RUF at UNC: Recent Episodes
Simon Stokes
Go ahead and skip to 30 seconds in. There were some recording issues at the beginning. Sorry about that.
We start our series on John's gospel at the end, where he explains why he's writing and shows us how Jesus approaches us in our skepticism and unbelief.
This sermon was originally preached three years ago in the Psalms series, but due to two on campus suicides the previous weekend, we moved away from Revelation for a week to talk about depression.
Apologies for the audio quality on some of this, as well as the break in the sermon that came due to rain.
Special credit to Rev.Robert Cunningham for his own sermon on this topic. It was helpful in preparing.
Recorded at Christ the King in Wilmington, NC. The audio ends right before the closing prayer.
Preaching from Matthew 5:1-3.
Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
What does it mean to not be poor in spirit?
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
Pulling from Nicholas Wolterstorff's "Quartet of the Vulnerable", this episode focuses on the question, who are the people that God is most concerned for?
What does God have to do in order to bring justice to the complexity of a fallen world? How does Jesus, the Spirit, the gospel, and the Church work with that plan, and what does it have to say about this present moment? Using insights from Richard Hays' The Moral Vision of the New Testament, this episode focuses in on Luke's gospel and Acts to explain that justice is a key fruit of the gospel.
This is part one of a longer teaching (as opposed to preaching) series on justice and the gospel in our world.
In this episode, we talk about what the Hebrew words sedek (righteousness) and mishpat (justice) mean, and how they frame our conversations around the topic of biblical justice.
Apparently, hand sanitizer is effective against Coronvirus. Apologies for the inaccuracy.
Why RUF exists; What we do; and how to get involved
Many thanks to Rev.Matt Howell for the outline and analogies in this intro sermon.
The second of two summer conference men's only talks on dealing with lust and sexual shame. Here are three questions every person struggling with with sexual shame and sin must ask themselves, as well as three steps to take. FYI listener, both of these talks delve pretty deeply into the nitty gritty of this subject.
This is the first of two talks for a guys only seminar on sexual sin and shame. This first talk opens up the subject and unpacks the cycle of sexual sin and shame, offering a new cycle at the end. FYI listener, both of these talks delve pretty deeply into the nitty gritty of this subject.
Why is forgiveness an important trait to develop in God's Kingdom, and how do we start to do that?
Jesus provides a warning of judgement, as well as a promise of joy for those who know and serve him.
Being missional is a big buzzword on our campus, but what's a healthy way to think about it, and how should it be properly motivated?
How does Jesus deal with legalism and license? And what do we need to give to Jesus in order to get a heart that actually wants to follow God's laws and loves him well?
How does Jesus love and challenge religious people with grace and the necessity of God's work in his life? See what happens when he meets Nicodemus.
The first in our series on Encountering Jesus. See how Jesus is the true source of joy, and how he deals with our fears. John 2:1-11
What's a right way to think about faith? What's a wrong way to think about faith? What does faith get us?
We all live in and through stories, and the Bible itself is telling one. What is this story about, and how does Jesus play a role in it?
Thanks to Rev. Brent Webster his work in this area and the talk that he gave on this subject at an IPC Missions Conference last February.
What do we do with our singleness? The myths, the gifts, and the hope of singleness are explored.
Intimacy is one of the most important parts of friendship and relationships, but also one of the hardest. What is it? And how do we forge into a relationship where we know that we will inevitably sinned against?
Does the bible have a place for us to make sense of the longing that we all have for relationships, the disappointment that we've all felt as we've idolized them, and the love that we were all made to experience? Yep.
Special thanks to Les Newsome for his talk on this, and the major influence it had.
God is a holy, glorious king who rules. Find out what that means for your life. Also, apologies for the first two minutes. There was something distracting going on with the mic.
What does it mean to be made in God's image, and why is this important for us to know as we think about people and our involvement in the world?
What's a core ingredient to a gospel shaped community? Honesty, vulnerability, repentance; in short, confession.
What was God's intention for His Law? And what does faith do? Is it just faith for faith's sake?
We can struggle a lot to know if we are "doing" faith right, but the real question is what does our faith stand on?
Why don't our works work in getting us "in" with God? How come faith in Christ does work? Find out here!
Legalism is a big barrier to understanding grace. Find out what legalism is, and how God's grace deals with it.
Kicking off our series on Galatians! We ask, what did Jesus save us from and what did he save us to?
How does the gospel look to the world? Weak. Yet, it is the power of God to change the world.
We can struggle to talk to the very moral people in our lives about the goodness of the gospel? Who should we go to? How should we go? and with what should we go? The Bible has the answers
There are lots of barriers out there that keep people from knowing God, but I am the only one that I can control.
What is the wisdom of the world? The wisdom of the Cross? How do we get true wisdom?originally preached at Church of the Good Shepherd in Durham, NC