Eternity Church PodCast: Recent Episodes
Eternity Church
Biblically-based teachings from services held at Eternity Church where we are gathering the nations to worship and imitate Christ. Come worship with us Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM at 1200 Wilmington Avenue, Richmond VA 23227 http://www.eternitychurch.org/
A Sunday sermon by Pastor Brett Deal.
It was so wonderful to meet so many of you this past week. Elise, the kids, and I feel so very welcome and look forward to all the things God will do at Eternity. This Sunday we will continue to get rooted in Philippians 1, looking back at Paul’s greeting as well as forward into the truth he speaks into their community. In the same way we will continue to discuss what it means for each of us to be in fellowship with one another. How is the Spirit of God inviting us to pray for one another, love each other, and fellowship in His Kingdom. As you read Philippians 1.3-7, 12-18, prayerfully explore what it means for you: to be partners in the community of Christ,to be partakers in divine grace,to be pioneers of the gospel, to be proclaimers of true communion. I can’t wait to see you in a few days. Until then, know that we are praying for you and “sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 1.6)!
A Sunday sermon by Pastor Brett Deal.
We have been looking forward to this Sunday and can’t wait to see you face to face, the men, women and children who have been in our prayer these past months! Preparing for our time together in the Word, I turned repeatedly to the prayer of the Apostle Paul: “This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God,” (Philippians 1.9-11, NIV). In that short prayer, Paul sews the many themes he will explore throughout his letter. I imagine the names and faces that must have flooded Paul’s mind as he sat in prison writing to the church in Philippi. Men and women, young and old, slave and freed, Gentile and Jew together in one place to worship. Did he think of the jailer and his family sitting with the young slave girl freed from demonic possession (Acts 16)? Did he see the leaders of the church across Lydia’s courtyard like Euodia and Syntyche lifting bread and cup as those gathered to celebrate the presence of Christ at the table (Philippians 4)? As we prepare to gather this week will we ask the Spirit of God: how is He prompting us to pray for one another, encouraging us to carry the cares and concerns of others, commissioning us to pray with love-shaped knowledge?how is He challenging us to see love as a dynamic process; growing in discernment?how is He inviting us to draw near and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ?
A Sunday sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
When I commenced at Eternity as the Pastor bridging to the next season, I anticipated that I would have some months to take up these bridging roles. But as it’s turning out, this is a short bridge – just a couple of months long. I have hardly had time to get to know my partners crossing the bridge with me, much less to stop and fish together! But that’s okay – this surely seems to be the Lord’s timing. Not to presume on the congregation’s role, voting on August 13, but if this goes as the Pastoral Nominating Committee, the Elders, and the Presbytery anticipate, Brett will be ready to start officially the next day. Is there any rush? No. But with a two year search on the PNC’s part, and some months and years of Brett and Elise prayerfully searching for the specifics of their calling to return to the United States, these three concluding weeks are hardly a rush! So this Sunday we’ll turn our view in a more anticipatory direction. To do so we’ll jump out of Numbers and over to Deuteronomy 31:1-8 – a good many chapters, but in actual time elapsed not very long. We’ll also look at a word from Jesus recorded in Matthew 16:18 that picks up on this theme of the Lord launching a new season with new leadership.
A Sunday sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
Check out the prayer list in any church or small group Bible study, and see what needs frequently crop up. Occasionally, there is a need for guidance and provision in some major life decision. But much more often the requests are about very down to earth matters – many of them physical needs. As we’ve made our way through the book of Numbers, the last two chapters we considered, 13 and 14, have been about the Lord's work with us in large life issues. But with chapter 21 we come back to more immediate physical perils and challenges – snakes! Even though that’s not the peril we usually face, we can certainly connect with the physical vulnerability and the fear that come with it. Such are the drivers for most of our prayer requests. Turns out that the large life issues and the basic perils of the moment are not so far apart. So we will see in Numbers 21, and even more so in John 3, where we find Jesus’ comments on Numbers 21. As those who experience such needs ourselves, and who have been sent to minister to people with such needs, these are important stories for us.So we'll see this Sunday. Let’s prepare in prayer, for the Lord will meet us at the point of these most basic human needs, and address us in our calling to minister in his name to such needs.
A Sunday sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
Have you ever noticed how the scripture is not prone to “photoshop” the pictures it gives of the people of God? It’s true. No retouching. We get them as they really were. Which makes the stories all the more relevant to us – as we really are. Numbers 14 is one of those “warts and all” pictures. It’s hard to look at, and it gets even harder when the Spirit turns this picture into a mirror, as the Spirit is prone to do. This Sunday I believe we’ll discover anew one of the mysteries of God's truth: even its hard edges, its bad news, is caught up in the Lord’s intention that we hear his good news all the better. Thus it presents not a threat, but an invitation. If you want to look ahead in preparation for this Sunday, check out Numbers 14, and the reflection on that story in Hebrews 3:12-19. I believe we will find God's truth jumping right into the middle of our lives – and not just for us as individuals, but for us as Eternity Church. Let’s prepare in prayer. The Lord is ready to move! I look forward to joining with you in welcoming him into our midst with our praises this Sunday at 10:00.
A Sunday sermon by Peter DuMont.
We live in an Age of Depletion. Too often we feel overworked and overburdened. If we find someone full of energy and optimism, we want to know why, as we navigate our own needs and the needs of others. The mark of God’s presence and work is abundant life. Jesus came proclaiming liberty to the captives and declaring, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10) The Apostle Paul built upon this understanding when he wrote, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8) Encountering God and growing in our relationship with Him moves us from a place of depletion toward fulness, from heaviness toward freedom. For most of us, this is a process, but the hope of our journey is rooted in the life of God, and His promise to complete His work in us and the world around us. Let’s move toward worship this week eager to grow in the life of God!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
Now that I’ve been with you for several Sundays, I’m getting into a Sunday morning routine. I’ve been getting here in time to hear the Praise Team prepare for worship. It’s what you would expect – they make progress on a song and then get stuck. Finally, they sort it out and move on to the next song. As they say of legislation, it’s like with sausage – you don’t want to see it made. But actually, I do like to see it made, and in part because it’s fun to see the different musical giftings and ideas about a song come together. But again, as with sausage, it’s not fully appreciated until it’s served up. And our Praise Band “serves up” the worship music wonderfully well! Of course, they have a secret ingredient: the Holy Spirit enlivens their offering and uses the music to unite us all around the One who has come into our midst. I’ve seen the Spirit do so with far less gifted musicians too. But we can give thanks that the Lord has entrusted such musical gifts to our leaders, and that He works through them in the grand ways he does. This Sunday our praise will be preparing us to respond to God’s word in Numbers 13 and Hebrews 11:1. You might check them out before we gather. We’ll be dealing with the very basics of the faith, as we face both current and future challenges.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
I continue to be very grateful for your kind welcome. While I don’t yet know many of you well, it’s easy to recognize our main commonality: we’re very much taken with this One who has called us to be his own, and to follow in his way. Turns out that following in his way as a congregation includes some transition times. That’s what’s happening with Eternity now, with David retired, and the next Pastor not yet here. It’s my privilege to walk with you through this segment of the journey, and to discover together the good things that the Lord has in store right now. If you’ve been here the last two weeks for worship, you know that’s why we’re focusing on the book of Numbers this summer. It describes a time when God’s people were on their way from one season to the next, and what he did with them on the way. This Sunday we’ll be considering Numbers 11:1-9 and John 6:31-35. Think of these stories as a couple of pages out of the family photo album, taken some years apart. Our likeness is there – and it’s not very flattering! But it is instructive. There are also a couple of perspectives on the One who has welcomed us to travel with him. We need both of these angles to understand who he is, and thus who we are as his fellow travelers.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
We’ll continue in our focus on Numbers. Despite its historical and cultural distance, Numbers describes how God works with his people in a transition time. So it’s not hard to connect the dots for us from then to now. We’ll begin with Numbers 9:15-23, which describes how the people of Israel found their way in the wilderness. Hint – it wasn’t with GPS – unless you want to recast the acronym as the God Positioning Service. But say we do. How can we make sure we’re dialing into his guidance? That’s a live issue for us as a church right now. We’re in unfamiliar territory, and we want to move in the right directions. So how do we tie into this divine GPS? And actually, it’s not just an issue for us as a church, but also for each of us as disciples. Is there guidance for us day to day? If so, how do we dial in? While most of our attention will be on the Numbers story, we’ll also hear a word from Jesus in John 10:27 about how he guides us as his disciples.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
Ever since David asked me last summer if I might serve as Transitional Pastor, should one still be needed when he retired the following May, I’ve been praying about the possibility of serving with you. A couple of months ago it became apparent that this would in fact come to be, and so my prayers changed. I began praying that God would prepare me to serve in this role. That’s because we’re not just killing time till God does the next thing at Eternity. The Lord does a lot of his best work in transition times! So it was in the biblical era, and so it is now. With that in mind, this Sunday we’ll commence a focus on the book of Numbers that will carry us through most of the summer. Why Numbers? Because it’s a book that describes how God worked with his people in a transition time. I believe we won’t find it hard to discover the resonances with our own transition. We’ll begin with Numbers 6:22-27 – one of the more familiar passages, because it has the blessing God directed Aaron, the high priest, to speak over the people, and which we often use in worship to this day. We’ll also read 1 Peter 2:9, the New Testament verse which broadens that priestly function to all who follow Jesus. That means you and I are not only “bless-ees” but also “bless-ers,” which will be especially important in this transition season. What does it mean to receive God’s blessing from each other, and to bring such blessing to each other? We’ll see! I look forward to gathering with you on Sunday. There will be blessing all around!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Steve Hartman.
To God's People at Eternity, A few weeks ago at a congregational meeting, the elders introduced us to Eternity's values. One of those values was this one: "We believe in interconnected life." In our gathering together from many backgrounds and life stages our common experience of God is the primary means by which faith is transmitted from one household to another and one generation to the next. We are called to pursue life together and not live in isolation. Love is the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live with differences, build bridges, and embrace tension. Our primary witness to the world lies in the life and proclamation of the community." What a great statement by Eternity's elders. This Sunday we will think about why it is so important to pursue life together and not live in isolation. Specifically, we will think about how we grow as Christians. Can we really be all God intends for us to become--all God intends to make us--when we make our walk with God about just "me and God?" How do we grow into maturity? As we look at Ephesians 4:7-16, we will think about the answers to these questions together.
A Sunday morning sermon by Charity Cook.
Jesus began his ministry by calling people to repentance and declaring that “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). As He carried this message throughout Galilee, He “healed every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matt 4:24). Jesus preached the good news, and He demonstrated it by healing the sick. Before He left, Jesus prepared His disciples to continue this mission. Jesus sent His twelve disciples “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Lk 9:2). He then sent 72 others with the same assignment to heal the sick and say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Lk 10:9). Just before His departure, Jesus commissioned the eleven to make disciples and to teach everything He had taught them (Matt 28:19-20). But before they went out, they were told to “stay in the city until [they were] clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). By sending the Holy Spirit and empowering His disciples, Jesus’ ministry focus continued. He modeled the Kingdom of Heaven by healing the sick and casting out demons. He commissioned his disciples to do the same and told them to make disciples. Those disciples in turn discipled others, who in turn discipled others. We stand in this heritage of discipleship. As Jesus’ disciples, we continue in this mission through the power of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom and knowledge; faith, healing, and miracles; prophecy, tongues, and discernment are all given to help us walk in Christ’s authority and to build His church (1 Cor 12:8-10). Theologian Jon Ruthven points to the Bible’s emphasis on both the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God to argue that these charismatic gifts remain until the second coming of Jesus. These gifts are essential because we have an assignment: to heal the sick, to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
A Sunday morning sermon by Dr. Jesse Joyner.
We live in a dark, broken, and painful world. It sometimes causes us to lament as the Psalmist does in Psalm 13: “How long, Oh Lord!” But there is hope. And that hope is in the Lord and the Lord alone. God gave us the gift of His Word. And all through His Word are found prophecies and promises of what has already started and what is yet to come. The exciting thing is that we can daily pray what Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” We don’t need to wait until heaven for heaven to appear. By God’s grace, He gives us glimpses of heaven here and now. Our readings this week are such glimpses: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-7. In Isaiah’s time and for many generations after him, God’s people were suffering under the oppressive rule of the Assyrians and Babylonians. They were in peril. Yet God gave them a vision of what was to come someday: a restored city to call home. That vision had partial fulfillment when the exiled people returned to Jerusalem. But there is also a fuller fulfillment of heaven that all God’s people are looking towards - the new heavens and new earth. And through Christ, the New Jerusalem will be a place of worship for every tribe, nation, and tongue. We will explore these tastes of heaven and ask God to instill in us a vision of heaven that changes our everyday lives here on earth. My prayer is that we will lean into these glimpses of heaven with a redemptive imagination and look ahead, not behind, with both our hearts and actions.
A Sunday sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Prophet, King, and Priest all together provided the leadership for Israel. Each one was accountable to God, and they were accountable to each other. The prophet brought the Word of God, the king ruled to make the nation strong and safe, and the priest called the people to worship. All these three offices of prophet, king and priest come together in Christ the Messiah. These three offices are meant to continue in the life of every congregation. We are called to be a “royal priesthood of all believers.” We, Eternity Church, are learning what it means to be a “prophethood of believers.” Have we cultivated the mindset of the king to be strong and to build a strong community of God’s people? We are not a church that is on the retreat. We are confident that even in times of transition it is a time to build and to trust that the Presence of God is the primary leader.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
All the great stories of the bible are a catalogue of God’s work that is above and beyond human capacity or cause. All we can do is bear witness and share the testimony. The Old Testament begins with Creation, Noah, Exodus, angelic hosts fighting against Israel’s enemy, Elijah and the fire from heaven, Daniel in the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego in the pit of fire; all these are just precursors to the amazing work of the Messiah. The virgin birth, the star in the sky guiding the magi, angelic hosts announcing the birth are just the opening events of the New Testament, and Jesus breaks into history turning water into wine, walking on water, stilling the storm, feeding the thousands with very little, reversing leprosy, healing genetic diseases, and even raising the dead. Miracles are a part of major historical turning points in human history, as well as a consistent revelation that God is God. Has God changed so he no longer performs these miracles? Can we expect miracles to happen today? Aren’t we called to be the church, a community that believes and continues with revelation history? William Carey reminds us: “Expect Great things from God, Attempt great things for God.”
