Refraction is that bending of light as it passes from one transparent object into another. Our lives have benefitted over and over again through the discovery of refraction - from corrective lenses to telescopes to microscopes - the bending of light as it passes from one transparent object into another has changed the world!
When the light of the gospel hits our lives, it changes the way we think and act; it changes what we see as valuable; it changes how we interact with the world, and how the world sees us. If you think of each Christian as a glass which the light of the gospel shines through, the refractions of the gospel are beautiful.
Join us for a series where we get into how the gospel shapes and shines through God's people through traits like love, patience, kindness, peace, tolerance, humility, truth, and self-control.
This sermon uses 1 Corinthians 13 to teach that true love is not a fleeting emotion but an enduring, selfless commitment that reflects God's own nature. It argues that because human love often fails, we must first receive God's unconditional love through Jesus Christ in order to truly love others.
This sermon defines hope as a confident belief in God's future goodness, rooted in His past redemptive acts. It teaches that despite the disappointment we may experience in people and the church, the power to overcome our differences and find true hope lies in recognizing Christ in Scripture and embracing His grace.
This sermon teaches that grace is a supernatural force that counters the spiritual death caused by sin, which is a real and pervasive rebellion against God. It encourages believers to not only receive God's unearned gift of salvation but to become conduits of that grace, transforming their lives and the world around them.
This sermon teaches that true self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not a result of human effort alone. It encourages believers to combat impulsiveness by remembering their identity as beloved children of God and relying on the strength of Jesus, the vine, to live a life of disciplined obedience.
This sermon teaches that truth is more than just a fact; it is grounded in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate reality. The gospel calls us not only to embrace this truth but also to use it to lovingly build up others, transforming both our individual lives and our community.
This sermon teaches that true humility is a freedom from the bondage of seeking human praise and "vainglory," which leads to an unstable sense of self-worth. It encourages believers to find their worth in God's approval alone, recognizing that all of their abilities are gifts from Him and their identity is that of a servant of Christ.
This sermon teaches that Christian tolerance is rooted in love, not in personal preference or opinion, using the biblical issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. It emphasizes that because every believer is valuable to God and was bought at the price of the cross, we must lovingly prioritize their spiritual well-being over our own freedom.
This sermon teaches that forgiveness is the wellspring of love that God wants to refract through us into the world. Using the story of the sinful woman and the Pharisee, it illustrates that our capacity to love others directly corresponds to our recognition of how much we have been forgiven by God.
This sermon teaches that anxiety, though a real struggle in a world filled with sin and chaos, does not have the final say over a believer's life. Like Elisha's servant, we can find true peace by shifting our perspective to see that God's protective presence is always greater than the things that cause us to worry.
