Metro North Church - Sermons: Recent Episodes
Metro North Church
The weekly sermon of Metro North Church in Goose Creek, SC. For more info, visit www.MetroNorthPCA.org
Do you ever like you don’t belong or like what you do doesn’t matter? How can I ever fit in? The Bible teaches you that you do have an important part to play. I’m excited to look into God’s Word this Sunday and see how we can know that we belong and engage for Christ in our local body.
Ever wonder about spiritual gifts, where they come from and the purpose they are supposed to achieve? Are they different than normal gifts? Who are they given to? What is their source, and how do they operate? Do I have a spiritual gift?
Paul explains how we should response with humility and gratefulness to those in authority over us—because Jesus led by serving.
Learn from Paul’s example of how to glorify God as you freely give up your rights and freedoms out of love to serve others.
In 1 Corinthians 10 we are reminded that Jesus rescues us from the temptation to bow down to the people, things, and activities we so easily worship.
Paul responds to the Corinthians’ criticisms of his leadership teaching us all how to respond to those in authority.
Can I? or Should I? These are two very different questions. We regularly ask ourselves - Can I do this? Go there? Eat that? But we rarely ask - Should I do this? Eat that? Paul helps the Corinthian believers understand how to exercise the freedom they have in Christ.
Singleness is one of God’s greatest gifts. He has freed each of us where to serve Him at each stage of our lives - whether single, married, or widowed.
We all want contentment and peace. See God’s perspective of how contentment comes from understanding where He has placed you and refocusing on His priorities.
Learn about the tools God provides to help us in our struggle against sinful cultural influences.
Elizabeth and Mary through their unexpected pregnancies experienced the Spirit’s work up close.
Obedience is a difficult word. But it’s especially hard in tough circumstances. Learn from a Jewish teenager how to obey during life’s tough seasons.
If you had a divine visit from an angel how would you respond? Listen to the miraculous story of Zechariah and how it challenged him.
King David guides the Israelites in the worship of God as the ark of the covenant is returned to Jerusalem.
Have you had conflict with another Christian? See what the Lord says about those situations.
Learn to lead differently in the upside-kingdom of God through the servant leadership examples of the apostle Paul and Jesus.
Paul instructs the church at Corinth at build Christ’s church His way and encourages us to do the same.
Paul reminds the church at Corinth that their continual search for significance causes division. This disunity can only be resolved through understanding their acceptance in Christ Jesus.
God gives us wisdom for living to His people by the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word - the Bible.
Paul reminds the Corinthian church that power or intelligence wasn’t the means of their rescue but Christ, crucified!
Have you ever wondered how to put the great commission into practice? Or what it really means to be “missional” and how does that work in my every day life?
Hebrews 10 reminds us of the blessing we receive in our covenant with God and how we should live in response to them.
Listen as John Schley begins our new series, (Re)Discover the Church. This series will help us identify some of the ways the church can be described.
Warning signs on the highway are there to protect us from potential dangers ahead. God in His love gives us warnings in Scripture to protect us and guide how we live.
Listen as Danny Clark discusses how a true gospel family is marked by practices of freedom.
Listen as Nate Arnold continues our Side by Side series referencing Colossians 3:12-17.
See how God uses an unlikely prophet to accomplish his purposes and at the same time serve to change his heart. What might he want to change in you?
In Jonah 3 God shows mercy and grace to an entire city. He loves to see his people respond to him in repentance!
Have you ever felt "in over your head" and unable to deliver yourself from your feeling of drowning in the trouble of your life? Then listen in to this message of good news from Jonah 2.
Are you tired of running? What if you could stop running and rest in the grace of Christ? Listen in as we catch up with Jonah and learn about God's grace for the tired.
Listen in as we hear Jesus explain what Gospel hospitality is and the marks of a person who experiences His grace.
Listen in as Jesus, the greatest teacher in the world, schools us on how to really see our sin and the grandeur of his free forgiveness.
Where do you anchor your hope? Listen in to a talk on Genesis 18 where hope in anchored in the laughable grace of God.
Good news was meant to be shared with total strangers. Listen in as we hear about the radical hospitality of God found in Genesis 2.
When your spiritual alarm goes off do you wake up right away or hit the snooze button? Listen in as we hear about how the resurrection is a wake up call for everyone going through tough times.
A great spiritual conflict occurs every moment of everyday 24/7. We are sometimes aware of it and sometimes oblivious to it. Our anxiety can consume us if we aren’t aware how God helps us to remember his holiness, protection, and love for us in the midst of the conflict. Listen in as we hear the gospel of grace from Daniel 10-11 and learn about God’s preparation for us in the battle.
Confession scrubs our souls clean from a dirty conscience and yet we prefer to cover our faults rather than than expose them to our merciful God. Listen in as we hear the gospel of grace from Daniel 9 and learn about coming clean in Christ.
