Murphy Church Sunday Messages

All of life captured in one sentence:  Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer (Romans 12:12).  Join us this Sunday at 9:45 or 11:00, as Lash unpacks this deeply meaningful and encouraging verse in a sermon entitled, “Being.”  

Grace, truth, faith, and works: four ideas that seemingly live in tension with one another, but find perfect harmony in Jesus Christ.  Without Christ, our works are lifeless.  No one can work their way to God.  Each of us stands on level-ground beneath the cross in total need of God’s grace. When our faith is in Christ, the Holy Spirit brings life to our works and grace to our soul.  Join us this week for Part 2 of A Faith that Works.  Our scripture passage will be James 2:14-26. 

Grace, truth, faith, and works: four ideas that seemingly live in tension with one another, but find perfect harmony in Jesus Christ.  Without Christ, our works are lifeless.  No one can work their way to God.  Each of us stands on level-ground beneath the cross in total need of God’s grace. When our faith is in Christ, the Holy Spirit brings life to our works and grace to our soul.  Join us this week as Lash continues our Authenticity with a sermon from James 2:14-26 entitled A Faith that Works.  

Judged anyone lately?  Of course not!  The reality is that you (and I) probably have. Judgment if fundamental to our sin nature.  It is a symptom of a heart in bondage: a heart in need of the mercy of God.  Judgement leads us to use people: we charm our favorites and ignore the unneeded.  Mercy though speaks and acts from the law of freedom. It equips us to live forgiven: to enjoy our relationships and write our stories in the font of grace.  Join us this week as we continue our series Unstained with a message from James 2:8-13 entitled Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement.

The message of Jesus Christ is revolutionary, because it targets the heart rather than outward appearance.  Society tends to group us by outward realities: rich or poor, fit or unfit, Aggie, Longhorn, Sooner, or other.  There are few places where external realities fade and the heart shines. The cross is a place where everyone stands on equal ground.  We are all sinners who need to bow before and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  This week, Lash continues “Authenticity” series looking at James 2:1-7 with a sermon entitled  Leveled. 

Join us this morning as Dr. Charles Patrick bring a message from Colossians chapter 1.

It's easy to have focus drift.  It doesn't happen all at once: little by little good things replace the best and before you know it you've drifted from God.  In James 1:26-27, the Bible reveals what spiritual drift looks like and teaches us how to declutter and refocus our faith so that we can get back to the things in life that truly matter.  

Change: it can be painful, hurtful, and helpful, sometimes all at once.  The story of the Bible is all about change; the gospel is all about change.  God's grace and truth change our hearts, which transforms our lives.  But how does a person change?  Join us this week as Lash discusses "The Change Effect" from James 1:19-27.    

Happy Father's Day: we are so thankful for all the men who listen to the word of God and share His love with their families.  Learning to listen to God's truth and live it with grace and discipline are essential to your spiritual growth.  In James 1:19, the Bible teaches us that, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger."   Here, the Scriptures teach us how to listen to the voice of our Heavenly Father and receive his grace and wisdom into our lives.  

Join us as our Associate Pastor of Worship and Care, Paul Reid, brings a message titled Walking Together Through Teachable Moments from Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Join us as our Student and Media Minister, John Fletcher, brings a message about what is in your own hand as we look at the story of Moses and his staff from Exodus chapter 4.

Our actions display our thoughts.  That is why Satan regularly attacks our thinking, trying to convince us that God is somehow against us.  But that is not true: God is not against you.  In fact, "every good and perfect gift" comes from the "Father of the heavenly lights."  During the hard moments of life, it's easy to get discouraged, fall into our circumstances and run from the truth. But the Bible reminds us in James 1:9-18 that "God is not Against You." 

It's one question that can change everything.  Asking shifts perspective brings focus to confusion, and leads you to faithful prayer.  James teaches us that when we ask this question authentically, God will give generously without finding fault.  Join us Sunday as we continue our series Authenticity with part 2:  The Best Question Ever from James 1:5-8

"Perception is the reality." How we perceive things often determines whether we enjoy, learn from, and seize the opportunities in our lives.  In life, God uses trials to grow us and use us.  Often, the most significant moments of growth enter our world disguised as adversity.   This week we begin a new series entitled Au-then-ticity with a sermon entitled Perspectives from James 1:1-4.  

What is Jesus’ plan to share his message of grace and truth with all people and how does it involve you?  Jesus calls us to be a part of something larger than ourselves.  Being a disciple is more than just coming to church and self-growth.  Disciples replicate Christ and his gospel in the lives of others.  It starts small, but, when we learn to share what we have witnessed; the gospel changes the world.  Join us this week as we finish our study of Luke’s gospel with a message entitled Replicate from Luke 24:45-53.  

The disciples stood there with their wide-eyed and drop-jawed thinking they saw a ghost. But it was no ghost; it was the risen Christ. God had brought answers to their doubts and proof to their skepticism. Jesus had risen from the dead, and none of this was an accident. God had been at work all along. 

There are times when God invades your heart, opens your eyes and changes you. Often you don’t even understand that it was God at first.  But, it was; the king of the universe has set your heart on fire and called you to follow Him.  That’s exactly what happened to Cleopas and his friend one morning as they walked down the road to Emmaus, and that can happen to you too.  

There are times when we don’t understand what God is doing.  The events of life don’t fit the script of life that we envisioned.  HOWEVER, when we keep pressing forward: doing the next right thing one moment at a time, eventually, we arrive at that moment, WHEN God reveals His will.  It is THEN that we see that, even in our confusion, the sovereign hand of God was at work all along, and our hearts filled with praise for the One who loves us through it all.  We look forward to celebrating Easter with you this week.  Lash will be preaching a message from John 12:16 and Luke 23:50-24:12 entitled,  "However, When, Then." 

The mind is a powerful thing.  In our minds, we create sovereign worlds of imagination and write scripts of what should be. Then, when our imagined scenarios of life collide with the reality of what is, we often find ourselves trapped in a sad world of “what if’s” and "should be’s.”  Sadly, we often miss the joy that God has given you because it’s not what we envisioned.  As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people imagined him to be the liberating king who would free them from Rome.  Jesus was indeed a king, just not the one they envisioned.  Sadly, many missed the joy of the now, because they just couldn’t see how God was at work.   

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the most significant events in human history. Why are these moments so meaningful?  Because of who it was that died and rose again. Many people in antiquity were crucified, and the Bible even tells of other people being raised from the dead.  But there is only one Jesus: the eternal son of God!  This week we continue to look at the meaning of the cross in a sermon entitled This is Love from  Colossians 1:15-20 and I John 4:7-11.