North Avenue Church Podcast

Matthew 19:9 is the most important recorded sentence we have from Jesus during His earthly ministry about divorce and remarriage. "And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." Yet godly Christians have differing views of how to interpret this sentence, especially the exception clause, "except for sexual immorality." What exactly does "sexual immorality" (Greek: porneia) refer to here? You can watch this message here.

What we believe about the fate of those who've never heard the gospel will greatly impact our understanding of missions and its necessity. Paul helps us understand the necessity of the "beautiful feet" of missionaries because of his clear teaching on this matter in Romans. You can watch this messsage here.

For first half of the message, we argue that much of Revelation is intended to be taken symbolically rather than literally. For the second half, we walk through Revelation 10 and John's commission to eat the sweet scroll of God's word (even if the judgments in it are bitter to his stomach) and to proclaim this message to all, whether they listen or not. We argue that in chapter 11, John's role is in many ways given to the entire church as a witnessing community. You can watch this message here.

This outline relies heavily on Kevin DeYoung's very helpful sermon outline on divorce here. Marriage is intended by God to be a lifelong commitment Remarriage is permitted, but not required, after the death of a spouse All divorce happens because of sin, but not all divorce is sinful Divorce and remarriage are permitted, but not required, for sexual immorality Divorce and remarriage are permitted when a believing spouse is deserted by an unbelieving spouse Biblically unlawful divorce followed by remarriage is adultery Biblically permissible divorce allows for remarriage Improperly divorced and remarried Christians should stay as they are, but repent and be forgiven of their past sins and make whatever amends are necessary. You can watch this message here.

Not every Christian is a missionary. And not every place a Christian goes is a mission field, even when doing evangelism. We must reserve the special meaning of a missionary lest, as has been said, when everything is missions, nothing is missions. How does Paul's first "missionary journey" help us define the task of a missionary? You can watch this message here.

We argue that the seven trumpets (Revelation 8-11) repeat the same period of time covered by the seven seals (Revelation 6-7), which begins at Christ's ascension and lasts until His return. However, the fifth and sixth trumpets use heighted symbolism to portray an army of demonic locusts who come to torment the souls of those who worship idols and demons rather than the true God. This captivating and fascinating text is too often ignored or misinterpreted. What does it really mean? You can watch this message here.

What is the mission of the church? We argue that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is the primary task the Lord has given the church to accomplish by His grace until the end of the age. What does this mean for our church and for missions generally? You can watch this message here.

These are the six sermon points: The Definition of Marriage The Covenant of Marriage The Companionship of Marriage The One-Flesh Union of Marriage The Fruitfulness of Marriage The Illustration of Marriage You can watch this message here.

The timing of the rapture in relationship to the tribulation of the seals, trumpets, and bowls is not a matter of heresy no matter which of the major views you take. However, it does greatly impact how we interpret Revelation 6-19. If there is a rapture before the tribulation, then the church is not on earch during those chapters. If the rapture is after the tribulation (which is what we argue for here), then the church will be on earth during this time and must be ready to endure tribulation throughout the church age, especially as it reaches its highest point just before Christ's return. You can watch this message here.

If we were reading Jonah for the first time, it may seem like the end of chapter 3 is the happy ending of the book. Chapter four, however, would likely catch us off guard. Jonah's childish temper tantrum at the spiritual awakening in Nineveh is shocking. However, we soon find out we have some of Jonah dwelling in all of our hearts. May the Lord's patience with Nineveh and Jonah by an encouragement to us! You can watch this message here.

Here is the sermon outline on how Christians who have been forgiven so much already by God must extend this forgiveness to others who come to us in repentance: The master's elaborate forgiveness (v 21-27) The servant's unthinkable unwillingness to extend that forgiveness to others (v 28-35) Some ways to apply this passage You can watch this message here.

We continued through Revelation 7, this time spending some expended time considering the what and when of the great tribulation period and the countless multitude. You can watch this message here.

The Lord uses His powerful word to humble a proud city and bring it to repentance. His word carries the same power today! You can watch this message here.

Jesus provides us with three steps for how church discipline should be done regarding confrontation: One on one Two or three The whole church You can watch this message here.

There is much friendly debate amongst genuine Christians regarding the identity of the 144,000 in the book of Revelation. We decided to spend a whole evening addressing this issue because it can have dramatic ramifications for how one interprets the book of Revelation as a whole. You can watch this message here.

The teaching team walks through Jonah 2 where Jonah prays to the Lord from the belly of the great fish. There is much for us to learn from this fascinating part of Jonah's story! You can watch this message here.

Here is the outline to Scott's helpful message on this often misunderstood passsage. The necessity of conversion (v 1-4) Turn and become a child to enter in Believers should be kindly received and not led into sin (v 5-6) Direct temptation Provocation Our bad example We must determine not to be stumbling blocks (v 7) We must deal drastically with our sin (v 8-9) We must not look down on other believers (v 10) You can watch this message here.

The first four seals that Jesus, the Slain Lamb, opens are the four horsemen that we covered last week. We argued that the horsemen run throughout church history under Christ's sovereignty and bring conquest, bloodshed, famine, and death to a portion of mankind until Christ returns. In this message we see the fifth seal opened which shows the slain martyrs before the altar in heaven calling out for God's justice and then their prayer is answered at Christ's return as the sixth seal is opened and the Christ-rejecting world faces the terrifying "wrath of the Lamb." You can watch this message here.

The teaching team began our brief series in Jonah on Sunday. When Jonah flees from the word of God, he also flees from the God of the word. You can watch this message here.

The greatness and lowliness of… Jesus on and off the mountain (v 1-9, 22-23) John the Baptist in his Elijah-like ministry (v 10-13) Jesus regarding the temple tax (v 24-27) You can watch this message here.