Hickory Grove Sunday Sermon Podcast
Michael McEwen
Welcome to Hickory Grove's Sunday Sermon Podcast. We hope you enjoy the teachings we offer each week as we seek to hear and herald the voice of the Resurrected Christ.
Episodes
Lent: Facing Toward God
Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 1:5-8, 26-40 | What you face toward says something about what you enjoy, love, like, and desire. And we’ve heard the voice of Christ. That gentle nudge of our King who has said, “Turn, turn your faces away and your backs on those things, and come, turn your face toward me and follow me.”
Lent: Journeys & Hungerings
Sermon Text: Exodus 34:1-9 | The story of Lent is the story of God communing with his people; and this God is gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and faithful.
Sermon on the Mount: The Road Not Taken
Sermon Text: Matthew 7:13-14, 24-29 | We've given Christ our allegiance and we’ve been sent forth on a Great Commission to teach others about the love displayed by the Father through the Son and in the Spirit. To be children of the King, to be the church, to be a community of Jesus, and to be citizens of the Kingdom means we must be willing to take the road not taken.
Sermon on the Mount: Worrying Hearts & the God of Rest
Sermon Text: Matthew 6:25-34 | Resting in Christ is an acknowledgment that he can handle our worries, that he can carry our troubles. He feeds the birds of the air and he clothes creation with splendor. He also hears your troubles and desires to carry your worries
Sermon on the Mount: Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?
Sermon Text: Matthew 6:1-18 | Jesus invites his people to a way of divine authenticity, a way that aligns our intentions of loving God to outward deeds of loving our neighbor.
Sermon on the Mount: Cheeks, Cloaks, & Compassion
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:38-48 | The Christian faith is dangerous. In fact, if we consider it comfortable, we might have accepted a diluted faith. A costly faith turns the other cheek, offers every garment of clothing, and loves enemies.
Sermon on the Mount: Entangled Hearts
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:27-37 | By Jesus' own description, we're all adulterers. Each of our hearts have run to another god, another relationship, another lover. But, how does grace redeem the wandering and wayward?
Sermon on the Mount: 21 Grams
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:21-24 | Jesus, in this passage, looks deeply at the human heart and invites his church to be honor, value, and respect every person, from womb-to-tomb.
Sermon on the Mount: The Small & The Smudges
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:17-20 | Ever wondered: Why does it matter if Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament? And if so, how does such a historic event change or even help my walk with God?
Sermon on the Mount: Cities of Salt & Light
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:13-16 | Jesus connects his metaphors of salt and light to the church's mission. But, we cannot see ourselves as salt and light without seeing Jesus as the true salt and light.
Sermon on The Mount: Jesus' Upside-Down Kingdom
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:1-12 | In this beginning of this sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, we begin exploring the Beatitudes. We have conceptions of "being blessed" in America, but does Jesus have a different and alternative view on "being blessed"? I think we'll be surprised by what he has to say...
Stories, Stars, & Stuff of King Emmanuel
Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12 | The Magi wander to meet the King of the Israelites and the World. The Star (or Comet?) guides them to this newborn King, but maybe that celestial appearance is an invitation into the mystery of God becoming man that we might become like him.
Stuff: John's Wonderings
Sermon Text: Matthew 11:2-11 | John the Baptist's questioning of Jesus' identify as Messiah is much nearer to our hearts than we might suspect. Doubt creeps into our hearts and minds, but the comfort of our Emmanuel casts out those fears and doubts.
Stuff: The King Who Dwells With Us
Sermon Text: Isaiah 2:1-5 | As we move into the season of Advent, the Scriptures entice us to see ourselves inside the story of God. In this story, the King has come and he promises to come again. But, how might we use our "stuff" in-between these tensions?
Spiritual Disciplines: Thanksgiving
Sermon Text: Philippians 4:4-7 | Thanksgiving is more than a season for the church. It's an emotional response to Jesus' work, an ethical reflection of his life, and a worshipful exaltation of his name.
Spiritual Disciplines: Humility
Sermon Text: Luke 18:9-14 | For centuries in Christian History, humility has been considered the root of all the other virtues. In fact, Jesus reminds his church that religiosity doesn't please God; rather, God exalts humble hearts and meek postures.
Spiritual Disciplines: Reading Scripture
Sermon Text: 1 Timothy 4:8-16 | Reading Scripture is an essential practice for a Christian's spiritual development and growth. But 2 questions have to be asked: How is the church to read? And why does the church read?
Spiritual Disciplines: Putting On the Virtues of Jesus
Sermon text: 2 Peter 1:3-9 | How do we grow closer to Christ and how can our beliefs and behaviors be conformed to Jesus? Peter gives us cautions and invitations through these verses on the virtuous life of the church.
Wise Finances: Practicing God's Economy
Sermon Text: Romans 12:1-2; 14-21 | In this last sermon on wise finances, we're reminded that finances isn't primarily about balancing our bank accounts and more about giving ourselves over to the King and his economy.