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Miracles seem extraordinary or supernatural to us. We are severely limited because our finite selves cannot reach or grasp the infinite God. All our methodologies of reasoning, logic, and scientific proof evolve from either our own minds or the collective consciousness and gathered wisdom, which has come to us through the ages. We do not have the tools or the capacity to know God. The only way we can know God is when God chooses to reveal God’s self and God’s works. Creation begins because of God’s initiative. As humans we are creatures, and we depend on the predictability of creation around us. When creation follows the wishes of the Creator, what seems miraculous to us is normal in God’s ordering of nature. As Christians our world view is governed not only by how we see creation but also by how we see creation as obedient to God. When Jesus turns water into wine, it is the normal response of creation to the Creator. To worship God and invoke the presence of Jesus equips us with the Holy Spirit and they choose how and when creation should obey! Expect a miracle because you believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Joe Anderson.
God's ways are not our ways. Acts 16 is a perfect example of this.Paul is following God’s call to go to Macedonia to start a church. We think that when it is God's calling for us, it should be easy. Wrong! Paul has only one convert after many days. Then he and Silas are arrested and beaten and thrown in jail. In human terms, nothing is going right. But when they start singing, God intervenes with an earthquake, and the first church is formed from the most unlikely people. When God calls us to do something, don’t assume it is going to happen the way we planned. Many times we question, is this really God’s will? Did I hear Him correctly? Just praise Him and see what He does.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Joe Anderson.
In Mark 1:40-45, we have the story of a leper who came to Jesus to be healed. If anyone had a skin disease, no matter what, in Jesus day they were considered a leper. They were outcasts, quarantined to a leper colony where they would catch leprosy even if they at first didn’t have it. Lepers were required by Jewish law to shout out UNCLEAN as they approached someone but had to stay a stone's throw away. In fact, the religious leaders would carry stones in their pockets to throw at them, just in case they came too close. In addition to healing this leper, Jesus did much more. He didn’t look at him with disgust, fear, or contempt. Rather, Jesus was moved with compassion. He looks at us the same way. Then, Jesus did something scandalous. Jesus touched him, thereby making himself unclean. His newly called disciples had to step back in horror. Jesus not only identified with the leper, he joined him, Jesus was willing to trade places with the leper and also with us. I find it strange that Jesus told him to tell no one and he went and told everyone. Yet when Jesus rose from the dead He said to tell everyone, and we hardly tell anyone.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
My prayer for the children in our church is that they will always know Jesus, grow in their faith and never wander away from God. Children belong to God and God entrusts them to parents, to family, and to the church. We are created to be God’s children from before birth. Even though the primary responsibility to transmit faith rests with parents, we all share in this calling. Our children need to be able to see Jesus in us and learn from us. Discipleship is learned by being with Jesus. We spend a lot of money and effort in preparing children for life; Do we put equal or more effort in preparing them for eternal life? Children will follow our example, our priority and the values that guide our life. Deuteronomy 6:6–7 says: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” It is in the common things of daily life that Jesus comes alive for children. May Jesus be the center of all our lives!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Steve Hartman.
"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you" (1 Thess 3:12). "So then, whenever we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith (or household of faith)" (Galatians 6:10). At the beginning of this month, Pastor David called us to let God increase our capacity for love. Then, last Sunday, in helping all of us, especially husbands and wives, love one another, he especially focused on women and men being created in the very image of God. When we recognize those close to us and far from us are created in the image of God, that recognition helps us increase and abound in love. And, when we forget that fact, all kinds of sins can emerge. Now, this week we will be continuing to think about expanding our capacity to love as we focus on love in the church family. As the Apostle Paul prays for the Thessalonian church, he prays for their love to increase and abound for all--yes--but also "for one another"--for the members of the church family. In the passage from Galatians above, the Apostle Paul challenges the Galatian church family never to miss an opportunity to do good to anyone--to all, but "especially for those of the family of faith." Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul place a priority on loving relationships in the church family. Why is that? Why is there this special emphasis on loving fellow believers--those we sit with in worship on Sunday or meet up with in prayer, Bible study, or service? Come Sunday and find out. Come Sunday as we think about our call to "increase and abound in love for one another" in the church family.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The Bible opens with the amazing act of God making us in his image. God’s fullness as male and female is expressed in the creation of man and woman. The coming together of man and woman in marriage is an essential unity, which reflects the unity of God himself. However, by the time you come to Genesis 4:19, Lamech has more than one wife. The story of marriage in the Old Testament is littered with the polygamous lives of Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, Moses, David, and most of all Solomon, the epitome of the rejection of marriage and monogamy. The focus of most marriages in the Old Testament was children and the identity of a wife was severely diminished if she did not have children. Equally the man’s concern was to ensure progeny, so that his name continues and that the wealth is passed on.
Even today in most marriages, children take center stage in the marriage. As a result, the primary experience of unity as the purpose of marriage is lost. Christian marriage is a call to restore the original purpose of God and to put unity as the center of the marriage experience.
For those who are not married Paul reminds us that they are not distracted, therefore they can focus on their singleness of devotion to God.
Lord come and restore unity among us!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The Bible opens with the story of God making each one of us like him. So, God is pleased to express both his male and female nature in the way he creates us as man and woman. Both man and woman fully express the image of God. In looking at each other, men and women are called to see the fullness of God not only in ourselves but in the other that is so different. Good relationships are God’s gift to us. Relationship is the crucible in which the gold of belonging is forged. Whether the relationship is between friends, brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives, each one is an invitation by God to discover love and belonging. This is God’s gift – the gift of love for another and to be loved by another. Family is a gift from God. Family begins with parents and siblings and then comes marriage and a relationship that is to last a lifetime. Gifts need to be cherished, cultivated, nurtured and valued; otherwise they just occupy space and time in our lives and eventually become burdens. Make a list of all your relationships, both those that are good and those that are bad. What are the relationships you can cultivate or redeem? Which relationships do you need to just let go? May the Lord give each one of us more of his love to love one another!
A Sunday morning sermon by Richard Haney.
The New Testament reveals Jesus to us using many names and titles. In various gospels and letters, He is identified as Rabbi, Messiah, Logos, Lord, Son of God, and more. In John 10, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. John 10 is a beautiful and compelling passage: The Good Shepherd knows his sheep, cares for his sheep, protects his sheep and even lays down his life for the sheep. In verse 16, Jesus tells his disciples that he has "other sheep not of this fold." Jesus expresses his heart to call and gather in those "other sheep." Who are those other sheep? Is Jesus thinking about the Gentiles? Is he thinking of unreached peoples? Is he referring to the nations and tribes who don't have access to the Gospel? What should our level of concern be for the lost, the unreached, the poor and the hungry? Do we know where they are clustered around the world? Do we have responsibility to reach out to the unreached? God invites us into His mission to send his good news to all and to everywhere. Let us prayerfully seek what the Lord would have us do with our heads, hearts, and hands!
