Sermons by Pastor Austin Vondracek
Swords and Thrones: What’s Next For Who’s Next
Hezekiah’s story reminds us that our lives don’t affect just us, they follow us. As we close the series, we see how Hezekiah’s trust in God led to faithfulness, but his later pride and self-reliance shaped a legacy that damaged the next generation. The question for us is the same one Hezekiah’s life keeps asking: Who is on the throne? Because more is caught than taught, our faith is revealed not just by what we say, but by who we…
Swords and Thrones: When You Think You’re The King
Hezekiah’s story becomes a warning about the hidden danger of success. After faithfully trusting God through crisis, illness, and national threat, Hezekiah slowly drifts into pride when life is going well, showing o` his treasures to Babylon instead giving God the credit. The message reminds us that success does not remove our need for God; it only hides it. Through Hezekiah’s failure, Jesus’ humility, and communion, we’re invited to remember that we all come to God empty-handed and loved.
Swords and Thrones: When The Enemy Knocks
Following Jesus doesn’t always make life easier. In fact, sometimes it gets harder. In this message, we explore the story of Hezekiah, who faithfully led his people back to God only to face an overwhelming enemy, and the similar moment when Jesus, affirmed by the Father, was led into temptation. In both cases, the real battle wasn’t just external. It was about trust. The enemy’s strategy hasn’t changed: to detach us from trusting God and replace that trust with something…
Swords and Thrones: Good to God
Could it be true that the greatest threat to your faith, and even the Church, isn’t what you lose, but what you refuse to let go of? In this message, we explore the story of King Hezekiah and a surprising object: a bronze snake that once pointed people to God but eventually replaced him. Through the story and the words of Jesus, we uncover how good things can quietly become ultimate things, and how what we trust most shapes our…
Mother’s Day – Faith That Lives On
This message explores how the most influence in our lives often comes through quiet, ordinary faithfulness rather than visible achievement. Drawing from 2 Timothy 1:3-7, it highlights how Timothy’s faith was first lived out by his grandmother and mother, reminding us that faith can be modeled but not borrowed forever. It must become personal. At the same time, the message exposes the danger of building our identity on being needed. In contrast, Jesus offers a better identity: we are loved…
Thessalonians, Pt 2: Don’t Fall For The Hype
What do you do when fear starts writing stories in your head? In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul writes to a church panicking over a rumor that Jesus already returned and, somehow, they missed it. Instead of feeding their anxiety with charts and predictions, Paul steadies them: don’t be quickly alarmed and don’t be easily deceived. Because when you’re afraid, you’re easier to deceive. This message unpacks how fear hijacks our thinking, why deception spreads so easily through “prophecy, word of…
Thessalonians, Pt 2: When Faith Feels Fragile
We confront the painful question, “If God is just, why is the world is so unjust?” Our justified outrage at evil assumes there’s real right and wrong, not just relative opinions. Christianity doesn’t claim God stayed distant, but that God stepped into suffering in Jesus and promises a day when Christ will return and set everything right. Until then, God’s delay isn’t apathy but mercy because the moment God brings perfect justice, it won’t just expose “their” sin, it will…
Spiritual Renaissance “The Last Supper”: Betrayal and Grace
What if being close to Jesus isn’t the same as trusting him? In this message, we look closely at Leonardo da Vinici’s The Last Supper and the moment when grace and betrayal share the same table. Through the story of Judas, we’re confronted with an uncomfortable but necessary truth: knowing about Jesus, behaving like a Christian, and even staying near religious people and places don’t equate to knowing God. This message invites both long- time churchgoers and spiritual seekers to…
Spiritual Renaissance ”The Return of the Prodigal Son”
What if the greatest barrier between us and God isn’t our sin, but our expectation of how God will respond to our sin? In this message, we look at Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son alongside Jesus’ most famous parable to uncover how shame reshapes our expectations of love. By tracing Rembrandt’s life, the prodigal’s journey, and the heart of the Father, we discover a gospel truth that is both unsettling and freeing: God was for us before we…