Kaleo Church Podcast

Just like the Colossians we live in a world that is constantly trying to dethrone Jesus in our lives by deceiving us into prioritizing other things. Into this world Paul broke out into a hymn proclaiming the preeminence of Jesus in all things. Jesus is preeminent in everything good and beautiful because he is the one who made it. But he is also preeminent in all of the broken because he alone is able to fix it through the blood of his cross. In this message we will consider what it would look like to give Jesus the preeminence in everything in our lives both the beautiful and the broken.

How often do you think about pleasing God? Many people rarely think about pleasing God at all, while those who do think about pleasing God usually find themselves feeling pretty discouraged at how far short they fall. In Colossians 1:9-14 Paul reminds us of the importance of pleasing God, while still finding a way to encourage those who are despairing over their sin. If you have ever wondered how to honestly seek to please a holy God without being crushed by your failure then this sermon is for you.

Sometimes people are hard to love, especially people that we have tried to love only to be let down by. In this sermon we will consider the way Paul continued to love people even after they had hurt him. We will also talk about the Colossians love for “all” of the saints and what makes that kind of love possible.

In a world full of temptation where each of us have experienced our fair share of sin and failure the last few verses in Jude are meant to overwhelm God’s people with encouragement. There is one who is bigger than any temptation and he is able to keep his people from stumbling. Not only is he bigger than our temptations he is stronger than our sin and he promises to present his people blameless in the presence of his glory. These truths are meant to overwhelm us with joy and move us to give God the glory, majesty, dominion and authority that he deserves.

There is a final judgment coming for all humanity. When we become aware of people that are deceived by false teachers, what is our typical response towards them? Do we protect ourselves from them or do we show them mercy and remind them of the Gospel, praying God saves them from the judgment to come? Listen and hear how the Gospel reminds us of what we were once like and why ungodly sinners need the Gospel just as much as we once did.

In Jude 8-13, Jude exposes that the people who have crept in unnoticed among the church are false teachers. The way to know them is by watching their lives. They all have an imbalance that says one thing but does another. Listen and hear how the Gospel confronts and comforts our own imbalances in this life.

Often times the warnings in Scripture of God's righteous judgment against the ungodly can be terrifying. As Jude calls us to battle to contend for the faith we come to realize that the enemy is within the gates - not only in our midst in the church - but within our very own hearts. What, then, is our only comfort in life and in death? That we are not our own, but belong to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is our only refuge, our only comfort. Jude fortifies the faith of true believers with this comfort as he calls us to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Having received mercy, peace, and love from God through Christ, we offer him to those still in need of a refuge.

Have you ever come face to face with a brokenness that was your fault? Genesis 35 tells us how God responds to the mess that Jacob and his family found themselves in because of Jacob’s compromise. In this passage we learn that no matter how long you have run or how far you have fallen it is never too late to repent and come back home. Home to the God who loves us and gave the son of his right hand as a sacrifice for our sins.

In Genesis 34, we see two examples of the abuse of power. Sadly, it is the victim of the abuse that is left silent and in need. Listen and hear how Jesus comes to demonstrate an other-worldly power that draws near to the abused and offers hope for abusers.

In this moving account of reconciliation between two brothers we are given a front row seat as to what God is like and how he responds to all those who turn to him in repentance.

Most of us have had times in our lives where we longed for reconciliation with someone we had wronged. We find a time to get together and we tell them we are sorry for what we did and then we wait. Will they welcome us back or will they keep their distance? In Genesis 32 Jacob seeks reconciliation with the brother that he had wronged and we wait to see how he will respond.

How do you respond to conflict? In this passage we get a play by play view of how both Laban and Jacob responded to a major conflict between them. As we look at each of their responses and consider why they did what they did I think we will be able to learn a lot about ourselves. Ultimately we will see how the Gospel is meant to change the way we approach conflict.

All of us long for success in the things we care about most. However often we fail to take seriously the danger that comes with any success. In this message we will talk about two of the most common dangers that success brings with it and how the Gospel gives us the truths we need to navigate our way through these dangers.

How do you respond when you encounter a brokenness that you can’t seem to figure out how to fix? In this passage we will witness a number of common responses to the broken things in our lives before we will finally see the one place where we can find hope.

All of her life Leah had been forced to live in her sister’s shadow dreaming of the day that she would find a husband who loved her and finally be free of the comparisons with her sister Rachel. But that day never came. Instead, they both end up marrying the same man and Leah finds that her husband loves her sister far more than he loves her. For years Leah does all that she can to try and earn her husband’s love, but nothing is ever good enough. In fact every time she gets her hopes up they are met with crushing disappointment. If you have ever found yourself dealing with disappointment then this sermon is for you. Find out how Leah delt with the devastating disappointment in her life and where it is that she finally found the love she longed for. In the end you will find that the hope she found is just as available to us as it was for her.

After receiving an incredible vision and promise in Genesis 28, Jacob continues his journey to find a wife in Genesis 29. We may expect a drastic life change after such an incredible vision but what we find is Jacob still being like Jacob. In a dark tale of deception, we find that we all are like Jacob and often are disillusioned by misplaced hopes. Who can we look to finish the transformation in us that God began? Listen and hear how the gospel answers that questions and shows how true change happens.

Loneliness is a condition that all of us have faced at various times in our lives. In Genesis 28 Jacob finds himself totally alone as he flees the home that he loved in order to escape the anger of his older brother. In the midst of Jacob's loneliness God appeared to him in a dream and revealed himself to be exactly what Jacob needed at that time. In this story we will see some amazing truths about God, and with Jacob, I believe we will find that the God who has revealed himself to us continues to be exactly what his people need today.

Can you imagine the hopelessness that Jesus disciples felt the day that he was crucified? In all of the world there was nothing that could ever come close to replacing what they had in Jesus. Some of you are familiar with this type of feeling. The fear that something you lost will never be able to be replaced and that things will never get better. This Easter I want us to consider the words of comfort that Jesus offered to his disciples during their season of loss because I believe that these same words continue to offer us comfort today.

Life is full of crossroads. In Genesis 27 we will look at three different people who all find themselves at very different crossroads. I believe that as we look at each one we will find that we have been at these same crossroads before. But instead of just telling us which path to take God has given us this story which takes us down the different paths so that we can see where they lead and better understand the way we should go.

How many times have we tried to be someone we aren’t in the hopes of gaining the love and acceptance that we long for? In this story Jacob longs for his father’s blessing, but he thinks the only way to get it is to pretend to be his brother. Of course, by pretending to be his brother, all he does is confirm his true identity. He is Jacob, the deceiver. In this message we will find that there is hope even for deceivers like Jacob, but only if they are willing to stop running and acknowledge the truth.