Pastor Scott gives what he often calls a "pastoral talk" to address some very practical and important concerns regarding life as a church community. There are many challenges in the aim to have depth of community including geographic scattering, busy schedules, widening social circles, fatigue, and the transient nature of cities. Several concrete instructions are given on how to overcome these challenges and develop deep meaningful relationships within the church. In the ending, Pastor Scott talks specifically about the need for supernatural love in order to do what God is calling us to do in being a community of love.
Standalone Sermons: The Importance of Forgiving
No one can escape the need to forgive others. Everyone is hurt or wronged or betrayed at one time or another, and when these experiences happen, it's very easy to become bitter. Ren elder John Michaelson goes deep into the teaching of Christ from the sermon on the mount about the dangers of not forgiving. He discusses how it's not only important to forgive but to pursue reconciliation. John also provides some wonderful hope at the end on God's sufficient grace to enable us to forgive deeply from the heart.
Standalone Sermons: Steadfast Love in the Darkness
Lamentations 3 promises that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. But the background of Lamentations is not happiness and blessing, but suffering and destruction. How does the steadfast love of the Lord come to us in times of pain and suffering? Nate draws on Scripture and personal experience to unpack what it looks like to be loved by God through the hard times of life. We learn that life hits hard, but the love of God comes stronger. Those moments that were meant to tear us down, actually can build us up stronger than we were. The sermon gives special encouragement and guidance for those in the midst of mental illness.
Standalone Sermons: Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2017
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Nate and Sam bring a message about God’s kingdom and racism. Nate shares that condemning and eradicating racism is a reflection of God’s character. God’s people is not one race or one culture, but is made up of every tribe, language, and race. Sam describes ways that we as Christians can carry on MLK’s legacy in how we live, pray, and worship.
Standalone Sermons: To Such Belongs the Kingdom
Our children are being swept away by world systems of unbelief. The majority of children raised in the Church fall away from faith. Most young people are not interested in serving the Lord. Instead, they are caught up in the current of the world. The Bible clearly states that the Kingdom of God is for children; God can move in their lives and transform them. Pastor Scott preaches a message about what God wants to do in the upcoming generation, and our role in our families and communities.
Standalone Sermons: Where is Ellyn Now?
On Wednesday, May 25, the Renaissance Church community tragically lost a beloved member in a terrible accident. At times like this, we can't help but ask God, "Why?" We may never be able to answer that question to our satisfaction, but Pastor Scott delivers a heartfelt and powerful message about grief, loss, and hope.
Standalone Sermons: Make Sure We're Not a Stumbling Block
Paul Moon delivers a Passover sermon on Matthew 21:12-13, when Jesus enters the Court of the Gentiles in the temple, and defends them and removes the stumbling blocks holding them back from experiencing God in a deeper way. We avoid being a stumbling block by being filled to overflowing with the Spirit, glorifying God, and becoming a clear path to Him without restrictions. Paul then offers some practical steps to achieve this in deeper ways.
Standalone Sermons: What's So Great About The Great Commission?
John Michaelson delivers a compelling and inspiring sermon about Matthew 28:18-20, and explores five reasons why it's great: 1. Jesus is great, 2. disciples of Jesus are great, 3. the news is great, 4. the Holy Spirit is great, and 5. being commissioned is great.
Standalone Sermons: The Cross and Communion
John Michaelson opens up his sermon with a description of his experience with Easter Encounter, and the powerful culmination of beholding the cross. He then discusses the progression and culmination of Jesus's life on earth: to teach, to model holiness, to heal sickness and disease and infirmity, but the main reason Jesus was born, was to die. Jesus resolutely understood His calling and purpose. John reminds us about the significance of the cross, and what Jesus did for us, and exhorts us to never weary of keeping what Jesus really did (and continues to do) for us, forefront in our minds and hearts.
Standalone Sermons: The Royal Rumble at the River
Using the life of Jacob and scripture references from Genesis 32, guest speaker Jacqui Strothoff preaches a sermon about wrestling with God. Jacqui exhorts us to learn about endurance and remaining steady under difficult circumstances in our prayer lives alone in the dark with God, because even though wrestling with God can hurt, the struggle is revealing and transformative. No one truly wrestles with God and stays the same.