Sermons on Study Harder:

Thankfulness In The Face Of Trouble Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Oct 25, 2013

Stephen has just been stoned, Saul is ravaging the church, and many believers are going to rancid prisons getting beaten and fighting off the rats, just because they love Jesus. is the basis for my Thanksgiving sermon. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Bear with me.

Here in chapter 8 of the book of Acts we are finally introduced to this Pharisee named Saul. Perhaps no other religious person in Israel had more of a zealous hatred for Christ and Christians. Let’s pay close attention to the very first verse of Acts chapter 8: “Saul approved of his ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:1-40

Can God Use You? Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Oct 31, 2013

Some of you will walk away today completely untouched or even offended by what you heard, others will be positively convicted. Either way you and I need to make a decision about how we want to be used. Like Saul, or like Paul?

The truth is God is using you. Whether you are a Christian or not, whether you know it or not, the sovereign God of the universe knows everyone and is orchestrating everything either by intervening or by taking his hands off. He uses all human beings to fulfill His purpose. The question becomes is ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-31, Ephesians 4:25-28

Perplexed Peter Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 8, 2013

I want to start today by reading the eighth verse of Acts chapter 1. The disciples were listening to Jesus just before he was about to ascend into heaven. No doubt eager Peter was up at the front when Jesus gives his great commission.

There was a man in Boissevain who was paralyzed in a farm accident and was bedridden for the last 8 years. This guy just came to town late last week out of nowhere and healed him. The formerly paralyzed man obviously started walking around town and being a small town just about everyone saw him ...read more

Membership Not Required Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 21, 2013

We may not say there are membership requirements to be a Christian in our churches, but does our behaviour say otherwise? Membership requirements don’t have to be verbally stated, they can be communicated with a look, with avoidance, and so on.

Back in the mid-nineties I was working in the golf business for a couple years. One course I worked at in Vancouver required $75,000 to join and there was about a 3 year waiting list, then it was about $350 a month for monthly dues as well. In the winter I went down to a very exclusive private ...read more

"The Church Goes Viral" Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 29, 2013

I want to make the illustration of what it means to go viral on the internet. This happens all the time because people of our generation practically live on the web. As we continue in Acts chapter 11 we see that the church had already grown very rapidly.

There’s a saying online when something gets really popular, that it goes “viral”. Not too long ago there a was 4 minute video posted on Youtube by a fellow named Jefferson Bethke. It was poem entitled, “Why I hate religion but Love Jesus”. In less than two years it was ...read more

Whining In The Wilderness Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 28, 2013

We need to stop complaining and cry out to God, depending on him to meet our most important needs of this journey. That we don’t just rely on leaders to connect us with God but rather we are all responsible for having our own relationship with Him.

(Exodus 15:22-27) So Moses/God led them into the desert for three days without water. Experts say that in a warm dry environment like that, 3 days would be the upper limit of survival without water. So these people would be very near death when they came upon this watering hole. And imagine their ...read more

The Ten Commandments Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jul 5, 2013

The rest of the book of Exodus takes place at Mt Sinai, the mountain of God. This of course fulfills the sign promised to Moses at the burning bush, that “when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve the Lord on this mountain”.

It says they arrived here on the 3rd new moon which gets them here about 7 weeks after the Exodus out of Egypt. Again think about that. They are about half way to the Promised Land after 7 weeks, but the next half takes them almost 40 years. The other thing significant about this timing is that ...read more

"I Am Rewarded" Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Apr 10, 2014

As living tributes to Jesus our lives should always point to Him. All the credit goes to Him. And all the rewards of our inheritance with Christ can be ours. The ultimate reward of course being in the presence of God for eternity, and perhaps hearing, “Well done good and faithful servant.

“I Am Rewarded” (Eph 6:1-9) Here’s how our passage begins today, “Children obey your parents, honor your mother and father, this is the first commandment with a promise that it might go well with you and that you may live long in the land”. There’s one promise ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-6

The Waiting Room Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 30, 2012

This final chapter of 2 Peter is probably where the idea of meeting Peter at the pearly gates comes from. And while that is cute, the one who will really be interviewing us is Jesus himself. I thought the interview with a typical Christian in the waiting

So, you call me Lord, how did you do the will of my Father? (Mt 7:21) Ahhh well I went to church most Sundays, I read some parts of my Bible once in a while, I prayed, gave 2 or 3 percent of my income to the church when times were good. How did you love your enemies? (Mt 6:44) “I ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:1-18

The Final Authority Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 6, 2012

What is our hope? For the Israelites it was for a Messiah, their nation seemed to be constantly under attack. We now have a Messiah, and we are still under constant attack form the enemy, so what do we hope for now?

When Jesus was born into the world at the first Christmas, the beginning of the prophecy of hope was fulfilled, Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, ...read more

Scripture: John 5:19-29

Here He Comes Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 27, 2012

Today I want to share the Christmas story with you from both the Old and New Testaments to show how this birth of Jesus was written into the history of the world before it was even created. We will see how prophecy was so perfectly fulfilled and why we

The Bible is such an amazing collection of inspired writings. How the whole collection can so perfectly from start to finish come together to give us the entire story of Jesus with so many authors over so many hundreds of years. I’m going to focus on maybe the most neglected characters in ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:5-80

Aren’t All Religions Basically The Same? Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jan 11, 2013

for the next three weeks I’m going to present three messages from the pulpit that I am calling the “Big Questions”. These are not necessarily questions you all have, though some of you may. But these are intended to answer some of the most common question

You may have heard this story before: Several blind men were led into a King’s courtyard, where they encountered an elephant. One felt a tusk and concluded that the elephant is like a spear. Another touched a leg and thought that the elephant is like a tree. Yet another bumped into the side ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-7

What Is The Trinity? Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jan 16, 2013

the mystery of the Trinity, God being three persons in one, has been difficult for Christians to explain since the beginning. Last week we talked about some religions and offshoots of Christianity who have denied the Trinitarian nature of God because it

How many of you have read the Shack? I recently read it and the newest book that author came out with, and both books have interesting imaginings about the Trinity. In both books the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are people with various characteristics, male and female. In the Shack, the Father ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6-10

"I Am Blessed" Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jan 22, 2014

The blessings we have in Christ help make up our spiritual identity.

“I Am Blessed” (Eph 1:3-14) We can read our passage today and it reads like any good section of the New Testament, very nice introduction to the letter he writes to the Ephesian church. But what you can’t get from just reading the English written word here is how absolutely giddy ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14

"I Am Saved" Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Feb 4, 2014

Come and claim the identity of saved in Christ, but we can’t trifle with a very serious, loving, and severe God. Saved children of God are known by their fruit.

“I Am Saved” (Eph 2:1-10) True or false, is this is a verse from the bible, “God helps those who help themselves”. False, in fact the bible says the exact opposite, God helps the helpless. And according to our passage in Ephesians today we are all helpless and hopeless ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10