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter DuMont.
In John 14 Jesus speaks to his disciples the night of his betrayal, arrest, and separation from them. He tells them, “Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you I go to prepare a place for you?” Jesus encourages them by revealing--in this uncertain moment—a deep look at the heart of God the Father, whose house holds many rooms to which his children can come home. This teaching completes the work Jesus undertook to reveal God as a loving Father whose affection is expressed in the life and work of his Son. Jesus goes on to encourage them with the promise of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in Jesus’ name to the disciples to be with them forever. The Holy Spirit would call to remembrance everything Jesus said and reveal even more of the life of God to them, “teach[ing] all things” (v26). The picture that emerges is the interworking ministry of the Trinity functioning in beautiful harmony with one another. The work of Father, Son, and Spirit mirrors and deepens the expression of a singular heart and purpose: to draw humanity into a place of homecoming and neverending celebration in the Father’s house. This Sunday, as our nation observes Father’s Day, let’s come prepared to celebrate our invitation into the household of the Triune God!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Steve Hartman.
Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost Sunday--God's great gift of the Holy Spirit. What a gift! Think about it. Jesus Christ lives in you, the believer, in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Again, I say, what a gift! The Spirit of God is at work in us, constantly renewing us, forming Christ in us, ministering spiritual gifts through us, ministering His love through us, and spreading the gospel through us. The Holy Spirit is at work in us renewing our lives. Now, this week, we want to think about what hinders that work of the Spirit. Personally, I pray frequently for a great awakening in our country and even around the world. Another name for "great awakening" is revival. I know a lot of people don't like that word "revival" but what do we mean by revival? A revival is a time when the church grows and people's lives are changed and God becomes more real and people experience the love of God more deeply and the love of people for each other deepens. It is a wonderful and exciting time as God comes and works freshly and deeply in his people. The Holy Spirit is moving powerfully among God's people, and through them the gospel spreads. Now, this week I want to ask a question: What hinders this work of the Spirit of God? What causes the fire of the Spirit to die down? We ask this question because we want to see the opposite. We want to see the fire of the Holy Spirit burning hot. So, we will ask that question, "What causes the fire of the Spirit to lessen? In thinking about that question, we will look at a tough passage--James 4:1-10-- as we explore the answer to this question. Hope to see you Sunday.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.
It is my great privilege and joy to be with you this Sunday — Pentecost! Pastor David has been such a wonderful partner and mentor to me in Spirit empowered living, and over the years many of you have become friends. I will bring you a Pentecost message and invitation. The message is not likely to be anything new to you. It’s about the Lord’s empowering gift of the Holy Spirit, and you have experienced the Spirit’s work already. But the Lord has endless capacities to make his gifts to us fresh, and fitting for new seasons, which I believe he will do this Pentecost Sunday. What a fitting day for fresh fillings of the Spirit! Which leads to the invitation: at the end of the service your prayer ministers will move to the front of the sanctuary, ready to offer you blessings that would welcome the Spirit’s fresh presence. I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait to see what the Lord does among us! Let’s be in prayer leading up to this Pentecost worship, so that we’ll be ready.
A Sunday sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The risen Christ is the victor over all death. The devil robs, destroys, and kills. Death in its many forms is the result of demonic activity. Covid has killed millions. War has ravaged Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine. Death is constantly in the news. Death has invaded even our schools. We are warned in Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” We are not just caught in the middle of this cosmic struggle. This is the promise for us: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you, ” Rom 16:20.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
God is good! Satan is evil! The coming of Jesus brings this battle into clear focus. The life and ministry of Jesus is only a few years compared to the span of thousands of years, which covers the Old Testament. However, in this very brief period there is a surge of activity and exposure of the devil and his work in the world. The many healings and exorcisms in the life of Jesus clearly demonstrate that he has come to destroy the works of the enemy. Jesus had a discernment of the human condition where he could clearly heal disease as well as discern demonic strongholds. With a word, Jesus destroys demonic strongholds and oppression which held people in terrible suffering for prolonged periods and manifested outwardly as a disease. The Church needs to seek such a gift of discernment so that we can live in the victory that Jesus has brought for us. Only the church can do this. We are the disciples of Jesus and as the church we represent this inbreaking of the kingdom of God. We are called to bring a healing ministry that sets people free. Jesus is Lord!
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter DuMont.
God is always revealing himself to humankind. If God did not draw near to us, opening our eyes and hearts to His glory, we would remain in the dark. This movement of God becomes our hope, not that we are sufficient in ourselves, but that God is drawing near to us, revealing and fulfilling His promises to us, even amid difficult circumstances, uncertainty, or struggle. Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 3:4 when he wrote, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” Elsewhere in Scripture, God regularly revealed his glory to encourage his children with an experiential knowledge of his nature and power. God does this even more today, the Spirit accomplishing in us what we could never hope to accomplish on our own. Let us draw near to God this Sunday in response to his nearness, his glory, his presence in our midst! May we behold him anew, and never be the same.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The name Jesus means Savior. Every mention of the name of Jesus is an invitation for the Savior to work within us. There are two primary ways in which Jesus saves us. His saving work saves us from sin and death. Having saved us from sin and death, we are not left weak and helpless. His saving work continues in giving back all that the enemy has robbed and destroyed in us. It is abundant life that Jesus gives us, not just a restoration of what the enemy robbed from us. In the next four weeks we will look at the saving work of Jesus from sin, disease, demons, and flawed nature. These are often related experiences and not completely independent. We can easily misread these experiences and reduce them to just the physical or the demonic. Or we can conflate them and give undue validity to the demonic. Spiritual warfare is having a new vision of victory in Jesus. As Christians we are not at the mercy of evil, but we are given a new inheritance that Jesus has won for us. Jesus our Savior has inaugurated the kingdom of God here on earth and invites us into his abundance. The Father invites the prodigal son to enjoy the party and to realize that the waste of the past is incomparable to the inheritance of the future. Jesus is my Savior!
A Sunday morning of baptisms by Pastor David Singh.
This Sunday is unique in our life together. We have two children who are being dedicated, one infant being baptized, and a young boy who has confessed Christ being baptized by immersion. Eternity Church is unique in that we are not one denomination but one catholic [universal] church. We come from a variety of historic traditions and denominations and have chosen to be deliberately multi-denominational. We are not independent because we depend on the historic traditions. We are not non-denominational because we cherish the strengths that different denominations bring. Does this mean that we are not clear in our theology of Baptism? Quite the contrary; we are more robust in our understanding of the sacrament of Baptism. On what basis, you may ask. We follow the biblical record and pattern set by Jesus’ family as well his own example in choosing to be baptized. In addition to biblical authority, we are also guided by the church through the ages and around the world. Baptism is a sacrament ordered by the Lord Jesus. We baptize in obedience and inherit by faith. In Mark 10:13-16 Jesus received and blessed children at different levels of faith. The blessing of baptism is a visible demonstration that we are all called to receive the kingdom of God like a little child.
