Sermon Series & Resources

As we enter this sacred season of Advent, we invite you to pause and prepare your heart for the coming of Christ. The world around us can be distractingly filled with busyness and noise, but in this holy season, we are called to reflect on the expectant waiting that marks the arrival of the Savior. Advent is a time to anticipate; to make space in our lives for hope, peace, joy, love, and light—each of which we find in the person of Jesus Christ. The prophecies about him, his incarnation, the roles he embraced, and his body (the church)—each help us appreciate his first coming more deeply.

As we light the candles and count the days, may we draw nearer to the God of the gospel’s Christmas story and the transformative presence of the eternal Christ who comes to us in humble, unexpected ways. Let this season be one of spiritual anticipation and sincere appreciation as we await the birth of the One who is the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Wonderful Counselor—Jesus Christ the Son of God.

They’re known as the minor prophets. But there’s nothing minor about their message, especially their message about the character of God. All of them pack a theological punch that one can’t—shouldn’t—ignore. Join FFC for our 9-week series through 7 of these little books, and get a major look at the might and majesty of God.

New journals are also available to accompany the series, featuring notes, memory verses, daily Bible reading, discussion questions, devotionals, and more. You can pick up a hard copy for $5 today at Connect Center, or download the free digital version below.

It’s one thing to verbalize the centrality of Christ in all we do. It’s quite another to experience it. We talk about the Lord’s priority, but often fail to live in light of it. Thankfully, in the four chapters of Colossians, God gives us a picture of the church and life that revolves around the all-encompassing preeminence of Christ. From our individual habits to our mutual relationships, Christ’s exclusive position as the true center of “all things” changes everything. Dig in with First Family Church this year as we mine the Apostle Paul’s Spirit-inspired letter to the Christians in Colossae in our 20-week series “Christ Alone: Experiencing the Preeminence of God’s Eternal Son.”

A global heart always begins with a local hand. That’s precisely why we’re complementing GO Week, our annual focus on the nations, with CO Week — eight days of intentional attention to the fields right around us. Over the course of two Sundays, we opened up Acts 1–2 and saw how both the Ascension and Pentecost were the theological and geographical triggers that sparked the New Covenant mission of God through His church.

In the two most climactic events of human history, God had the final word. Both on the cross and at the grave, God spoke definitively and assuringly. Promisingly and invitingly. Lean in and listen during Passion Week 2024 as Todd unleashes the lion of God’s Word for every sinner and saint—all of us—who stand in need of a Savior.

What are the external traits that prove internal transformation? Does inside change show up on the outside? Journey through this series from Galatians 5 centered on nine significant ways the Spirit manifests himself in our lives.

What’s at the core of the call from Christ? Are there central expectations when it comes to Christian discipleship? In a two-week look-back at Jesus’ summons to his first four followers, Todd and Travis aim to highlight and connect the inseparable and essential components of life as a disciple of Jesus. Through a clarifying look into Matthew 4:18–22, this short, startling series could rightfully shape, not simply what you do, but why you do it.

Journeys reveal all kinds of interesting and intriguing gems of both information and experience. Christ’s condescension to earth as the incarnate Son of God was no different. His ancestry is rich with stories of grace and grit, powerful moments of divine providence poetically and succinctly relayed to us through the names of the most unlikely people. The same is true for Joseph and Mary’s travel log. Rumors, dreams, angels, and a long trip to a crowded city with no room give us clues to the heart and plan of our Trinitarian God.

Let’s not leave out the magi. Gifts for a king is what they brought, but little did they know this king was wearing the flesh and bone of a little boy who was a threat to Herod but a joy to the wise men. What an ironic way to teach us about the risk and cost of true worship.

No one seems exempt from wondering why. Whether in the small details or the large crises, our hearts and minds often question, not only what’s happening, but why it’s happening. It’s life deepest and often darkest dilemma.

Job was no exception. In the midst of near unfathomable anguish, Job probed the caverns of the why canyon. How did his friends reply? What did God say? Was there ever even an answer to his ultimate question of why? Join Pastor Todd and FFC in a short but poignant series through the Old Testament book of Job in which we will daringly delve into the dilemma of the universal question — “Why?” — and humbly emerge with a more bold and beautful faith in the God who not only knows the what and the why, but the who in the middle of it all.

The book of Philippians, inspired by God and penned by Paul, is simply a missionary update from one of history’s foremost evangelists and church planters. It’s a sincere thank you letter, as well as a heartfelt plea for continued partnership. What a timely epistle for us to discover in-depth as God continues to forge within this flock a multiplying mindset, which will undoubtedly require a partnership perspective. After all, that’s how gospel progress occurs—through partnerships. Won’t you join us as we open up the pages of Philippians and rejoice in all that God can and will do as his people band together for the progress and joy of his gospel.

