Calvary Oak Lawn Sermons and Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Calvary Church of Oak Lawn
At Calvary, we are joining with Jesus to transform lives. This is one place for all the latest sermons and podcasts from Calvary Church of Oak Lawn.
Pastor Daniel Stidham continues our series in the book of Hebrews
Heb. 5:11-6:20, Heb. 10:19-31
We have assurance in Christ if we hold fast, doing good and ending our old life of sin. He has paid a great price for us; let us live lives worthy of his sacrifice.
Mark 12:30 (ESV) — 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Hebrews 4:1-13
Pastor Daniel preaches a powerful message about rest, and how we can strive to find holy rest in God.
Pastor Daniel brings the message in the second week of our Hebrews series titled "The One".
The Lord Jesus is the eternal and ultimate high-priest after the order of Melchizedek. He came and put on flesh and blood so that He may share and intimately know our sufferings. He suffered physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and financially. He knows our trials and tribulations. He walked in our shoes. He can sympathize with us. So let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Pastor Daniel Stidham starts our new series in the book of Hebrews called "The One". This first week, our text comes from Hebrews. 1:1-14, and is titled: The Greatest Messenger
The Lord God previously spoke to men through prophets and angels, but now He has spoken to us directly through His Son who is no ordinary messenger with no ordinary message. This is Jesus Christ the Son of God who is the fullness of God, creator, and sustainer of the universe. Not only is He greater than prophets and angels; prophets and angels must worship Him. We can absolutely believe His message. What has Jesus been speaking into your life that you have been ignoring?
Pastor Daniel is back to deliver our Palm Sunday message. Jesus shows us the heart of a host, serve. The table turns over social conventions. It reveals that real leaders serve and that receptive guests receive their full portion. It also shows that Jesus serves his betrayer. We are called to follow our master.
Ben Snoek is the campus pastor at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL. Pastor Ben brought us a word from 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 on why sharing a meal together is serious business.
Pastor Keith Alexander brings us a message from 1 Peter on how we are to live hospitably in uncertain days.
Pastor Daniel begins our new Lent series, Extending The Table. Luke 14:1-24
The meal heals. The meal comfortably breaks the rules. The meal flips the social order upside down—honor the lowly and shame the presumptuous. The meal is especially for those who don’t have a table to be welcomed at (include Hebrews 13:2). The meal is a symbol and opportunity to see, share and celebrate the meal of heaven—Jesus.
Pastor Daniel Stidham concludes our series, The Already and The Not Yet with a message from Mark 3:20-35.
Family changes when someone enters the Kingdom. Who are my mother and brothers? For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. The love of the Kingdom means everyone in Christ is already family, but we are not yet experiencing that fullness. To love others is to love the Christ in them. Are we loving others like that?
Pastor Daniel returns to preach from Mark 5: 1-20.
Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom encompassed a casting out of demons who oppose His rule. Though the devil is not sovereign or omnipresent, there are areas and places where the tempter tempts. Are we aware of these temptations? Christians are commanded to wear the armor of God (Ephesians 6) because the devil and his demons are scheming to take away our joy and assurance in Christ. There is a hidden war all around us and we must be prepared.
Pastor Keith Alexander preaches this week at Calvary Oak Lawn, kicking off a mini-series called: The Already and the Not Yet. This message comes from Mark 1:14-20.
Following Jesus’ initial proclamation of the Kingdom, Jesus’ first act is not a healing or an exorcism or some stirring teaching at a synagogue… instead, Jesus is on a walk and calls four men to follow him, breaking every rabbinic tradition. The Kingdom is here, but to enjoy its beauty, you must be actively following Jesus in ways that you may not typically expect. Are you following him?
Listen to Pastor Daniel wrap up the Good News series. The Kingdom of God is good news to conservatives because it is the original, unchanging, perfect institution whose teachings ought to be resolutely preserved. Human institutions at their best reflect some aspects of God’s nature. But since human institutions are made and run by sinful humans, they are never above reproach, and we must never place our total hope and trust in them, lest like the Pharisees we end up protecting traditions of men instead of God.
Pastor Daniel preaches the first portion of our 2 part sermon finale. Like liberals, God is for the poor, marginalized, immigrant, and oppressed. But the work of liberation and justice must be guided by the King of Kings and Ultimate Judge lest we usurp his throne.
The LGBTQI+ community longs for love, community, and identity. Jesus offers the fathers love to any who would come to him. The father offers us an identity that speaks to the depth of our being. Pastor Daniel brings a teaching from Luke 5:27-32, in this challenging message for us all.
Pastor Daniel Stidham preaches in our second week of the GoodNews series.
Muslims long for peace but have no assurance that God will let them enter heaven. The sin of the garden brought shame, but Jesus takes our shame to make us honorable before God.
In this episode of Beyond The Sermon, Pastor Daniel sits down to chat with Mark LaChonce. The two discuss more in depth some of the points from Daniel's January 9 sermon, which kicked-off the GoodNews worship series.
