Sunday Morning Podcast | The Moody Church

To be alive in Christ is nothing short of a miracle! And it didn’t just happen; there was a purpose, a plan, and a promise. In fact, as the Apostle Paul is about to tell us in Ephesians 1 all three Persons of the One Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—have been collaborating from eternity past to eternity future on this very project of Salvation which is now ours by grace through faith in Christ.   It took all of Heaven to work this miracle to make us alive in Christ!   And as the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the church in Ephesus, he breaks forth in one of the most beautiful and transcendent choruses of worship to the Triune God who has saved us and made us alive in Christ. And it’s all to the praise of His glory!   Paul begins Ephesians 1 with a prayer of blessing that will saturate their minds with the truth of the Gospel and stir up their hearts in the worship of God. In so doing, Paul reminds them (and us) of three things: that we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by th

The letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians is all about what it means to be “Alive in Christ.”Have you ever wondered what it would take to come truly alive? To be alive in Christ is to be abundantly alive forevermore. In this series through Ephesians, we’ll be exploring this topic in detail.   The Book of Ephesians begins with a salutation that’s typical of 1st century correspondence. The author, Paul, is identified as writing to the church of Ephesus, the recipients. Paul starts the letter with a greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”   And that’s how the letter simply begins. But before we get any further into the letter, we need to first understand a bit of the setting and context of this letter. These are real people, corresponding in the real world, in light of real challenges.   1) Splendid Beginning:   The Ephesian church began with Gospel power and transformed lives.   They had transitioned from death to life, from darkness to light, from magic arts t

The resurrection changes everything. But for many people, the resurrection is just a fact until we get the call with the goodness that changes our lives.   In this Easter Sunday sermon, we explore 3 vignettes of people when they first discovered the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection had already taken place, but these are the three moments when they found out it was real, and it would change their lives forever.   1) Mary’s Encounter:   She suffered from severe demonic possession for many years. And it was Jesus who set her free. No one understood her like Jesus; He understood her trauma and pain. He was the one person in the whole world who’d seen her at her worst and lover her just the same.   So, when He was crucified and buried, her lifeline to freedom and healing was severed.   On resurrection morning, she was weeping and felt alone. But on that morning, she found the tomb empty, and when she met the resurrected Lord, something deep changed inside, and a joy welled up inside he

Throughout this series, we’ve seen how our orphan hearts tend to look to everything but God for the significance, security, and satisfaction we long for deep down. We’ve seen how we look to people, power, and possessions to know who we are. And, how they all end up letting us down.   But the good news is that we don’t have to live like orphans in this universe, always fending for ourselves. Jesus has made the way back home to our Father. He died in our place and for our sake. He exchanged identities with us. And He rose again so that we can come home to the Father by grace through faith in Christ.   Which means we can now live, not as orphans, but as children of God. Our truest, fullest, deepest, thickest, most durable and robust identity is simply to be: A child of God.   And as we wrap up the series, we’ll explore a few final insights on living as a Child of God.   1) The Worship of Identity:   Every single one of us has a sense of identity, a sense of self in this wide world. Now, what’s interes

In this sermon, we look at the 9th and final identity trap: Solomon aimed for satisfaction through possessions.   King Solomon was one of three great kings who ruled over Israel. King Solomon’s story is a fascinating and cautionary tale. The story begins fairly well and things seem to be going so great, but then Solomon kind of goes off the deep end and everything starts to fall apart. It’s only at the end of his life, when Solomon looks back on all his mistakes, that he begins to see life clearly.   They say, “It’s good to learn from your own mistakes, it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others.” Solomon made some big mistakes, so there’s a lot we can learn from him. We’ll look at his life in three parts:   1) Solomon’s Ascent: In the beginning, Solomon looked to the Lord for the good life.   Solomon became King when he was just 20 years old, and he loved the Lord. He walked in the statutes of David his father, following his example and counsel.   There was on only one small problem: Solomon

