Sermons by Tim Stephens (Page 4)
Tim Stephens is the senior pastor of Fairview Baptist Church, Calgary, Alberta. Tim grew up on a farm in Eastern Ontario, graduated with a Computer Engineering degree from Queen’s University, a Masters of Divinity degree from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching from The Masters Seminary. He is happily married to Raquel and they have been blessed with nine children.
Behold the Throne: God’s Glory in Creation, Salvation, and Judgment
This sermon delves into the book of Revelation to unveil a vivid portrait of God as the Holy, Sovereign Creator, the loving Savior of his people, and the righteous Judge of all the earth. Through key passages, it highlights God’s transcendent holiness, his redemptive work through Jesus Christ, and his just judgment against sin, offering comfort and exhortation to believers facing trials. The sermon calls us to respond with humility, reconciliation, awe, righteous living, and faithful endurance, urging us to…
Eternal King, Endless Praise
We delve into the apostle Paul’s doxologies in 1 Timothy 1:17 and 6:15-16, where he erupts in praise for God’s sovereign kingship, immortality, invisibility, and holiness. Exploring these divine attributes, we uncover their profound practicality for Christian living, as they ignite gratitude, fuel delight, evoke worship, provide purpose, galvanize endurance, drive obedience, and reset perspective. By meditating on the greatness of the eternal King, we are equipped to live vibrant, God-honoring lives that reflect his glory and grace. Passage: 1…
Boasting in the Lord: True Happiness and Success
This sermon, drawn from Jeremiah 9:23-26, challenges the pursuit of happiness and success through worldly wisdom, strength, and wealth, as the people of ancient Israel did by imitating idolatrous nations. Instead, God calls us to boast in understanding and knowing him””his steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. While Israel faced judgment for their idolatry and pride, we are urged to avoid their folly by recognizing God as the ultimate Judge and Redeemer. True joy comes not from earthly achievements but from…
A Call to Worship the Living God
In this sermon, part of the series “The Living and True God,” Psalm 145 is explored as a earnest call to worship God for his divine attributes and mighty works. The Psalm, with its rich vocabulary of praise, emphasizes God as the worthy recipient of adoration. It reveals God’s God’s greatness, seen in his everlasting kingdom and reminds us of God’s goodness in his love for his people and all creation. This psalm calls us to overcome ignorance and pride,…
The Name of the Lord: Greatness, Goodness, and Justice
This sermon explores God’s self-disclosure to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, where he proclaims his name and character, emphasizing his greatness, goodness, and justice. God’s greatness is seen in his self-existence and supreme sovereignty as “The LORD, the LORD,” unmatched in authority and power. His goodness is revealed through attributes like compassion, grace, patience, steadfast love, faithfulness, and forgiveness, inviting believers to draw near and imitate these qualities. Yet, his justice ensures that the guilty who do not repent face consequences,…
I AM: Knowing the Living and True God
The greatest problem facing society, families, and the church today is a lack of knowledge of God. This sermon, like the Bible, presupposes God’s existence and focuses on revealing who he is, particularly through his personal name, YHWH, translated as “I AM” in Exodus 3:14. This name signifies God as the self-existent, sovereign, unchanging, and covenant-keeping Lord, fully revealed in Jesus Christ, who is the “I AM” incarnate. There is transformative power in knowing God, which brings eternal life, holiness,…
The Exalted Christ: A Call to Joyful Worship
We explore the final moments of Jesus’ earthly ministry, focusing on his blessing of the disciples, his ascension, and the disciples’ response of worship, joy, and public praise. The blessing signifies a transition, not an end, as Jesus commissions his followers to continue his mission with divine favor. His ascension marks his exaltation, vindicating his obedience and completing his redemptive work. The disciples’ response””worshiping Christ, joyfully waiting for the promised Holy Spirit, and praising God together publicly””serves as a model…
From Resurrection to Mission: Proclaiming Christ to the Nations
Here we consider Jesus’ commission to his disciples to proclaim the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations. The sermon highlights three key points: the proclamation of Christ’s suffering, resurrection, and the call to repentance as foretold in passages like Joel 2 and Isaiah 49; the necessity of personal testimony, where believers share their own experience of Christ’s transformative grace; and the promise of the Holy Spirit’s power, which emboldens disciples to preach with courage and enables…
From Doubt to Divine Understanding
The sermon examines the encounter of the disciples with the risen Christ on the evening of the resurrection. We see their initial fear, doubt, and struggle to believe in the physical resurrection despite compelling evidence, reflecting the human tendency toward unbelief. Jesus addresses their doubts through his physical appearance, while emphasizing the necessity of understanding Scripture. This sermon shows that true enlightenment comes not from worldly rationalism but from God opening minds to grasp the Scriptures, revealing Christ’s identity, suffering,…
Jesus Revealed: The Christ of Scripture
This sermon explores how the Old Testament Scriptures prophetically reveal the identity, suffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as taught by Jesus himself to the disciples on the Emmaus road. By examining key passages like Psalm 110, Psalm 2, Deuteronomy 18, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Daniel 7, the sermon demonstrates that Jesus is the promised King, Priest, and Prophet who suffered, died, and rose again according to God’s divine plan. It emphasizes the importance of biblical literacy in understanding…
Waging War with Divine Power
The Bible portrays the Christian life as a spiritual battle, with believers as soldiers of Christ engaged in a war against lies and false ideologies. This text highlights the heart of a warrior””a Christ-like meekness with boldness””and outlines the divine weapons of truth, righteousness, and the gospel for destroying arguments and lofty opinions contrary to the knowledge of God. In this fight, we are called to obedience to Christ as the primary battle plan, starting within the church, and motivated…
Seeing Christ on the Emmaus Road
This sermon explores the transformative encounter of two disciples with the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It delves into their initial despair and unbelief, the divine concealment of Jesus’ identity, and his revelation through Scripture and the breaking of bread. The sermon highlights how Jesus teaches us to recognize him not through physical sight but through the Word and the Lord’s Supper, inspiring us to trust in his resurrection and share the good news with others, even without…