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Pastor Matt Tarr
Christmas Service
Scripture: Luke 2:36-38
One woman, Anna, stood in a family lineage of belief in stark contrast to a tribe and nation of unbelief and idolatry. More importantly, the testimony of her life proved the validity of her brief message, announcing Jesus as the gift of salvation. What about her made her so credible? Luke provides the answer.
Add. Ref.: Lamentations 4:9-10
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Pastor Matt Tarr – AM Sermon
Scripture: Luke 2:25-35
After a lifetime of anticipation, a man’s first Christmas gift is also his last after seeing the very Son of God. Not much is known about the man, except three of the most important characteristics that could ever be ascribed to anyone. He was declared righteous, pursued the Comforter, and was filled with the Spirit of God.
Add. Ref.: Philippians 2:3-7; Isaiah 40:1-2; 39:6; 40:6-8
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Pastor Matt Tarr – PM Sermon
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
American Christianity has long ago compromised on the exclusivity of the Gospel message, opting instead for the same ecumenicalism of the Roman Catholic Church. Christ is no longer believed to be the way, the truth, and the life. This kind of “wide-mercy” view of salvation is not the way of Scripture, but for Roman Catholicism, their ecumenicalism presents another problem: they have canonized infallibly that salvation cannot be granted to anyone unless they submit to the pope. Their position today contradicts that, presenting their system with some major problems.
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Pastor Matt Tarr – AM Sermon
Scripture: Mark 8:22-26
Mark 8 presents the first account in the Gospel of Mark of a healing of a blind man, but the story proposes numerous questions, perhaps chief among them being, “Why did Jesus heal the man in two stages?” This is the only time He does that, and it is also the only time when Jesus asks the recipient of a healing a question, rather than making a pronouncement. Is there a reason?
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Pastor Matt Tarr – AM Sermon
Scripture: Mark 8:11-21
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod have shown themselves to be dangerous enemies of Christ and His mission time and time again. It would seem natural then that Jesus would warn His disciples to beware the influence of their leaven. But as soon as He says, “leaven,” all the disciples seem interested in is bread. Jesus, disappointed with their lack of perceptiveness to spiritual truth, reminds them that the spiritual things are far more important than the physical.
Add. Ref.: Psalm 119: 18, 32, 36, 72
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Pastor Matt Tarr – PM Sermon
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
If salvation is in any way dependent on man, then it would stand to reason that eternal security also depends on him. In fact, it’s for that very reason that Roman Catholics and Arminians reject the perseverance of the saints. However, Scripture clearly teaches that salvation itself is wholly a grace gift of God, and so is the believer’s perseverance to the end.
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Pastor Matt Tarr – AM Sermon
Scripture: Mark 8:11-13
The moment Jesus arrives once again in Galilee, He is instantly met with the hostility of the Pharisees and the Jews who demand a sign to validate His message. But after having witnessed all He had already done in Galilee, just what were they looking for? Regardless, Jesus refused to oblige them saying, “No sign will be given to you,” and for a very important reason.
Add. Ref.: John 15:23, 8:19; 2 Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 7:10-17; Psalm 95:8-11; Matt. 12:38-42; 16:1-4
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Pastor Matt Tarr – PM Sermon
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
What better reason do we have to be thankful than in the reality that man is saved by God’s grace alone? After all, it’s because of the complete nature of Christ’s cross-work that we can be confident that His grace is sufficient for salvation. However, the Roman Catholic Mass makes a gross mockery of God’s grace, and find out why the true Christian can never participate in the event.
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Pastor Matt Tarr – AM Sermon
Scripture: Mark 8:1-10
Many contemporary “scholars” have rejected Mark’s account of Jesus’ feeding of the 4,000 in Decapolis, pointing to the many similarities between this account, and the feeding of the 5,000 near Bethsaida. What they fail to see, however, are the many dissimilarities between the two accounts. In fact, it is because of one major dissimilarity, that this miracle in Mark 8 communicates a whole new message to Mark’s audience in Rome.
Add. Ref.: Acts 2:1-4
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Pastor Matt Tarr – PM Sermon
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
In the words of the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, “If anything is hated bitterly, it is the out-and-out gospel of the grace of God… [But] if you remove grace out of the gospel, the gospel is gone. If the people do not like the doctrine of grace, give them all the more of it.” This is most definitely true. The gospel itself demands salvation by grace through faith alone. And if you understand the nature of man, you’ll understand why. It is because of our totally depraved condition, that grace is a Divine necessity.