Faith & Work

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We routinely take a few Sundays in a row to focus on our mission as a church: we exist to make disciples of Jesus for the glory of God and the joy of all people. Though many of Park Church’s people may know those words, discussing their “why” in detail helps us know where we’re going together.

This year, we want to focus on five practical areas where the mission of God propels us to live in particular ways:

  1. The Global Mission of God (January 8)
  2. Hospitality and Neighboring (January 15)
  3. Restorative Justice (January 22)
  4. Faith and Work (January 29)
  5. Sharing the Good News (February 5)

While no one is called to simultaneously grow and serve equally in every area of the Christian life, there are likely one or two areas that God may invite you into throughout the series. We invite you to pray through and consider the areas of focus above and what that might mean for you.

in Mission • Neil Long • Sermons

The Second Coming & Hope

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The Second Coming of Christ is a fundamental Christian conviction, promised by Scripture and professed by followers of Christ throughout history. Though now often neglected or misunderstood, the promise of Jesus’ return remains vital.

Culturally, we can be horrible at waiting. Quick “fixes” are everywhere and easily-accessible comforts can dilute our felt need for all things to be made new. But there is brokenness that will go unfixed and pain that will go unhealed until Christ comes again.

The Second Coming was never meant to be a sidebar or peripheral doctrine, but a central one that we uphold, rehearse and celebrate. Scripture reflects this truth:

“Baptism is mentioned 19 times in seven Epistles, and in 14 out of 21 it is not alluded to. The Lord’s Supper is only referred to three or four times in the entire New Testament… The Lord’s Coming is referred to in one verse out of every 13 in the New Testament, and in the Epistles alone in one verse out of 10. This proportion is surely of importance, for if frequency of mention is any criterion there is scarcely any other truth of equal interest and value.”
(W. H. Griffith-Thomas in “The Principles of Theology”)

This Advent, we’re excited to focus together on Jesus’ return and why it matters to our lives as Christians.

in Advent 2022: Christ Will Come Again • Neil Long • Sermons

Matthew 22:15–22: To Caesar What is Caesar’s, To God What is God’s

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In Part VI of our ongoing Matthew Series covers Matthew 19:1–22:36. We’ll study several difficult teachings, parables, and miracles of Jesus, bringing us to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
in Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons

Matthew 20:1–16: The Last will be First, and the First Last

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In Part VI of our ongoing Matthew Series covers Matthew 19:1–22:36. We’ll study several difficult teachings, parables, and miracles of Jesus, bringing us to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
in Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons

Good Friday 2022

Happened Friday, April 15

We allowed the Scriptures to take us to the scene of our Lord’s betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion and burial, setting us up for a deep celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday.

in Blog • Holy Week 2022 • Neil Long • Sermons

Matthew 14:13–21: The Great Provider

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Part V of our ongoing Matthew series covers Matthew 13:53–18:35. We’ll discuss Jesus’ massive public miracles like the feeding of the five thousand and also His intimate, personal miracles like the temple-tax shekel in the fish’s mouth. We’ll study revelations of Jesus’ true identity in the Transfiguration and in His lordship over nature. We’ll learn of an otherworldly form of forgiveness only Jesus provides.

 

in Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons

Pastoral Words for the New Year—James 3

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Over the first four weeks of this year, we will share four “Pastoral Words” that we pray will guide our church family into the New Year.

 

in Neil Long • Pastoral Words for the New Year • Sermons

Highlands: Love for a Self-Centered World

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Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

in Advent 2021: The Weary World Rejoices • Highlands • Neil Long • Sermons

Highlands: Matthew 12:38–50—Drawing New Lines & Redefining Family

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We are in Part IV of our ongoing series in the book of Matthew. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus is inviting us into a whole new way of life with a new set of values and a new type of community. Really, it’s a whole new Kingdom that is being established right here and right now in the middle of this world. And compared to some of the prevailing values of our culture, it’s a bit of an “upside down Kingdom.” It’s a Kingdom where the outcasts are welcomed, the humble are honored, enemies are loved, the poor are esteemed, strangers are befriended, and the guilty are forgiven. It’s a Kingdom where the King is enthroned on a cross, His victory comes through His death, and His death gives life to the world.

 

in Highlands • Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons

Highlands: Psalm 119, Part 3—God’s Word to Us

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This Sunday is week 13 of Christ in the Psalms at Park Church Highlands and we’re in Psalm 119. Instead of taking Psalm 119 section-by-section, we’re addressing it topically over the course of three weeks. In this third and final, week, the topic is “God’s Word to Us.”

 

in Christ in the Psalms • Highlands • Neil Long • Sermons