes selfishness and sin. 6. God's grace invades you, revealing selfishness as selfishness and sin as sin, while working for your true good in redemption and amendment of life.

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God True to Yourself? Judges 12:8-13:25

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God Big Mess, Bigger Grace Judges 10:6-12:7 1. In true and wise repentance, you are sorry for the wrong that you have done, not the personal consequences of wrongdoing. 2. In true and wise repentance, you put away the sin, and replace it with the good. 3. Doing what is evil is never acceptable worship in the eyes of the Triune God. 4. The Lord delivers Israel despite Jephthah's vow, not because of his vow. 5. Two things the fallen mind believes. A. "First be good, then be heard, then be one (with "god"). B. The world is divided between good people and bad people. 6. Every human being is a bent treasure who wears a crown. 7. Religion does not work. But there is a power from the Triune God that is pure grace and is offered to the undeserving as a gift. When received by faith in Jesus, God makes: the dead alive, the blind have light, the shameful have honour, the slave free, the condemned acquitted, the lost saved, the poor rich, the alone adopted, the impure pure, the si

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God The Success Trap Judges 8:1-10:5 1. Success can be your downfall. It tempts you to boast over God and exalt yourself. 2. If both success and failure keeps you from the Triune God, then only He can act to save you. 3. You will have to struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil till you die. 4. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone you have both the certainty of eternal security and the certainty of help for the daily struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God Being Weak in the World of the Strong Judges 7

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God Taking God at His Word Judges 6:1-40 1. It is not true that all paths lead to God. It is true, that the Triune God uses many paths to bring people to Himself. 2. Unlike idols, the Triune God is love, and He loves ordinary people like you. 3. Power kills to protect itself. Love will die for the beloved. 4. Idol worshippers go to great lengths to "save" their idols. But the Lord went to great lengths to save and deliver you. 5. While you were still giving yourself to idols, Messiah Jesus died for you. 6. The more that idols grip your heart, the harder it is to believe that the Lord keeps His word.

Joshua: Messy People, Faithful God The Problem of Self-Centeredness Judges 4:1-5:31 1. Godly faith desires to listen to what the Lord says in every facet of life. 2. A Christian is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. No human being can escape being judged by the Triune God. 4. On the cross, Jesus took the punishment you deserve. 5. Your doom on me; My destiny on you; come to me; be mine; follow me. Jesus.

Messy People, Faithful God God Unexpected Judges 3:7-31. 1. The Lord has proper anger at evil. He is never overwhelmed by anger or anger driven. He is mercy. 2. The Lord is faithful, reliable, and sovereign. He is never tame. 3. The Lord will keep His word, His way, in His time, for your good, and His glory. 4. You long for a left-handed God to provide a left-handed Saviour who saves you in a left-handed way,

Judges: Messy People, Faithful God The Presence of Idols Judges 2:6-3:6 1. The Lord longs for you to be fully human, fully free, fully whole, fully His, therefore, fully idol-free. 2. As a creature made in the image of God, you are hardwired to give homage and fealty. 3. Idols seem full of promise, but really only plunder you. 4. In light of your idol problem, you need the true and greater Joshua.