Pastor Daniel wraps up our ReWritten advent series with a Christmas Eve teaching on Mary.
Matt Solie, Calvary's Pastor of Discipleship, visits Oak Lawn to bring the final Sunday message in our ReWritten Advent series.
Rewritten: Evil to Deliverance
Matthew 2:13, 16-18
Herod wants to kill the baby born of Mary. Hes powerful and has the ability to do this evil thing. Then God shows up and sends the family of Jesus to Egypt. A real disaster is rewritten into a story of hope. Jesus does this for us when he enters into our stories. There is no disaster that will destroy us. It all works together for good. He delivers us.
Matthew 1:18-25
Pastor Daniel Stidham teaches in week 3 of Calvary's Advent series: ReWritten. This week, he brings a word of how God re-writes of story of cultural scandal into hope for the entire world.
Pastor Daniel continues our Advent worship series.
Luke 1:24-25
Elizabeth is barren then God shows up. The thing that was her reproach becomes the very thing that shows God’s favor. We all have things wrong with us. When Jesus comes, those spaces become the ground for him to give his favor.
Pastor Daniel Stidham brings our Thanksgiving messages from Psalm 34: How to walk through grief and gratitude.
ReWritten: Faithless to Disciple
Luke 1:5-23, 57-66
Zechariah is performing his religious duties as a faithful Hebrew priest. During his obligations God shows up and promises him and his wife a child . Zechariah doesn’t believe God. In his season of silence, he learns to obey God, he becomes a disiciple. Jesus’ story can transform our faithlessness into the ground of discipleship.
Calvary's pastor of Discipleship Matt Solie wraps up our study of the book of Philemon.
Philemon 21-25 - Save me a room as prisoners of hope
Philemon 17-20
Pastor Daniel Stidham
Paul is showing us the Good Samaritan ethic and how it refreshes the soul of the giver and receiver.
Pastor Daniel preaches from Philemon 13-16.
Jesus not only redeems hearts but opens new worlds to people otherwise oppressed. Jesus redeems slaves into siblings. Jesus makes things right.
Pastor Daniel Stidham
Philemon 8-12
Though he could force them as an apostle, Paul appeals to the law of Love, sending his very heart.
Pastor Daniel Stidham begins a new Calvary worship series: Kingdom Impact—Strategies that will make our everyday relationships matter
Nearly all of us spend significant time in relationships with people who aren’t family. Often, we spend more time at our jobs, school, kids’ sport events, and with those we see at the gym than with those who live in our home.
These relationships are with people we like and enjoy being with but they never seem to transcend into something greater than their parts. Why are our everyday relationships lacking meaning and purpose? Is there a way to do these relationships better?
In the book of Philemon, Paul’s shortest letter, we see a master of relationships at work. In the midst of societal evil, betrayal, finances, fear and faith, Paul uses strategies of the Kingdom of God that change lives and eventually whole societies.
These strategies of the Kingdom are at our disposal. Imagine being used by God through gentleness, kindness and grace to make lives better. Imagine a life where each person you have relationship with is better off for it.
Join us as we study the book of Philemon and learn how to have a Kingdom Impact in our relationships.
Guest teacher Keith Alexander goes to the story of Martha to show how pride, busyness, and self importance can get in the way of us worshipping Jesus with our whole lives. Editor's note: there will be some volume fluctuations throughout, due to us not being able to use our sound system today. We've compressed and boosted the volume, but you may still have to turn up your sound louder than usual.
Editor's note: We did not have Pastor Daniel's mic live in the stream for the first section of his time this Sunday. We apologize for this. This audio is about 5 and a half minutes into his sermon. He has already given the context for his mother's passing last week from a sudden heart attack. Please keep the Pastor Daniel and the whole Stidham family in your prayers at this time.
Dr. Lawrence Haddad wraps up our September series with a message of how we can live in a new day with the purpose given to us in the Gospel.
Professor, doctoral candidate, and minister Mark LaChonce wraps up our God on the Cross series with a personal message about suffering. Editor's note: we had some up and down moments with our stream audio, so you'll hear about 9 minutes of our room mic audio during this recording
Life can escape us. Days filled with work, stress, school, obligations, anxieties, responsibilities and bills can fill our days up. The consequence is the things we care about get pushed off the calendar.
If we’re not careful, months or years can pass by never getting around to the things we think are important.
Wouldn’t it be great to reset and refocus with new priorities?
What you need is a new day!
We want to invite you to Calvary to experience a New Day in your life.
•A new day to slow down and enjoy the goodness of life.
•A new day to ponder the big questions about God and life.
•A new day to implement a few calendar changes that will help your whole family grow in faith.
•A new day to focus on personal growth.
•A new day to build meaningful friendships.
Philippians 4:10-20
Everyone else says money is for safety, comfort and opportunities. But the God on the Cross invites us to trust him to supply what we need. Then, we’re free to be used by him to partner in the gospel. Listen to Pastor Daniel preach on how Jesus inverts how we think about money.
1 Cor 6:9-7:5
Everyone else says desire is identity and if it’s consensual then it’s good. But the God on the cross names us, changes us, and sets us right. He enables each of us to be a good gift to another.
Guest teacher Dr. Khaldoun Sweiss brings a message from the book of Exodus. How can we listen to the God of the burning bush? And like Moses, what doubts are keeping us from utilizing all our gifts?
David didn’t work alone, but he had the strength of mighty men who fought alongside side him. The mighty men showed their strength when they alone stood to fight when everyone else fled. God often delivers by empowering those around us. Pastor Daniel brings us this message about David's Hall of Fame, and highlights Calvary Oak Lawn's own Hall of Fame members.
Absalom and Ahithophel had everything going for them: the royal city, the heart of the people, the numbers, the wise counselor. David was on the run, inferior numbers, depending on foreign charity. But none of the odds matter if God is for one and against another. If God is for us, who can be against us?
Pastor Daniel Stidham tackles difficult questions about how God uses violence and war to carry out His purposes and judgements.
On Communion Sunday, Mark LaChonce teaches through the friendship and dedication of David and Jonathan.
Pastor Daniel continues our Heart Cure series in 1 Samuel chapters 16-18. In these stories, we see how God cultivated a relationship with David through the mundane task of herding sheep, and used that faithfulness to accomplish a major victory for Israel.
KidsLife and OneLife leader Nate Rael teaches as part of Calvary Oak Lawn's Youth Sunday. He continues our Heart Cure series by providing practical lessons from the disobedience and fear of King Saul. Editor's note: We encountered a streaming issue during the first several minutes of the sermon. You'll hear the audio clear up about 11 minutes into the sermon!
New Series: Heart Cure
The Bible calls the inner life of each person—where you feel, experience and decide—the heart. When the heart is operating well, we can live full, joyous lives as a good gift to others. When the heart is sick, we will inevitably hurt ourselves and those around us. Our world is filled with heart sickness.
The books of 1st and 2nd Samuel are books about the human heart. Within these chapters are beautiful hearts and broken ones. There are evil hearts and good hearts. There are sad hearts and joy-filled hearts. Most importantly, these two books give us the cure to our broken, evil, sad hearts. If we follow their lead, we can become people after God’s own heart.
You are invited on a summer journey of exploring God’s heart and your own. We will study 1st and 2nd Samuel and the characters that fill their pages. And for all those who want it, we will encounter, Heart Cure—becoming people after God’s own heart.
Pastor Daniel preaches from the book of Matthew on the importance for Christians to equip themselves against unholy anger.
Pastor Daniel teaches from Philippians and 1 Peter on how we can live through the anxiety of our lives.
This is the first recap episode of Biblical Story Telling! Daniel, Becca, Matt, and Vernon come together to talk about the launch of Biblical Story Telling, compare the experience of learning and presenting their stories, and cast a vision of what's coming next!
Pastor Daniel preaches from Colossians 3 on how we can be our real selves, and love ourselves, through knowing the love of our God.
Today in Biblical Story Telling, Becca brings us the story of a women named Dorcas. Tune in to hear of this miraculous story from Acts chapter 9!
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On Easter Sunday, Pastor Daniel reminds us that Jesus gives us eternal life starting now, and that it's only through the Spirit that we can live the best lives that God intends for us.
In this episode, Becca Hendriske brings us the account of Rahab from the Old Testament. Tune in to hear this powerful story!
In this week's edition of Biblical Story Telling, Pastor Daniel brings another story from the Old Testament. The LORD takes worship very seriously, and shows how much so in this story. Tune in to hear how Moses and Aaron deal with the fall out from the actions of Nadab and Abihu.
Rebecca Rael brings us today's story from Exodus chapter 18. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, comes to give him some leadership adivce. Is the widom Jethro brings good wisdom from God? Does Moses heed the words Jethro offers? Tune in to find out!
Today, Oak Lawn KidsLife and OneLife coordinatoor Nate Rael brings us a story from Numbers 16. In this Old Testiment story, a group and Israelities led by a man named Korah have a showdown with Moses and Aaron. Tune in to hear from Nate how it all goes down!
For today's story, Matt Meyrick brings the story of Ehud from Judges 3. This one's got some action, so buckle up!
Becca Hendrikse and Pastor Daniel share our first video in a series we’re calling: Biblical Story Telling
Our next installment of Biblical Story Telling is from the book of Judges. Listen in to hear Pastor Daniel tell this not as well known account of Jephthah from Judges 10-11.
Pastor Daniel teaches on how wealth, possessions, and the loves of this world can keep us from living the life Jesus did.
Pastor Daniel brings a message from James chapter 4. How do we defeat our desires and the temptations of the evil one? Only through Christ alone!
Josh Sinnema, Calvary Orland Park's student ministries director, teaches from James 3 on earthly wisdom verses heavenly wisdom.
Pastor Daniel Stidham teaches in the final week of the Good Trees Bear Good Fruits series.