Church of The Word | Sunday Sermons

Matthew 3–4 is used to spotlight Jesus’ baptism under the theme “The Beloved Son.” At the center of the passage is the Father’s voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” That declaration reveals Jesus as the Father’s joy—not merely because He is “a Son” in title, but because He has perfectly done the Father’s will and receives divine approval. The sermon leans into the ache many sons carry—wanting to hear genuine pleasure and approval from their father—and shows that this moment displays the purest, truest form of that affirmation.Then the focus widens to the gospel: the Father’s love for the Son is not kept at a distance from believers. Those who trust in Christ are accepted in Him, meaning the very love the Father has for Jesus is bestowed upon His adopted children. That love is secure—unearned and unlosable—because it rests on Christ, not on performance. Believers are not trying to earn a place in the Father’s heart; they already have one in the Son.At the same time, the sermon keeps a second truth alongside this security: Christians should still live to please the Father. Obedience matters, not as a way to win love, but as the fruit of already having it. Trying to obey out of fear or to earn God’s affection insults Christ’s finished work, but obeying out of love—walking in communion, striving for holiness, and living in a way that honors God—can genuinely bring joy to the Father. The passage therefore holds together both comfort and calling: secure adoption through Christ, and a life of willing obedience that flows from love rather than anxiety.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

Sin is a lot like hoarding—something ugly and destructive that people gradually become comfortable living with. The story of that South City building makes the point painfully clear. From the outside it looked promising, but once inside, the reality was revolting: rooms packed with filth, rot, insects, waste, and decay—so bad it took months of cleansing and dumpsters of trash to make it livable. And that visceral disgust most people feel when they see something like that is used as a metaphor for something deeper: the holiness of God and His revulsion toward sin.Leviticus helps people grasp holiness through the language of cleanliness. Humans can understand, at least in part, the difference between clean and unclean, orderly and defiled—and God uses that to teach what it means that He is holy. God is not casual about sin. The sins people tolerate, excuse, or even secretly enjoy are not “small” to Him; they are spiritually filthy and unlivable. A holy God finds sin disgusting—lying, cruelty, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and every hidden corruption people stash away in the heart. That raises the terrifying question: how can sinners ever approach a holy God and not be consumed?The Old Testament answers that question with types and shadows. God taught Israel through sacrifices that the wages of sin is death, and that sinful people cannot draw near without atonement. The warning is severe: when Aaron’s sons offered “strange fire” in Leviticus 10—worship God did not command—fire came out and consumed them. Status did not protect them. God was teaching that He is not to be treated lightly. The New Testament confirms the same truth: in Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit and God strikes them dead, showing that God’s holiness is not an Old Testament relic. He is loving, yes—but also fearfully holy.And this leads to the central question of the sermon: how can messed-up sinners become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? Because that is exactly what the New Testament claims—God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but in a holy people. That privilege should produce awe and trembling, because the Holy Spirit is not an entertainer. He does not exist to give thrills and emotional experiences. He comes to make a people holy.The answer is Christ. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. The incarnation begins in the womb—God taking on flesh—living a sinless life, tempted yet without sin, accomplishing what no one else ever could. Then He died the death sinners deserved, bearing sin in His body and giving His people His righteousness. Because Christ has fulfilled all righteousness and paid the penalty of sin, God can now make the unclean clean. The hoarders of sin can be washed, declared righteous, and truly become the home of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3 then is framed as John’s urgent preparation: a sinful people must be made ready to meet a holy Jesus.Read the full blog post here:https://cotwstl.org/home-of-the-holy-spirit-matthew-31-41/ Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

Matthew 3 is revisited with a sharper focus on one central theme: the three baptisms. The passage presents two baptizers—John and Christ—and it distinguishes three kinds of baptism that must not be confused: water, Spirit, and fire. This matters because each baptism represents something different in God’s redemptive work, and understanding them requires tracing their meaning through the Old Testament and seeing how they unfold after Christ’s ascension.John’s role is limited but necessary. John can baptize with water for repentance, calling people to turn from sin and prepare to meet the Lord. But John cannot change a heart. Human ministry can point to Christ, warn, plead, and call for repentance—but only Christ can do what no man can do: cleanse the inside, give a new heart, and baptize with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-baptism speaks to saving renewal and God’s transforming work in those who belong to Christ.The third baptism—fire—is presented as a sobering reality tied to judgment. The sermon stresses that “fire” in Scripture consistently speaks of God’s holy opposition to sin, His wrath, and His disposition toward the unrepentant. There is a secondary sense in which believers may experience refining fire, but the primary emphasis is warning: God is not a sentimental deity, but a holy God. Hebrews 10 is brought in to underline the weight of this truth—God is a consuming fire. Sin will be dealt with either through judgment already borne by Christ at the cross, or through judgment borne personally by those who refuse to repent.The passage therefore becomes both explanation and confrontation: water repentance is a call to prepare, Spirit baptism is the saving work Christ alone can give, and fire baptism is the judgment awaiting those who will not bow. The whole chapter is read to keep that message anchored in context, because readiness to meet the Lord is not optional—it is the dividing line between mercy in Christ and judgment apart from Him.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

