In Sermons: showing 1-15 of 25

"joseph's Second Dream"

Contributed by John Huyser on Dec 15, 2024

Watch at https://vimeo.com/1039417125

About this time, mixed in among the Christmas Cards, are a few holdouts of the annual Christmas Family Christmas letters. Before the days of Facebook and social media sites, these Christmas letters were extremely common. Some are especially gifted at crafting these and tying in faith ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:13-15, Hosea 11:1

"bethlehem"

Contributed by John Huyser on Dec 10, 2024

Why would the wise men go to Jerusalem? Why would they connect the special star in the sky to a king's birth? Scripture must be the answer, but how?

Last week, we covered Joseph’s first dream in Matthew 1 and its related tie-in to Isaiah's prophecy. For Matthew's intended Jewish readers, we uncovered many details that would shock them. If you missed last week, you can listen to it as a devotion at fruitportcrc.org. Today, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12, Micah 5:2

Joseph's First Dream

Contributed by John Huyser on Dec 10, 2024

Compared to Luke's romantic view of the Christmas event, Matthew includes deliberate shock points. This begins with Joseph's first dream. Watch this worship video online at https://vimeo.com/fruitportcrc

This Advent Season, we’ll be preaching from Matthew 1 and 2. Compared to the nostalgic romanticism of the Luke’s Christmas story, Matthew offers a shocking realism to these events. Matthew 1:18 – Matthew 2:23 offers us a distinct pattern. What ties these verses together is the fulfillment ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 7:14

"satisfied"

Contributed by John Huyser on Oct 1, 2024

True satisfaction is hard to come by for believers and unbelievers alike. Why is that? The second portion of Ruth 2 highlights the importance of God-gifted community as a means of realizing satisfaction.

When it comes to Bible texts, one method of detecting the heart of the text is to look for word repetition. Word repetition often reinforces a theme not to be missed. For example, in today's text, we have four word repetitions: Gleaning and Satisfied along with Barley and Field. ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 2:13-23

Naomi's Crisis Of Meaning Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Sep 16, 2024

Life IS more complicated than you think given all of our identities. Through Naomi's meaning crisis we explore our own identity crisis and how God drives home the solution.

INTRODUCTION: 196 Last week, our first reading of Ruth changed how we see God’s providence and activity in our lives. We don't get God's attention until His timer reaches zero. We learned that we can be hopeful because He's active in each of our lives all the time. His love for ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 1:15-22

Whether Feast Or Famine Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Sep 10, 2024

Admittedly, Ruth is not a book we think of often. But we would be mistaken to think Ruth is not beneficial to us today or not part of God’s salvation narrative.

Slide 1 As we began planning for fall, one tool we used was reviewing where we had been. We look for gaps what remains lacking in a balanced biblical diet. So on screen, you see our last nine years of sermon coverage of Genesis through Kings. The colors represent the different years. We are ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 1:1-14

Christian - Hold Your Head High

Contributed by John Huyser on Sep 3, 2024

In the face of Elon Musk and other public celebrities mocking Christianity and where shedding faith is celebrated, Psalm 45 offers Christians the reason to hold our heads high.

While every wedding a pastor officiates at is special, there are those from my days in Jarvis, Ontario that immediately spring to mind. To begin with, Jarvis, Ontario students proudly wear the moniker of Hicks. Compared to the other city high school students, the Jarvis Hicks come from Southern ...read more

Yes - God Is At Work In The World

Contributed by John Huyser on Jun 4, 2024

As people of God’s Word, we may approach the Bible with a bad assumption: We presume somehow God is less active now than he was in the narrative of the Bible.

I. Introduction – Slide 1 In Acts 16 and 17, Paul’s second missionary journey left little question. God was at work in the good and tough times: • In Derbe and Lystra, the churches there are growing. There God brings Timothy into Paul’s life. • In Phillipi, God brings Lydia and her entire ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:16-34

"nimrod's Folly"

Contributed by John Huyser on Sep 5, 2023

From Sunday School I remember vividly all sorts of lessons on The Tower of Babel. I think almost all of them missed the mark. The issue is far less the Tower of Babel - in fact the tower is a symptom of humanity wanting to do their own thing without God. Jesus came down to reverse that.

It was a moment of folly, a church in Northwest Iowa prefers to forget. Busting at the seams, they broke ground on a new building in the early eighties. Their sanctuary and parking lot would double in size. Featured too were a large kitchen and fellowship hall and many a classroom and extra ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9

"too Much Of A Good Thing" Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Jul 18, 2023

Blessed with the Spiritual Gifts of faith knowledge and perseverance, Ephesus' greatest strengths led to their greatest weakness. Indeed, you can have too much of a good thing when love is absent.

SLIDE 1: Winnie the Pooh Sometimes, a children’s story from the past can help set the stage for new topics. A fitting one is Winnie the Pooh. He knew it was lunch time because his empty stomach told him so. He headed off to Rabbit’s house because Rabbit always had honey. “Rabbit – Are you ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:1-7

"the Crown Of Life" Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Jul 18, 2023

This city’s unique relationship with Rome made Smyrna a primary target for persecution. Assuring them he knows what they are about to go through, Christ promises them (and us) the crown of life.

To best understand the letter to Smyrna, we need to understand this city’s close relationship to Rome and the Empire. Compared to the others, Smyrna and Rome are the most closely aligned for good reason. Two hundred years before Christ, Rome was at war with Hannibal and the Carthaginians. That ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:7-12

"white Stones And New Names" Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Jul 18, 2023

These are two of the salvific prizes pledged by Christ to believers in Pergamum being true to the Spirit’s call to resist the throne of Satan in their midst. (Please let me know if God used this message)

Title Slide From across the street, my friend, Randy, made a beeline at full sprint for my front door one summer day. We were about ten years old at the time. Breathless by the time he ran up our steps and rang the doorbell, excitedly he told me he had found treasure. In his hand was a white ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17

"influence And Impact" Series

Contributed by John Huyser on Jul 18, 2023

Christ's letter to Thyatira forces us to ask questions we normally don't consider. (Please let me know if this sermon indeed was helpful). Video: fruitportcrc.org

INTRODUCTION If Christ’s Pergamum letter was the hardest to understand, Christ’s letter to Thyatira is the hardest to relate to. Not only is their setting so foreign to our understanding, but the letter also forces us to ask questions we normally don’t consider. Slide 1 What outside ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:18-28

"expectation Sunday"

Contributed by John Huyser on May 24, 2023

Our passage appears to be at first mere filling in the middle - sandwiched between two of God’s greatest actions in the Bible. The majestic ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and Pentecost Sunday.

The passage we just read is sandwiched between two of God’s greatest actions in the Bible. The majestic ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and Pentecost Sunday. From there, the book of Acts encompasses nearly 30 years of history -- We see everything from transformational preaching and ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:12-26

"reliance In An Age Of Growing Chaos"

Contributed by John Huyser on Apr 24, 2023

Who hasn't pulled into the wrong driveway, knocked on the wrong door, absent-mindedly lifted the handle of the wrong car door or let a ball go astray into another yard? What is triggering all the senseless violence? How do we process this as believers and regain our sense of safety?

Once a month – every 29.5 days according to NASA, we have a full moon where the sun fully illuminates the moon’s visible disk. We observe full moons in the clear nighttime skies without much thought. But long known to those in law enforcement or medicine, full moons can trigger behavioral and ...read more