Four Oaks Midtown Podcast

Teaching | Understanding 2 Peter: Awaiting the End (2 Peter 3)

How often do you think about the second coming of Christ? This critical doctrine of our faith either gets sensationalized with respect to current events or passed over for the sake of other more relevant topics like marriage, parenting, or anxiety management. But the second coming of Christ dominated the mind of the Apostle Peter. His focus on the second coming only increases as his death nears. Our lack of attention to the final judgment reveals a distorted vision of our place within history. We think primarily about God entering into our story. We did not know him and now we do. That’s true and good. But that’s not the emphasis of the New Testament. The New Testament frames the Christian life in terms of getting our story into Christ’s. Of seeing our own lives as part of a larger narrative that encompasses all of creation. When we reframe our perspective in light of God’s story in the theater of history we realize to a greater degree our absolute dependence upon his mercy. But fixing our eyes on the second coming does not lead to passivity, but rather diligent effort toward holiness. The second coming of Christ for us, just as for Peter’s audience in the first century, spurs us on toward love and good deeds as we await the kingdom of righteousness God promises to those who love him. This is Understanding Second Peter.

Sermon | Wheat and Tares

Jesus continues to teach through parables and compares the kingdom of God to a farmer’s field, depicting the reality of a fallen world and pointing forward to the future judgement. 

 

Teaching | Understanding 2 Peter: Fallen Angels and False Teachers (2 Peter 2:4-22)

The book of Proverbs warns us against people who “like the glaze covering an earthen vessel” possess “fervent lips with an evil heart (Proverbs 6:23).” Rarely do false teachers get on stage and announce boldly, “Believe this heresy!” The seduction of false teaching comes from the subtle prodding of our sinful desires. False teachers come draped with the pretense of love, compassion, and the fulfillment of our dreams. Behind every narcissistic celebrity lies a drove of zealous fans who feed their ego. Behind every false teacher lies a crowd of seduced followers following them on their path of destruction. Jesus himself warned that those who lead his people astray would be better of tying a boulder to their neck and plunging into the sea. In 2 Peter 2, Peter gives a profile of the false teacher: someone consumed with greed and their own lusts who use soft and pleasant words to draw people away from Christ. Their judgment will be swift. This is Understanding 2 Peter.

Sermon | The Parable of the Sower

Jesus teaches the crowds about the Word through the parable of the sower and later explains the meaning of this teaching to his disciples.

Teaching | Understanding 2 Peter: Men Spoke From God (2 Peter 1:16-2:3)

In 1981 the movie Clash of the Titans came out which depicted on the big screen the Greek myth of Perseus. It famously featured a claymation Medusa emerging from the shadows with snakes writhing out of her head. We’d probably laugh at the outdated special effects today, but for the time Clash of the Titans captured the imaginations of audiences worldwide because this myth highlighted timeless virtues of courage, hope, and wisdom. Whether or not the events actually occurred didn’t matter. That’s not what we’re talking about when it comes to Jesus. When Peter refers to the event of the Transfiguration in his second letter he’s goes out of his way to make clear that he’s not devising a clever myth. He’s not telling a fictional story in order to highlight a timeless truth. He’s reporting an eyewitness account of an historical event in which Jesus Christ displays his divine glory. This divine glory serves to confirm the prophecies of the Old Testament as the very words of God. The gospel comes to us as good news about God’s redemption in real space and time. Our hope rests not on abstract ideas, but concrete reality. Not in principles and myths, but a person. This is Understanding 2nd Peter.

Sermon | Signs, Demons, Family

Jesus responds to the questions of the Pharisees in a surprising manner by condemning the seeking of signs, reflecting on the spiritual dangers of an empty, orderly life, and inviting all to the Father.

Teaching | Understanding 2 Peter: Make Every Effort (2 Peter 1:1-15)

How would you respond if God revealed to you the manner of your death? You’d probably lose a lot of sleep. For most of us death exists as an abstract concept that happens to people “out there”. But for Peter his death loomed large over his life. Listen to Jesus’s words to Peter in the gospel of John, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” For Peter following Christ meant following his Lord into the clutches of death itself armed with nothing but the promise of resurrection and glory. This energized Peter’s life with urgency, an urgency that charges through this letter as he calls the young church to pursue godliness by God’s own divine power. We have in 2 Peter the final words of a great sage to the people he loves. Words of comfort, warning, and hope. Words that echo and resound throughout the ages until this very day. This is Understanding Second Peter.

Sermon | Plundering the Strong Man

As Jesus establishes his kingdom through his ministry, he overthrows the dominion of Satan. For those in his kingdom, the reign of Christ in hearts and minds implies a purified way of living, especially with how we speak.

Teaching | Understanding 1 Peter: Shepherds of the Flock (1 Peter 5)

What is a pastor? According to the New Testament he is first and foremost a shepherd. But before we conjure up tranquil visions of rolling green pastures we must understand that the job of a shepherd required hard work. Shepherds were required not only to feed their sheep, but also guide them away from predators. The Kings of the OT were referred to as shepherds entrusted with the care and protection of God’s people. Jesus speaks of himself as a good shepherd. In 1 Peter 5, Peter exhorts the leaders of the church to serve as shepherds for God’s people. This is a personal exhortation for Peter. Toward the end of the gospel of John we see Peter, fresh off his betrayal of Christ, swimming ashore to meet the resurrected Jesus. This launches one of the most famous dialogues in the New Testament. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, one for each of Peter’s denials, and then commissions Peter to feed his sheep. Peter experiences the love of the good shepherd and this in turn motivates him to call all under-shepherds to feed the flock of Christ. This is Understanding 1 Peter.

Sermon | The Authority of Jesus

Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath.