Resurrection City Church - St. Paul Minnesota

According to Grace | God’s Grace Behind the Scenes

According to Grace | Turning Our Discontent into Holy Discontent

Moses is one of the most important figures in all of Scripture, and he is seen as a great liberator and titanic personality in history. Yet, when we really look at his story, we don’t see someone who succeeded in an incredible effort by his own will, but through God’s grace. We find someone who initially tried to do it his own way, but who had to learn to turn his discontent with the world into a holy discontent from being transformed by God’s grace. In this sermon, Pastor Joel unpacks Moses’s story and where see God act according to his pattern of grace.

According to Grace | How God Gets Things Done

We love to learn about the patterns of successful people, seeing what they do that leads to their success. In this new series, we want to answer this question: What is the pattern that makes God who he is, and that he operates in to accomplish his goals? 

There could be many ways we answer this question, and the way we answer it is a projection of who we think God is. But when we really look at Scripture, there is one clear pattern: God operates according to grace. In this sermon, Pastor Joel looks at the story of Abraham to get a clear sense for this pattern, and learn what kind of response God asks of us in return: trust. 

Easter at Res City | We Worship A Living God

Why does it matter if we believe in the resurrection or not? This Easter, Pastor Julie talks about why it matters that we worship a living, resurrected God, specifically how it gives us purpose, power, and a personal relationship with Jesus. As the angels say in Luke 24:5-6: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"Why does it matter if we believe in the resurrection or not? This Easter, Pastor Julie talks about why it matters that we worship a living, resurrected God, specifically how it gives us purpose, power, and a personal relationship with Jesus. As the angels say in Luke 24:5-6: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"

What Is Sin? | Writing An Anti Bio

Taking a deep look at sin in the world and in ourselves, as we’ve been doing in this series, is tough. It’s uncomfortable. It makes us grapple with parts of ourselves we don’t like, something we don’t often do. 

In this sermon, Pastor Joel talks about some biblical wisdom around how we deal with uncomfortable looks at ourselves, including not just our sin but our other weaknesses as well. Incredibly, as we write our “anti bio”, the list of our weaknesses and shortcomings, we find God’s presence meets us in deep and profound ways as we come to learn what it means that his grace is sufficient for us. 

What is Sin? | Capital “S” Sin

Sin is described many ways in Scripture. It’s not just described as actions that fall short or miss the mark in some way, but also as something bigger than us, something that we can’t manage or corral or educate or work ourselves past. It’s described as a kind of tyrant or invading force, “increasing,” “exercising dominion,” “seizing opportunities,”“working death in us,” and more. It’s bigger than us. 

In this sermon, Pastor Joel talks about how sin becomes Capital “S” Sin, locking us under its power, but also how we have hope through Jesus because of forgiveness, which frees us from the cage Capital “S” Sin puts us in. As Desmond Tutu says, “Without forgiveness, there can be no future.” Join us in this sermon to find out what that means.

What is Sin? | Becoming What We Worship

“You are what you eat!”

 

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”

These truisms that people say to make the point that what we take into us previews who we become. The biblical way of making this point is saying, “You become what you worship.” 

What we worship—what we call worth greatest value, what gives us hope and assurance—we take on the characteristics of and become like. And when we worship something that isn’t Jesus, we start to act in a way that doesn’t honor God, often outright sinning. In this sermon, Pastor Joel explains the connection between sin and worship, and talks about how when we worship God we are refreshed and made like Jesus.

What is Sin? | The Corrosive Effects of Sin

Sin is a corrosive agent that when left unchecked, eats away at the fabric of our world, our communities, and our relationships with God. Pastor Julie talks about the effects that sin can have on us and how Jesus interrupts sin's consequences through his life, death, and resurrection. 

What is Sin? | Vandalism of Shalom

God created the world, good, in harmony and peace with itself, expressed in the Hebrew word shalom. Sin is vandalizing God’s shalom, and we can understand sin a lot more more deeply when we understand it in this way. In this sermon, Pastor Joel breaks it all down.

What is Sin? | Why Sin Matters

Sin is a word that makes many uncomfortable. Often it’s associated with shame and judgment, a means to destroy self esteem and create anxiety within people. 

In this sermon, Pastor Joel asks us to consider if our understanding of sin goes to the biblical depth, and if as we go to the heart of it we actually can find hope, liberation, and grace for ourselves and each other that the world desperately needs.