Faith Troy Sermons

Wealth has side effects. One of the side effects of wealth is that it can make you live in denial. Another side effect that comes with wealth and plagues rich people is discontentment. 1 Timothy 6:17 "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain..." As our wealth or our lifestyle increases, our hope naturally begins to migrate. "The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, they imagine it to be an unscalable wall." Proverbs 18:11 If you allow your hope to shift towards wealth, you will be compelled to horde. v.17 "but to put their hope in God who richly provides everything for our enjoyment."

Riches of Time, Talents, and Treasure God's best reason for why Christians live generously is because God is such an extravagant giver. The 4 Ps of generosity are Planned, Priority, Proportionate, and Promise God is the Giver and our response is living generously.

The reason why followers of Jesus are called to serve other people, to give, and to help other people is not because we have more than other people. Luke 6:27-38 Jesus is trying to change thew ay we think. "Do to others as you would have them do to you... If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." Jesus hasn't said anything about being fair, has he? "but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, because God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked." Jesus is saying, when I see someone who is in need, I am to be merciful not because of their need, but because God has been merciful to me. How could I do any less in light of what God has already done for me? Those who have been forgiven much, love much. (Luke 7:47) "Give and it will be given to you. A Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be p

St. Louis Seminary studen, Andrew Simpson leads us in a Christmas Day sermon

Pastor Joe leads us in our Christmas Eve celebration!

We all tend to live under a cloud of guilt. As Christians, we have the privilege to Begin Again everyday. Begin Again = a life of confessing our sins, repenting of them, and receiving forgiveness. Repenting is essentially Beginning Again What does God say about Christians and guilt? Romans 8 There is no condemnation for us The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and moves us to repentance. This is the good news of Christmas that lifts our guilty conscience, takes away our burdens, and gives us joy! The Holy Spirit reminds us of God's love and the new life we now live. God's role doesn't go away when we become Christians, but it is no longer exclusively a mirror, but a guide as well.

Ephesians 2:11-13 Jesus makes our past not define our future. When our experiences define who we are, we are without hope. Your past doesn't define your present, the work of Jesus does. Ephesians 2:14-22 Jesus' gifts aren't determined by whether we are naughty or nice. Jesus gives you a label that says you are family. Ephesians 2:22 It is finished. God's not done with you yet.

When we owe anyone something, it robs us of our freedom. Colossians 2:13-14 Forgiveness is a debt metaphor. Four Strategies for getting out of debt: 1. Growth "I can get better." We cannot grow enough to pay God back. Growth doesn't happen as we get ourselves out of debt, but when we find ourselves spiritually bankrupt without Jesus. 2. Changing the Terms "I'm not that bad" We cannot re-negotiate the terms in order to make our debt more manageable. 3. Default "What God? What sin?" We can ignore God and we can ignore sin, but it won't make it go away. 4. Forgiveness Matthew 18 Jesus nailed your IOUs to the cross.

What would it look like to Begin Again as an adult when it comes to the idea of belief? Something that all of us have struggled with at some point in our faith is behavior. Rules always assume some kind of relationship. Two ways that we experience relationship: the family model and the club model Exodus 20:1-3 I am the Lord your God and I have done something miraculous for you and have not asked anything from you. The Ten Commandments were a confirmation, not a condition, of their relationship with God. The Prophets are all proof, they are evidence that God doesn't give up on His people even when they disobey His laws. Belong, Believe, Become, is how the family model is lived out. "To all who did receive Jesus, to those believed in His name, Jesus gave the right to become children of God - Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

Pastor Tony leads us in a Thanksgiving Eve service

What does it look like to Begin Again as an adult when it comes to the idea of belief? The three largest faith traditions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all weigh in on the question, "Who is Jesus?" They all also believe that the first person who lived on earth was a man named Adam. Try to imagine what the situation of sin looked like from God's perspective. These three traditions also agree that God's solution to the mess caused by sin had its beginning with a man by the name of Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3 Genesis 15:2 God defines the terms of relationship between Himself and us as people. 4,000 years ago the way to have a relationship with God was established and it's still the way to have a relationship with God... Because God doesn't change. Trust in God resulted in a right-standing with God. "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this, to believe the One He has sent." John 6:28-29

