Mars Hill Church | Sermons | Audio

Jesus says that people are prone to worship God or money. Money, perhaps along with sex, is the most pernicious, pervasive idol in our culture today. Despite whatever the Bible has to say about it, it’s a topic that’s met with the greatest resistance. This sermon looks at what God’s word has to say about issues of stewardship, and greed versus generosity.

God is our Father. He’s our Dad. One thing that separates Christians from other religions is the fact that we believe God to be a loving Dad whom we can pray to anytime, anywhere. In fact, Jesus himself shows us how. In this sermon, Pastor Mark leads us through the Lord’s Prayer.

The church moves forward against an increasingly strong headwind of suffering, persecution, and opposition, and this text is a case study of why Christians suffer and how they should.

With the cross approaching, Jesus pauses in John 17 to pray his longest prayer in all of the Scriptures. Therein, we are privileged to listen to the inner dialogue of the Trinity as God the Son speaks to God the Father through God the Holy Spirit.

Peter stands up in front of his adversaries and proclaims that the Jesus whom they killed was indeed the suffering servant and the Christ—the long-awaited Messiah, come to save them. Christian, despite inevitable backlash, follow Peter. Speak and the Holy Spirit will give you that courage. And by doing so, you’ll be helping bring people to God and bringing God much glory.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus was regularly approached by people asking for healing, and he healed them. The question is, can he do the same today? This sermon explores others as well: Why is there sickness? Does healing replace traditional medicine? Is all healing from God? Why does God heal? Can everyone receive healing in this life? When will all of God’s people receive healing? And more.

When the Holy Spirit shows up, the church springs into being: people are born again and they become, together, the people of God. But what is church? And what do good churches look like? One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is what church you’ll call home. And in order to find a good one, first you’ll need to know what a good church comprises.

There’s a big difference between being spiritual, religious, or moral, and being born again to new life in Christ. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What does it mean to be born again? Pastor Mark Driscoll explains in this special sermon from Saddleback Church in Southern California.

We love Spirit-empowered preaching because through it, non-Christians become Christians, Christians become more like Jesus, and the mission of Jesus moves forward. But what exactly is Spirit-empowered preaching? Using the sermon at Pentecost preached by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2 as an example, Pastor Dave Bruskas takes a look at the things that distinguish a sermon inspired by the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 2, Jesus’ promise is fulfilled: the Holy Spirit descends on his disciples, readying them to go and proclaim the gospel to all nations. He does this by giving them the gift of tongues, a symbol of the fact that barriers of location and language have now been removed. What is this gift? Can every Christian get it? Is it for today? What happens when its private use goes public?

How did the disciples begin executing the biggest mission in the history of the world? The Bible says that while waiting for the Holy Spirit, they devoted themselves to prayer—they talked to God. The apostles led by following Scripture—through it, God responded. Consequently, the early church experienced success—but not without undergoing failure first. What can we learn from what they did?

Picking up where the Gospel of Luke left off, the book of Acts describes how Jesus, having finished his work on the Cross, begins to build his kingdom on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit. This power has been given to all Christians, to be used properly, following the example set by Jesus. How was Jesus empowered by the Spirit? How is he using this power to accomplish his mission?

When was the last time you felt like you got shot—emotionally, relationally, financially, spiritually? What we tend to do in those moments is look up and ask, “God, where are you? I thought you were good.” What we need to know is that it’s not just us and God. There’s a third variable: Satan and his demons. We are in a war. Do you know your enemy? Your king? What weapons are you using to fight?

Pastor Steve looks in Matthew 20:18-20 to see what the mother of the Sons of Zebedee got right and what she got wrong.

In this special episode, we take a break from our regular Ephesians sermon series to bring you footage of Pastor Mark Driscoll’s first of two sessions at the 2012 Resurgence Conference. For more information on the conference DVD set and this year’s Resurgence conference, head to resurgenceconference.com.