Pacific Crossroads Church: Recent Episodes
Pacific Crossroads Church
The basic premise is thinking through the faith necessary to overcome in the midst of spiritual trial. Themes include a focus on the Name of God, the representative victory of Christ as David’s Greater Son, and examining our heart’s trust.
Service will be available at noon on Wednesday the 17th. You can find the service on our website, or through the Boxcast app on Apple TV, Roku and Fire TV.
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalm 136
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Acts 13:1-12
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: I Corinthians 1:1-17
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Micah 6:8, Matthew 18:21-35
Cover Art: Three Donuts by Wayne Thiebaud oil on canvas 27.9 x 35.5 cm. (11 x 14 in.)
Scripture: Micah 6:8, I Peter 2:1-12
Cover Art: Three Donuts by Wayne Thiebaud oil on canvas 27.9 x 35.5 cm. (11 x 14 in.)
Scripture: Matthew 13:31-33
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Mark 14:1-9
Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1-2:4
Cover Art: Crying Wall by Misato Pang www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 130 Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scipture: 2 Chronicles 17:1-6 Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Isaiah 43:18-21, Isaiah 46:8-9 Artwork: Cover Art: Exhibition view: James Turrell, Pace Gallery, London © James Turrell. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Scripture: Psalm 101: 1-2, Matthew 5:2-10 Cover Art: Let us go to the mountain of the Lord (Micah 4:2) By Misato Pang
Scripture: Psalm 103
Cover Art: Expectations for a Time Like This by Misato Pang || www.misatopangart.com
Scripture: Psalm 130
Cover Art: Invasion by Misato Pang // https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 27
Cover Art: Invasion by Misato Pang // https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 139
Cover Art: Seasons in a body by Misato Pang | https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 73
Cover Art: Seasons in a body by Misato Pang | https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 55
Cover Art: Seasons in a body by Misato Pang | https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 89:1-8, 28-48
Cover Art: Seasons in a body by Misato Pang | https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Psalm 84
Cover Art: Seasons in a body by Misato Pang | https://www.misatopangart.com/
Scripture: Romans 12:1-21
Cover Art: "In the Garden" by Erin Miller Wray @erinmillerwray
Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46, Romans 1:16-17
Cover Art: "In the Garden" by Erin Miller Wray @erinmillerwray
Scripture: Psalm 19:7-11, Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Tim 3:16, Acts 20:20-21, 26-27.
Cover Art: "In the Garden" by Erin Miller Wray @erinmillerwray
Scripture: Titus 2:11-14, 1 Timothy 4:6-10, 15-16
Cover Art: "In the Garden" by Erin Miller Wray @erinmillerwray
You can find the Howard Stern quote from his interview with Terry Gross. The store about Bruce Springsteen's father was taken from a talk by Jon Tyson at the New Canaan Society in New York.
For additional study, please see Martyn Lloyd Jones' sermons on the Warning Passages, Ligon Duncan's sermon on Hebrews 6, and Anthony Heokema's "Saved by Grace."
For further reading on these sermons, please consult N.T. Wright's When God Became King, Vaughn Roberts' God's Big Picture, Jeremy Treat's The Crucified King, Brian Walsh's Colossians Remixed, Richard John Neuhaus' Death on a Friday Afternoon, Richard Rohr's Adam's Return, and Richard Hayes' New Testament Essays
For further reading on these sermons, please consult N.T. Wright's When God Became King, Vaughn Roberts' God's Big Picture, Jeremy Treat's The Crucified King, Brian Walsh's Colossians Remixed, Richard John Neuhaus' Death on a Friday Afternoon, Richard Rohr's Adam's Return, and Richard Hayes' New Testament Essays
Background on Robert Bresson was from the book The Beauty of God, and see also Paul Schrader’s Transcendental Style in Film. The Michael Pollan interview was from Sam Harris’s podcast.
For more information on this sermon, see Henri Nouwen, "In the Name of Jesus;" Tim Keller’s, "Encounters with Jesus," and NT Wright’s, "The Resurrection and the Son of God."
See Paul Miller’s book on Ruth, A Loving Life; Carolyn Custis James’ The Gospel of Ruth; and Tim Keller’s the Mothers of Jesus series.
Tim Keller’s sermon on Genesis 38 and Walter Bruggemann’s commentary were enormously helpful to me and several of the illustrations in this sermon were from Alan Jacob’s How To Think
Anxiety may be compared with dizziness. He whose eye happens to look down into the yawning abyss becomes dizzy. But what is the reason for this? It is just as much in his own eyes as in the abyss . . . Hence, anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
- Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety Liberty means responsibility.
That is why most men dread it.
- George Bernard Shaw
Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.
- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
It seemed to me that if we were going to be elevating freedom to the defining principle of what we're about as a culture and a nation, we ought to take a careful look at what freedom in practice brings. The weird thing about the freedom of Freedom is that what it doesn't bring is happiness.
- Jonathan Franzen on his novel, Freedom
Today is known as Reformation Sunday where we remember that in 1517 a young monk named Martin Luther turned the world upside down when he posted 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, decrying that God’s church had lost her way, had abandoned her primary authority (Scripture alone), had forgotten the gospel (Grace alone by Faith alone in Christ alone) and the reason for the church's existence (God’s glory alone). In 1521, Luther was summoned by the emperor to the Diet of Worms to renounce his views. Below is the prayer he prayed the night before his statement.
"O God, Almighty God everlasting! . . . How small is my faith in Thee! . . . Oh! The weakness of the flesh, and the power of Satan! If I am to depend upon any strength of this world – all is over . . . The knell is struck . . . Sentence is gone forth . . . O God! O God! O thou, my God! Help me against the wisdom of this world. Do this, I beseech thee . . . thy own mighty power . . . The work is not mine, but Thine. I have no business here . . . I have nothing to contend for with these great men of the world! I would gladly pass my days in happiness and peace. But the cause is Thine . . . and it is righteous and everlasting! O Lord! Help me! O faithful and unchangeable God! I lean not upon man. It were vain! Whatever is of man is tottering, whatever proceeds from him must fail. My God! My God! Dost thou not hear? My God! Art thou no longer living? . . . Thou dost but hide Thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it! . . . Therefore, O God, accomplish thine own will! Forsake me not, for the sake of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my defense.
Lord – where art thou . . . Behold me prepared to lay down my life for thy truth . . . for the cause is holy. It is thine own! . . . I will not let thee go! No, nor yet for all eternity! Though the world should be thronged with devils – and this body, which is the work of thine hands, should be cast forth, trodden under foot, cut in pieces . . . my soul is thine. Yes, I have thine own word to assure me of it. My soul belongs to thee, and will abide with thee forever! Amen! O God send help! . . . Amen!"
Note: the quotes mentioned were from Scott Saul’s excellent book 'Jesus Outside the Lines.'
5 Things to Consider:
- Judge Not
- Be Gracious and Humble
- Do Not Compromise
- Do Not Fear
- Practice Empathy
4 Practical Applications:
- Make sure you have your allegiances in order.
- Write a letter.
- Do not give into the easy choice of cynicism.
- Find a person who has a different political perspective than you and listen to them, break break, pray together.
Pastor Paul Kim addresses our biblical calling to care for the orphan. Regan and Demetrius tell the narrative of Gabriel, a fictitious representative of the foster care system, whose story is repeated dozens of times every day in Los Angeles.
The opening story is from Mark Sundeen’s The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today’s America. Peter De Vries is the author of The Blood of the Lamb. The retelling of De Vries’ story is from Richard John Neuhaus’s "Death on a Friday Afternoon." “Revelation” can be found in the Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor, and the story about Americo is from a Cru publication, 'Worldwide Challenge.'
The details on the distinctiveness of the early Christian movement can be found in Larry Hurtado’s Destroyer of the Gods. The Michael Green quote and line about Hosea’s story ending were from Tim Keller, and the story about Karl Barth is from Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion.
*The Wendell Berry quote is from his book 'Blessed are the Peacemakers.' The story about Vaclav Havel is from Rod Dreher’s book, 'The Benedictine Option.'
*The definition of hope was adapted from Dostoevsky’s novel 'The Brothers’ Karamazov.' The story of Sarah Smith is from C.S. Lewis’s book, 'The Great Divorce.'
*The statistics about the Post-Christian west and summary of its defining characteristics are from 'Everyday Church' by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. The story from Skye Jethani about the cellist of Sarajevo was from Jon Tyson’s book, 'Creative Minority,' which was also quoted in the sermon.
*The exercise on reading Romans is from Sinclair Ferguson’s book 'Devoted to God.' The story and summary of the film 'Stalker' were from Jamie Smith’s 'You Are What You Love.'
Romans 12:1-3 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
"You are already a living sacrifice - the question is to which God?" -Rankin Wilbourne
*Three great books on Discovering God’s will used in creating this sermon are Sinclair Ferguson’s 'Discovering God’s Will,' Kevin DeYoung’s 'Just Do Something,' and Gerald Sittser’s 'The Will of God as a Way of Life.'
*The story about Lieutenant Onoda has been retold by many writers and speakers. This version relied upon Mark Manson’s retelling in his most recent book about a counter-intuitive approach to living a good life.
*The story about Pete Best came from Mark Manson’s recent book about a counter-intuitive approach to living a good life.
*The story about Dave Mustaine came from Mark Manson’s recent book about a counter-intuitive approach to living a good life.
Rankin shares how we can tell the difference between voices of the New Self and the corrupting voices of the Old Self.
