After much prayer and study, we developed this sermon plan for our network of aligned churches. I can’t wait to proclaim God’s Word during this pivotal year of our lives.

Recommissioned

It is tragic yet common for Christians and churches to wander away from Jesus’ parting instructions. To make disciples of all nations, we must recommission ourselves to the Great Commission.

• 01.05.25 // Personal Growth: From Decisions to Disciples // Colossians 1:27-29 – We often minimize Christianity to a momentary decision, but if we are following Jesus, we should still be moving. A disciple of Jesus continues to pursue thorough spiritual maturity.
• 01.12.25 // Mentoring Discipleship: From Information to Imitation // Hebrews 13:7-8 – If we simplify discipleship to mere information transfer, we miss much of what is necessary for transformation. We all need mentoring relationships worth imitating as we seek to follow Jesus.
• 01.19.25 // Gospel Groups: From Rosters to Relationships // Hebrews 10:23-25 – Being involved in the life of a church requires more than having your name on the roster of a group. Discover how to move from being a name on a list to developing relationships that further your discipleship.
• 01.26.25 // Ministry Service: From Obligations to Opportunities // 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 – While guilt or pressure can be successful motivators to get us to serve, we ought to minister to others in line with our giftings and passions. In those meaningful positions, those obligations turn into opportunities.
• 02.02.25 // Family Ministry: From Programs to Parents // 2 Timothy 1:3-7 – In recent decades, churches have created programs to do what God has called parents to do. We must align the efforts between the home and the church to disciple the next generation well.
• 02.09.25 // Church Planting: From Members to Mobilizers // Acts 13:1-3 – As individual local churches seek to increase their membership, it becomes easy to overlook the larger context. We need intentional people mobilized for church plants and replants to reach our city and beyond.
• 02.16.25 // Global Missions: From Sporadic to Strategic // Romans 10:13-15 – While it is encouraging to take mission trips to multiple places, focusing more on fewer initiatives can be more effective. Moving missions from sporadic to strategic creates pipelines to engage the unreached.

Haggai: First Things First

God’s task for His people was bigger than one individual. We accomplish the work of His Kingdom when we put the first things first. 

• 02.23.25 // Misplaced Priorities // Haggai 1:1-6 – God’s people put their comfort over His concerns. We must constantly evaluate if misplaced priorities have taken us. 
• 03.02.25 // Equal Sacrifices // Haggai 1:7-15 – God called His people to repent of their selfish ways, but He called for more than a somber acknowledgment. They distinguished their repentance through their call for equal sacrifices. 
• 03.09.25 // Glory Days // Haggai 2:1-9 – People often view the future as bleak if they perceive the past as ideal. If we only focus on what God did previously, we will miss the glory days that He desires to bring now.
• 03.16.25 // Dangerous Entitlements // Haggai 2:10-23 – As the people began to undertake God’s work, they wrongfully assumed they were good with Him. Beware of dangerous entitlements that make you believe God owes you something in your obedience.

Galatians: The Sufficient Gospel

The Apostle Paul had many enemies in his ministry, but none were as dangerous as legalists. In his letter to the Galatians, he reveals how the gospel is sufficient for our salvation and lives.

• 03.23.25 // Counterfeit Gospels // Galatians 1:1-10 – Paul confronted lesser messages posing as the gospel since they corrupted the church. We must beware of counterfeit gospels that could hinder us from knowing the grace of Jesus.
• 03.30.25 // Transformative Testimonies // Galatians 1:11-24 – Paul’s faith story began as a zealous persecutor of the gospel to a diligent proclaimer of it. When the gospel impacts our lives, it transforms us thoroughly.
• 04.06.25 // Crucified Lives // Galatians 2:1-21 – Paul was so enthralled by the power of the gospel that he confronted others who were wavering in its truth. By faith and faith alone, we can experience lives that have been crucified with Christ.
• 04.13.25 // Sanctifying Spirit // Galatians 3:1-9 – If we believe our salvation to be of grace, we must not rely on our works after that. The Spirit that saves is the same Spirit that sanctifies.
• 04.20.25 // Faithful Redemption // Galatians 3:10-14 – Our works could not save us; in fact, all they did was condemn us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we obtain the faithful redemption that we require under sin’s curse.
• 04.27.25 // Helpful Restraints // Galatians 3:15-22 – Many wonder why God provided a covenant for His people and then later gave them rules they could not keep. The law couldn’t save anyone, but it did help in restraining the spread of sin. 
• 05.04.25 // Level Ground // Galatians 3:23-29 – The law humbled every person under the awareness of sin, yet God’s grace was available to all. When we come to the cross of Jesus, we tread on level ground.
• 05.11.25 // Liberating Adoption // Galatians 4:1-7 – We were enslaved to the ways of the world, but the Father desired to adopt us as His children. In Christ, we are free to live joyfully as the sons and daughters of God.
• 05.18.25 // Spiritual Relapse // Galatians 4:8-20 – Jesus makes everything new in our lives once we receive the gospel, but we can succumb to previous ways if we aren’t careful. Beware falling into a spiritual relapse by demanding things Scripture does not.
• 05.25.25 // Unapologetic Freedom // Galatians 4:21-5:1 – Christ did not set us free so that we continue to live as if in bondage. Through His sacrifice, He beckons us to live with unapologetic freedom.
• 06.01.25 // Misleading Persuasions // Galatians 5:2-12 – Some of a church’s greatest dangers can come from within in the form of people who add requirements onto the gospel. Don’t be lured away from the beauty of grace by misleading persuasions.
• 06.08.25 // Eagerly Compassionate // Galatians 5:13-15 – Grace changes our status with God, but it should also alter the way we interact with others. We are free to live eagerly compassionate lives as we love our neighbors as ourselves.
• 06.15.25 // Unspiritual Desires // Galatians 5:16-21 – Even though the Spirit resides within us, we are not immune from sinful outbursts that seek to satisfy our fleshly impulses. We must war against the unspiritual desires that still plague us.
• 06.22.25 // Love, Joy, and Peace // Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit provides evidence of our salvation. A disciple of Jesus should exemplify love, joy, and peace. 
• 06.29.25 // Patience, Kindness, and Goodness // Galatians 5:22 – A life transformed by the Spirit ought to be noticeable. Christians should interact with others by portraying patience, kindness, and goodness.
• 07.06.25 // Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control // Galatians 5:23 – The Holy Spirit changes who we are on the inside, but that difference is often observed on the outside. Disciples of Jesus should possess faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
• 07.13.25 // Spirit Alignment // Galatians 5:24-26 – If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, it should be obvious that we challenge sinful tendencies within ourselves and selfish attitudes toward others. Alignment with the Spirit helps us prioritize His desires. 
• 07.20.25 // Sharing Burdens // Galatians 6:1-5 – Being part of the Body of Christ means helping one another when we make mistakes or experience challenges. Sharing burdens reveals that we understand the importance of caring for others in the Church.
• 07.27.25 // Reliable Outcomes // Galatians 6:6-10 – God has designed the world to produce proper results according to how we live. Whether we do what our flesh desires or what the Spirit commands, we will experience reliable outcomes.
• 08.03.25 // Worthwhile Boasting // Galatians 6:11-18 – Instead of bragging about what we can do in our lives, we should focus on what Christ did through His death. The cross of Jesus is the only worthwhile boasting we should communicate.

Esther: Even in the Shadows

Even though God’s name is unmentioned, Esther’s story cannot deny His presence. God’s people survived on the margins of a godless society by ordinary people taking providential opportunities. 

