Pastor Ryan addresses the emotion of fear, using the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41 to show how Jesus challenges us to confront our fears with faith. He explains that Jesus's power is real, authoritative, and ultimately for us, and that He can calm not only the storms in our lives but also the fear within us.

Pastor Ryan encourages the congregation to move beyond fleeting New Year's resolutions and seek fulfillment on the ancient paths found in Scripture. He argues that our desire for something more in life reflects a divine purpose, urging listeners to find rest and a deeper relationship with God by following these uncomfortable yet transformative paths.

The sermon, titled "Far Greater," focuses on the parallel announcements of John the Baptist's and Jesus's births in Luke 1, emphasizing God's power through impossible births (Elizabeth's barrenness and Mary's virginity). Through these accounts, the sermon illustrates three main points about God - His power to do the impossible, His preeminence shown through Jesus becoming the "most low," and His faithfulness to His promises despite our belief or unbelief.

The sermon discusses how both sons in the prodigal son story sought to fulfill their innate needs (acceptance, security, value, significance, and purpose) through either worldly pursuits or religious behavior, but both paths led to slavery. The father in the story represents the gospel - showing that true freedom and fulfillment of these needs comes only through accepting God's unconditional love and grace rather than through worldly success or religious performance.

This sermon explores how to genuinely experience God's presence rather than merely having intellectual knowledge of Him, using Moses' request to see God's glory in Exodus 33-34 as the central text. Pastor Ryan emphasizes that while God's presence is essential and sometimes feels elusive, it becomes accessible through Jesus Christ, who perfectly unites God's justice and love, enabling us to have a transformative relationship with God that goes beyond simply seeking His provisions.

The sermon explains that God's design for marriage is based on covenant rather than feelings - while human thinking believes love leads to covenant, God's truth is that covenant leads to deep, lasting love. The marriage covenant provides safety that enables honesty, confession, repentance and healing, ultimately reflecting God's covenant relationship with believers.

The sermon focuses on Jesus's teaching that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, explaining that this love isn't just dutiful compliance but stems from a deep affection and treasuring of God. This kind of all-encompassing love for God comes not from our own efforts but from understanding and appreciating God's immense grace and love for us first, as illustrated in the story of the sinful woman who loved Jesus much because she had been forgiven much.

The sermon emphasizes Jesus' radical command to love our enemies, as outlined in Luke 6, highlighting the transformative power of understanding ourselves as adopted children of God who were once His enemies. It challenges believers to live out this revolutionary love through acts of kindness, forgiveness, and generosity, reflecting the grace we have received from God.

This sermon warns that achievement can be a deceptive idol, trapping people in a cycle of shame and burnout as they seek to prove their worth. True freedom and fulfillment are found not in human striving for "bread, brand, or beauty," but in embracing our identity as a beloved child of God through the grace of Jesus Christ.