David Cobia discusses the importance of slowing down in order to take in more of God, the Holy Spirit, community, and quality of life.
Dale Bruner walks us through the Lord's Prayer and helps us understand how Jesus intended us to pray.
Dr. Dale Bruner examines what Jesus' teachings from His Sermon on the Mount mean for us.
Paul Kim talks about how having a larger view of the gospel helps us see serving others as part of God's gift of salvation.
Guest preacher Russ Hightower teaches about parables in Matthew and the paradigm shift Christians must face to accept Christ's full joy.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Jay and Katherine Wolf share their personal experiences in brokenness and how God has cared for them even as things didn't go as they had planned.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Jeremy Weese delivers a final sermon on what home means to us and where we find it.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Visiting pastor Skip Ryan discusses how we can love others through the overflow of God's love for us.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Visiting pastor Skip Ryan helps us understand the assurance of God's love in our lives.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Josh Geiger helps us navigate fear as he walks us through Psalm 27 to establish our confidence in God.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Visiting pastor Ray Cortese helps define a clarified missional vision of mending and restoring the world as Jesus does.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Scotty Smith underscores four elements of a gospel culture that we want to see increasingly grow within our church.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Pastor Scotty Smith speaks about the gospel and how the church is a welcome place for all people.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Paul walks us through understanding the posture and mindset of both rich and poor who have found healing in Jesus.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Marshall Brown, former Assistant Pastor at Pacific Crossroads Church and current Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church near Chicago, addresses the recent events in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas, the current racial turmoil taking place in America, and the promise of reconciliation we have, as one new race, in Christ.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Our new Pastor Of Community, David Cobia, talks about how we are part of many communities including the body of Christ, and the different markers that help form our identity.
Download the mp3 on our iTunes podcast: PacificCrossroads.org/pccpodcast
Rankin continues the series on the church by examining how God's presence in Moses' life brought change, and how Christ dwelling in us does the same.
Rankin lays out why it is practically necessary to commit to a local church and to Jesus.
Rankin talks about the purpose of church, and discusses the tension between how the New Testament describes church versus how it is manifested in our experience today.
Pastor Alex talks about living out our remaining days well and with hope in a God who has written meaning into every challenging moment.
Drew Sokol delivers his last sermon at Pacific Crossroads, opening up about his own struggle with doubt and how we can continue to search for Jesus through it.
Randy Pope, from Perimeter Church in Georgia, reminds us of our new identity in Christ and leads us to appropriate the power of God over our own willpower.
Rankin talks about putting God to the test, complaining, and explains how fearing the Lord causes us to become a people marked by gratitude.
Rankin elaborates on the walk of faith, how it rises and falls, and how we can find our comfort through life's undulating circumstances.
Rankin opens up Exodus 14 and shows us how God led the Israelites down a path that to them seemed like a trap, but actually led to their salvation. He then shows us how we can move from fear to faith and allow God to fight for us.
Rankin talks about who we are as God's missional church in the city. He then shares how this new identity charges us to renew Los Angeles socially, culturally, and spiritually.
Paul talks about how our stories are important and how we can begin to share them with others to communicate the gospel. Then, Erin, a member of our community, shares his testimony of how God has worked in his own life to bring him out of alcoholism and selfishness into a life of love towards others.
Rankin talks about God's judgment on Egypt and whether or not it was only meant for Him to commit such devastating plagues. We are challenged to consider the cost of sacrifice.
Rankin discusses the plagues and how they were carefully chosen to unravel and expose the emptiness of Egypt's religious system. He then reveals how Christ is worth our worship because He alone is King, He is wise, and He is a merciful judge.
Rankin brings light to one of our greatest idols in our culture – love. We find that we do all things for the sake of love, and that sin is simply a distorted form of it.
Rankin continues to talk about Moses and his growing faith, revealing how his bold questions toward God actually reveal his faith in a God that can handle them.
Rankin discusses the vision of Pacific Crossroads and challenges us to begin to align our view of church with God's view of church. A church that isn't a building, but a place that is simply there to serve its members and exists to send out members to love the world.
Rankin continues the series on Moses by explaining how the burning bush represents our unmet expectations that we discover in the midst of the wilderness and times of humbling, and how God uses this time to build our faith in times of fear.
Pastor Paul explores how the Exodus is not just a story about the Israelites being freed from slavery, but a story about the glory of God, and God's people learning to experience His presence and glory.
Rankin begins the sermon series on Moses and the Life of Faith by establishing how fear has become a theme in our culture. He then points us to faith as the antidote of fear, using the story of Moses to bring hope in times of suffering.
Tim Lien talks about healing, unifying the city, and what church planting has to do with it. He gives a few footholds to guide us by mentioning that your vocation and location matter, that the biggest unifier of a city is offering something big enough to worship, and finally challenging us with the question, 'what if what God wants us to do was contained in what we are already doing?'.