Sermons – Somerset Church of Christ

February 11, 2026

The gift of identity

A lot of Christians struggle with their identity in Christ. When they don’t know who they are, they don’t know what to do. When they don’t know what to do, they don’t know how to behave. So we have a world that is quite a mixed bag. But Peter gives both our identity and our purpose: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Peter says this definitively. There is zero question who the Christians are. They are a chosen race. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A people for his own possession. That identity is written in stone. Because of that, Christians’ purpose is to proclaim the excellencies of him who called them from darkness into his marvelous light. We all were sinners, lost and driven by our dark ways. But now we entered the saving light of Jesus our Savior.

This guides our actions and determines how we treat others. Paul said, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:22). Our identity now is in Christ, and in him alone. We belong to him. We’ve entered his light and now proclaim the excellencies of him who called us from darkness into that light!

February 4, 2026

The gift of rest

Jesus was often cornered by people who wanted to trap him on his views of the Sabbath. He healed people on the Sabbath, which infuriated his opponents. When his disciples were plucking grain from a field and eating it on the Sabbath, the Pharisees criticized him. Jesus concluded, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). In addition to correcting their wrong view of Sabbath, Jesus often spoke about and demonstrated rest (apart from Sabbath rest).

He demonstrated three types of rest–physical (replenishing with food and sleep), relational (often withrew to lonely places to pray to God), and spiritual (those who are weary and heavy laden come to Jesus and he will give rest). Mark 4 is perhaps the most interesting example of Jesus resting that we have. As a huge storm emerged on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was asleep on a cusion.

He was physically tired and desperately needed rest. His disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re perishing?” (Mark 4:38). Jesus rebuked the wind and then rebuked his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (vs. 40). Jesus was teaching them to trust God even in the storm. God grants us rest as a gift. We need to have the discipline to rest–physically, relationally, and spiritually.

January 21, 2026

The gift of grace

Our theme is the giving heart: a journey to radical love. Jesus, who was very poor, was incredibly giving and God, as we know, is love. Jesus called his disciples to radically love others. We can’t love others when we are into ourselves. Paul emphasized this when he said that we all once followed the prince of the power of the air. He said, “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, lie the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:3).

Like the world who doesn’t know God, we carried out the desires of the body and mind–living for ourselves and not caring for others. But God. God had different plans: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (vs. 4-5). God calls us to repentance and showered us with his mercy and saved us by his grace. Not only this, but he “seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (vs. 6). We literally have a seat at the table with God through Christ!

Paul is crystal clear that this is not of our own doing. Our salvation by grace through faith is the gift of God. We were created for good works but those works are not what save us. We do good works because we are saved. This is what sets us apart from the world. We should work every day to outpace the world in our giving. Our good works matter to others and they matter to God.

January 14, 2026

Adopted as heirs

close up photo of two people holding each other s hands

Paul told the Roman church that they are debtors (indebted, they owed a debt), not to the flesh, but to the Spirit. He said if we live according to the flesh, “you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). He goes on to say that those who are led by the Spirit are sons and daughters of God. Then comes the big takeaway: “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!” (vs. 15).

The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, “and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (vs. 17). Paul echoes this language in Galatians. He says, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:6-7).

This idea of being adopted as children and becoming heirs through the Spirit is incredible! God adopted us as his own and made us co-heirs with Christ. That means that God is giving us an eternal inheritance–the same one that Christ received as God’s son. This should give us the confidence to live out our faith and bear fruit for our Father’s kingdom.

January 7, 2026

The God who has everything

green leafed tree beside body of water during daytime

Psalm 50 is a psalm of Asaph where God is the judge and he is calling his people (Israel) into the courtroom. He calls the entire heavens and earth together to witness His judgment of Israel. In verses 7-12, God addresses the defendant–His own people–not to condemn them for their failure to worship but to correct their understanding of worship. Up to this point, the Israelites were going through the motions of worship and sacrifice, but they were expecting something in return from God. They were essentially “buying” God’s attention by proving to God how much they loved Him.

God was not impressed, and now he was calling them into His courtroom. “I testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the field is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (vs. 7-10). Everything already belongs to God. God’s favor cannot be purchased with money, sacrifices, or worship. God is self-sufficient. He has no needs. What he wants is our faithful obedience. He wants us to serve one another.

God hates transactional worship. God cannot be bought, bribed, or fed. The pagan religions literally would lay food out for their gods to consume. If the gods were fed, they were pleased. If they were pleased, they would bless. God has no interest. You cannot enrich the owner of the universe. God wants our hearts. He wants our obedience. He wants us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow Christ. We do not worship to meet God’s needs; we worship to recognize that he meets ours.

January 2, 2026

The origin of generosity

photo of a beggar receiving money from a person

With the new year comes a new theme: “The giving heart: A journey to radical love.” This year we will focus on the importance of giving that leads us to a path of radical love. The more we give–of our time, ourselves, our money and talents–the more God blesses us. To fully understand this principle, we have to move away from transactional Christianity (doing things to get things) and towards transformational generosity. God is not transactional. He doesn’t want to enter into a contract with us. He is, however, transformative. He wants our hearts. He created us in His image and transforms us by His grace.

The origin of our generosity comes directly from God. James says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:16-18). Giving is directly tied to radical love. God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal live (John 3:16).

This year is going to be the best year of giving that we have ever experienced! We cannot outgive God. The more we allow him to transform us, the more we are able to bless others. God is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. God told the Israelites, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). And God has a plan for us!

December 11, 2025

The baby who leaped for joy

When Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, the baby leaped for joy: “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44). Joy surrounded the birth of Jesus. When the shepherds were in the field in the middle of the night, an angel appeared. The glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. The angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2:10).

As the wise men saw the star that went before them and came to rest over the place where the baby Jesus was, “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10). In John 15:11, Jesus says plainly, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus said this in the context of him being the vine and us being the branches. He says that if we abide in him and bear much fruit, we glorify the Father. Jesus concludes by saying, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10).

All throughout the scriptures, joy is a theme that is directly tied to Jesus. And this combination of love and joy is powerful. By keeping Jesus’ commandments, we abide in his love! In other words, we are controlled by his love and we can see people the way Jesus saw them. We instinctively know how to treat others because of the love of Christ that guides us. God’s love for us begins and ends with joy.