These are sermons delivered during the Sunday morning worship services of Keystone Church, an Evangelical Free Church in Paradise, PA, USA. Please visit www.keystonechurch.org for more information.
Kyle Kauffman | May 5 2024 Faith is fueled by the promise of a better reward. As a result, faith is willing to give up all the “rewards” of this world. Faith knows that all this world offers to is only temporary and fading. But all that God promises to us is eternal and imperishable. In other words, faith operates with a whole different value system. It believes that God and all he promises to us is better than this world and all its fleeting praise, pleasure, and comfort. As a result, faith is willing to endure hardship and suffering in life. Faith believes there is something better that is worthy experiencing suffering and hardship to gain.
Kyle Kauffman | Apr. 28 2024 Christians are called to live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). And yet can also be accused of having blind faith in this life. The reality is that everyone lives by faith in certain areas of their lives. In our own time, the words, “You just need to believe” are a common refrain. And often the object of that belief is simply ourselves. The Christian puts his or her faith in a far greater object then self or any other human. We put our faith in the God who created this world and his Word. As a result, we live our lives seeking to gain what he has promised to us. We are willing to give up things this world values because we value the reward God offers more. In this way faith may look foolish in the eyes of the world, but faith is living for what can never be found in this world.
Kyle Kauffman | Apr. 21 2024 How can I be sure? That’s a question we might ask in all sorts of areas in our lives. And yet there may be no more important place we ask this then when we ask, “How can I be sure I am saved?” Or “How can I be sure I will remain a Christian?” A lack of assurance can be a terrible thing to endure. A false sense of assurance can lead to terrible consequences. But a true assurance of salvation is a wonderful thing to have. And it’s something God wants us to have. We should not base our assurance on our own feelings, a previous prayer, or a powerful conversion story. Neither should we dissolve into endless self-reflection that may cause us to doubt our salvation. In Hebrews 10:19-39 we find God gives us a better way to find and hold onto an assurance of salvation. He gives us the place to look for assurance, a practice to maintain assurance, a problem that can (and should) undermine our assurance, and proof that can help our assurance.
Joel Wlld | Apr. 7 2024 It’s easy for us to overlook the ascension of Jesus back to Heaven. In fact, it is often the event of Jesus’ life that gets the least amount of focus. We hear Jesus’ words, “It is to your advantage that I go away” and are left dumfounded and confused. Wouldn’t it have been better if He stayed here on this earth and lived among us right now? Wouldn’t most of our personal and global struggles be eliminated if He was still here? In answering those questions and the bigger question of “What if Jesus didn’t ascend back to heaven?” we discover that Jesus’ ascension has life-changing implications for our lives both now and in the future. The truth and reality is, it is good news for us that Jesus ascended back to heaven forty days after He rose from the dead.
Kyle Kauffman | Mar. 31 2024 Most historians agree that a man named Jesus lived in the first century and died by crucifixion at the hands of the Roman Empire. Yet many believe this was the end of the story of Jesus. What if this really was the end of story? What if Jesus remained in the grave and he was never truly raised back to life like the gospels say he was? We often take for granted that Jesus rose back to life because we’ve heard the Easter Story so frequently. But we can push our hearts and minds to consider just how significant this event was and is by dwelling on the question: “What if Jesus Wasn’t Raised from the Dead?” We find Paul playing out this exact scenario in 1 Corinthians 15 as he details what it would mean for us if Jesus’ death was the end of the story. Thankfully, Paul points to good reasons we have to believe that Jesus really was risen from the dead. And It’s because this event really did happen that our lives can truly be changed by Jesus.