• 08.10.25 // The Unmentioned God in an Unconstrained Society // Esther 1:1-22 – God’s people were exiles in a land where its leaders exemplified drunkenness, objectification, and all manners of sinful dysfunction. In this unconstrained society, God enacts a plan even though He is never mentioned or honored.
• 08.17.25 // No Accidental Positions // Esther 2:1-18 – A pagan king desired a beautiful woman to replace his queen, and God made Esther attractive to garner a position when it counted. With God, there are no accidental positions.
• 08.24.25 // Do the Right Thing, Regardless of the Consequences // Esther 2:19-3:6 – Mordecai wasn’t afraid to do what was right or refuse to do what was wrong. Regardless of the consequences, we must resolve to do the right thing. 
• 08.31.25 // Those People // Esther 3:7-15 – Haman’s hatred of the Jews caused him to seek their destruction. Any type of perceived superiority based on nationality or ethnicity is unfounded and ungodly. 
• 09.07.25 // If You Don’t Do It, Someone Else Will // Esther 4:1-17 – Mordecai challenged Esther to intervene for the sake of God’s people but believed they would be safe even if she refused. God’s will will go forward, with or without us.
• 09.14.25 // Steward Your Influence Well // Esther 5:1-14 – Esther took the opportunity given her and attempted to do as much good as possible. When we obey what God has led us to do, we must take advantage of the moment with diligence and discretion.
• 09.21.25 // Those Who Expect Honor Never Receive It // Esther 6:1-14 – Haman designed a plan for the king to honor himself, but he surprisingly used those directions to honor his enemy, Mordecai. Do the right thing, and honor will come to you in the right way and at the right time.
• 09.28.25 // Digging a Hole for Yourself // Esther 7:1-10 – Haman’s anger led him to devise a plan to get his enemy, but his plan backfired. Unchallenged rage present in our lives does damage to others and ourselves.
• 10.05.25 // Plead on Behalf of Others // Esther 8:1-17 – Esther’s position insulated her from the opposition to God’s people, but she couldn’t sit idly by when she had the opportunity to spare others. We ought to plead on behalf of others when they cannot protect themselves.
• 10.12.25 // Disarming the Enemies // Esther 9:1-19 – Not only did the evil plan not succeed in opposing God’s people, but they surprisingly advanced throughout the area. God can disarm the enemies that threaten the work of His children.
• 10.19.25 // Ordinary People with Extraordinary Causes // Esther 9:20-10:3 – When the dust settled from the near calamity involving God’s people, the Book of Esther recounts the work of the willing participants. God’s work often starts with ordinary people committed to extraordinary causes.

The Story of the Bible

While many know isolated events described within the pages of the Bible, few understand the grand narrative of God’s overarching plan. Discover that truth has a unifying story centered upon Jesus Christ.

• 10.26.25 // Creation // Deuteronomy 4:32-35 – From the beginning, God graciously created an opportunity to know Him. No matter how frequent humanity’s rebellion proved to be, God was relentless for redemption.
• 11.02.25 // Corruption // Judges 21:24-25 – The people of God progressively pushed against the ways of God and pursued the ways of the world. The further they drifted, the more apparent their need for a Savior was.
• 11.09.25 // Crucifixion // John 1:9-14 – Since we could not reach heaven, the Son of God came to us. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus would change everything.
• 11.16.25 // Commission // Acts 1:6-11 – Until Christ comes, He has called us to go with the gospel until all have heard. Our lives are purposed to join Him in making disciples of all nations.

Luke: To Seek and to Save

Luke was transformed by receiving the gospel, and he labored diligently to communicate Jesus Christ’s life and lessons. As we study his account, we will discover how Jesus came to seek and to save.

• 11.23.25 // Know It to Share It // Luke 1:1-4 – Luke carefully studied the life and lessons of Jesus to share them with a dear friend. We ought to know the gospel message so well to share it with others.
• 11.30.25 // God Is in the Details // Luke 1:5-25 – God’s surprising plans interrupted Zechariah and Elizabeth’s lives with something better. Nothing in our life happens by accident because God is in the details.
• 12.07.25 // Nothing Is Impossible for God // Luke 1:26-56 – To Mary’s surprise, the angel Gabriel told her of Christ’s coming birth. As she surrendered her future to God, she lived by the promise that nothing would be impossible for God.
• 12.14.25 // Prepare the Ways for Others to See Jesus // Luke 1:57-80 – At John the Baptist’s birth, his father, Zechariah, prophesied that he would prepare others to encounter Jesus. His ministry models the same type of work for us so that those far from Christ may experience an upclose view.
• 12.21.25 // Peace on Earth // Luke 2:1-20 – The angels announced the birth of Jesus to those who were least likely to receive such glorious news. Christ’s incarnation brings peace to a chaotic earth that longs for something more.
• 12.28.25 // Expectant to Experience Jesus // Luke 2:21-38 – Simeon and Anna both had an opportunity to encounter the newborn Jesus due to their prioritized habits. If we are to experience Jesus, we must stay expectant.