Sermon Series Resources

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): December 29

Study Resource: Jesus’s Journey to Jerusalem: A Study - An 11-part series study with Francis Chan: The Gospel of Mark chronicles Jesus’s journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Along the way, the Messiah gathers a ragged band of disciples. As crowds grow and dwindle on the road to Jerusalem, only a few stick by the suffering savior on the road of discipleship.

Study Resource: Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples - God wants disciples of Jesus to make other disciples of Jesus. Join Francis Chan and David Platt in this 5-part course that is a simple, practical, biblical, helpful, and personal resource to help you understand scripture and give you the tools to disciple others.

Study Resource: Real-Life Conversations for Family Discipleship - What could be more important than helping your child know God? Most Christian parents want to help their children to know God and build their lives on God’s truth. Yet life can get really busy! Plus, it can be intimidating to know how to have conversations about God with your child. Using a simple question-and-answer format, this user-friendly source guides you through having some of the most important conversations you’ll ever have with your child.

Study Resource: Intentional Discipleship with Your Kids - Between obligations at work and tasks or chores at home, it is often easy to overlook disciplining our own children. Josh Griffin, High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, shares a few ways he and his wife try to actively disciple their children in the midst of a busy schedule.

Study Resource: One At A Time: Difference-Makers, Kyle Idleman - Nobody grows up dreaming of waking up, going to work, heading home, watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, and then doing it all over again the next day until their last breath. We all want to be used to change the world. We don’t want to spend our lives being time-wasters, or space-takers, or binge-watchers, or game-players, or even book-readers. We want to be difference-makers.

Study Resource: Every Disciple Making Disciples: A Brief Study - David Platt talks about how the testimony of scripture and the history of Christianity shows that every follower of Christ is called to make disciples.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): December 22

Study Resource: How to Read John: A Practical Guide - John is a collection of Jesus's miraculous signs that point to His identity as the Messiah. It is through belief in Jesus that we are offered life. In this post, The Bible Project breaks down the book of John, one of the four Gospels, into digestible pieces so we can understand and apply its truths.

Video Resource: Son of Thunder: Find Life in Jesus - In this series, Kenny Boles (former New Testament faculty at Ozark Christian College) will walk through the eyewitness of John chapter by chapter, helping you to choose to believe and find life in Jesus. A free study guide is included.

Study Resource: Gospel of Jesus Revealing the Father: An Article - John writes to provoke faith in Jesus, resulting in eternal life. “That you may believe” could also be translated “that you may continue to believe.” John is likely writing both to call unbelievers to faith in Jesus and to provide confidence for those believers who are struggling in their faith.

Video Resource: Finding Truth: A Study with Francis Chan - A Student and Young Adult Study: Christians today face all kinds of challenges when it comes to understanding who they are and what they’re meant to do. There’s no shortage of options that claim to offer “truth.” If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves chasing after popular opinion, celebrity opinions, or the tug of our emotions all the while neglecting the unchanging truth found in Scripture.

Video Resource: Jesus: The Word of God by John Piper - A 20-min Sermon on Jesus as “The Word” by John Piper.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): December 15

Study Resource: Joy in Jesus vs. Worldly Happiness: An Essay - Please take time to read this brief essay by Rob Thompson, a minister at Mt. Gilead Church.

Video Resource: Biblical Joy vs. Happiness - Biblical joy is more than a happy feeling - A 5 min video and word study

Study Resource: King Jesus – Healer, Friend, Treasure: An Article - King Jesus – Healer, Friend, Treasure: An Article by Dr. Daniel Ethakoti

Video Resource: Where Does Joy Come From: Family/Children Study - Phil Vischer, Founder of Jellyfish Labs and co-creator of the acclaimed VeggieTales, dives into the book of Philippians to answer the question, "Where does joy come from?" With the help of some animated friends, Phil unpacks what it means to live with joy both in times of happiness and in times of sadness.

Study Resource: Extraordinary Joy: A 6-Session Study - From the backdrop of life in Uganda, Kelly Miller describes how following Jesus with the right perspectives takes us on a journey of supernatural love and extraordinary joy. His teaching in this five-part series will expand our understanding of suffering, the tension between God’s grace and our efforts to perform, obedience in a me-first culture, and leveraging the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish all He calls us to do.

Video Resource: God’s Wisdom Leads to Joy - Check out this 7-minute video and article presented by the BibleProject team.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): December 8

Video Resource: Jesus is the King of the World: 6-min Video - What is the good news of the Gospel? Jesus' arrival on Earth was a royal announcement. He was there to establish God's Kingdom and change everything.

Video Resource: Jesus: Messiah, Teacher, King – Kids’ Devotions  - Help your kids know that Jesus is our Messiah, our Teacher and our King! Follow along for just 5 minutes a day as we discover how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, taught about life in the Kingdom of God, and died and rose again to bring us all the gift of new life in him!

Study Resource: Jesus and Genealogies: Hope Has Arrived - You might be interested in taking a deeper dive into how the Old and New Testaments are connected regarding the promises and arrival of Jesus as the King of the world.

Podcast Resource: God's Firstborn Son: A Podcast - The authors of the gospel accounts in the Bible—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—regularly refer to Jesus as the Son of God, a title that’s connected to the theme of the firstborn. In this episode, Tim and Jon from the BibleProject explore what it means that Jesus is God’s Son through the stories of his baptism and testing in the wilderness.

Video Resource: God’s Plan: As revealed in Romans - In this series, Michael DeFazio (New Testament faculty at Ozark Christian College) will walk through the book of Romans to clarify the Gospel, unify the church, and prove God’s righteousness.

Podcast Resource: The Good News is for Everyone: A Podcast - In this episode, Tim and Jon from the BibleProject discuss the first six chapters of the gospel of Luke. Luke stands out among the other gospels because it is all about Jesus’ message being first for the poor and outcasts.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): December 1

Video Resource: The Beginning of the Good News: A Brief Video - What is the good news of the Gospel? Jesus' arrival on Earth was a royal announcement. He was there to establish God's Kingdom and change everything.

Video Resource: The Good News of Jesus in Luke: A Podcast - In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the first six chapters of the gospel of Luke. Luke stands out among the other gospels because it is all about Jesus’ message being first for the poor and outcasts. This made the religious leaders of the day mad, and Jesus’ ministry was totally revolutionary in a culture that was all about status and wealth.

Study Resource: Why We Share the Good News: An ArticleWhy We Share the Good News: An Article - We all need to hear more good news. And not just the temporary sort that makes us feel better for a fleeting moment. We need a daily dose of good news that transcends all the bad and puts every bit of it in a hope-filled framework. We need a message that flips the script on our bad-news world. That’s precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ does.

Study Resource: Share the Good News by Memorizing the Good News - If you are interested in memorizing scripture but find it to be difficult or too time consuming, check out these simple strategies that help me.

Study Resource: Share the Gospel by Memorizing Scripture: Article - If you’re going to share the gospel, you’ll want to know verses that succinctly summarize the good news of Christ.