Why pray if God already knows what’s going to happen before it happens?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and points out that most Christians will readily agree that God is sovereign… but how many have actually stopped to examine what that really means – and then to understand how God’s providence and decrees fit in within all that? Well Genesis 27, among other things, gives us a beautiful picture of the relationship between God’s eternal decrees and His providential means of carrying those decrees out. …And then you’ll know why you should pray.
Description: When do you pray? For most of us, we pray only when we are in trouble and desperate. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and explains that we do this because our “default setting” is self-reliance instead of trusting God. In today’s passage we see a proper perspective of prayer:… a perspective that shows us that we shouldn’t pray when we are desperate – rather we should realize just how desperate we always are.
Description: Chapter 24: it’s the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. But instead of it being a great theological treatise, what we find is a love story. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that unlike the love stories we may be accustomed to, this one doesn’t start with “boy meets girl;” rather, this love story begins with faithful Abraham commanding his servant Eliezer to put his hand under his thigh… vowing before the Lord.
Description: Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and takes us to chapter 23 – a chapter which, admittedly, following Abraham binding his son Isaac to the alter as as a sacrificial offering to the Lord in the previous chapter…may seem a bit anti-climatic. In chapter 23, we see that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, has died… But instead of focusing on her death, Abraham enters into a land negotiation.
Why is this all here, and what is God showing us through it? …The answer may surprise you.
Description: It’s a living parable of substitutionary sacrifice with extraordinary theological and historical significance. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis, where we find ourselves starting in chapter 22 with a test of Abraham, but concluding in the pages of the New Testament with a picture of redemption… redemption found only in Jesus Christ.
Description: It’s a Bible passage that commentaries and sermon series often skip over. Today on Scandia Bible Church podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues our verse-by-verse preaching through the book of Genesis… and doesn’t skip any of them – including Genesis 21:22-34… a cluster of verses that may, at first, seem “mundane,” hidden between the birth of Isaac, sending Ishmael away, and God’s testing of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. But what we’ll find is that this often skipped passage has much to teach us about God’s faithfulness to fulfill all His promises.
…Such is much of the life of a Christian. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis in which he teaches that we can either wait in frustration for the passing – temporal – things, or we can wait in anticipation for God bringing about His purposes and how they will work themselves out in our lives. Either way, waiting teaches us life lessons that can’t be learned anywhere else … as we learn to endure with faith and patience.
“The fairest marbles have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the sun, we must not expect anything spotless under it.”
— the great Puritan Commentator, Matthew Henry, concerning Genesis Chapter 20.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and points out that no truer words than those penned by Henry were spoken about Abraham… or about us, for that matter. Because you see, Genesis Chapter 20 is not a chapter recorded to Abraham’s honor, but it is recorded to God’s grace.
Description: Sometimes there are places in the Bible that a pastor doesn’t want to preach on – or for that matter, touch with a 10-foot pole! Our passage this morning is just such a passage. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis verse by verse, to show us that even in the midst of heinous sin, we see the amazing abundance of God’s grace towards the sinner…God’s grace, towards us.
Description: Catastrophic judgment. That’s how we often view the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible… and in many ways it is. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis to show us that when we view Sodom and Gomorrah as “catastrophic judgement,” we skip over – in the midst of this judgment – God’s compassion and mercy that come to all who trust in Him. Because you see, from Genesis to Revelation, judgement and mercy are always coupled together… and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is no different.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that this “friend” was Abraham. And one of the ways this friendship was manifest was when God took him into intimate council before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – an act in which we not only see God’s reassurance to Abraham of His justice, but we also see a glimpse into an intimacy that foreshadowed, if even in a small way, the intimacy that Christ purchased for us.
God knows your every thought and can see everything that is in your heart.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and explains that if you are fearful about God’s ability to know everything you keep from others, you’re not alone. In our passage we’ll see that even Sarah felt this way when God rebuked her while she was laughing in her heart. But what we’ll also see is that God’s ability to see into our heart is actually part of the Gospel, part of the good news of God’s love poured out in the work of Jesus Christ.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Heb 13:2)
Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (Deu 7:9)
Description: God gave Abraham a sign of His covenant with him,
…and now Abraham was carving that sign into his flesh.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and explains that when Abraham was 99 years old, God commanded him and all his household to undergo circumcision. Abraham’s response: immediate obedience – an obedience that didn’t make him acceptable before the Lord though, but one that sprang forth from God’s gracious dealings with him… gracious dealings that preceded Abraham’s response of faith.
