Sermons about Church

Truth or Tradition – What are We Fighting For?

Date: June 3, 2012 | Speaker: Phil Pike

There are many issues in the church that have caused heated debate and division over the years. Surprisingly, most churches don’t argue over major doctrinal issues, but over far less important matters like what type of music is right or wrong, which instruments are acceptable in the church and which ones are worldly, whether suits and ties are more pleasing to God than casual clothes, etc., etc. If we don’t learn to put these issues into their proper categories, we will end up confusing tradition with truth, and we will be guilty of exactly what Jesus warned us about — trading in the commands of God for the traditions of men!

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The Corruption of the Church, Part 2

Date: May 27, 2012 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Over the centuries, false doctrine has made its way into the church in many forms, and today there are millions of people being taught things that are absolutely untrue. Many people are told to pray to Mary, that she was sinless, that she is a co-savior with Christ, and even that she rose from the dead and ascended to heaven! How is it possible that churches can teach such things when there is not one verse in the entire Bible to verify these false claims? How did such lies make their way into the church, and what should our response be?

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The Corruption of the Church, Part 1

Date: May 20, 2012 | Speaker: Phil Pike

When Jesus died on the cross, He opened the way for every believer to have direct access to God through Him. This new relationship was one of the foundational doctrines of the early church, but in 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine of Rome forced a system of lies into the church that completely distorted this biblical truth. Pastors were no longer seen as “Shepherds,” but were renamed Priests and wore visually intimidating robes to elevate themselves above the common man. Church members were falsely told that they now had to go through a Priest in order to reach God, and this began the corruption of the church which continues to this very day!

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Church: It’s Not About Buildings and Steeples

Date: May 13, 2012 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Ask someone to show you their church and they’ll point to the building where they meet on Sundays. But is that really a church? It is amazing to see just how far our understanding of church has drifted from the Book of Acts. If you had asked any follower of Christ in those days to show you their church, they would have called the other believers together, pointed to them and said, “Here is our church.” Today we think church is a place we go, but we couldn’t be more wrong! Once we regain a correct understanding of what the church really is, it will radically change how we see our role in it.

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Church: Whose Idea Was This?

Date: May 6, 2012 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Most of us who were raised in Christian circles will spend our entire life involved in the church to one degree or another. But what do we really know about the history of the church? Who started it, and why do we even bother being part of a 2,000-year-old organization, anyway? How has the church survived that long when most other organizations, and even entire nations, have long since failed and vanished from the face of the earth? Why are people willing to give their lives for the church, and exactly how big of a commitment should we be willing to make?

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The Church is Not the Destination

Date: April 29, 2012 | Speaker: Reggie McNeal

For far too long Christians have believed that if we could just get the people “out there” to come to our church, then we have accomplished the mission of the church. The more people who show up on Sunday, the more we think we’re winning. Nothing could be further from the truth! In this powerful message, Reggie McNeal shows us that we’re using the wrong scorecard, and reminds us that the church is not the destination, but rather the “connector” to get people where God really wants them to go.

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A Church of Unity, Not Uniformity

Date: October 9, 2011 | Speaker: Phil Pike

The church has been called to function in unity in order to display the Gospel to a watching world. However, churches sometimes mistakenly think that unity means uniformity. This is a costly mistake that creates churches filled with man-made rules in an attempt to make everyone look the same, think the same, and act the same. This was never God’s intention! Instead, we have been called to find unity in one thing — The Truth — and learn to function together as the Body of Christ, despite our other differences.

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Committed to Maturity

Date: July 26, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

No one can go to the gym and get in shape FOR you. If you want to get fit, you have to exercise yourself. The same is true when it comes to your spiritual growth. You will never become spiritually mature simply by listening to the pastor teach every Sunday. If you want to grow in Christ, you MUST pursue God yourself by regularly spending time reading His Word. The reward will be that you will hear God speak directly to you, and you will begin to grow spiritually mature.

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Committed to Worship

Date: July 19, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

It’s easy to show up at a church service on Sunday morning and worship… but how many people are merely going through the motions? God does not accept worship if our hearts are far from Him and if our lives are not fully committed to Him. Do you know what God is looking for in your life before your worship will be pleasing to Him?

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Committed to Community

Date: July 12, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

When humans are placed in solitary confinement for long periods of time, they often begin to lose their mind, because we were created for relationships. In our fast-paced world, “community” is almost a lost art. But if we are ever going to be a church on fire, we must be committed to community, as the early church was. Unless our lives are closely intertwined with the lives of other believers, we will never be all that God intends for us to be.

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Committed to the Mission

Date: July 5, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Churches everywhere are filled with people who have made a commitment to Jesus… but many of those people have never made a commitment to the “mission” of Jesus. They took a step towards the cross to be saved, but they have never taken the next step to go beyond the cross and live out their lives for the cause of Christ. Today’s messages challenges us to not just make a commitment to Jesus, but to make a commitment to the mission of Jesus as well.

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Amazing Grace

Date: June 28, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

As Stephen was being brutally murdered, a man named Saul was watching and giving his approval. It seems unthinkable that a cold hearted man like Saul would go on to become the greatest voice of the church and write half the New Testament. Yet the fact that someone like that can be completely transformed is a testimony of God’s amazing grace! No matter what road a person is on, God’s grace can still turn them around.

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