Sermon Series Titles

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picture of a peeled tangerine with orange segments in front

The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, and it grow in us through the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. It is not a collection of fruits, but rather part of one larger fruit, like the segments of an orange rather than a bunch of grapes. Pastor Ryan gives a deep dive into these segments in this series from the winter of 2025.

January 12 – Being Fruitful – Introduction
January 29 – Love
January 26 – Joy
February 2 – Peace
February 9 – Patience
February 16 –Kindness
February 23 – Goodness
March 2 – Faithfulness
March 9 – Gentleness
March 16 – Self-Control

Pastor Ryan led us in this prayer by John Stott:

“Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

One book Pastor Ryan is using as a basis for this sermon series is Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness, by Christopher Wright.

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

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Jesus is the “Reason for the Season”. But what were his reasons for leaving heaven and coming here to live among us? Pastor Ryan’s 2024 Advent sermon series “The Reason He Came” explores this question.

December 1 – To do the Father’s Will
December 8 – To give Abundant Life
December 15 – To Save the World
December 22 – To Bear Witness to the Truth

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

Stained-glass windows in St. Malachy’s Church in Castlewellan, County Down, depicting the presentation of baby Jesus by Mary and Joseph to the shepherds (taken September 2020)

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Pastor Ryan’s 2024 sermon series “Heroes & Villains in the Bible” looks at a variety of characters in each category — and some who are in both!

September 15 – Jezebel – definitely a villain. Buy why, exactly?
September 22 – Jonathan – the best of friends
September 29 – Ananias and Sapphira – doing good things, but for what purpose?
October 6 – Deborah – Answering the call to unexpected adventure!
October 13 – Jonah – really, really didn’t like those people
October 20 – Cain – really, really annoyed at the unfairness of life
October 27 – Uzziah – when success becomes too much
November 3 – Balaam (& his Donkey) – why we do things matters
November 10 – The Thief on the Cross – it’s never too late for Jesus’ love
(sermon by John McGregor)
November 17 – Give Me the Hill Country! – taking what God has promised
(sermon by Bernie Van Der Walle)
November 24 – John Mark – getting ready to serve

Sermon Image by Muhammad Usman Nazeer Gilani from Pixabay

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Pastor Ryan’s Advent series for 2023 sermon is called “And He Will Be Called…”. It is based on the names given to the Messiah in the O Antiphons, a set of prayers from the early church liturgy that is best known to us in the verses of the carol “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. He looks at the four verses in the hymnal that we use, one for each of the Sundays in Advent.

December 3: Desire of Nations
December 10: Wisdom
December 17: Dayspring (Rising Sun)
December 24: Emmanuel

Image by Jeff Jacobs on Pixabay

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Pastor Ryan’s Fall 2023 sermon collection “Nuggets and Pearls” is based on the book of Proverbs. Each sermon is on a different topic and they can be listened to in any order.

October 15: Learning for Life (about learning)
October 29: Well… I Heard… (gossip)
November 5: It’s a Zoo in Here (wisdom from a few unlikely beasties)
November 12: The Long View (the godly prosper while the wicked suffer, or do they?)
November 19: A Prayer for Enough (“two things I beg of you…”)
November 26: Invitations to Feast (Wisdom and Folly and how to tell them apart)

Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash

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Pastor Ryan’s Fall 2023 sermon series “Generosity” is inspired by a series of videos put out by the CBWC Foundation on that topic. You can watch the videos there.

The key verse for the series, chosen by the Foundation, is the words of Jesus in Luke 6:38: “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

路 加 福 音 6:38: ” 你 们 要 给 人 ， 就 必 有 给 你 们 的 ， 并 且 用 十 足 的 升 斗 ， 连 摇 带 按 ， 上 尖 下 流 的 倒 在 你 们 怀 里 ； 因 为 你 们 用 甚 麽 量 器 量 给 人 ， 也 必 用 甚 麽 量 器 量 给 你 们 。”

(Pastor Ryan notes that this is not an invitation to bargain with God by giving with the expectation of getting more financial return. It is an attitude of the heart and part of the larger principle of treating others with compassion, the way God treats us.)

  1. Why Give?
  2. How Should We Give?
  3. Where Should We Give?
  4. How Much Should We Give?
  5. Giving: A Transformation of the Heart

He also did some other sermons on the general topic of Giving:

Pastor Ryan recommends these three books as good resources on the topic of giving and generosity:

  • God and Your Stuff (The Vital Link Between Your Possessions and Your Soul) – Wesley K. Willmer
  • Your Money Counts (now more than ever) – Howard Dayton
  • How to be Rich (It’s not what you have…it’s what you do with what you have) – Andy Stanley

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

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Pastor Ryan’s sermon series “The Flawed Yet Faithful” looks at a few of the people on the list of the “faithful” in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews. Sometimes this list is called “The Heroes of the Faith”. Each of them was flawed but used by God in mighty ways. What can we learn from them so that God can also use us in spite of our flaws?  

  1. Flawed, but NOT Faithful (Rehoboam)
  2. Abraham
  3. Moses
  4. Rahab
  5. Samson

Photo by Danny Nee on Unsplash

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The book of 1 Timothy is a letter from the Apostle Paul to a young man named Timothy. It gives Timothy instructions for instructing the leadership of the local church in Ephesus. But church leadership is not just for the pastor. Deacons and other ministry leaders are chosen from within the church body. Timothy’s instructions apply to everyone in the church who might ever be a leader, or worshiper, of any sort — which is all of us.

Pastor Ryan walks us through the book of 1 Timothy, including the controversial parts. What can we learn from Paul’s letter for our church today?

  1. Resolve for Truth – 1 Timothy 1:1-11
  2. God’s Generous Grace – 1 Timothy 1:12-20
  3. Prayer in Worship – 1 Timothy 2:1-8
  4. Learning in Worship – 1 Timothy 2:9-15
  5. Leadership is Serious Business – 1 Timothy 3:1-13
  6. The Mysterious Pillar of Faith – 1 Timothy 3:14-16
  7. Stay Focused – 1 Timothy 4
  8. More than Just a Word About Widows – 1 Timothy 5:1-16
  9. Not So Easy – 1 Timothy 5:17 – 6:2a
  10. Let’s Not Quibble About Being Content – 1 Timothy 6:2b-10
  11. Run Away! – 1 Timothy 6:11-21

Photo by Wylly Suhendra on Unsplash

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Mary, Zechariah, the Angels, and Simeon all rejoiced at the coming of the baby Saviour. Pastor Ryan’s 2022 Advent sermon series looks at all four of these New Testament songs and prophecies.

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash