Ryan Wentzel Sermons Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ryan Wentzel
Ryan Wentzel is a pastor at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California. For more resources, visit ryanlwentzel.com.
The hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is a favorite for many. But a line in the second verse — “Here I raise my Ebenezer” — tends to confuse people.
What is an Ebenezer? Ebenezer is a Hebrew word meaning “stone of help.” After the LORD rescues the Israelites from the Philistines at Mizpah, Samuel builds a stone monument and names it “Ebenezer.” He explains why saying, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”
In this sermon, Ryan walks through the story, reflecting on the speed of God’s mercy and the importance of walking backward into the future.
This sermon was given on June 16, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
The second of two talks exploring the doctrine of sin. Ryan discusses indwelling sin and the practices of self-reflection, confession, and internalizing the gospel.
Additional Resources
- Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller
- A Simple Way to Pray by Martin Luther
This talk was given on June 9, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
The first of two talks exploring the doctrine of sin. Ryan gives an overview of the Bible’s teaching about sin in this talk. He touches on the following topics:
- Sin is not the way it’s supposed to be
- Sin & sins
- The nature of sin
- The restoration of shalom
Addtional Resources
- Sin: Not the Way It’s Suppossed to Be (essay) by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
- Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
- What Is Sin in the Bible? Hebrew and Greek Word Study video series by The BibleProject. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
This talk was given on June 2, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
1 Samuel 3:1–4:1a is a charming story about the LORD calling the boy Samuel to be his prophet. But that’s not all.
In this sermon, I explore how the story is ultimately about the God who speaks through his prophets, his written Word, and supremely in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This sermon was preached on May 26, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California. Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
Over the last several years, we’ve seen scandal after scandal involving well-known Christian leaders: illicit romantic relationships, sexual abuse, covering up abuse, heavy-handed leadership, and the list goes on.
Right alongside these scandals, we’re seeing an exodus from American churches. A recent study found that some 40 million people who used to attend church regularly no longer do.
There’s no single reason for this exodus. But scandals are high up on the list. People are disillusioned. These leaders were supposed to represent Jesus. People listened to them. People trusted them. When those leaders turn out not to look anything like Jesus, cynicism starts to take over.
How do we hold on to faith when the people who are supposed to represent Jesus don’t?
This sermon was preached on May 19, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California. Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
The second talk in a two-part overview of the Bible’s teaching about the natural world. In this talk, I focus on human beings’ role as members of the community of creation tasked with ruling and keeping the world on God’s behalf.
This talk was given on May 12, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
The first talk in a two-part overview of the Bible’s teaching about the natural world. In this talk, I focus on the opening chapters of Genesis and what they reveal about creation's inherent goodness and value.
This talk was given on May 5, 2021, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
"Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" is a solemn, reflective hymn that invites worshipers to stand in awe of Jesus Christ, who is none other than God the Son Incarnate.
In this talk, Ryan explores the hymn's ancient roots and unpacks its meaning and relevance for Christians today.
This talk was given on April 21, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is at the heart of the Christian faith. No resurrection, no Christianity. Yet, many modern people find belief in the resurrection difficult. What should we make of the New Testament’s accounts of Jesus’s resurrection? Are they reliable? Is belief in the resurrection reasonable?
In this Easter Sunday 2024 sermon, Ryan looks at the account of Jesus’s resurrection recorded in the Gospel of John. This passage shows us three things about belief in the resurrection:
- Belief in the resurrection is difficult.
- Belief in the resurrection is reasonable.
- Belief in the resurrection is life-transforming.
This sermon was given on March 31, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
Ryan recently finished preaching through the Book of Romans. In this talk, he discusses something that stood out to him while studying Romans: the cosmic scope of salvation.
This talk was given on March 24, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
In this final sermon on the Book of Romans, Ryan looks at the Apostle Paul’s concluding doxology. It’s the longest doxology in the New Testament, and its grammar is complex. But the message is clear: Praise God for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The doxology shows us three things about the gospel:
- What it does
- What it is
- What it leads to
This sermon was given on March 17, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Find more resources like this at ryanlwentzel.com.
Psychiatric medication doesn’t cure mental illness. However, using it wisely as part of a holistic approach to addressing mental health challenges can provide relief from some of the most debilitating symptoms. Medication just might be what someone needs to begin cultivating a greater level of mental health.
In this talk, Ryan discusses:
- How embodiment informs a Christian perspective on psychiatric medication
- Using medication to alleviate suffering
- Viewing medication as a means, not an end
Additional Resources
- Presentation slides
- My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel
- Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges by John Swinton
This talk was given on March 10, 2024, to a mental health support group at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
The Bible teaches that God is all-powerful (omnipotent). However, it’s one thing to know this and another to live in light of it. In this talk, Ryan explores how God’s omnipotence intersects with everyday life.
This talk was given on March 3, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Romans 16:1–16 is a lengthy list of difficult-to-pronounce names of people who lived and died centuries ago. What can we learn from it?
In this sermon, Ryan explores what this passage shows us about the diversity and unity of the early church and what it means for the church today.
This sermon was preached on February 25, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
In this sermon on Romans 15:14–33, Ryan explores three characteristics of a mission-shaped church. A mission-shaped church:
- Is grounded in the gospel
- Reaches the unreached
- Builds gospel partnerships
This sermon was preached on February 18, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
How does God’s sovereignty intersect with my daily life?
