Topic: Courage

Secular culture espouses many useless sayings which may make us feel good but are devoid of meaning because they deny the power and reality of the Triune God. The expectation of Christians is not to merely be nice or say nice things – it is to be kind, persist in prayer, and to boldly speak about our faith. What good is our faith if we don’t tell anyone about it?

We need to constantly realize that in Christ, we are a new creation. We need to be reminded of this truth by, and for, each other. Christ gives us grace anew so that we are equal to the task of fighting back the darkness, even when the odds and circumstances seem overwhelming. Like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and many other heroes who went before us, we must put on the full armor of God in the battle against evil.

How many of us have gone through a season of chaos and hardship in our lives – be it illness, financial hardship, or broken relationships – and lost sight of what the LORD is doing? We cry like the prophet, “How long will I cry for help, God, and you will not listen to me?” But hindsight is twenty-twenty, is it not? How differently would we approach our present sufferings if we only considered how God was using them to increase our future holiness!

A person who is held captive by ideology will use his end to justify any means. This is why we see our own social and political discourse breaking down today – ideology, not reason and the love of Christ, is what controls both sides of the debate. We as a people have been taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Listen as the Rector discusses Paul’s warning to the Colossians, and to us today.

If we spend even a little time reading the Bible, we will encounter ominous passages about the end times. Yet God does not call us to hide in a bunker for the rest of our lives! Instead, God through the Holy Scriptures calls us to have confidence in the last days, for our faith in Christ is the only thing of ours that will hold firm against an uncertain future. Join the Rector as he discusses our confidence in the last days.

Like the widow before Elijah, like every believer, we have the choice whether or not to obey the Word of the Lord. Obedience requires courage, and we will require both to properly steward God’s gifts to us. Like the widow, we are called to obey God, even if it doesn’t immediately make sense to us. And if we trust and obey, God will reward us, as He has promised. Listen as the Rev. Galloway discusses the confidence we should have in obedience to God’s Word.

Christians around the world today have much to be concerned about, from a worldly perspective, but the Rev. Galloway encourages us that Christ has won the victory over the world, and so Christians can remain strong in the Gospel.

Joshua commanded the people of Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” In today’s sermon, the Rector reminds us of the urgency of this decision the Christian life today. Do we obey God, or man? Joshua’s words warn us: If we don’t choose now, then by default we will find ourselves looking back after a long series of incremental changes, realizing we renounced the LORD long ago.