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter Kumar.
1 John 3:8b “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” This is the theme for this weekend of teaching and ministry. Good Friday reminds us that Christ has won the victory. Easter is the evidence that even the grip of death is destroyed. Pentecost is the indwelling of God that makes us witnesses of his kingdom on earth. Suddenly with the coming of Jesus, there was hope for healing as never before. Just by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment people were healed. The power of God over all disease was demonstrated time and again by the many healings of Jesus. Demons trembled at his presence and were evicted from people’s lives. This is what the Church is called to continue to do. So come and seek healing and deliverance. Let us learn how we can be disciples of Jesus Christ with a prophetic voice, which proclaims that the kingdom of God has come. Come! The Kingdom of God is here!
An Easter Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The Cross leads us in victory over death and into life. The Resurrection leads us from life to eternity. Death has no dominion over us because Jesus has conquered death and claimed us for himself. As we remember and relive what Jesus has done, may our witness become that of Mary Magdalene: “I have seen the Lord.” Mary is the one from whom seven demons had been cast out. And Jesus chose her to be the first one to see him risen from the dead and to go and proclaim that she had seen Jesus. Imagine the change in her that happened. She moved from being under the control of multiple evil powers to the freedom not only of being loved and set free by Jesus but experiencing the victory over death itself. Her witness is truly one of moving from death to life. As we go through the holy week, let this become our witness that we too have seen the Lord.
A Palm Sunday sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The king is coming humble and mounted on a donkey. Can you imagine the President of the United States coming for his inauguration riding on a donkey? This is so incongruous. A king on a donkey. What is even more striking is that this is not just a king but the Son of God. What does Palm Sunday teach us about God? God comes to us humbly. True humility is very powerful. Jesus emptied himself and took human form and became a servant. It is this very humility that makes every knee to bow before him. The three wise men recognized this when they bowed before the child Jesus. To follow Jesus is to learn humility. Discipleship and humility cannot be separated. Let us learn to come before each other humbly!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Can you imagine Moses being the leader for hundreds of thousands of people as they came out of Egypt? Today for a task of this magnitude we would need a consultant to map out a master plan and a competent staff with a track record hired to manage just the logistics. Moses had no clue where God was leading him. All he knew was the call of God and the promise that God’s presence would lead them. In Exodus 33:14 the Lord says: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Nalini and I had so much work to do and there were so many barriers. As we were driving I saw this verse painted on the walls of my old church. Even as I read this, I knew the Lord was speaking personally to me. I can honestly confess that most of the time I have no idea where I am going. And this is good. The Lord’s presence is our rest when we don’t know what is coming. To walk by faith is learning to trust God for each day and listening to him on a continual basis. Moses was such a man and whenever he entered the tent of meeting the Lord’s presence would descend and they would talk as friends. May the Presence of God go with you and give you rest!
A Sunday morning sermon by Dr. Jesse Joyner.
Psalm 136 is one of God’s gifts of love to us - itself a ceaseless reminder of his love for us. In fact, the key term in the repeated phrase, “his love endures forever” is “love.” The Hebrew term here is hesed, which is loaded with meaning that stretches beyond the sometimes ambiguous English term “love.” Hesed is enduring love embedded in faithfulness. Hesed is about promise, loyalty, and commitment. But it is also a love full of desire, enjoyment, and gladness. That is the love that God has for us. His love is the perfect co-mingling of promise and passion. We are called to extend this love, mercy, patience, compassion, and endurance to others. The prophet Micah says that God requires of us not obligatory sacrifices, but rather three things: (1) to act justly, (2) to love mercy (hesed), and (3) to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). How do we do that? It all starts with God’s love (and, as Micah says right there, walking alongside him). He first loved us by sending us Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:7-12). We must abide in this kind of love so that we can then share it with those around us.
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter DuMont.
Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” In Isaiah 55 the prophet carries words of tender invitation to the people of God saying, “Come, everyone who thirsts come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” From our perspective, this seems like an easy decision to make. We can imagine only needing one invitation to gladly accept, yet the prophet repeats again and again, “come” “listen” “hear, that your soul may live.” Why is an invitation this good so hard to accept? Jesus says in Matthew 6, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” The “eyes” of our soul can become darkened for many reasons, through our own choices, or the choices of others. Regardless, God comes to our areas of darkness, speaking words of comfort, compassion, and invitation. Our hearts and minds need regular cleansing and refreshing to hear and believe the invitation of God. Let’s come to worship Sunday prepared to have our minds, hearts, and eyes opened in new ways to the abundant love of God in Jesus Christ!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
In the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, we learn about the lives of four different elderly people. They are described as righteous and devout and filled with the Spirit. These are people who have walked obediently, faithfully and longed for Jesus. God meets each one of them, and their encounter with God becomes an essential part of the gospel story of Jesus. The gospel story is incomplete without their story. We as a church are learning that the elderly are an essential part of the gospel and of the church. They have much to offer. When people grow old they are not just waiting for death, but waiting for God. A senior citizen home is not a place you go before you die. It is a community of godly people, and we need to help these communities become expressions of the church. Eternity Church now has two such church plants: one at Westmont and the other in Dogwood Terrace. We have several people from Eternity Church who come to these churches. Let us praise God, that Eternity Church is present in more places than in the main building. Come and be the church in more places!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Bringing up children to be touched by Jesus is a parental responsibility and joy. The touch of God on a child is beautiful to behold. In Mark 10, when they brought children to be touched by Jesus, it was not for healing but for blessing. Jesus welcomes us when we bring children to be blessed by him. Blessing is for life in God. There is a heartfelt response in children when they know that they are welcomed, loved and cherished. Our hope is that the church is a place where children are not limited in their approach to God, and we constantly strive to be a community that creates ease of access to the Spirit. Children can and need to have opportunities to connect at the level of the spirit, so that they can know and experience the Holy Spirit at work in them. Baptism is to share in this experience of Jesus. As the son of God, Jesus is welcomed, loved, approved and blessed with the Holy Spirit. Let us ask God to repeat this experience in all our children!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
This week as I read through the whole book of Romans, there is a clear progression from the purpose of the law to the work of the Holy Spirit. In addition to the law, the Holy Spirit is another Helper who comes to be in us. I am reminded of Psalm 119:11, ‘I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,’ and Psalm 119:105, ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ Why then does Father give us the Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. We can read the law and not face up to the truth, or even be blind to the truth. However, with the coming of the Spirit, we must face the truth. One simple way in which the Spirit of Truth works is that we cannot continue to sin in peace. The Spirit will convict us of the Truth. The Spirit comes to dwell within us. The coming of the Holy Spirit, The Helper, is an invitation from God to not just read the truth or be convicted of the truth, but to become the truth. As children of God let the nature of Truth become our very nature!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
I have been asking the question, “Am I living in greater freedom as a disciple of Jesus Christ?” With each passing year is there an ease and comfort in coming to God? Has the church been a redemptive community that believes, hopes and restores me to claim my full freedom as a child of God? The general ethos of our culture and the church is one where it is assumed that everyone has past baggage and sin that clings to us. Many of us have been in therapy for years trying to deal with the past. We put a lot of time, money and effort to become self-aware and to learn how our personal history colors our relationships, behavior and identity. And we come to church Sunday after Sunday praying the same prayers for forgiveness and restoration. There is great value in dealing with our past. Can you see significant progress and relief, so your testimony is a witness of hope and openness? When we come to the Cross and lay our sins and baggage with Jesus we have no right to take it back. He has dealt with it and removed it completely. The invitation to be a disciple who is loved by God is to enjoy this freedom. Come to Jesus in freedom!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Lamentations 3:22 reminds us that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.“ God’s love never stops. His love for us keeps on growing. It is God’s love that creates, saves, and abides in us. And if that is not enough, God invites us to spend eternity with him. Therefore, love is the prime directive that orders all our plans, our activity, and our relationships. We see this demonstrated in the life of Jesus. The refrain “he had compassion on them” accompanies the healing ministry and the feeding miracles of Jesus. Compassion is not pity, it is the tender mercy of God. A God who intervenes to meet the hunger and heal the pain of those that came to him. Love is not what we give others. It is what happens in us. I can only give love if I am a loving person. Just as love is intrinsic to the very nature of God, it is meant to be essential to our very nature. Pursue Love!
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter DuMont.
Love is a costly thing. Someone might say, ‘I love you,’ but if their actions do not match their words, the sentiment rings hollow. In John’s Gospel Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John later wrote to early Christians, “If we say we have relationship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” In seeking to grow in the light and truth of God, our lives speak to us, revealing places where our lived values do not align with our claimed affections. Jesus shows the way to unite Love and Obedience. Everything he did was an expression of his love for God the Father. He invites us to walk in that same way, so that our love is made perfect through our obedience; and that our obedience takes on life through our love for God. Let us come to worship Sunday prepared to learn the way of Love and Obedience from our Master and Example, Jesus Christ.
A Sunday morning message by Dr. Jesse Joyner.
"'Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 'See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and will all craftsmanship. . .'" -Exodus 35:30-31 God called an artist Bezalel to adorn the tabernacle, the place of worship for God's people. He was not of the priestly line (the Levites), yet God still placed a sacred calling upon him to the work of being an artist and a craftsman. Among Bezalel's most famous works of art is the ark of the covenant. As believers, we are called first and foremost to belong to Jesus Christ (Rom 1:6). God also gifts each person with different talents and abilities, empowered by the filling of His Spirit, in order to serve others in this world and bring glory to Him (1 Peter 4:10). Pray that we might all consecrate our daily work, whatever it may be, unto the Lord and in ways that usher heaven to earth.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
In Luke 10 there is the account of a lawyer who came to Jesus and wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. Jesus pointed him to the two great commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. The lawyer then asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?” In response Jesus tells him a parable which raises a question rather than answer who my neighbor is. Jesus is asking: “Does love move you to get involved so that you can be a neighbor?” In life we encounter people in all kinds of need. We are not called to be the savior for all these situations. However, as disciples we are called to love, and to love more and more. Are we willing to engage the evil of the world and share in the suffering around us? What do we need to overcome in ourselves? How do we learn the kind of love that will stop and pay the price to care for another wounded person? Am I willing to be a loving neighbor? This is the question.
A Sunday sermon by Pastor David Singh.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to love one another. This is not an easy command to follow. There are so many ways in which we define love. Through history and time each culture chooses who is included and who is excluded; some feel entitled to be loved and others are not. Our identities are shaped by our own history of whether we were loved or ignored. Our home of origin, our siblings, the marriage relationship, the workplace and yes even the church have all become toxic places where we have been deprived of this basic human longing to be loved. Am I lovable enough to be noticed, accepted, valued and invited to belong? No matter what age, gender or stage of life, this is a foundational issue that determines the quality of life. In the gospel narratives, we see that Jesus uses different life situations to teach us how to love the forgotten person. As you read the gospels, pause and ponder how God loves us in Jesus Christ. This is the gospel: “For God so loved the world.”
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
“Love one another just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). The coming of Christ is the revelation of the love of God. Jesus is the essence of God and his love for us. Sometimes we have made Christian living so complex and pedantic. It is meant to be simple enough that anyone, anywhere can follow Jesus. The essence of discipleship is to love one another. This is the example that Jesus modeled, and we are called to imitate Jesus. Discipleship is to follow the call of Jesus and imitate him. For 2022 at Eternity Church, our focus is going to be on learning this essential core of discipleship: To love one another. Pray with me that our discipleship will radically alter our relationship with God and with one another.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Paul teaches: "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19). We believe that Jesus became fully man and that He is fully God. The birth of Jesus changes the way we look at God and the way we look at what it means to be truly human. Jesus is the epitome of what God intended for all humanity. God if fully human in Jesus. In every respect this humanity is simultaneously and completely divine. This is not for human comprehension or reasoning. Revelation and mystery go together. Without this mystery we can easily reduce God to our limitation and our own human image. In Jesus, God is both incognito and most perceptible. Worship Him with a deep sense of intimacy and a profound sense of wonder! Your servant, J. David Singh
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Christmas reminds us that God is here and He is at work in the world today. Jesus has come. Christmas is God’s promise that there is more of Jesus to come. The gospel stories give us a glimpse of him and His love for us during His lifetime, at the cross, and in the resurrection. When He comes again, He has far more to offer of himself than He has already given. While we wait for the promise of His coming, we are not helpless. Having already tasted His love our hope grows and grows. As Paul says “… we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Romans 5:3–5 (NIV)). We can rejoice because the Holy Spirit pours more of His love into our hearts. Come Lord Jesus. Come soon! Your servant J. David Singh
A Sunday morning message by Pastor Steve Hartman.
The word "hope" is a frequently used word in our everyday conversation. Most of the time it carries a degree of uncertainty. We feel something may happen but maybe it won't. For example, we might say, "I hope that the store will have in stock the toys I want to give my children for Christmas, but supply chain issues may mean I can't buy it before Christmas." We look forward to something but don't know if it will happen. And, of course, if the toys are not on the shelf at the store when we go to buy them, we're disappointed and maybe our children are too. Or maybe there is a rupture in a relationship with a loved one and a person says, "Her forgiveness is my constant hope." Again, the person is looking forward to something happening, but there is no certainty. It may or may not happen. The New Testament speaks about hope--in fact says that we are "saved in hope." "For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25)." To say that we are "saved in hope" surely means that hope is to play a great role in our lives. The Christian life is always lived with a future orientation. And, unlike the way we use the word "hope" in everyday speech, there is no uncertainty about this word "hope" in the New Testament. With this word "hope" the New Testament indicates certain very specific events will happen--events that will utterly change us and the whole world. Jesus is coming. The Scripture speaks about the "appearing of the glory of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." At the end the whole Bible Jesus says: "Surely I am coming soon.” Jesus' coming, which is called the "Blessed Hope" (Titus 2:13), will change us and will change the whole creation. And, when a Christian lives with the "Blessed Hope" on their mental/heart screen now, it brings power to their lives. Hope brings power to live differently.
