Sermons by Josh Black
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
How the Gospel Impacts the Church Those who know me well know I can be a very critical person. And I confess that there are times when I’m critical of this church. Some of you may have some criticisms of our church as well. After all, churches are composed of sinners. There is room for improvement in any church, but overall I think we have much to be thankful for at First Free. When the gospel has an obvious impact…
1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
How the Church Receives the Gospel Consider this quote from Graham Cole. “When it comes to the problem of evil, the Bible is not as interested in the arrival of evil as it is in the survival of evil.” The problem of evil simply put is this. How can a God who is perfectly loving, powerful, and just allow evil, pain, sickness, death, hardship, and conflict to exist? We are faced with these things on a daily basis. And these…
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
How the Church Must Live in Purity According to the Gospel God saves a people for himself through the gospel. Those people are called the Church. The title of this sermon series in 1 Thessalonians is “The Gospel and the Church.” We have explored how the gospel impacts the church and impacts pastors, and how the church receives the gospel and suffers for the gospel. Today we will look at how the church must live a life pleasing to God…
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
How to Be a Gospel-centered Church I have a confession to make. I don’t read the news. I don’t watch the news. I don’t listen to the news. I don’t know the news. At least I didn’t until last week. In my internship meetings with Mike he became aware of the fact that I didn’t read the news and he admonished me to begin. My father-in-law has been on me to do the same for years. So, this last week…
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
The Justice and Judgment of God Introduction: My kids ask me whether I’m nearsighted or farsighted on a regular basis, not because they have a bad memory, but because the concept is hard for them to understand. I always respond the same way to their question, which turns into a small litany. I say, “I’m nearsighted,” and they say, “What does that mean again?” I say, “It means I can see near, but not far.” Then they say, “Can I put…
Hebrews 10:1-18
One for All; Once for All Note: This sermon was preached by Josh Black, who was Associate Pastor at First Evangelical Free Church, Wichita, in 2010. He is now Lead Pastor. We’ve been studying Hebrews for 16 weeks now. The author spends the first 10 chapters making an argument that Christ is absolutely supreme; he is greater than all things. Christ is superior to angels, to Moses, to Joshua, to Aaron and the whole Levitical priesthood. The new covenant Christ mediates is superior to the…
Hebrews 11:23-31
God’s Hall of Faith: The Gallery of the Exodus and the Conquest Note: This sermon was preached by Josh Black who was Associate Pastor at First Evangelical Free Church of Wichita in 2010. He is now Lead Pastor. Introduction: Look at this picture (Figure 1). What do you see? How many of you see an old woman? How many of you see a young woman? They both are there (the young woman’s chin is the old woman’s nose) and we see things differently depending on…
Hebrews 12:12-29
Holy Living for a Holy God Note: This sermon was preached by Josh Black, Associate Pastor at First Evangelical Free Church of Wichita in 2010. He has been Lead Pastor since 2011. Throughout his letter the author of Hebrews urges his readers to persevere in the faith. In chapter 12 he compares the Christian life to a race that must be run with perseverance. As I studied our passage for this morning I began to realize that the second half of chapter 12 is…