Sermons on Hostility:

Fix Your Hope Series

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Apr 23, 2016

Biblical hope: it is 1) Secured by abiding (1 John 2:28), 2) Manifested by righteousness (1 John 2:29), 3) Established by love (1 John 3:1), 4) Fulfilled by Christlikeness (1 John 3:2), and it is 5) Characterized by purity (1 John 3:3).

On the closing day of the 41st Parliament last June, the Conservative government’s final gesture was to stand for the second reading of Bill C-53, the Life Means Life Act. Its stated goal was to lock up the most vile murderers for the rest of their natural lives. Nicholson, responsible for ...read more

Denomination: Other

Character Counts Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on May 8, 2016

The response to disruptive people demonstrates the Christian's maturity. Paul counsels the expression of the character that marks all who are mature in Christ.

“In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:20-26

Denomination: Baptist

I Did Not Quit Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on May 21, 2016

Christian service requires stamina to stay the course despite opposition.

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:10-13

Denomination: Baptist

The Litmus Test Of Love Series

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jun 11, 2016

1) Perfect Love & the Character of God (1 Jn. 4:7–8), 2) Perfect Love & the Coming of Christ (1 Jn. 4:9–11), 3) Perfect Love & the Christian’s Claim of Faith (1 Jn. 4:12–16), 4) Perfect Love & the Christian’s Confidence in Judgment (1 Jn. 4:17-21).

In scientific experimentation, a Litmus Test is a test to establish the acidity or alkalinity of a mixture. The phrase has also been applied metaphorically to represent a crucial test using a single issue or factor as the basis for judgment. (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21

Denomination: Other

What The Road To Hell Is Paved With Series

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Aug 2, 2019

In understanding and submitting to Jesus authority, Matthew 21:23-32 shows us: 1) The Confrontation (Matthew 21:23), 2) The Counter Question (Matthew 21:24–27), 3) The Characterization (Matthew 21:28–31a)

Matthew 21:23–32 23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:23-32

Denomination: Other

If I Can Catch Covid-19, Can I Catch Health?

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jun 5, 2020

Holiness defines the life of that one who walks with the Lord. Holiness is not caught, it is cultivated. Unrighteousness, however, is contagious.

“On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: “If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil ...read more

Scripture: Haggai 2:10-19

Denomination: Baptist

When You Look At God, Who Do You See?

Contributed by Michael Stark on Jun 13, 2020

Our view of God depends upon our perspective. Sinners see God as vengeful; saints see God as a refuge. Thus, our relationship to God determines how we view Him.

“The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the ...read more

Scripture: Nahum 1:2-8

Denomination: Baptist

The Real Sins Of Sodom

Contributed by Michael Stark on Mar 3, 2022

Is homosexuality the gravest sin of all? Isn't arrogance, pride, and self-exaltation at the root of all our sin? We must repent of the sin that contaminates us even as followers of the Christ if we wish to receive His blessing.

“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 16:44-58

Denomination: Baptist

Unstoppable Series

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Mar 11, 2022

God sent the Holy Spirit to us and into this world to transform it and His mission is unstoppable. No man can stop it, no religion can stop it, no government can stop it and no demon can stop it.

Video: Courage Series AD Sermon: Unstoppable Thesis statement: “The mission of spreading the Gospel to all the earth was unstoppable because it was part of God’s salvation story that has been written and continues to be written“(Caine). God sent the Holy Spirit to us and into this world to ...read more

Scripture: Acts 5:12-42

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

He Nailed It

Contributed by Michael Stark on Apr 14, 2022

Sacrificing His Life, Jesus provided the means for sinners to be declared righteous. By rising from the dead, He ensured our salvation in Him. He nailed it, providing all that is required to set aside our sin, making us acceptable to the Father.

“You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:13-15

Denomination: Baptist

The Promise Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Nov 25, 2021

God promised to send a Deliverer because of our sin. Jesus is that Deliverer. At Christmas we remember the evidence of God's mercy to broken humanity.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. “He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-15

Denomination: Baptist

The Prophet [*] Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Dec 2, 2021

Jesus is the Prophet of whom Moses spoke. His first advent set in motion the fulfilment of God's redemption of sinful man.

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15-21

Denomination: Baptist

The Coming Peace Series

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 2, 2021

1) The Coming Town (Micah 5:2), 2)The Coming Time (Micah 5:3), 3) The Coming Tenant (Micah 5:4), and finally: 4) The Coming Tranquility (Micah 5:5a).

Micah 5:2-5a [2] But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. [3] Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor ...read more

Scripture: Micah 5:2-5

Denomination: Other

The Virgin Series

Contributed by Michael Stark on Dec 10, 2021

Mary was chosen to bear the Son of God, but she was not exceptional. The message is a study of God's work to fulfil the prophecies of the birth of a child who was to be a Deliverer for all mankind.

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:36-38

Denomination: Baptist

An Investment In Hope

Contributed by Michael Stark on Mar 5, 2020

In a world which is increasingly unstable, what should the follower of Christ do? How shall we invest our lives to ensure that we accomplish something of eternal worth?

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 32:1-44

Denomination: Baptist