See and Hear Hope: Ever notice how your vision of the future influences your life in the present? Often what we see on the horizon flavors our present for good or for bad. Listen in as we take a look at Daniel's vision of the future of cosmic reality from Daniel 8.
What do you do when uncontrollable, insurmountable forces of evil threaten your life? Listen in as we look into Daniel 7 and find a Savior who can and does overcome evil with good.
God is present with us in the midst of difficult circumstances. He is always there guiding us by His spirit, through prayer, and as we depend on Christ. Listen in as we hear the gospel according to Daniel and find that God’s ongoing presence in our life makes the difference through Jesus Christ.
Wherever we turn the world seems so wrong. What or who can put it to rights again? Listen in as we hear the gospel according to Daniel and find that God the judge puts everything wrong right again, through Jesus.
Have you ever met someone who thought they were "large and in charge?" Most of us know someone who struggles with narcissism and all of us become self-centered at one time or another. Listen in as Daniel 4 describes Nebuchadnezzar the narcissist and how God can change the most prideful man with grace. Grace always flows downhill.
Have you ever had to take an unpopular stand that got you into some really hot water? Have you ever thought about Jesus Christ taking a stand for you so that you could be free forever from the heat of eternal suffering? Listen in as we learn about the gospel from Daniel 3.
Ever had a recurring nightmare? Often our dreams are related to deep-seated anxiety. Listen in on this talk from Daniel chapter 2 as we encounter the God of heaven who understands our anxieties and brings a kingdom of peace.
Most people are both familiar and unfamiliar with the dramatic book of Daniel. Though Daniel may look like a hero, the real hero ends up being the sovereign God. Listen in as we jump into this story's first chapter and find the good news of Jesus.
Listen in as we hear a message that addresses this question: "How can I believe in a God whose Bible naively ignores science?". Romans 1: 16-23 will help us see the Bible not only confirms science, it upholds it.
Listen in as we hear a message that addresses this question: "How can I believe in a God who claims that his truth is the exclusive truth?". 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 will be the starting point for answering this honest question.
Does God hate sexual sinners? Listen in as Romans 1 shines light into this controversial question that gets answered with the gospel.
The next time someone says "I can't believe in a God who would give us a faulty book" have them listen in on this...
Discover how we often rely on our own hypocritical actions, rather than Christ’s righteousness and miss living out the heart of the Gospel.
Discover the final requests Jesus made to his father which focused on unity, community, and mission
Jesus asks his Father for two huge gifts for his followers and then becomes the very gift of God to save sinners. Listen in on this message from John 17:14-19.
Do you know what advent is all about? We usually use the word advent to talk about the latest technology. For instance, we say "Since the advent of the car, people walk less and enjoy the freedom to travel far." In other words, the coming of the car changed the world and the way we live in it.
With the advent of Jesus, more than any technological event, the world will never be the same.
Christian author Wendell Berry coined the provocative phrase "practice resurrection." Listen in as we learn how the practice of remembering the resurrection causes surprise and great joy.
Counter your disappointments by listening in to find out the connection between grace, gratitude and the glory of God as we dive into 2 Corinthians 4:15.
What if your lack of joy was caused by your unwillingness to re-frame reality according to God's plan? Listen in and learn that we were made to overflow with joy in the middle of the messes of life.
Do the day to day occurrences in your life happen for a reason? Do they somehow fit into God’s grand story? Listen to how God wants to use you in the great narrative He is writing!
Ever wonder if you're on the right path to happiness? Listen in as we learn from Psalm 1 about a joyful, listening path, a tree overflowing with fruit and knowing deep in our bones that we are known by King Jesus.
Disappointed? Has illness, betrayal or loss left you gasping for joy? For many of us it is the gnawing lack of joy that lurks like an alligator silently drifting below the surface of our lives. Listen in as we hear Jesus tell a story about joy being the center of his Kingdom.
Do you find it easy or scary to share the story of Jesus with close-minded friends and neighbors? If you find yourself more scared than brave, listen in on a saying and a story that will grow your courage in Christ.
God came near in Christ and clothed Himself in human flesh. We call this undeserved closeness of God the incarnation. Listen in on a saying and a story where God comes close to sinners in Christ and listens in on their deepest needs.
42 Seconds. According to author Carl Medearis, that’s the average length of Jesus’ conversations as recorded in the gospels. Jesus deeply and eternally impacted people’s lives through brief, everyday connections—and you can too. Listen in on a story where a woman is greeted with healing grace. By hearing the good news of this story you will be ready to greet others with healing grace too.
