Sermons on Try Harder:

Sin's Aftermath Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 25, 2009

Sin is serious and the church is doing a disservice to people if we of all people, do not take it seriously.

SIN’S AFTERMATH (Genesis 3:14-24) Sin is serious and the church is doing a disservice to people if we of all people, do not take it seriously. Some of the stories about sin may be humorous, but the effects of sin are anything but. Today we are going to see the reality that sin, which often begins ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 3:14-24

What's So Good About Good Friday?

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jul 8, 2009

Why do we call this day Good Friday when it was the darkest day in history?

What is good about “Good Friday”? This is the darkest day in history, Wall Street could have a million “Black Fridays” and it wouldn’t compare to the day the world killed its Saviour. The only thing Christians have to celebrate about this day is that we don’t have to work. Sure we know that it ends ...read more

Grief Leads To Joy, Change Leads To Blessings.

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jul 8, 2009

We can’t avoid grief or change in this lifetime, fortunately both can lead to a better life.

Grief Leads to Joy, Change Leads to Blessings. John 16:16-22 and Acts 2:42-47 I would like to start today with a story you may be familiar with. “I was out fishing one day with my brother and we had been talking recently about a buzz down the river about this guy who was baptizing people and ...read more

Scripture: John 16:16-22

Don't Look Back Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Mar 27, 2009

Don’t let the past hold you back

As a counselor you learn a lot about how the past affects people. I knew one woman in her thirties who had a terrible childhood. Her father left when she was a baby, her mother was terribly abusive both physically and verbally. She ended up in foster care where she was sexually abused by a foster ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:12-16

The Seven Trumpets Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 23, 2010

There’s a saying that we should have an “attitude of gratitude”. We all know that even in the worst of times we have at least some little thing to be grateful for, but our nature is to focus on the things that are wrong. I am telling you that when we choo

You’ll notice there’s no outline in your bulletin or on powerpoint today because I want you to be completely focussed on experiencing our passage today. This is meant to be an experiential passage of Scripture, and I want you to be able to really put yourself in the story today. So ...read more

The Terrible Trio Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Nov 23, 2010

There is nothing wrong with being holier than thou, if we do it with humility, acceptance, and love. The problem is when we have a holier than thou attitude that says I am better than you, because I live like this. We have gotten so afraid of being seen i

Here we are back in Revelation after a couple weeks off and what an appropriate passage of Scripture we have today for Halloween. The Dragon and the beasts, this is a literal horror show with evil that can’t even be replicated by Hollywood. Let’s begin by looking at The Dragon, or as ...read more

A Wife For Isaac Pt. 2 Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 16, 2010

This story is a story, not about a faithful servant, a willing bride, or a happy marriage. It’s a story about God’s providence. Whether we admit it or not, God is in charge of all that happens in this universe.

This story is a story, not about a faithful servant, a willing bride, or a happy marriage. It’s a story about God’s providence. Whether we admit it or not, God is in charge of all that happens in this universe. While it’s true that we have free will and can make choices, God ...read more

Yes Dear! Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Feb 17, 2010

Abraham sinned the same way Adam did by not taking leadership and a stand against his wife's sinful idea.

Have you ever watched those movies, usually war movies when a young couple falls deeply in love and wants to be married, but off the guy goes to war promising to come back to her, and she promises to faithfully wait for him no matter what? Then she hears that he’s missing or killed and ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 16:1-16

Outrageous Grace Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Mar 18, 2010

God shows outrageous grace to sinners who continually mess up. His blessings are so undeserved.

At first glance Chapter 20 of Genesis seems about as useful as a snowmobile in the jungle. It’s pretty much an instant replay of what happened in Egypt in chapter 12. But this relatively short chapter is put here for a reason. Abraham and Sarah are going to have to deal with this repetitive ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 20:1-18

Outrageous Faith Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Mar 18, 2010

Abraham shows outrageous faith in response to God's unreasonable request that he sacrifice his promised son Isaac. Clearly faith is shown through our obedience.

Let me share a story from Chuck Swindoll. “Four guys decided to go mountain climbing one weekend. In the middle of the climb, one fella slipped over a cliff, dropped about 60 feet and landed with a thud on the ledge below. The other three hoping to rescue him yelled, ‘Joe, are you ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-24

Happy Are Those Who Mourn Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jan 21, 2011

Happy are those who mourn. Today’s text is one of the great contradictions of the Bible. Even if we don’t use happy for the word blessed, there still seems to be little correlation between being blessed and grieving.

Happy are those who mourn. Today’s text is one of the great contradictions of the Bible. Even if we don’t use happy for the word blessed, there still seems to be little correlation between being blessed and grieving. When you lose a person you love, do you feel blessed? Does it comfort ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:4

Happy Are The Compassionate Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Mar 16, 2011

There are many merciful people who are not Christians, and many unforgiving people who claim to be Christians. There are many meek non-Christians and many pride filled Christians. The point is that you will never be able to always distinguish a true Chris

This is really one of the big issues in the world today. There are many merciful people who are not Christians, and many unforgiving people who claim to be Christians. There are many meek non-Christians and many pride filled Christians. The point is that you will never be able to always distinguish ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7

The Property Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

The five sermons in this next series are going to be about building your spiritual house. We heard Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount that we need to build it according to his instructions or it will not last. So these five weeks are geared toward showi

The five sermons in this next series are going to be about building your spiritual house. We heard Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount that we need to build it according to his instructions or it will not last. So these five weeks are geared toward showing us how to build this house so that it ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:4-8

The Blueprints Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

Can you build a real house without blueprints? Sure you can throw up a square storage shed maybe without them, but do you not need to have some kind of visual plan of the dimensions, how many rooms, where the rooms go, and so on in order to start building

Can you build a real house without blueprints? Sure you can throw up a square storage shed maybe without them, but do you not need to have some kind of visual plan of the dimensions, how many rooms, where the rooms go, and so on in order to start building an actual house? I remember when I worked ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12

The Construction Series

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

Today we finish our series on building our spiritual house and my hope is that next week we can celebrate our journey through this church year and go forward with a new commitment to living as true disciples of Jesus. Today we talk about the hardest part,

Today we finish our series on building our spiritual house and my hope is that next week we can celebrate our journey through this church year and go forward with a new commitment to living as true disciples of Jesus. Today we talk about the hardest part, the actual work and perseverance of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:26-30