In this sermon, we look at Naomi’s identity trap: looking for satisfaction through power.   We meet Naomi in the Old Testament book of Ruth. Ruth is Naomi’s daughter-in-law. Usually, when we study this book, we’re focused in on the beautiful love story that takes place between Ruth and Boaz. And Naomi is sort of off on the sidelines like a supporting actor.   But, you could argue that it’s the other way around, that Naomi is in fact the main character and Ruth and Boaz are the supporting act. After all, the story begins with Naomi and ends with Naomi, and the marriage of Ruth and Boaz is really a subplot in the greater story of God’s loving-kindness in Naomi’s life.   This is the story of how an orphan-hearted widow learned to live as a beloved child of God.   1) Naomi: Bitter   Naomi is desperate for satisfaction, as her broken heart gives up on people and turns instead to power.   She is bitter and burnt, because  everyone she’s ever trusted has let her down. Without a husband, without sons and

In this sermon, we turn the corner to our desire for satisfaction and how that too so often leads us into the trap of looking to people, power, or possessions instead of the ultimate satisfaction that is ours in Jesus.   Our story is taking from John 4, where a find a pivotal conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well. We’ll focus in on this woman’s identity trap and how it is that Jesus frees her to find true satisfaction.   1) Her Trap   We find three clues to her identity trap scattered throughout this chapter. First, she’s drawing water at the wrong time of day. Second, the conversation she has with Jesus is about satisfaction, and imagery used is related to water. And third, Jesus calls out her string of broken marriages and relationships.   The Samaritan woman is seeking satisfaction through people. She’s living like an orphan, looking for love in all the wrong places.   2) Her Thirst   Jesus tells her that He can offer an endless supply of living water. And when she asks for

In this sermon, we explore Naaman’s security trap—seeking security through possessions. As we follow along in 2 Kings 5, we’ll discover a new and better identity as a child of God.   1) Naaman’s Hardship   Naaman’s story is somewhere in the middle 60 years of Elisha’s ministry. Naaman means “gracious.” He is the commander of the Syrian army, a war hero, and held in high favor by his king. In fact, Naaman had everything you could possibly want in life, exempt one thing: he was a leper. While he possessed a great deal in life and used it to secure himself against life’s vulnerabilities, there was one thing he did not possess: his own health.   But through an Israeli slave girl, Naaman learns of a prophet with the gift of healing. So, he brings his extensive wealth with him in the hopes of buying restoration.   Naaman is seeking security through possessions.   2) Naaman’s Humbling   When Naaman arrives in Israel, he is vexed by the prophet Elisha, who doesn’t treat him as expected. Naaman is told to

In this sermon, we look back over 3 millennia to the story of Gideon and his identity trap—seeking security through power.   1) Gideon’s Test   Gideon was a tribal warrior leader-judge. His story takes place between 1179-1154 BC and is recorded in the Book of Judges chapter 6. The context of the story is clear in the opening: the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They were disloyal and broke the covenant, and so God disciplined them through the oppression of the Midianites. Before the might and strength of the Midianites, the Israelites found themselves powerless and diminished. Yet even in disciplining them, God, in His great love, calls the people of Israel back and restores them through a rescue He is orchestrating.   Enter Gideon, whose name means “hacker.” We find him threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites.  An angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and informs him that the Lord chose him to rescue Israel. But Gideon is scared and feels powerless. He is l

In this sermon, we go back 2,500 years to the Medo-Persian Empire to discover Esther’s identity trap—seeking security through people. Through the story, we’ll see how God loves her out of her orphan-hearted identity and into the true security of living as a child of God.   Esther’s Secret: The story begins with King Xerxes casting his queen, Vashti, aside and seeking a new queen. In the process, Xerxes uses power to exploit and use women for his own purposes. And Esther is caught in the rounding up or young women into the king’s harem as he looks for a new queen. As she enters the palace and makes her way to the top of the system, Mordecai instructs her not to reveal her Jewish background. Mordecai is not trusting God, nor is he behaving life a faithful Israelite or protecting Esther. He’s using Esther to get ahead in Persian society. And Esther just wants to be safe, so she goes along with his plan. Esther’s identity is formed around finding security through people. She’ll be whomever she needs to be to