The Church is sent on mission by Jesus to be agents of His undeserved love and glory. Does the church have a mission to do for God or does God have a church for His mission? Does God join us to help us reach our goals or do we join God to reach his goals? Listen in and find out how the last conversation Jesus had with his friends (Acts 1:1-8) answers these questions.
Our heart is the mission-control center of our being. God designed us to live, first and foremost, as lovers with deep desires. But what do we do if those desires deviate from God's clear command for us to love Him above all and to love your neighbor as yourself? Listen in as the Tenth command is explained, illustrated and applied.
With all of the "fake" news and half-truths swirling around how do we navigate the river of chatter and information flowing our way? God, who is truth at His core, tells us the truth about lies. Listen in as the 9th command explains how we were meant to live life with a capital L!
We don't obey the law to be accepted. Instead, we are first accepted in Christ and then obey. But the law "don't steal" is clearly aimed at a minority of shoplifting criminals, not the average moral church member, right? Listen in as this message gets us thinking about theft and the way Christ became poor to make us rich
We live in a hyper-sexualized culture. Since God made us with a desire for relationships and a longing for worship it is no surprise that we want sexual intimacy. Listen in as the sensitive subject of adultery is addressed and we'll learn to live the abundant life that God intended.
The command to not murder another seems irrelevant to our lives. And yet, Jesus taught that an entrenched attitude of anger toward another, where you begin to insult and label them with abusive terms is the sin under the murder that we never thought we would commit. Listen in as J.P. Sibley teaches about living life to the fullest by living the good commands of God.
Are you alive? Of course you are! How would you be reading this if your heart was not beating? But answer a deep question. Are you really living? I mean living life as God planned, purposed and promised it? Are you living life with a capital L?
Are you living as a member of the rat race or the human race? How does a full embrace of the fourth commandment give your soul deep rest? Listen and find out.
Names matter. But there seems to be a gap between intellectually acknowledging the name of Christ and having a heart ignited by the very life that stands behind his name. I can't wait to worship with you this Sunday as we look at the third commandment and learn how to live life with a capital L
What everyday Idols do you unknowingly worship? God tells us to worship no other Gods before him! Join Pastor John Schley as he preaches from Exodus 20:4-6
Are you alive? Of course you are! How would you be reading this if your heart was not beating? But answer a deeper question. Are you really living? I mean living life as God planned, purposed and promised it? Are you living life with a capital L?
Take a look at how our eternal state is restored to God's original purpose. Join us as we look at how God restores our world, design, and intimacy through Revelation 22:1-5
Christians have been debating the meaning of the millennium (the 1000 year reign of Jesus at the end of time) for over two millennia! What's all the fuss? Can the millennium be made meaningful? Absolutely. Listen in and get ready to realize that the best is yet to come.
Martin Luther, a pastor who taught about grace, wrote a song with confrontational lyrics about Satan. He said that just one little word would fell our ancient foe. What weaponized word could have such a devastating effect on the arch enemy of God and His people? Listen in on this message from Revelation 12 where that little word will be revealed.
Who is actually calling the shots in a world that seems to be out of control? Revelation 5:1-14 tells us that Jesus, the lion-who-is-a-lamb is on the throne of the universe and the only appropriate response is to sing your heart out.
Do you picture Jesus as the AMEN (a word meaning the true foundation under all foundations), and the ARCHE (the source of every good sequence) or as just a moral teacher or life-coach? What room in your life does Jesus desire to access? Why won’t you let him in? Would you be willing to turn the knob and allow him to speak to your real needs?
In Revelation 3:7-13 Jesus commands us to LOOK! at the open door when life seems to be full of slammed doors and dead ends. Listen and learn about how Jesus is described as a key and how he describes his followers as pillars of strength even when they feel weak and inconsequential.
The church in Thyatira was a distracted church. Distracted by wanting to be accepted in the midst of a society that was not striving to please the Lord. What are you distracted by? And what are the things that creep unknowingly into your life and steals your attention away from Christ. Over time, these things that may start as innocent looking diversions can grow into idols of the heart.
Pastor Howard Cole continues our series through the book of Revelation and preaches from Revelation 2:12-17. Close your eyes and picture Jesus with a sharp sword sticking out of his mouth. Revelation 2:12-17 describes Jesus this striking way and watch out! When his sword strikes--healing happens!
My love for Jesus and all of you was so stoked last Sunday by the words Jesus spoke to the church at Ephesus.
I can't wait to worship with you this Sunday as we read the letter written to the ancient, beautiful city of Smyrna found in Revelation 2:8-11.
Are you suffering in any way? Odds are, you are dealing with a problem that really has its hooks in you. You might be carrying a heavy load of difficulty and feel powerless to move ahead in life. In fact, life is beginning to feel like death!
Is your love for God, other Christians and even the lost flickering and fading? I can't wait to worship with you this Sunday as we hear Jesus break through and into our lives with Revelation 2:1-7. Your love is not destined to die out!