Every person is only a heartbeat away from standing before the judgment seat of Christ. That is true for believers and unbelievers alike. The question is not whether that day will come, but whether there is readiness to meet the Lord.For the unbeliever, the issue is plain and urgent: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Readiness to meet the Lord does not come through morality, religion, sincerity, or effort, but through trusting in Christ alone for salvation. If there has been no repentance from sin and no reliance upon Christ, then there is no readiness to stand before God.But this question also presses upon believers in another sense. A Christian may be ready to meet the Lord in terms of justification—knowing that sins are forgiven and that salvation rests securely in Christ—while still feeling the weight of unfinished service. The desire should not be merely to arrive in heaven forgiven, but to arrive having lived faithfully, having used time well, and having spent life for the glory of Christ rather than for comfort, ease, or distraction.That is the burden of this exhortation: not to drift through life, not to settle for a pleasant existence, and not to come before the Lord empty-handed. The wise men brought gifts when they came to Christ, and that image serves as a fitting reminder that a life devoted to Jesus is itself an offering. The longing should be that when the Lord is met, there would be evidence of love, service, obedience, and a life poured out for His name.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

This week shook me. I had a moment where I truly felt how thin the line is between “normal life” and standing before God. I was listening to my daughter describe her symptoms, and the word preeclampsia came up. I’d heard the word before, but I didn’t really know what it meant. Then I started reading: high blood pressure, blurry vision, migraines… and she’d been having migraines for days. The blurry vision hit Wednesday night. And because someone had providentially given them a blood pressure cuff, they checked her pressure “just to see.” It was sky high.Then I read what can happen if this goes bad—death. And it hit me like a truck: my 20-year-old daughter could die. My granddaughter could die. And for a couple days, I felt those emotional highs and lows that come when you realize you are not in control of anything.It humbled me. I had to say it out loud before God: Lord, You don’t owe me my daughter. You don’t owe me grandchildren. You don’t owe me another day. He’s not in our debt. Every breath is mercy. And I cried out to Him—not as someone making demands, but as someone pleading for grace. Because it reminded me of something we all avoid thinking about: life is fragile. We are a heartbeat away from the judgment seat of Christ. A heartbeat.So I want to ask you straight: Are you ready to meet the Lord?If you’re not a believer, I’m not going to soften this—your main issue is this: have you repented of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ? Are you trusting in Him alone to save you? If not, you are not ready. You might be successful, respected, busy, “doing fine”—but you are not ready to stand before God.But I’m not only talking to unbelievers. I’m talking to Christians too, because there’s a second sense of being “ready.” I can know my sins are forgiven and still feel the weight of this: Have I been living for Jesus? Have I used my life well? Have I done what I’m here to do?And I’ll be honest with you—I don’t feel ready in that second sense. I’m ready to meet the Lord in the sense that I know my Savior and I know my debt has been paid. But I don’t want to stand before Him empty-handed. Wise men brought gifts when they met the Lord. And when I come before Him, I don’t want my life to be a story of comfort, distraction, and wasted time. I want to have something to lay at His feet. I want to do more for Him than just “have a nice life.”That’s why Matthew 3 matters so much. John the Baptist shows up preparing people to meet the Messiah. His whole ministry is basically this warning: He’s coming. He could show up any day. Are you ready? And John doesn’t tell people to get ready with vague spirituality. He tells them plainly: repentance, confession of sin, and faith in Christ are essential if you want peace with God.That’s the point I want to land on with you: peace with God doesn’t come from pretending you’re fine. It comes when you stop making excuses, you come into the light, you confess what’s true, and you throw yourself on Christ. That’s how a person gets ready. And that’s how a believer stays ready—by living honestly before God and living intentionally for Him, because none of us knows how many heartbeats we have left.Read the blog post here:https://cotwstl.org/are-you-ready-to-meet-the-lord-matthew-31-17/Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

When Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd, He is not inventing new imagery. The shepherd metaphor runs throughout the Old Testament.Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd.”David himself was taken “from the sheepfold” to shepherd Israel.Kings and priests were called shepherds because their responsibility was to lead, feed, and protect the people.The word “pastor” simply means shepherd. God consistently describes His people as sheep and their leaders as shepherds.By the time we reach the New Testament, Israel has had many shepherds—but most have failed. The prophets repeatedly rebuked Israel’s leaders for neglecting the flock. Ezekiel 34, in particular, condemns the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves instead of feeding the sheep.And in that same chapter, God makes a promise:He Himself will come and shepherd His people.Read the full post here:https://cotwstl.org/the-lost-sheep-of-the-house-of-israel-matthew-118-21-23/ Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

In Acts chapter 20, we find one of the clearest and most personal passages in the New Testament that describes what an elder is and what an elder is called to do.The reason for this message is practical. In the coming days, we’ll be discussing the possibility of appointing another elder in the church. For some time, we have recognized the need for additional shepherds. The church has grown, responsibilities have increased, and Scripture teaches that a healthy church is led by a plurality of qualified elders.Two years ago, this same need was brought before the congregation. Nominations were made, conversations were had, but the outcome was that no additional elders were appointed. Some nominees were not members, some did not desire the office, and so we have continued on as we were. But the need has not gone away. If anything, it has grown.So this morning, we turn to the Word of God and ask a simple question: What is an elder? And just as importantly, what does an elder do?Why This Matters to Every ChristianSome of you may be thinking, “I have no interest in being an elder. Why is this relevant to me?” That’s a fair question. But the answer is simple: elders were God’s idea for the health of His church.The structure of church leadership is not a human invention. It’s not something that churches created because it seemed practical or efficient. God, in His wisdom, designed the church to be led by qualified, godly men who shepherd His people.So even if you never desire the office of an elder, you still need to know:What God expects from an elderWhat you should look for in an elderWhat kind of leadership God says is healthy for His churchMany churches have drifted away from these biblical standards. Instead of asking what God wants in a leader, they ask:Who is entertaining?Who draws the biggest crowd?Who is funny or charismatic?Who looks good on stage?Who is trendy or culturally appealing?But none of those things are the biblical qualifications for an elder. The church is not a business, a stage, or a social club. It is the flock of God, and God has very clear instructions about how it is to be shepherded.Read the full blog post:https://cotwstl.org/the-biblical-blueprint-for-church-leadership-acts-2017-38/Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

Matthew chapter two introduces a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible—the theme of Egypt, exodus, and deliverance. The story of Jesus fleeing to Egypt and later returning is not an isolated historical detail. It is part of a much larger pattern that begins in Genesis and unfolds through the life of Israel, the ministry of Christ, and even the lives of believers today.Matthew is not simply telling a story; he is showing a pattern. He wants the reader to recognize that Jesus is retracing the steps of Israel, fulfilling what the nation could not accomplish. The movement into Egypt and out again is part of that divine pattern.The theme of Egypt appears early in Scripture. In Genesis 12, Abraham encounters a famine in the land and travels to Egypt for survival. There he experiences trouble and danger, yet God preserves him and eventually brings him back out.Later, the patriarchs follow a similar path. Because of famine, Jacob and his sons go down into Egypt, where Joseph provides for them. What begins as refuge eventually becomes bondage. Israel grows into a nation there, but they become enslaved under Pharaoh. In time, God raises up Moses and delivers His people out of Egypt in a mighty exodus.This pattern becomes central to Israel’s identity. Egypt represents bondage, oppression, and exile. The exodus represents salvation, covenant, and new beginnings with God.Jesus Follows the Same PathIn Matthew chapter two, the pattern appears again. Herod seeks to destroy the child Jesus, and Joseph is warned in a dream to take Mary and the child and flee to Egypt. There they remain until Herod’s death, and then they return to the land of Israel.Matthew explains this by quoting Hosea 11:1:“Out of Egypt I called my son.”Some critics claim that Matthew is misusing the Old Testament, because Hosea is clearly referring to Israel’s past, not to a future Messiah. But Matthew is not misquoting or distorting Scripture. He is using a literary and theological pattern that his audience would have recognized.In Hosea, Israel is called God’s son, brought out of Egypt in the exodus. Matthew is showing that Jesus is the true Son who fulfills that history. The pattern is being repeated, but this time perfectly.The Pattern of the True SonMatthew presents Jesus as the true and faithful Son of God. The pattern unfolds in a clear sequence:God’s Son goes into Egypt.God’s Son is called out of Egypt.God’s Son passes through baptism.God’s Son is tested in the wilderness.God’s Son enters the promised land.This was the story of Israel. But Israel failed repeatedly. They grumbled, worshiped idols, and broke covenant with God. Jesus, however, walks the same path without failure. Where Israel was unfaithful, Christ is perfectly obedient.He is not merely another participant in the story—He is the fulfillment of it.This same pattern also applies to those who belong to Christ. The story of Israel and the story of Jesus become the story of every Christian in a spiritual sense.All of God’s sons experience an exodus. Every believer begins in a kind of spiritual Egypt—a place of bondage to sin, idolatry, and death. Through repentance and faith in Christ, God delivers His people from that slavery.After deliverance comes covenant. Just as Israel passed through the Red Sea and entered into covenant with God, and just as Jesus was baptized, believers also enter into the covenant community through baptism.Then comes testing. The Christian life is not a straight path of ease and comfort. It is a wilderness journey. There are temptations, trials, and struggles with sin. There are moments of grumbling, fear, and doubt. Yet God uses these trials to refine His people and prepare them for what lies ahead.And ahead lies the promised land—the final rest, the eternal kingdom, the presence of God forever.The exodus from Egypt was one of the greatest acts of deliverance in the Old Testament. But the exodus accomplished by Christ is greater still. Israel was delivered from physical slavery. Christ delivers His people from sin, death, and the wrath of God.He leads His people not just to an earthly land, but to a heavenly kingdom.Matthew wants the reader to see that Jesus is the true Son, the true Israel, and the true Deliverer. The patterns of Scripture all converge in Him.The Christian life is not random or directionless. It follows a pattern set by God Himself:Deliverance from bondageCovenant with GodTesting in the wildernessEntrance into the promised restThis pattern is seen in Israel, fulfilled in Christ, and repeated in the lives of believers.Every follower of Christ is on an exodus journey. The wilderness may be long, and the testing may be hard, but the destination is certain. The God who calls His people out of Egypt is faithful to bring them home.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