Description: But He Promised! It’s been 23 years since God brought Abram to Canaan. Where’s the land? Where are the children? Did He forget? What was God doing??? And why does He always make us wait and wait and wait?
It may seem that God is never on our time-frame. But, rest assured, He has His reasons. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis where we find out in Abraham’s case, God wasn’t dragging His feet…
He was busy making the improbable, the impossible.
… so He could reveal Himself as God Almighty, the All-Sufficient One, who can do anything and everything He has promised.
Your patience has run out… and, frankly, your faith is wavering.
Ever gotten to that place? Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that Abram’s wife, Sarai, has. In fact, her experience was such that she attempted – by her own effort – to bring about the promises of God. The results were disastrous.
“Genesis Chapter 15 may well be one of the MOST IMPORTANT chapters in the Old Testament.”
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis, where we find ourselves in this very important 15th chapter. And as Pastor Simao will will develop in our message today: nowhere else will you find the Covenant of Grace so well pictured… and the Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone so beautifully stated, than in this chapter. In fact, the 15th chapter of Genesis is so important that even the Apostle Paul would end up using it to develop the Doctrine of Justification in his letters to the Romans and the Galatians.
…Perhaps one of the most mysterious characters of the Old Testament.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and explains that Melchizedek was not only the king of Salem (a place that we presently identify as Jerusalem), but he was also a priest of God. What made this king and priest mysterious, though, was that he foreshadowed – and pointed expectations forward – to the perfect, Kingly reign and Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Description: Are you resting in the promises of God? Abram did.
He gave his nephew, Lot, choice of the land. His nephew looked around – and even though the people who lived there were exceedingly wicked – his choice was clear: the fertile valley. It was lush, and it pleased him.
Abram gave up his preference of the land and instead rested in the promises of God.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shares with us that, oftentimes, the way of the Christian may not seem as profitable as the way of the world. Lot’s way was fertile, and the people lived in cities. Abram’s way was arid, and he lived in tents. But while one way sees the “fertile valley” and a future of possibilities, the other is the sure way. …For it sees the living God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
Description: Spiritual Giant or Faithless Coward? What do you think of when you hear the name Abraham?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that
Abraham is often described as the “Father of the Faith”
…but as we will see in our message, Abraham is given that title not because of his mighty faith and obedience (because just like you and I, he falls short), but because he is the spiritual fatherof all who believe the promises of God. In other words, it’s not Abraham’s faith that earns him the epitaph… but rather our Almighty God who is proven faithful.
Description: When God calls… do you answer?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis, in which we come across one of the most pivotal moments in redemptive history: God’s call of Abram – the father of all those who believe… the line in which God chose to make a great nation and ultimately deliver His Son, Jesus Christ. Pivotal indeed. But it’s also pivotal because we learn a lot in this moment in history. We learn that there is nothing “super-human” about Abram – he’s more like us than we think… And we learn that God is more amazing than we ever dared imagine.
Sermon Archives
Given New Life
in SBC Classic Edition
We’re in the process of digging through the colossal SBC Sermon Archive Library to bring forth the rich and timeless Biblical Truths found within the hundreds and hundreds of sermon cassettes from yesteryear, in our Tape to Podcast Project.
Currently on the workbench:
The Jim Allen Lamentations Study (1998-1999) has joined our SBC Classic Edition.
The Jim Allen MARK Study (1999-2001) is (finally) complete! …as part of our SBC Classic Edition.
Watch our Steeple Study grow! … Great for a listen-study through a book or series.
Our Find-A-Sermon resource page helps you find what you’re looking for.
With the increased release of sermons from our archives, SBC Classic Edition is now podcasting on its own dedicated feed, separate from our current Sunday sermons.
Sermon Notes
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