Sermons That Exalt Christ
The preaching of God’s Word is central to the life of the church. Tom's pulpit ministry is dedicated to providing clear, biblical teaching to equip believers, strengthen faith, and exalt Christ.
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The preaching of God's Word is central to worship and of the utmost importance for the sanctification of every believer in Christ.
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This Is Your Life - Part 5
The text highlights the challenge of understanding biblical concepts like "rescue" in modern, comfortable society. It frames Ephesians 2:1-10 as every Christian's autobiography, detailing humanity's initial hopeless state: spiritually dead in trespasses, enslaved to the world, the devil, and the flesh, and by nature, children of wrath. Crucially, the sermon emphasizes that individuals were utterly unable to rescue themselves from this dire condition. However, the pivotal words "But God" in verse 4 introduce a divine reversal, signifying a profound change. These two words reveal three immense lessons about salvation: First, it is a divine initiative, as God consistently seeks and pursues the lost, humanity being too spiritually dead and unaware to initiate rescue. Second, salvation is a sovereign act (monergism), meaning God alone accomplishes this spiritual rescue; human effort or cooperation is futile. Third, it is a comprehensive rescue, not only from sin and spiritual death but primarily from God's righteous wrath, which Christ endured on the cross for believers. This divine intervention, initiated and executed solely by God, guarantees a future certainty for believers, who will ultimately stand blameless and joyful before Him.
An Aerial View of the New Testament - Part 1
Pastor Tom Pennington opens a New Testament "flyover" by outlining a historical timeline for Jesus Christ's life, noting the difficulty in precise dating due to ancient calendar systems. He estimates Jesus' birth between 4-6 BC, based on Herod's death, and His ministry's start around AD 26-27, lasting just over three years, culminating in His crucifixion on April 7, AD 30. The sermon then introduces the four Gospels, explaining they offer "good news" from distinct perspectives, each revealing different facets of Jesus' character for specific audiences. Matthew, written for Jews around AD 50-60s, presents Jesus as the Messiah and King, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies. Mark, for Romans in the AD 50s, portrays Jesus as the active Servant of the Lord. Luke, a Gentile physician writing to a broad Gentile audience around AD 60-61, emphasizes Jesus' perfect humanity through a meticulously researched historical record. Lastly, John, written to the entire world in the AD 90s, highlights Jesus as the unique Son of God, aiming to foster belief for eternal life with largely unique content focusing on His deity and private teachings. These divinely inspired accounts collectively provide a rich and multifaceted understanding of Christ.
This Is Your Life - Part 4
In this sermon on Ephesians 2:1-10, Pastor Tom Pennington details humanity's profound spiritual depravity before salvation, explaining that individuals were "dead in trespasses and sins." He elaborates that our lives were controlled by three powerful forces: the world's deceptive mindset, the devil's blinding influence, and our own corrupt "flesh." This "flesh" manifests as insatiable "lusts" or cravings, driving a life of repeated sinful patterns from which we are naturally unable to escape, a condition he vividly likens to being stuck in a rut. Pennington stresses that this universal condition applies not only to overt sinners but also to outwardly moral or religious people, like the Pharisees, whose internal lives were nonetheless dominated by sin and lawlessness. He illustrates how these desires lead to indulging both bodily appetites and the selfish ambitions or pride of the mind, highlighting that religion without regeneration cannot control the flesh. Consequently, humanity's natural state made us "children of wrath," deserving of God's just and settled indignation against sin. This stark portrayal of our utter hopelessness underscores the necessity of divine intervention, preparing listeners for the "good news" of God's sovereign grace and mercy found only in Jesus Christ.
The Silent Years: What Happened Between the Testaments?
The 400 "silent years" between the Old and New Testaments, from Malachi to John the Baptist, saw no direct divine revelation but were crucial in preparing the world for Jesus Christ. Politically, the prophecy of Daniel unfolded with the succession of empires: Medo-Persia, then Alexander the Great's Greek Empire, which later divided into warring factions like the Ptolemies and Seleucids. The brutal persecution by the Seleucid Antiochus Epiphanes sparked the Maccabean Revolt, leading to Jewish independence for a time. Ultimately, the Roman Empire, under Pompey, annexed Judea, and Herod the Great ruled as a puppet king at the time of Christ's birth. Religiously, new groups emerged: the Pharisees, devout scribes popular with the people, emphasizing oral tradition; and the Sadducees, wealthy, aristocratic priests who rejected oral law and supernatural beliefs. The Sanhedrin became Israel's supreme ruling council, and synagogues spread as local centers for worship and study. Critically, the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, made Scripture accessible throughout the Jewish diaspora.
This Is Your Life - Part 3
This sermon, "This Is Your Life, Part 3," from Ephesians 2:1-10, asserts that salvation is entirely God's work, rescuing individuals from a past life defined by sin and control from the world, the devil, and the flesh. Pastor Tom Pennington uses C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters" to illustrate Satan's deceptive activity, particularly through religion. He cautions against common misconceptions about the devil, stressing his biblical reality as a powerful, intelligent, fallen angel driven by pride, who is nevertheless under God's ultimate control. According to Ephesians 2:2, Satan is the "prince of the power of the air," ruling a spiritual domain that energizes "sons of disobedience." His primary objective is to blind unbelievers to the gospel. He accomplishes this through five key strategies: promoting human philosophies, fostering false religions, corrupting the true gospel and distorting Christ, obstructing the spread of the gospel, and introducing false believers into the church. Essentially, before God's intervention, humanity was spiritually dead and enslaved by this pervasive spiritual atmosphere created and controlled by Satan. However, God, in His rich mercy and great love, intervened to make us alive with Christ through grace and faith, transitioning us from spiritual blindness to spiritual life.
An Aerial View of the Old Testament - Part 6
Tom Pennington's sermon asserts that the Old Testament is fundamentally a "Christian" book, rejecting interpretations that label it sub-, non-, or pre-Christian. Its single, unifying message is God's eternal plan to redeem humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ, for His own glory. Pennington illustrates Christ's pervasive presence: 1. **In Prophecy:** The Old Testament progressively narrows the focus to Jesus, from the "seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15) through Abraham, Judah, David, and Isaiah's prophecies, culminating in His birth in Bethlehem and sacrificial work. 2. **In History:** Christ is present as Creator (Genesis 1:1) and frequently appears as "the Angel of the Lord," mediating between God and humanity. 3. **In Work:** It reveals Christ's atonement and the gospel's core of justification by faith alone, exemplified by Abraham and David. 4. **In Instruction:** It offers spiritual lessons and guidance for believers. Jesus and His apostles explicitly taught that the entire Old Testament "testifies about Me," revealing His suffering, resurrection, and the call to repentance. This Christ-centered understanding elevates the Old Testament's value, demonstrates continuity between the testaments, and demands that Christians diligently study it to fully grasp God's redemptive purpose.
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