The goal of this series is to answer the question: What does it mean to begin again when it comes to the idea of belief? You correct a mistake. Jesus said what all of us have experienced, which is that sin breaks relationships. Jesus' entire purpose when it came to talking about sin was restoration and not condemnation. That means I'm not a mistaker... it means I'm a sinner. Matthew 5:20-28 You will never be restored to God until you acknowledge that you need to be restored. Luke 15:11-31 v.21 "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." The father knows the son has recognized what he needs to recognize if their relationship is going to be restored. Pushing away from the truth is what leads to condemnation. Owning it, as ugly as it is, paves the way for restoration. Jesus says, I'm going to give you what a mistaker never asks for. I'm going to give you forgiveness and bring you back to life.

For all of us, there have been plenty of situations in life where we wanted to begin again... to start over. For many of us, our faith journey began with a certain framework of ideas. Often our childhood faith doesn't do well under the pressures of adult life. Many of us have been left with a series of what we believe are irreconcilable differences in who or what we have believed God to be. What does it mean to begin again when it comes to the idea of belief? Paul didn't become a Christian because he read the Bible... it hadn't been written yet. Paul became a Christian because of something that happened. Acts 17:16-34 What Paul realizes is that these people are suffering from one of the side effects of religion: uncertainty You can discover bits and pieces about God in music, art, even creation, but those things will never make God known to you. v.30 "Now God commands all people everywhere to repent." Because now God has revealed Himself. Proof is what changes the "hope-so" uncertainty of religion

God loves the unloveable. Romans 1:16-17 We are in need of a breakthrough. We don't need good advice, we need good news. If you focus on behavior, behavior rarely changes. If you focus on the good news, it changes who a person becomes. "By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35 We can embrace culture. We can avoid and fight culture. Or We can influence culture. We can't love one another if we avoid one another.

The Reformation, The Ten Commandments, and Love.

Tools can be useful or useless... The most powerful tool you will ever possess is the Word of Truth. 2 Timothy 3 If you work the Word of God, the Word of God works on you. God's Word is for basic construction, demolition, renovation, and ongoing work.

Grace is central. The Bible is true. We are called to love one another. Romans 5:6-10 When we were still... The confession of the powerless isn't, "I'm guilty," but "I can't." The confessor of sin feels responsibility. People accuse grace of being cheap, but it's worse... grace is free. “We have now been justified by His blood.” Justification is making something right. Making it right for ourselves is exhausting because we're trying to buy something that is already paid for. “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

A community of Jesus followers who are in community with one another and who are creating community for one another. The best understanding of what church its supposed to be is "one anothering" one another. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him. But pity the person who falls and has no one to help them up. Though one may be overwhelmed, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to that man, through whom they come." Matthew 18:7 The word Jesus uses as stumbling blocks literally means "a trap" Sometimes we stumble over ideas. For most of us, it's not ideas that cause us to stumble... it's people. Difficult times can also be a stumbling block. The church, the real Church is not someone sitting in an office some place. Even though you may be walking through the "Valley of the Shadow of Death" right now, God is

My prayer for our church isn't just about getting people to attend it's about having people attach as well. Growth and maturity always happen in the context of relationships. One of the reasons this is so important is because all of us drift. In every area of life that is important, it is always upstream. The best defense against the deceitfulness of sin which is in me, isn't me, it's we. 2 Samuel 11-12 Even though David gave God every reason to give up on David, God didn't abandon him and God will not abandon you. King David makes a terrible decision because he's inaccesible by anyone. v.13 "Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord,' Nathan replied to David, 'The Lord has taken away your sin' " David removes himself from the only group of men that had access to him. Autonomy is an unworthy goal because God made you for community.