Matthew 2 presents a stark contrast that demands decision: Herod the Great, master of worldly power, versus Jesus Christ, the eternal King born in obscurity. Herod possessed everything the world celebrates—political mastery, wealth, influence, and fear-inducing authority. Yet his "greatness" rested on insecurity, cruelty, and bloodshed. When threatened by news of Christ's birth, he responded with violence rather than humility, revealing the hollow foundation of earthly kingdoms.Christ entered the world with no palace, no army, no fanfare—yet wise men traveled far to worship Him. Unlike Herod who seized power, Jesus received authority from the Father. His kingdom advances not through coercion but through transformed hearts, not by fear but by truth. This is why Christianity has always unsettled tyrants: Christ demands supremacy, not accommodation.Worship Shapes IdentityThe fundamental difference between these kings lies in worship: Herod demands loyalty but cannot inspire true devotion; Jesus receives worship because He alone is worthy. This distinction matters eternally because worship always shapes identity. What we honor, we imitate. Those who revere worldly power will pursue dominance and success. Those who worship Christ will be formed by humility, faithfulness, and hope in His eternal kingdom.Heroes are never neutral—they direct loyalties and form values. Herod's kingdom rose quickly and vanished completely. Christ's kingdom entered quietly and will never end.The Unavoidable QuestionEven Christians can become impressed by visible success and immediate results, forgetting that Scripture measures greatness by faithfulness to God, not worldly achievement. Christ may not resemble the heroes culture promotes, but He alone reigns forever. His authority is universal and eternal, advancing through grace rather than force, truth rather than spectacle.Every heart serves a king. Every life is shaped by what it worships. The choice remains: Will we be formed by the kingdoms of this world or by the King of kings? Choose your hero wisely—eternity hangs in the balance.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

There are moments in the life of the church when it is right to step back from the flow of sequential exposition and ask a more foundational question—not what comes next, but why are we here at all? Psalm 50 presses that question upon God’s people with clarity and force. It confronts assumptions about worship, exposes empty religion, and reorients the heart toward what truly glorifies God.Scripture is not vague about humanity’s purpose. Of all that God created—galaxies, oceans, animals, and angels—only mankind was made in His image. And with that image comes a calling. Humanity is not accidental, aimless, or self-defining. Humanity was created with a chief end: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.That truth immediately raises another question: How is God actually glorified? Psalm 50 answers that question by linking God’s glory not to ritual performance, but to thankful, obedient worship flowing from a redeemed heart.Do you want to support Church of The Word?https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here!https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith