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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Common Grace: The Universal Benefits of Christ's Death
This text defines "common grace" as God's undeserved goodness and love extended universally, to both believers and unbelievers, resulting in temporal (this-life) benefits. It differentiates this from saving grace, which offers eternal salvation only to believers. Pastor Tom Pennington details common grace's expressions: God restrains His wrath by sustaining life, limiting the curse, and delaying judgment. He upholds creation's natural laws, like seasons and rain. God also restrains sin through direct intervention, the Holy Spirit, conscience, His Word, and institutions like government and family, preventing humanity's full depravity. Additionally, He provides temporal blessings such as food, prosperity, and daily joys, and directs human advancement in arts, sciences, and technology. Lastly, common grace allows the unsaved to perform civil good, retain basic spiritual truths, and intellectually assent to the gospel without saving faith. The profound source of common grace is Christ's propitiatory death on the cross, which vindicates God's justice, enabling Him to extend these undeserved blessings to a sinful world without compromising His righteous character. Every legitimate earthly joy and sustained moment of life is a gift of common grace, secured by the cross.
Look in the Mirror! - Part 4
Tom Pennington's sermon "James Look in the Mirror! (Part 4)" on James 1:19-27 asserts that true faith and spiritual maturity are revealed by one's response to God's Word. He outlines three essential qualities for believers: a teachable heart, consistent obedience, and a genuine heart change. The sermon primarily focuses on genuine heart change, warning against mere external religious conformity, which God deems "worthless." An unbridled tongue, as taught by Jesus in Matthew 12, indicates an unchanged heart. True, "pure and undefiled religion" is identified by two practical tests: genuine love for those in need, specifically demonstrated by actively caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and a sincere desire and active pursuit of personal holiness, striving to remain unstained by the world's anti-God value system. This love isn't superficial charity but deep, compassionate action reflecting God's character. Ultimately, James insists that genuine spiritual transformation inevitably produces these actions, and their absence suggests self-deception about one's true relationship with God.
Saved From What?
This sermon, "Systematic Theology Saved From What?", introduces a study on salvation, defined as rescue, immediately posing the crucial question: "Saved from what?" An anecdote about Aaron Ralston highlights humanity's inability to spiritually save itself, asserting that only God can rescue us from our sinful condition. The pastor emphasizes the ongoing importance of studying salvation for all believers. The core of the message focuses on the nature of the atonement, "Why did Christ die?". The speaker systematically debunks six false theories, including the "Ransom to Satan" and "Moral Influence" theories (criticized by the Emerging Church as "divine child abuse"), underscoring their biblical inaccuracies. He then presents the biblical doctrine: Christ's death was a *penal* (related to punishment for breaking God's law) and *substitutionary* or *vicarious* (in our place) sacrifice. This death satisfied God's justice, paid the penalty for sin, secured forgiveness, imputed righteousness, and reconciled humanity to God. Christ's death provided common grace, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation (satisfying God's wrath), and justification. The sermon offers defense through the Old Testament sacrificial system, explicit biblical passages on guilt transfer (e.g., Isaiah 53:6), and Greek prepositions (e.g., *anti* in Matthew 20:28) confirming Christ died "in place of" many, which remains humanity's only hope.
Look in the Mirror! - Part 3
Pastor Tom Pennington's sermon "James: Look in the Mirror! (Part 3)" uses the ignored warnings before Hurricane Katrina as an analogy for how many professing Christians fail to act on God's Word. Preaching from James 1:19-27, he distinguishes between "hearers only" and "doers" of the Word. A "hearer only" is likened to someone who glances in a mirror, sees their reflection (including flaws), but immediately walks away and forgets what they saw, making no changes. This person "audits" the Word, listening without genuine commitment or responsibility, thus deluding themselves about their spiritual condition. In contrast, a "doer of the word" looks intently into the "perfect law, the law of liberty," and "abides" by it. This "abiding" is crucial and involves diligent study, thoughtful meditation (like a cow ruminating or tea steeping), and consistent application of scripture to one's life. This process of deeply internalizing the Word bridges the gap between merely knowing and actively obeying. Consistent obedience, rather than frantic activity, demonstrates genuine faith and leads to blessing, revealing true spiritual liberty found in loving adherence to God's commands.
Look in the Mirror! - Part 2
Pastor Tom Pennington's sermon, "Look in the Mirror! (Part 2)," from James 1:19-27, addresses common, flawed approaches to engaging with Scripture. He identifies five problematic views: the relativistic, which denies absolute moral truth and treats the Bible as subjective; the magical, expecting transformation from mere exposure without understanding or application; the mystical, seeking private, coded messages outside of context; the emotional, prioritizing feelings over cognitive comprehension; and the theoretical, focusing on academic curiosity or debate without practical godliness. Pennington asserts that Scripture is, in contrast, absolute, requires diligent study and action, conveys objective truth, primarily appeals to the mind, and offers practical guidance for life. He then introduces James 1:19-27 as a spiritual diagnostic for the reality and maturity of one's faith, highlighting two essential qualities: a teachable heart (quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, humbly receiving the Word) and consistent obedience. James explicitly warns against being "merely hearers" who "delude themselves," likening them to the foolish builder on sand. True saving faith, he emphasizes, is evidenced by actively living out God's commands.
Gale Warning: Dangerous Movements Threatening Today's Church
Pastor Tom Pennington's sermon warns against dangerous movements threatening the contemporary church. Acknowledging risks like fostering pride, he upholds the biblical mandate to expose error, aiming to "inoculate" his congregation against these threats. He identifies key dangers: The "Emerging Church," led by Bryan McLaren, rejects absolute truth and propositional biblical authority, questioning core doctrines (like hell, penal substitution) and promoting broad ecumenism where evangelism is deemphasized (e.g., remaining Buddhist/Hindu while following Jesus). The "Seeker Sensitive Movement," exemplified by Rick Warren, misinterprets scripture (1 Corinthians 14) to design services primarily for unbelievers. Pennington critiques its confused ecclesiology, flawed theology of man (assuming human ability to respond), and unclear gospel presentation. Other concerns include "New Inclusivism," positing salvation without explicit knowledge of Christ (citing Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, Tony Evans), and the academic "New Perspective on Paul," redefining justification as covenant membership rather than a legal declaration of righteousness by faith. Pennington concludes that Jesus will build His church, and his purpose is to equip believers to recognize and guard the "treasure of sound doctrine" in challenging times, encouraging personal holiness and corporate love.
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