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Steve Hartman.
This Sunday is the first Sunday in the celebration of what we call "Advent." For the four Sundays prior to Christmas, the Christian church has celebrated Advent, maybe since the fifth century. What does the word "advent" mean? "Advent" means "coming" in Latin (and translates the Greek parousia, a term used for the second coming of Jesus). Synonyms for the word "advent' are appearance, arrival, or coming. What are we celebrating in this season of Advent? We are celebrating three comings of our Lord Jesus. We are celebrating his first coming into the world as a fully human person, what we call the Incarnation--God Himself come in human flesh. Then, we are also celebrating Jesus' coming to live in us, the wonderful fact that "my heart has become Christ's home." And, we are celebrating what we call Jesus' second coming--his great and glorious coming when every eye shall see Him in all His glory. So, in Advent we really celebrate not only looking back to Jesus' first coming, but also looking forward to his second coming or appearing. All of life is lived between these two great comings or appearings of our Lord Jesus. To borrow an illustration from another preacher, as we live our lives, it is as if we standing on a suspension bridge. On each end of this suspension bridge are two great towers that anchor and support the bridge. One tower is the Incarnation--Jesus first coming into this world. The other tower is Jesus second coming. Each tower is important to this bridge on which we stand or live. This coming Sunday we will think about one of those towers, the second coming of Jesus. Do we really believe Jesus is coming again? What difference does "the Blessed Hope" (Jesus' second coming) make in your life and mine? What difference can it make if we are eagerly longing for His second "appearing?"
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The story of Hannah and of Samuel gives us a glimpse of the heart of God. He is the God who hears our prayers and answers them. And we heard last week, God does more than what we ask for and his answers are beyond meeting just our needs. Samuel becomes the answer to the cries of all God’s people. At a time when each one did what was right in his own eyes, God sends Samuel the prophet. Samuel knows how to listen to God and helps Israel hear God. Nowhere is this more evident than in the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the answer to all our prayers. He is the promised Son. He interprets the heart of God for us. Jesus carries all our tears and sorrows to the cross. And he becomes the one voice who reminds us that we are not forgotten. Even as we approach Advent next week, let us pray that we will see more of Jesus in answer to all our prayers.
A Sunday morning sermon by Peter DuMont.
We pray to a listening God, to a God Who Hears. In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah comes into the house of God praying with all her heart for a son. When she gives birth to a baby boy she names him Samuel, which means “Heard of God.” God’s gift to Hannah would impact more than her immediate household. Samuel’s life and ministry would lead Israel out of a time of deep darkness into the reign of King David that would forever change the way the people of God worship. In the fullness of God, the cries of a mother’s heart led to centuries of songs of praise. As God’s beloved children, let us approach prayer and worship with expectation borne from knowing a God Who Hears, and whose works resound for generations!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Jesus says in John 15:16, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” Over the last two weeks we have seen how God’s grace is abundant when we step into the promise of the prophetic word of God. God’s word accomplishes what is spoken. We need to step into the prophetic words spoken over us and experience how God fulfills his promises to us. This is the power of his word. In your daily life what motivates you the most? As you look forward is there something that gives you hope about the future? Is this your dream or God’s dream for you? This is my personal testimony: when I heard God’s call and responded, life took on a new meaning and purpose that became much larger than my own family and work. I am about to retire in a couple of years and yet life is becoming richer, and the call of God is growing and more exciting than ever. Come with prayer and anticipation that God is going to speak to you and give you a vision, which is much larger and more satisfying than what you have planned for yourself. When God speaks, His Word comes alive!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Dear People of God: For quite a long time it has felt like we are a people in exile. Our own country feels strange, and everything around us is not what we were accustomed to. The systems we have relied on whether the government, the political party we cherished, the church we thought stood for truth, even the workplace and the regular rhythm of life have all become chaotic. Everyone is so exhausted and tired, and there is a general sense of apathy and a lack of hope in the future. We have become more cynical and pessimistic. Fear, anger and animosity seem to have taken over most of our relationships. How does God work in such situations? There is a promise that when God steps into emptiness and chaos, his people, his chosen children “shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:12). God’s goodness radiates not only in the ways in which he redeems history but primarily in the way his own children radiate his glory. Come and let the glory of God shine through you!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
2 Corinthians 9:8 says: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." How often have you thought that you want to serve God but just feel ill-equipped to do so? Do you have a desire to serve God, and do you want to be used by Him? This desire can be strong, and yet we are incapacitated by our own fears and inadequacies. We all want to succeed and not fail in what we do. And the fear of failure keeps us from even beginning. So how can we get out of this immobility and procrastination? Where do we begin? Start with where you are and instead of looking at your own adequacy turn your attention to the grace of God. We know what it is to be saved by grace, and it is this same grace that launches and sustains us in ministry. It is only when God's grace overflows that every good work of God can flourish. Come and let us learn to abound in grace in every good work!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Acts 12 ends with this cryptic note: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.” Last week we learned how to become witnesses to the Word of God in our lives. It is one thing to witness and quite another thing for this witness to be accompanied by increase and growth. This increase is both personal and public. Ask the question: Does the Word of God increase and multiply regularly at Eternity Church? The mark of a healthy church is its capacity to grow. Today too much of church growth is focused on how many people attend a church. Ninety-two percent of church growth is simply moving the pile from one place to another. Church growth for us at Eternity is not how many people join the church; rather, it is how many new people have believed in Jesus. Our stories are stories of what Jesus is doing in our lives, and in our telling of the story it becomes the invitation for others to enter into what God is doing now. May the Word of God increase and multiply in you and through you!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh and the community of Eternity Church.
Jesus is at the heart of all mission. And He sends us out into the world to be his witnesses. Witness is to simply tell our story and how God made us a part of his story. We all have favorite biblical characters, bible stories or events. These speak to us in a very personal way. We identify with them and they give us the power to live life.
This Sunday come prepared with your own favorite story or character. We are going to invite some of you to share your favorite story. Together we can learn how to tell this story in such a way that we witness to Jesus. We are going to learn how to be comfortable and at ease in stories.
Come with a sense of expectation and seek the Holy Spirit to set you free from any fear or anxiety that has prevented you from being bold in your witness. Let this verse from Acts become our experience too: "So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands" (Acts 14:3).
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
The Psalmist says: “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:3). This call echoes through thousands of years. Faithful people obeyed this call and because of that willingness we know God today. Our children and grandchildren will know God only if there are faithful people who will tell the story of God’s marvelous works.
Take a moment and thank God for the persons who were faithful in your life and to whom you owe the knowledge of God. Tell them your story and thank them! Ask them what prompted them to share the gospel with you.
Many churches are deeply concerned about making disciples. The primary task of the disciple is to proclaim Jesus and invite others to become disciples of Jesus. If you claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, ask yourself is this a priority in your spiritual journey. This cannot be left only to those gifted with evangelism or the professional ministries.
