What does faith look like when the promises of God collide with death?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our Hall of Faith study in the book of Hebrews in which we examine the final moments of the patriarchs as they face death with their eyes toward the future…toward the horizon.
They know that death will not hinder the promises of God in any way and that the future will continue to unveil God’s perfect plan — which will be moving forward until that great day of consummation and resurrection.
He was commanded to perform an impossible task: sacrifice his son.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrew’s Hall of Faith in which the spotlight is, once again, for Abraham.
But for us — we have questions:
How does faith overcome the natural objections that must arise from a such horrific command?
How does faith pass a test, such as this, given by God?
And how does Abraham’s example of his undeniable willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, point to the promise of God for all believers?
It not only guides the way in which we live and walk in this life, but it also desires and searches for a home that this fallen world cannot provide — the heart of faith.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and explains that in God, we as Christians, are satisfied.
…Which also means that we are dissatisfied with anything less.
Therefore, our hearts will only rest when we find the home that God has prepared for us, where we will dwell in His presence forever.
Description: Have you ever been away a long time from home? Perhaps a month, or even a year? Well, Jacob had been gone for 30 years, and his homecoming brought with it pleasure along with pain.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao returns to the pulpit – after having been away himself for a time to mourn the loss of his son, Isaiah.
He continues with our study in the book of Genesis and reminds us that when it comes to pleasure and pain, most things in life are a mixture of the two. But take note: God is not only with us in our pleasure, He too is with us in our pain… and He proves sufficient for all that He brings into our life.
Description: The “School of Hard Knocks” – a school that no one would voluntarily enroll… But sometimes God has other plans. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that oftentimes God uses trials and difficulties to grow and sanctify us – especially when our lives pattern that of Jacob: lives governed by worship of self and deceit. Yes…
When it comes to the School of Hard Knocks, we may desire to skip, but God ensures we attend.
…if for no other purpose than to build our character and faith in Him alone.
Description: His bags were packed, and he had left for Haran to secure a wife; but what Jacob didn’t know was that God was already ahead of him to secure his heart. Yes…
Jacob was on “Operation Wife,” but God was on “Operation Jacob.”
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that some of the most difficult things we go through in life are but the hand of God molding us into the person He wants us to be: sanctifying us as He removes the chaff.
Description: The story of Jacob’s ladder has captured the attention of generations of people far and wide, as we hear in popular music and in church Sunday Schools across America…. yet the real meaning and significance of Jacob’s vision has largely remained unknown. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that in the New Testament, Jesus, Himself, tells us that He is the promise of Jacob’s Ladder and the only gate to heaven… And the only one who makes God to dwell with man.
Description: Even with all of his deception, Jacob gets sent off by his father, Isaac, with the blessing of Abraham and the promises of the Covenant-Keeping God. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that, in addition, from this very deceiver God would name Israel. Because the story of the Patriarchs is not a story of sinlessness, but a story of grace…and it’s our story as well.
Description: God’s will cannot be thwarted. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that when the patriarch Isaac attempts to do just that… the result leaves him trembling in fear.
Description: What is the spiritual atmosphere in your home? Sure, if you have children, you likely teach them about who God is and what He requires… with your words.
How often, though, do your ACTIONS teach for you things that you’d never say out loud?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis in which we’ll see that even in the midst of our failings, God is able to bring about His purposes; and that His grace is always evident as He providentially carries out His decrees.
Description: Imagine, you live in the desert. Water is precious, difficult to come by. Your family and livestock depend on its very presence for life. The Lord has blessed you though, for you have a well dug a generation before that generously supplies this need. Your neighbor, however, is stirred with envy by your abundance and by what your well represents… so much so that he wishes you didn’t have it — so he takes it away, filling your well to the brim with dirt.
How do you respond? What’s your tendency in situations like this?
Do you fight? …or do you “lay down your arms?”
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis in which we see this very scenario play out the in the life of Isaac… and it is through this narrative that we see that whether we choose to be fighters or pacifists is not really the issue… the issue is the attitude of our hearts, our understanding of the Gospel, and whether or not we really trust God.
Description: Are the sins of a father doomed to be repeated in the life of his child? Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis where we watch Isaac follow in the sinfulness of his father, and yet, in spite of Isaac’s failings, God remains faithful.
Description: The doctrine of Election… Perhaps no where in the Bible is it seen more clearly than in Genesis Chapter 25 and Apostle Paul’s explanation of it in Romans Chapter 9. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the Book of Genesis and shares with us that the doctrine of Election is not some philosophical ethereal kind of “shelf doctrine,” but rather the picture of God’s sovereignty in the affairs of men and the way of salvation.
Description: One wedding and two funerals… It would seem, using simple math, that the bad would outweigh the good. But not in this case.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Genesis and shows us that in the first half of chapter 25 these very ceremonies are recorded. But instead of an overwhelm of despair, we see the baton of God’s promise pass to a new generation, and we see the hope of God’s people – which extends beyond the grave.
The three wives of Abraham and his sons: Sarah and Isaac (center); Hagar and Ishmael (left); and Keturah and her children (right) – Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
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: 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.
…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.
Description: After Jephthah’s defeat of the Ammonites and the wicked sacrifice of his own daughter, his troubles are not over. He is rebuked by the Ephraimites and ends up fighting against them and over 40,000 Ephraimites die. Israelite killing Israelite.
With all of the sinfulness and tragedy in the life of Jephthah, the book of Judges is not the only place we see mention of his name. Jephthah surprisingly is listed in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. We explore how Jephthah might have “made the cut”.
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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Sermon Notes
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