The Book of Ephesians is about God's plan for the fullness of time to unite all things throughout eternity. God’s plan is the biggest logistic undertaking of all time.   Against that backdrop, we get a prayer report from Paul in Ephesians 3 about the way he prays for the church. Paul's primary point is this: To grasp the breadth of the love of Christ, you need to view it alongside all the saints. You cannot get a the full view of Christ's love as an individual. Because both Jew and Gentile are now united in Christ, together we can approach the throve of God's grace to get a glimpse of His awesome love for us.   Takeaway: how can we be filled with all the "fullness of God"? We need to have unity with the church to grasp the love of God.   Ephesians 3:14-21   Speaker Bio: Dr. Peter Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House, Cambridge and an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He earned his M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. at Cambridge University studying ancient languages related to the Bible. H

In this sermon, we look at Zacchaeus’ identity trap—seeking significance through power.   1) Zacchaeus: Lost   Zacchaeus was one of the “bad guys” in the Bible because he was a chief tax collector and he was notoriously rich. Everyone knew him to be one of the wealthiest people in Jericho, and they hated him for it.   And that really was the identity trap of the tax-collectors. Wealth was what they lived for. They sold out their own people. They cheated and defrauded. They lived with scorn every day.   Zacchaeus built his identity around gaining influence through possessions.   But wealth was their fast-track to the kind of wealth and affluence that put them on the map. People might impugn their character, but they were impressed by the wealth. The tax-collectors made that trade all day long, and Zacchaeus most of all.   2) Zacchaeus: Found   Why would a rich man climb a tree to see Jesus? Think about it… Zacchaeus is wealthy and dignified, a senior leader in the world of finance. If he wanted

We often use Bible verses out of context to find rest for our weary souls. Can you relate to that?   In this sermon, we look at a passage that has much to say about finding the spiritual rest we long for. How do we enter God’s promised rest from Hebrews 4?   We React in Worship: Worship of the living God gives rest to our souls. We Rest in His Work: That which we trust in will be the source of our rest. We Repent in Watchfulness: Everyone’s deeds will one day be exposed, so your response to God is what’s most important.   Takeaway: God’s Word is living, conquering, and exposing so that we might see our need and draw near to His throne of grace.   Hebrews 4:11–13 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all ar

In this sermon, we look at Jacob’s identity trap: seeking significance through power. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and the father of Joseph. His story gives us a powerful look at the deep identity transformation God wants to bring into each one of our lives.   We’ll look at three parts to Jacob’s story:   Jacob’s Upbringing: Jacob’s identity is built around gaining significance through power. He wants to be recognized as the leader of the family, successful and prosperous, favored with the blessing of God. And he pursues this by scheming, controlling, and manipulating others. Jacob grabs significance by the throat and makes sure he gets it, no matter what. He won’t leave it up to chance, and he won’t leave it up to God. He wants to power his way into significance. We see this play out in the story of Esau when Jacobs steals his inheritance and manipulates Isaac into Esau’s birthright. Jacob’s Sojourning: Having enraged Esau, Jacob flees and seeks refuge in the family of Laban. It is in the care

Following Jesus is basically learning to live out our new identity in Christ. But it’s difficult because we’ve spent so much of our lives living from our orphan identities. To live from our new identity as children of God requires intention and practice. We must unlearn the heart-habits of orphanhood and embrace the heart-habits of childlikeness.   To help us do this, we’re going to look at different Bible characters throughout this series, one for each of the 9 identity traps, and their journey of identity transformation from living as orphans to living as children of God.   In this sermon, we look at Joseph’s identity trap: seeking significance through people.   Joseph was the great-grandson of Abraham. His is an amazing story, because not only is God bringing salvation to His people through Joseph’s life-story, He is also bringing about deep transformation in Joseph’s identity along the way.   The story has three key points:   Joseph’s Dream: Joseph’s identity is built around gaining significan

Who are you? How would you answer this question?   In the coming weeks, we’ll explore the stories of nine different characters in the Bible, who each tried to build their identities in all the wrong places, and then discovered the kind of wholeness that only God can give. And in considering their lives, we’ll discover the identity traps we fall into, and the identity Christ offers us that changes everything.   In this sermon, we explore a biblical and theological framework for understanding our identity and mapping our own hearts.   Identity is, at its core, a sense of self. It distinguishes us from the people around us. It gives clarity to our place in this world. And it turns out that a sense of self is meaningful when it meets three, deep-seated, underlying needs:   Significance Security Satisfaction   Now, this is where theology comes in, because the Bible tells us that we were created in the image and likeness of God. We were created to know God as our Father, and to know ourselves as His

The Book of Joel was written to the people of Judah and Jerusalem as a warning, but its truths are just as applicable to us today as they were thousands of years ago.   The historical context of the book is Judah's pattern of revival and decline, and in these passages Judah is falling into the same apostasy that plagued Israel.   The prophet Joel cries out to people for a deep, sincere, and authentic commitment to God. In these passages, Joel brings a basic message of wholehearted return to God with a promise of a second chance.   Joel gives three warnings we should heed today:   Sin The Consequences of Sin The Solution for Sin   Takeaway: what is it that God wants you do to to return to Him?   Joel 1:1-12

Have you ever experienced a kind of whiplash after Christmas? All the wonder, joy, peace on earth, goodwill toward men, all is cheery and bright…and then January hits. Bills come due. Reality sets in.   Christmas often seems like a feel-good season that’s disconnected from the troubles of the real life. A mass-marketed departure from reality. We pretend like everything’s great, even though we know it’s not.   Modern Christmas can feel so commercialized, pretend, filtered. But you can’t say that of the very first Christmas. In this sermon we dive deep into a very raw series of events that took place in the days of Jesus’ infancy. There’s nothing commercialized, pretend, or filtered about these events.   The Bible tells us Jesus was born not into a pretend world of Christmas cheer but a rough, hostile, and broken world. He’s a real Savior for the real troubles of a real world.   In this passage from Matthew 2:13-23, we find Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fleeing in the night. It’s going to teach us three thing

Who has Jesus come for? The angel told Joseph: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” His name means “The Lord saves,” because He will save his people from their sins.   But who are “his people?” Who is it that Jesus has come to save?   Now, from our vantage point the answer seems obvious: Jesus came for all people!   But when Jesus first showed up, it wasn’t quite so obvious. After all, Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of Israel, a Jewish Savior for the Jewish people. And of course, Jesus did come for Israel.   But more than that, Jesus is the hope of all the world! It’s interesting that Matthew has already hinted at the fact that Jesus has come, not just for Israel, but for the entire world. Matthew goes out of his way in the genealogy from chapter 1 to show us not only that God can work scandals to His glory but also that God is including Gentiles (non-Jewish people) in His redemptive plan.   And just so we don’t miss the point that Jesus came for all

There’s so much joy and merriment at Christmastime. After all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! And yet, for many of us, Christmastime also carries a deep underlying ache. Empty chairs. Broken hearts. Dashed hopes. Because despite what the fairy tales told us, not all our dreams came true, and “happily ever after’s” seem cheaply foreign to the stories we live in.   And amidst all the romantic idealism of Christmas cheer, we just can’t shake the reality of life’s shattered dreams, can we?   It’s helpful to remember that the very first Christmas wasn’t brimming with romantic idealism and cheery sentimentality. In fact, it all begins with shattered dreams.   Mary and Joseph had dreams of how their lives would go. Everything was going according to plan. All their dreams were coming true, until that very first Christmas, when their lives were upended, their plans were canceled, and their dreams were shattered.   What do you do when your dreams are shattered? When your past feels devastating? Your