Sermons by Tim Stephens (Page 48)
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.
Heaven (Part 2): Visions of Heaven
After looking in part 1 how our contemporary “Christian” culture sees heaven, we turn to the Biblical authors and how they see heaven. We’ll look at the visions in Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation.
Heaven (Part 1): How Do We Know?
How do we know about heaven? Where do we go for answers? This session looks at how people claim to know what heaven is like, especially looking at the plethora of “heaven tourism” books that are so popular among Christians today. These books are not only deceptive, they are destructive. The session ends by explaining why the Bible is our definitive source of truth about heaven.
Half-Hearted Obedience
Continuing the conquest of Canaan, the Israelites partial obey God. They were half-hearted in their obedience. God calls this half-hearted obedience…disobedience. How are we like these Israelites? When do we settle and not obey God courageously and boldly? When do we say “I can’t” when God hears us say “I won’t.” The key to pressing on in obedience and service is to trust in God, in his strength, in his power to save, power to forgive, and that he accepts…
Abide
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to abide in him? What “fruit” is produced by those who abide in Christ? This sermon explores this questions and more as we seek to focus on abiding in Christ this coming year.
Number Your Days
Psalm 90 teaches us that God is everlasting and that we are finite and that life is fleeting. It calls us to number our days so that we (1) learn wisdom; (2) long for God’s presence; and (3) do God’s work that will last for eternity.
New Heaven, New Earth
The culmination of God’s plan of redemption is described in Revelation 21 and 22 as the new heaven and new earth. God’s great act of redemption is accomplished, it is done! There is no more death, no more pain, no more crying. Eternal life, for those who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is glorious because God is there. We will see his face!
Messiah Has Come
After God created the world, sin quickly entered his good creation. In the midst of that first act of human rebellion God made a promise to send a deliverer who would rescue this world from sin and defeat all evil–including death itself. At the incarnation, the promised one is here! Jesus Christ entered his creation as a child. He came to give his life as a ransom. He came to rescue his people from their sins. In these chapters we…
Creation, Fall, Promise
God’s story of redemption (rescuing the world from sin) begins with the perfect creation. The creation account tells us that God’s words are powerful and that God’s works are good. Shortly after the world fell into the snare of Satan but God promised a redeemer, one who would deal a fatal blow to Satan and sin.
The Pain of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is costly to the one granting forgiveness. It was costly to God to forgive his people and it is costly for us to forgive one another. The pain and hurt that is caused by being treated unjustly can only be removed by fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ. So just how do we do that? What does that mean? This sermon explores those important questions.
The Necessity of Forgiveness
Jesus tells us in the strongest of language that Christians must forgive. To withhold forgiveness is to put yourself in danger of eternal condemnation. Since we must forgive, the obvious question becomes, “How do we treat someone who is unrepentant or where reconciliation is impossible?” To answer that question, we look at Romans 12. We commit not to take revenge, we proactively show love, and we leave room for the wrath of God.
Conflict and Forgiveness
It is inevitable, people will sin and you will be affected by it. How then do we deal with conflict? What does confrontation look like? What is the role of the church? This sermon seeks to explain an important passage when looking at conflict and forgiveness.
The Hope of Forgiveness
There is hope in forgiveness. There is joy and satisfaction in being forgiven by God and extending forgiveness to others. But what is forgiveness? How should Christians forgive? We are called to forgive others as God has forgiven us. God forgiveness is (1) gracious, yet costly; (2) conditional; (3) a commitment not to hold sin against us; (4) inseparable from reconciliation; and (5) does not mean that all consequences are removed. From these things we can appreciate more Christian forgiveness.