If you have never invited someone else to become a disciple of Jesus, will you begin by asking God to help you? Then make a list of all people you would love to see become followers of Jesus. Start by praying for them regularly. Seek and expect God to use you to be the primary person to lead them to faith.
Come let us share the good news!
A Sunday sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Many of us struggle with the issue that some prayers are answered while others are not. Testimonies of miraculous intervention by God often raise the level of faith so we can expect God to work in the same way in us. We rejoice over such stories of faith.
However, for some of us our experience is not a lack of expectation but having no miraculous intervention to our earnest prayer. This can easily lead to an erosion of faith or a feeling of distance and alienation from God. The church needs to be a place that welcomes these stories of suffering too.
How did the early church deal with this in their own lives? Did they stop praying when prayers were not answered? Did their understanding of God change? Do we use our experience to define God? There is no easy answer, but there are sufficient guidelines to teach us how to live with this tension.
Come Lord Jesus and teach us how to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Many of us struggle with the issue that some prayers are answered while others are not. Testimonies of miraculous intervention by God often raise the level of faith so we can expect God to work in the same way in us. We rejoice over such stories of faith.
However, for some of us our experience is not a lack of expectation but having no miraculous intervention to our earnest prayer. This can easily lead to an erosion of faith or a feeling of distance and alienation from God. The church needs to be a place that welcomes these stories of suffering too.
How did the early church deal with this in their own lives? Did they stop praying when prayers were not answered? Did their understanding of God change? Do we use our experience to define God? There is no easy answer, but there are sufficient guidelines to teach us how to live with this tension.
Come Lord Jesus and teach us how to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Acts 11:26 reminds us that it was “in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians." This is not in Jerusalem where the Apostles and disciples were concentrated, but in Antioch. It is people from Cyprus and Cyrene that began to proclaim the gospel to non-Jewish people. As a result, many believed and the church grew quickly. We owe this identity of being Christians and the missionary movement to what took place in Syria.
It is amazing how slow and reluctant the early church was to accept that the kingdom of God is now open to all peoples, languages, and tribes. Even today in the American church there is a great divide and a reluctance to be inclusive of people who are not like us. We are more like the Jerusalem church than the church in Antioch.
We need the ministry of Barnabas. He recognized the movement of God and knew how to call Saul into it. And it is from Antioch that the missionary movement truly begins.
Let us pray that Eternity will be another Antioch, and we will call one another to take the gospel to the corners of the earth!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Often people will ask me how is it that healings and miracles, which happen in the mission field, are not happening in our church. To understand this, we must first recognize that God works in all places. However, those who have never heard of Jesus may be more ready and open to how God works.
We in the church want to control and prescribe how God should work in our world. This limits both our expectation and recognition of God moving in new ways in our world today. In Acts 10, the story of Cornelius highlights how the leaders and the parties in the church were resistant to the move of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was moving outside the church in the same way the Spirit moved in the church.
At Eternity let us be open to the moves of the Spirit both in the church and outside. Let us lay aside prejudices that prevent us from accepting the moves of God. The Spirit invites us to participate with God. God wants us to share in what he is doing.
Let us join God and see the kingdom come!
A Sunday morning sermon by Stand Rev. Ajung Sojwal.
The Story of Abraham interceding for Sodom & Gomorrah is a unique revelation of both God and Abraham. Here, Abraham’s intercession is an example of his relationship with God. At a time when there was no access to any written word of God, Abraham trusted God to speak to him. He was familiar with the voice of God and knew it apart from his own thoughts and desires. So when God visits him, Abraham recognizes this is no ordinary human being but that this is God.
The divine visitation of God in human form is no doubt one of life’s greatest moments for Abraham. Here is God in human form, which he can see and even entertain. It is also an amazing story of how God will listen to his faithful servant. It is one thing to be able to recognize God and quite another to stand before God and repeatedly plead for a city. This event displays both the safety that Abraham feels before God and the grace of God in listening to Abraham.
Let us learn to stand before the Lord with confidence and participate in what God is doing among the nations!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Prayer is the oldest, easiest and most intimate form of connecting with God. The Bible opens with the story of Adam and Eve talking and walking with God. Later we read that Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. This is prayer. Prayer is the ladder that takes us to God.
The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all knew God, found guidance and obedience primarily through prayer. This was long before people knew how to read and write and before the bible came into existence.
The book of Psalms has been the earliest and primary prayer book. There is a deep connection between our human condition and the way prayer brings us into the reality of God’s presence and his work in the world today.
Wherever you are in your journey of prayer, prayer draws you deeper into God. Jesus is inviting you to come and pray with him!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
Imitating Jesus and being a disciple is believing that Jesus heals. Whether our prayers are answered or not, we are called to believe that the ministry of healing continues in the life and ministry of the church. The church has often given up praying for healing and expecting miracles because we feel defeated by unanswered prayers.
What is the basis for us to continue believing that Jesus answers prayers for healing? First it is the word of testimony as recorded in the gospels. Anyone reading the gospel written by doctor Luke cannot escape the scores of testimonies and witnesses to the healing work of Jesus.
Second there is the call to discipleship where Jesus sends out his disciples with the simple command to go and heal the sick and cast out demons, cleanse the leper and even raise the dead. So as his disciples, we go, simply trusting the testimony, believing the call of Jesus and following his example.
At Eternity Church we are privileged both to read the gospel testimony and to live out his call until our lives too can be living witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Go in the Name of Jesus and do what he did!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Nelson Ould.
There is something attractive about Jesus. During his earthly minister, many who encountered him were drawn to follow him, and following him meant joining into the work he was doing.
In Mark 1 Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming that the spiritual kingdom of God was arriving: “The time is fulfilled,” he said, “and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.”
Simon and Andrew encountered Jesus in the midst of their daily work, and received a call to follow him. That call redirected their energies into a kingdom vocation, from cleaning fishing nets to becoming fishers of men.
As we approach worship, may we each encounter the living Christ and the oncoming reality of God’s kingdom in a way that continually re-forms our lives and priorities.
Jesus, may Your Kingdom come!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Kevin Germer.
In pursuing mission we find revealed many of the elements of our life in Christ. Jesus sends out his disciples in Luke 10, speaking of a ripe harvest and urging earnest prayer for more laborers to follow them. They go out carrying nothing in their hands and return rejoicing at everything God accomplished.
Let us capture a fresh sense of what God can do through us. May we catch a vision of kingdom work available at our doorsteps, work that sends Satan and the works of darkness falling like lightning. May we learn to move like little children filled with the power of God!
A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.
It is one thing to encounter the glory of God for ourselves and quite another to communicate it to others! Consider the task of Luke, who never met Jesus, but came to a place of belief through the witness of others before himself writing “an orderly account” of the work of Jesus to Theophilus so “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4).
We are called to live from that certainty, seeking it for ourselves in greater measure and imparting it to others! Without impartation, the ministry of Jesus remains confined to an obscure people along the Mediterranean Sea during the age of Rome. Through clear witness to the next generation, every generation of humanity has been touched by the goodness of God--leading up to and through our worship this week!
Let us seek to join that chain of faithful witnesses communicating the glory of God to the next generation.
Jesus, be glorified in our midst!