It’s not natural to enjoy suffering. We all, as humans, want to be exempt from it. Yet, ironically, no one is. That’s why endurance is such a key word for the Christian. All of us, at some point, will be called upon to embrace difficulties and trials. Some longer than others, and to a greater degree than others. But endurance will be necessary for every believer, endurance that is vulnerably transparent, humbly honest, and longingly hopeful.

It is to this end that we turn to the Psalms, specifically the Psalms of Lament. These songs of the Hebrews, written in times of deep despair and distress, are human cries to God in the middle of suffering and struggle. Without a doubt each “complainer” is seeking God’s deliverance, whether individually or collectively; but the apparent delay of divine action puts each lamenter into a vice grip of sorts, squeezing them to verbalize their frustration with what they are going through mixed with their faith in who they are mourning to.

In the end, confidence emerges, but it’s not a shallow, blind confidence. It’s a tested confidence; a refined-by-fire faith that knows what it means to truly hope with deep and often sorrowful longings, not simply wish with wide-eyed, fix-it-in-the-moment, Jeanie-in-a-bottle fancies.

Whether it’s the universal church globally or our individual church locally, there are specific things that matter. A lot! Join us the rest of January as we explore four of those important elements from 1 Timothy, seeing how they matter to the BIG C church, as well as to the little c church we know as First Family. Through corporate teaching on the weekend, digital content in your Small Groups, and journals for individual weekly use, this series will utilize multiple avenues and resources to help you truly maximize the matter of church.

Sermons from our Advent 2022 series.

God’s call to endure joyfully is based on the truth that we are saved securely. And the sanctification we are promised and pursue will not only occur in spite of persecution, but actually because of it. What a foundation for perseverance—that God is making us holy in the very middle of hostility. This is the message Peter proclaims in his first letter, a message of confidence and hope for God’s chosen people in times of uncertainty and doubt. In this series we explore 1 Peter in various ways, growing deeper into the reality of God’s certain work even in our current suffering.

Sermons from our 2022 Global Outreach Week.

Satan wages his battle in three areas, and all are pointed at one common goal. Listen for more on how and where the enemy works.

With the indicatives firmly under our feet—what God has done in Christ as laid out in Ephesians 1-3—discover the imperatives that flow from our life in this series of messages from Ephesians 4-6. “Walking with Christ” is a study aimed at helping us flesh out practically what we know is true doctrinally, namely, our union with Christ.

Curious about the third person of the Trinity? Got questions about the why, what, and how of the Holy Spirit? Walk with FFC through ten Scripture passages that will provide insight into who he is and what he does in both principle and practice.

It’s the doctrine underneath every other doctrine, the crucial chain upon which hangs all the beautiful diamonds in the necklace of biblical theology. Yes, union with Christ is the foundation you rarely see underneath the house you love to live in! Join us at First Family Church as we unearth this doctrinal foundation as presented in Ephesians 1-3, shining a light on the incredible truths you are so deeply grateful for and probably never even knew it.

The beauty of Christmas isn’t in lights, but in The Light: Christ. Listen as Pastor Todd digs deeper into Christ’s humanity, deity, authority, and identity.

Understand more about one of the ways God’s people are truly distinctive and protective in this four-part series on church discipline from 1 Corinthians 5.

Two of the most powerful words in all of Scripture: “…but God…” There are countless verses in the Bible where things are one way, but God steps in and completely changes everything. Listen below as we look at 13 powerful “but God” moments in the Bible.

In our continuing probe of spiritual gifts, Pastor Todd and Pastor Travis take a closer look at Romans 12:1-8 in another 5-weeks of messages centered around “For the Common Good,” First Family’s second season of sermons in this series. They’ll be co-teaching this passage. Listen and dig in with them for a plain and simple look at spiritual gifts.

If anyone deserved to be served, it was Jesus. Yet, he actually became the servant, modeling for us what it looks like to live an intentionally sacrificial life for his Father’s glory and the ultimate good of all who would believe. This is what Mark records for us in his Gospel — the Son of God being the servant of man. Explore this second book of the New Testament with First Family as we delve into its theme, texts, and topics, seeing how God would have us live as his servants in the footsteps of Jesus.

In this short series through 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Todd takes an exposing look below the surface of sin, understanding the fundamental “why” behind all the “whats.”