Wise Finances: Trees, Treasures, & Scrooges
Sermon Text: Luke 12:13-21 | We may acknowledge that faith is active, because it participates in the continuing work of Christ. But where do our possessions and treasures fit into that continuing work? Instead of being modern-day Scrooges, this sermon explorers how we can invest our daily treasures obediently and expectantly, and do so without expecting a return.
Hospitality: An Economy of Care
Sermon Text: John 10:11-18 | How might the church be cared for by the Good Shepherd while caring for others? And what does hospitality be an act of care?
Hospitality: The Gift of Community
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 | We desire a deeper Fellowship and community than the digital world can offer. But, such face to face and personal relationships can be disheartening and difficult. At the same time, they are the types of relationships the community of Christ has been called into.
Hospitality: An Economy of Thankfulness
Sermon Text: Genesis 4:1-9 | What does hospitality have to do with a thankful heart? The narrative of Cain & Abel can help us discover the thoughts of our heart and how these thoughts might shape our hospitality.
Covenantal Friendship: Jesus
Sermon Text: Matthew 11:1-8; 18-19 | Jesus and John have had a long history together as friends. John has witnessed Jesus perform numerous miracles, but he still has questions in the midst of imprisonment. Are those questions similar to ours? And how does Jesus respond to his longtime friend?
Covenantal Friendship: David
Sermon Text: 2 Samuel 7:8-16 | What is the Davidic Covenant and why does it matter for the church today?
Covenantal Friendship: Abram
Sermon Text: Genesis 15:1-20 | God befriends Abram, but he also covenants with him. What does this covenant teach the church about the promises of Christ? And what part does worship have in believing the promises of God?
Covenantal Friendship: Adam + Eve
Sermon Text: Genesis 2:4-8; 15-24 | What is a covenantal friendship and how can we live them out?
Just-Living: Healing + Justice
Sermon Text: Luke 5:12-28 | What place does the Gospel have in our social life? And in what ways can we help heal our communities?
Just Living: The Lord's Supper
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 | Is there a connection between the Lord's Supper and just-living?
Just-Living: What is Justice?
1 John 3:14–18 | How can the church approach the conversation about justice? And what does the Cross have to do with justice?
Unselfish Self-Care: Inward-Upward-Outward-Onward
God fulfilled his onward mission in the person and work of Christ in the Cross. Yet, he also gathers a weary and restless people to embody his onward mission.
Unselfish Self-Care: Inward-Upward-Outward
Sermon Text: Mark 12:28–34 | What does love of God and love of neighbor have to do with unselfish self-care? In other words, how is a care of neighbor also a care of self?
Father's Day Sermon
Sermon text: Luke 11:5-13 | How can we imitate and mimic our heavenly Father in our earthy, everyday fatherhood? This sermon explores this question in pastoral and practical ways in an age and culture of fatherlessness.
Unselfish Self-Care: Inward, Outward, & Upward
Jesus desires to transform how we see our own self-care. Unselfish self-care is to be deeply rooted in the life and work of Christ, and we must allow Him to transform our inward and outward lives upward toward Him.
Unselfish Self-Care: Inward to Upward
Our unselfish self-care cannot just be inwardly directed. Our inward lives must turn upward in order for true self-care to take place.
Sustaining Creation: What is the Kingdom Like?
How do we sustain creation and culture? It comes in imitation of Jesus and his Kingdom.
Sustaining Creation: Christ in Our Soil and Soul
How can we cultivate even our gardens for Christ and his kingdom?
Mother's Day Sermon
Today, we celebrate mothers whose faith cultivates the hearts of children.
Sunday Night: Ezra 3-4
The people of God begin rebuilding the altar and the foundation of the temple (ch. 3), but it is met with opposition (ch. 4).
Sunday Night: Holiness
Why is holiness so important to the Bible and specifically Ezra and Nehemiah?
Kid Discipleship: Law Always With Grace
How can we disciple our children in grace-filled instructions?
Good Friday Sermon
Good Friday remembers the crucifixion and suffering of Christ, yet what does this suffering mean for the church and its mission?
Kid Discipleship: To Be Disciplined Is To Be A Disciple
In Mark 9:42-50, Jesus connects the spiritual disciplines to kid discipleship.
Kid Discipleship: The Lord's Prayer
How can we make our homes into vibrant little kingdoms of faith?
Sunday Night: Layout of Torah
The better we understand the story leading up to Ezra and Nehemiah, the better we can see what is going on in these two books.
Planted in the Church: Where Are We?
As the church, we must understand where we are, the time and place of our ministry.
Sunday Night: Ezra 1:1-4
A Study of Ezra 1:1-4
Planted in the Church: What Do We Do?
What are the perceptions of the church and how do we respond?
Planted in the Church: Who Are You?
What is the source of the church's identity? And how do we measure our identity?
Planted in the Church: Whose Are You?
What does it mean to belong to Christ in the church?