North Avenue Church Podcast

"Except for Porneia": Understanding Christ's Most Important Statement on Divorce and Remarriage | Matthew 19:9

Matthew 19:9 is the most important recorded sentence we have from Jesus during His earthly ministry about divorce and remarriage. "And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." Yet godly Christians have differing views of how to interpret this sentence, especially the exception clause, "except for sexual immorality." What exactly does "sexual immorality" (Greek: porneia) refer to here?

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What about Those Who Have Never Heard About Jesus? | Romans 1, 10, & 15

What we believe about the fate of those who've never heard the gospel will greatly impact our understanding of missions and its necessity. Paul helps us understand the necessity of the "beautiful feet" of missionaries because of his clear teaching on this matter in Romans.

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Why Should Revelation be Read Mainly Symbolically *not* Literally? | Revelation 10

For first half of the message, we argue that much of Revelation is intended to be taken symbolically rather than literally. For the second half, we walk through Revelation 10 and John's commission to eat the sweet scroll of God's word (even if the judgments in it are bitter to his stomach) and to proclaim this message to all, whether they listen or not. We argue that in chapter 11, John's role is in many ways given to the entire church as a witnessing community.

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Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage | Matthew 19:1-9

This outline relies heavily on Kevin DeYoung's very helpful sermon outline on divorce here.

1. Marriage is intended by God to be a lifelong commitment
2. Remarriage is permitted, but not required, after the death of a spouse
3. All divorce happens because of sin, but not all divorce is sinful
4. Divorce and remarriage are permitted, but not required, for sexual immorality
5. Divorce and remarriage are permitted when a believing spouse is deserted by an unbelieving spouse
6. Biblically unlawful divorce followed by remarriage is adultery
7. Biblically permissible divorce allows for remarriage
8. Improperly divorced and remarried Christians should stay as they are, but repent and be forgiven of their past sins and make whatever amends are necessary.

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What is a Missionary? | Acts 13-14 [Missions: Week 2]

Not every Christian is a missionary. And not every place a Christian goes is a mission field, even when doing evangelism. We must reserve the special meaning of a missionary lest, as has been said, when everything is missions, nothing is missions. How does Paul's first "missionary journey" help us define the task of a missionary?

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The Seven Trumpets and Demonic Locusts | Revelation 8:6 - 9:21

We argue that the seven trumpets (Revelation 8-11) repeat the same period of time covered by the seven seals (Revelation 6-7), which begins at Christ's ascension and lasts until His return. However, the fifth and sixth trumpets use heighted symbolism to portray an army of demonic locusts who come to torment the souls of those who worship idols and demons rather than the true God. This captivating and fascinating text is too often ignored or misinterpreted. What does it really mean?

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What is the Mission of the Church? | Matthew 28:18-20 [Missions: Week 1]

What is the mission of the church? We argue that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is the primary task the Lord has given the church to accomplish by His grace until the end of the age. What does this mean for our church and for missions generally?

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Jesus on God's Good Design for Marriage | Matthew 19:1-6

These are the six sermon points:

1. The Definition of Marriage
2. The Covenant of Marriage
3. The Companionship of Marriage
4. The One-Flesh Union of Marriage
5. The Fruitfulness of Marriage
6. The Illustration of Marriage

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Problems with the Pretribulation Rapture and an Encouragement to Pray | Revelation 8:1-5

The timing of the rapture in relationship to the tribulation of the seals, trumpets, and bowls is not a matter of heresy no matter which of the major views you take. However, it does greatly impact how we interpret Revelation 6-19. If there is a rapture before the tribulation, then the church is not on earch during those chapters. If the rapture is after the tribulation (which is what we argue for here), then the church will be on earth during this time and must be ready to endure tribulation throughout the church age, especially as it reaches its highest point just before Christ's return.

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The Surprising Twist Ending of Jonah | Jonah 4

If we were reading Jonah for the first time, it may seem like the end of chapter 3 is the happy ending of the book. Chapter four, however, would likely catch us off guard. Jonah's childish temper tantrum at the spiritual awakening in Nineveh is shocking. However, we soon find out we have some of Jonah dwelling in all of our hearts. May the Lord's patience with Nineveh and Jonah by an encouragement to us!

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The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant | Matthew 18:21-35

Here is the sermon outline on how Christians who have been forgiven so much already by God must extend this forgiveness to others who come to us in repentance:

1. The master's elaborate forgiveness (v 21-27)
2. The servant's unthinkable unwillingness to extend that forgiveness to others (v 28-35)
3. Some ways to apply this passage

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The 144,000, the Tribulation, and the Great Multitude | Revelation 7:9-17

We continued through Revelation 7, this time spending some expended time considering the what and when of the great tribulation period and the countless multitude.

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The Great Awakening in Nineveh | Jonah 3

The Lord uses His powerful word to humble a proud city and bring it to repentance. His word carries the same power today!

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Membership, Discipline, and Authority in the Local Church | Matthew 18:12-20

Jesus provides us with three steps for how church discipline should be done regarding confrontation:

1. One on one
2. Two or three
3. The whole church

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Who Are the 144,000? | Revelation 7:1-8

There is much friendly debate amongst genuine Christians regarding the identity of the 144,000 in the book of Revelation. We decided to spend a whole evening addressing this issue because it can have dramatic ramifications for how one interprets the book of Revelation as a whole.

You can watch this message here.