Sermons

Through the event in which the prophet Jeremiah wore a belt around his waist, hid it in a crevice of a rock by the water, and later took it out ruined, this passage warns of the condition of a people who had disobeyed God's word and grown hardened. Because the people served idols and would not turn their hearts back, God declares that he will no longer pity them but will judge them. This shows that the pride that takes God's grace for granted and seeks only its own glory ends up as useless as the ruined belt.

In this context of judgment, the sermon points to the attitude of true faith that believers should have. When people exalt themselves and try to establish their own righteousness, God brings them low, but those who humbly lower themselves and serve others, God lifts up. In particular, Jesus bore the cross and rose again to save sinners in order to give believers the courage to live patiently toward the kingdom of heaven without fearing death and persecution.

Finally, the sermon asks whether we are ready to welcome the returning Lord. To meet Christ, who comes like a thief, believers must now keep their faith in the spiritual battle with the evil one, remember the love of the cross, and live according to God's word. The sermon leads believers to live victorious lives, not letting go of Jesus' hand even amid the waves of the world, and holding on to the hope of the resurrection through the evidence of the empty tomb.

Today's passage deals with how believers' faith grows through various stages. It shows that Jesus Christ himself became a ladder for believers who stand on different steps of faith, from flower-garden faith to eagle faith. The foundation of this ladder is the astonishing love and sacrifice of God the Creator, who willingly accepted death on the cross to save sinners.

But we often take this astonishing grace for granted, and instead bargain with God for worldly power and honor or ask for the comfort of the flesh. Just as Adam and Eve stumbled because they failed to discern rightly about the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and just as Peter trusted in his own strength and denied Jesus, we are still wavering amid Satan's temptations and the maze of the world. Though Jesus has the power to judge, he is patient in order to fulfill God's will of saving souls, and he stays by believers' side to the end, keeping them from stumbling.

Can we, rather than hesitating at the foot of the ladder and going along with the world, respond only to the love of Christ and climb the steps of faith with strength?

Using the image of an eagle that sheds its worn-out beak and talons, replaces them with new ones, and flies higher into the sky, this passage illustrates the spiritual perseverance and training that believers should have. It also shows how true faith is made complete through Moses, who went down from being a prince to being a shepherd in the wilderness and shed his pride, and through Abraham's obedience in offering his most beloved son Isaac to God.

The sermon points out that believers' maturity is not an easy process, and emphasizes that it requires hard training in overcoming one's own righteousness and human instincts and obeying God. In particular, it says that we must acknowledge God's sovereignty before our own devotion, and believe that when we obey God's word without complaining, God walks with us in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. It explains that, like Abraham's decision to offer Isaac, only when we entrust everything to God as he wills do we experience true resurrection faith and blessing.

We are led to look back on whether we have the kind of faith that can overcome the world's temptations and pride and fly high in the sky like an eagle, and whether we are ready to boldly lay down what is ours in order to carry out the mission God has given us.

This passage deals with the scene in which Jesus comes walking on the sea when the boat carrying his disciples runs into a violent storm. Gripped by the rough waves and the terror before their eyes, the disciples forgot Jesus' power and salvation and trembled with fear. But Jesus saves them and calms the sea, showing that he is the Creator.

The sermon emphasizes that for believers to overcome the waves of the world, they must not only confess their faith in their heads but show it through their actions in life. Just as Peter saw the waves, became afraid, and began to sink, we need the perseverance and training to depend on Jesus alone without being shaken by human weakness and emotions. We must also grow our faith not like a small boat but like a warship, and have a mature faith that quietly devotes itself and saves souls, like a deep river.

The sermon asks whether believers are keeping from spiritual sleep through laziness or idleness, and are being faithful unto death and showing the actions of faith. It also asks how they should prepare through perseverance, humility, and prayer to become a deep river and believers whom Jesus cherishes.