This talk was given on February 11, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
One of the beautiful things about a church is its diversity. It’s full of people with different backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives. This diverse community comes together as one family in Jesus Christ, worshiping the same God and following the same Savior.
One of the challenging things about a church is its diversity. Our differences have the potential to cause conflict. The gospel of Jesus Christ binds us together, but we work out the implications of our faith in different ways. We don’t see eye-to-eye on a range of secondary issues.
How do we get along with fellow Christians despite our differences? Ryan seeks to answer that question in this sermon on Romans 14:1–12.
This sermon was delivered on January 28, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
In this sermon on Romans 13:8–14, Ryan preaches about loving our neighbors.
This sermon was given on January 21, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
In this second of two talks on Christian funerals, Ryan discusses the nature and purposes of a funeral and provides a suggested pattern for a gospel-centered funeral service.
This talk was given on January 14, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
The Christian funeral has fallen on hard times. In this talk, Ryan discusses the ways funerals have changed over the past few generations and proposes a recovery of a more robustly Christian practice of marking death.
This talk was given on January 7, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
How do you deal with your anger, outrage, or hatred? Vent it? Suppress it? Ignore it? Most of us struggle with knowing how to handle these emotions.
However, the Psalms teach us a way to engage our anger faithfully. They invite us to pray our hate.
In this talk, Ryan explains why and how to do it.
This talk was given originally on July 2, 2023, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Advent is a four-week period of time in the Christian calendar that focuses our attention on the “advent,” or coming, of Jesus Christ. We look back to Jesus’s first coming and forward to his second coming. It’s a time of anticipation, longing, and waiting. Perhaps more than any other song, the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” signals the start of the Advent season.
In this episode, Ryan explores the hymn’s rich history and theology.
This talk was given on December 3, 2023, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
It’s challenging to talk about joy during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. The seasons themselves seem to magnify all the reasons not to be joyful. And yet we’re bombarded by advertising about how happy we should be. Some of you are probably already experiencing happiness fatigue. Maybe you’re suspicious of joy talk and joy-talkers.
Christian joy isn’t glib positivity. It’s something more, something deeper. One theologian described Christian joy as “an act of resistance against despair and its forces.” Christian joy doesn’t deny the pain of life in a broken world; joy protests it. Christian joy refuses pain’s invitation to despair.
In this Advent sermon on Isaiah 61:1–11, Ryan explores three reasons we can have a joy that resists the forces of despair.
This sermon was preached originally on December 17, 2023, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
If you could summarize the season of Advent with one word, it would be the word “waiting.” Advent is a season of waiting and longing for Jesus Christ to come again. It’s a microcosm of the Christian life. Christians are waiting people—people who yearn for and anticipate the day when Christ returns to make all things new.
In this Advent sermon on Isaiah 64:1–12, Ryan explores what waiting looks like.
After Israel left Egypt, they spent a long-time journeying through the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land. The wilderness period is an in-between time. Israel has already been delivered, but they’ve not yet entered their inheritance in Canaan. The New Testament teaches Christians to see that wilderness period as a picture of the Christian life.
We also live in an in-between time: we’ve already been rescued by Christ, but we’ve not yet arrived at the true Promised Land, the new creation. God had important lessons to teach Israel in the wilderness.
We, too, need to learn them as we make our journey through the wilderness of this world.
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This sermon was originally preached on September 5, 2021, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, CA. Watch the full service on YouTube.
Psalm 46 is one of the many portions of Scripture that speaks to our fears. It’s a psalm for people who live in a dangerous world. It doesn’t sugarcoat things; it doesn’t offer platitudes. The psalm tells us the danger is real; this is a frightening world. And yet, in this psalm, we hear God’s people say, “We will not fear.” The singers of this psalm exude confidence. Why is that?
The message of Psalm 46 is simple: In a dangerous world, God in Christ is our refuge and strength. We are kept safe by his power and abiding presence.
Watch the full worship service on YouTube.
Meals were an important part of Jesus’s ministry. One scholar has written that “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal." Jesus had a reputation for enjoying eating and drinking with others. The meals he shared with others were moments where he revealed some of the most profound truths about himself, about what he came to do, about what it means to belong to his kingdom.
Ryan continues a sermon series titled "Meals with Jesus" by looking at an event recorded in Luke 7:36-50 in which Jesus dines at a Pharisee's home. Jesus surprises his host and the other guests by welcoming a woman with a soiled reputation and commending her faith.
This sermon was preached on June 13, 2021, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, CA. Watch the full worship service on YouTube.
Visit ryanlwentzel.com for more resources.
Meals were an important part of Jesus’s ministry. One scholar has written that “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal." Jesus had a reputation for enjoying eating and drinking with others. The meals he shared with others were moments where he revealed some of the most profound truths about himself, about what he came to do, about what it means to belong to his kingdom.
Ryan begins a sermon series titled "Meals with Jesus" by looking at an event recorded in Luke 5:27–32 in which Jesus dines with a tax collector named Levi and his friends.
This sermon was preached on June 6, 2021, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, CA. Watch it on YouTube.
Visit ryanlwentzel.com for more resources.