Sermons on Death
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:78 (Christmas Eve Homily)
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. I tried to lead our college and young adults group to sing this song last weekend, and while the words were beautiful, my rendition was pretty awful. Part of the reason for that is because there’s a bunch of different verses, and I wasn’t always sure which one to sing.…
The Resurrection Promise | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
It seems like in the last couple years many of us have lost ones we loved—parents, siblings, friends, to covid, to cancer, to sickness of all kinds. As I’ve been thinking about my dad’s death, and those of you who have lost someone, I wanted to preach a message that could encourage us, and remind us of some of the resurrection hope God has given believers. But I also recognize that as I preach this, me sharing my personal story…
Paul R. Romig Memorial Service Message | Romans 12:1-2 & Galatians 2:20
Six months ago, my dad updated his testimony, the story of how he came to faith in Jesus Christ. Dad did this as part of becoming an Elder at Rocky, but I think one of the reasons God led him to update his testimony was to help me retell his testimony today. It seems so providential. Today I want to tell you my dad’s story with some of his favorite Scripture passages and a couple of personal memories. I hope…
Freak Accidents | Acts 20:1-12 (Eutychus’s fall)
*Content Warning! The audio version (and maybe the written version) of this message, may be highly troublesome to those who have experienced disabilities and/or seizures. I have done my best to make the written manuscript easier to read. – Pastor Jonathan Today I’m talking about freak accidents. I am going to tell a true story of sudden death, a tragedy that hit me personally. Our Elders and Deacons recently did a mental health training through Harbor Christian Counseling in Boston…
Life in the Shadow | Acts 5:12-16
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) put out a graph that’s been going around the internet. It’s called “flattening the curve” and it shows two trajectories. The first trajectory shows what will happen when people don’t take protective measures seriously—when we don’t practice social distancing and hand washing and self-quarantine. It shows a high number of cases overloading our healthcare system, which can lead to high loss of life. This curve is steep and sharp. It looks like a looming…
CHRIST OVER COVID | Matthew 8:14-17
A plague hit Rome from 249 to 262 AD. This plague lasted 13 years. Our pandemic has been a week and a half and we’re already going crazy. Can you imagine what that was like? Historians have studied this plague and it was bad, real bad. I don’t want to describe it to you but if you look up the Plague of Cyprian you can read all the details. It killed about 5,000 people a day. The city of Alexandria…
A Good and Faithful Death | Psalm 90
Tonight we are going to talk about death. At the Ockenga Fellows Retreat last week we discussed “Science, Technology, and Healthcare.” I’m going to cover technology in May but tonight I want to discuss how to die well. By show of hands, who here thought about death this week, either your death or that of a loved one, family member, or friend? A lot of us thought about death this week. Our culture doesn’t like to talk about death but…