This passage deals with the ways Satan deceives people to hinder their salvation, and why believers must discern this and stay awake. Satan attacks relentlessly, veiling the truth of the gospel and clouding people's minds so that the glory of Christ cannot shine. It also emphasizes the urgency of spiritual awakening in light of the signs of the end of the world, the spread of heresies, and deepening moral corruption.

Comparing it to an apple, the sermon explains Satan's strategy of making a small crack in a believer's heart, a 'knife cut' that brings awareness of guilt, so as to eventually make them rot spiritually. It shows not a life that looks fine on the outside while rotting within, but believers who withstand Satan's attacks and are protected by God. For this, believers must not be drunk with wine or with anger, but put on the breastplate of faith and love and stay spiritually alert.

The sermon asks what attitude believers should have in order to live holy lives as children of light without falling into Satan's deception.

Through the life of the apostle Paul, this passage deals with the spiritual crises and inner conflicts that people of faith go through. Before meeting Christ, Paul lived as a legalist, but after his conversion he gave up everything for the gospel and lived a life of bearing suffering. Yet he had to fight continually amid human weakness and the temptation of sin, acknowledging his shortcomings and depending on God's grace.

The sermon explains that in faith we experience both moments of fullness like a high mountain and moments of weakness like a deep valley. In particular, it emphasizes that we need the wisdom not to become proud when we are spiritually full, and to cry out to God when we fall into the valley of suffering. It also points out that to discern Satan's deception and false gospels, the leading of the Holy Spirit and an accurate understanding of the Bible are essential.

How should believers recognize the serious responsibility they bear, in that their words and actions can decide the life or death of a soul?

This passage contains the conversation between an owner and a vine dresser about a fig tree that bears no fruit. The owner orders that the tree, which only takes up ground without bearing fruit, be cut down, but the vine dresser pleads that if it is given just one more year, he will dig around it and fertilize it so that it bears fruit. This scene shows that even though God's judgment is near, Jesus is acting as a mediator who asks for patience and another chance for believers.

The sermon applies this spiritual reality to believers' lives, emphasizing that the present is the last chance God has given. It warns that a fig tree with plenty of leaves but no actual fruit may end up as firewood and be thrown away, and points out that believers have a responsibility to bear the fruit of repentance, devotion, and love. It also explains that rather than dwelling on past failures or regrets, the wise attitude is to live the present faithfully and bear the fruit of salvation.

Believers must reflect on how they are using the grace and gifts they have received to give glory to God. The sermon asks believers to examine the state of their faith, to guard against becoming people of faith with nothing but leaves, and to consider what decision they must make to fill the year given to them with meaning.

We look back on time spent amid the passing years, repeating regrets and resolutions and going through the ups and downs of self-esteem. The sermon distinguishes chronos, time that flows by, from kairos, meaningful time, and points out that worship and the effort of faith should make our time full in quality. It explains that self-esteem comes not from others' recognition or from circumstances, but from an inner assurance gained by acknowledging our own limits and through our relationship with God.

Through the disciples, who resented Jesus as he slept peacefully in the middle of a dangerous storm, it shows how a lack of faith gives rise to fear and complaint. Jesus wanted the disciples, rather than asking for a miracle, to take command of their situation and their faith through the word and to grow spiritually. This suggests that believers should make moments of hardship and danger not merely a time to endure, but a kairos in which they trust God and grow spiritually.

The promise of fundamental and eternal blessing that comes when we listen diligently to God's word is presented. It conveys that when we look not only at what is seen but also at the unseen, eternal world and enter into a right relationship with God, we are blessed in every area of life. The sermon raises questions to help believers recognize their own abilities and limits, use the time given to them as an opportunity, build up their self-esteem, and grow to the place God desires.

This passage reveals that behind the joy of Christmas lie the suffering and death that Jesus would have to go through. Jesus, who came as the offspring of the woman to fulfill the promise God made at the beginning of the world, knew in advance of Satan's harassment, the betrayal of countless people, and the pain of the cross. It points out that behind the Christmas the world treats as merely a festival lie the pain and the resolve that God had to bear.

Behind Jesus' birth were the obedience and trust of Joseph and Mary. Mary's faith in accepting God's will even in a situation as dangerous as death shows what believers look like who can trust God and endure even in situations they cannot understand. Immanuel means that God is with us, and those who believe this have no need to fear the world or Satan.

Through the birth of Jesus, believers must come to understand God's love and plan of salvation, and overcome the world by that faith. Just as Jesus walked this road in love even though he knew the pain of the cross and the betrayal of his disciples, believers too must cast off temptation and greed and obey God. The sermon asks what believers must hold on to in order to know the true meaning of Christmas and live by faith to the end without wavering.

This passage deals with the third step of faith, the state of a 'sharp, low mountain', and sheds light on the process of spiritual maturity through the life of Joseph. It is the stage at which a faith that once seemed easy to grasp, the more one learns of God's word, comes up against the difficulty of putting it into practice and the danger of pride, and many believers stop or stumble here. Joseph, not understanding the dream and the mission God had given him, boasted about them and earned his family's hatred, but the passage shows that this was a refining meant to make him into a larger vessel.

The sermon warns against the pride of believers who boast of their devotion and knowledge and judge others. When a heart that bargained for blessings through a prosperity-seeking faith disappears as soon as it gains freedom, it reveals that this was a faith for self-interest, not true love. God wants believers who devote themselves not under compulsion or the leverage of rewards, but with hearts that truly love God and are thankful to him.

Now we must look back on whether our faith is for loving God or for receiving blessings. When we mature spiritually, go down to a low place, and live humbly, we will come to realize how God raises us up high.

This passage points out specifically what the 'stumbling blocks' are that hinder spiritual growth in the life of faith. The author points to bad habits commonly seen in people who fail, such as self-deception, unproductive behavior, discourteous attitudes, and confused priorities, and warns that these become the cause of rebelling against God and wasting one's life. In particular, through the example of Lot's wife, who heard of the coming destruction yet looked back and became a pillar of salt, and the failure of David, who let his guard down in the joy of victory and committed the sins of adultery and murder, it shows the fatal consequences of failing to break with the world and cast off human righteousness.

Going beyond simply pointing out sin, the sermon digs into the psychological background of why believers so easily stumble over these stumbling blocks. It explains how the reward mentality of giving offerings or seeking success through a prosperity-seeking faith, and the temptations of pride and pleasure that come in comfortable circumstances, bring about spiritual death. Comparing Jesus' words that those who believe without seeing are blessed with Thomas's unbelief, it emphasizes that true faith is pure trust, not human common sense and knowledge. Through the example of Achan, it also reminds us of how an individual's sin affects the community, and that the unseen God cannot be deceived.

This sermon leads the reader to reflect deeply on whether their faith is true obedience or has been reduced to a tool for worldly success and pleasure. To leave behind a showy flower-garden faith and climb the steps of faith by clearing away stumbling blocks, we should examine what greed and stubbornness have taken root within us now. Watch the video to see whether now is the time for the decision to face and clear away the stumbling blocks God has given, and what joy and growth can be experienced in the process.

Through Ezekiel's vision describing the water flowing out from the temple and growing ever deeper, this passage illustrates how faith grows from a weak stage to a mature one. It also contrasts eagle faith with flower-garden faith, emphasizing that we must have a solid faith that does not waver in spiritual battle, not a faith that settles into the world's splendor and comfort.

Rather than boasting of their own righteousness or material blessings, believers must move on to a mature faith that gives thanks unconditionally for God's love and the sacrifice of the cross. To keep from growing proud, as though building a tower of Babel, swept along by Satan's temptations and worldly greed, or from falling into a darkened spirit that takes sin for granted like Sodom and Gomorrah, they must develop spiritual discernment through the word of truth and fight sin with their free will.

What God wants is not a confession made only with the lips but an unchanging faith that believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness. How should we strive to cast off a flower-garden faith that can wither at a single frost, and grow into mature people of faith who stand tall toward God like a great tree in any storm?