What if on the Lord’s Day, this Easter Sunday, a curtain between heaven and earth was suddenly pulled up revealing the living Jesus?
Wouldn't you do anything to just be there basking in his beauty, power, love and strength?
The living Jesus was never meant to be shifted to the sidelines of our lives. We bend and break under the pressures of life without Jesus at the center.
The thought of worshiping the living God with you this Sunday stimulates joyful anticipation in my heart. We'll be finishing up our series on the gospel and work as we soak our souls in Colossians 3:17-4:1.
Do you or a friend need to see how God's word informs and transforms our hearts for the work-a-day world we inhabit?
I urge you to bring a friend to hear the good news of Jesus and speaking of bringing a friend--how about bringing a friend to either the Maundy Thursday service, an Easter service, or both?!
God has purposely placed you among unbelievers who need to hear the good news of the resurrected and reigning Christ. So many of them would come to church if only they were asked. With all the bad news going around in our world, we are entrusted to share the good news of grace. I love being part of our community of grace.
Do you ever wonder what is your purpose for “Work”? And why has God given everyone else such great talent and skills? I would like to invite you come learn what God says about how His story intersects our story in relation to our work. Bring a friend too who wants to understand what is their place in the world. You will be encouraged to see how God has everything under control including your piece in this grand puzzle!
Pastor Howard Cole preaches from the Books of Genesis and Exodus as we take a look at the problem of overworking and how it relates to idolatry and restlessness.
This Sunday will mark the final day of our Transform initiative and most importantly our collective giving commitment to such a worthy kingdom cause.
I'm overflowing with thanks for all of you and have enjoyed meeting in homes to dream about and discuss Metro's vision.
Connecting and joining more people to God's transforming grace will be made possible with a renovation of our roof, a new sanctuary for worship and fellowship and a firm foundation will be set for church planting.
Remember, this Sunday we will all meet together for one service at 10 am. I'll call everyone forward at the end of the service during a song for a consecrated moment to offer your family's personal commitment to the kingdom. Plan to bring your children up for this high and holy moment. We will ask you to get them near the end of the service so that even the children's worship workers can join us.
Commitment cards will be available if you need one. Pray to our generous God for guidance on how you are uniquely called to give.
Enjoying this season together during our Transform initiative has been such a delight. God saved us FROM our sin FOR an intentional purpose together-to connect others to the transforming grace of God.
Our focused future involves a new sanctuary, replacing the roof on our current ministry facility and planting more churches.
This desired future will involve faith and sacrifice supplied by the Spirit of the living God.
Our continuous pattern is to go, gather, grow and give as God empowers us with His grace.
This Sunday we'll dip into what it means to grow in grace.
We are reviewing and re-calibrating our hearts and minds to connect others to God's grace as we Go, Gather, Grow and Give.
I hope you've RSVP'd for a rendezvous meeting. I want to spend time with you face to face sharing the God-sized vision concerning His grace!
This Sunday we'll stop to gather and learn about Christ-centered worship and deep community.
We really are transformed by gathering together.
We all worship. We all hunger to know others and to be known. We wonder if anyone will accept us with all of the pieces that seem to be missing in our lives. We need to hear good news about how only Christ completes us and satisfies us.
God graciously summons us out of isolation and fear into a new family. We lift our hearts together to Him in worship and experience deep transformation.
I'm urging everyone who calls Metro North their home to participate in our five week TRANSFORM initiative.
The initiative launches this Sunday, I'm super-excited and I don't want anyone left behind as we step into this fresh season of community life together.
It was Picasso the famous artist that said "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun."
God, in Christ by grace, transforms sinners into sons and daughters! And He continues to do this very thing in our midst!
You won't want to miss this Sunday as we launch TRANSFORM.
TRANSFORM is a grace-empowered generosity initiative to strategically connect more people to God's grace.
You'll see our launch video featuring stories of grace hear an inspiring story from a husband and wife receive information about our renewed vision and mission and enjoy lifting up praise to our living God of all grace.
Invitations to rendezvous meetings (small groups to discuss the TRANSFORM initiative) are coming your way. Please take the time to RSVP.
Pastor John and I can't wait to meet with you in these smaller groups where we will talk face to face about the future plans and dreams of our church family.
How's your work coming along? For many of us, our work, which God designed for our dignity and satisfaction, has morphed into drudgery.
It often feels fruitless and even worse, pointless.
Our "Year of Give" has been a journey looking at how and where God calls us as a church to serve.
Our unbelieving neighbors, along with all of us want to make sense our of our world. We actively engage with work hoping that in it we can find a sense of meaning. But how is a person, who places faith in Christ, supposed to connect that faith to the work they inhabit most of their waking hours?