This past Friday (May 18, 2012) Pastor Jay announced that it would be our last Friday night service. Listen to the announcement he gave and what we have planned for the future (the audio messes up for a couple seconds but is fine after that): Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your...

  Here is a collection of the sermons and an article by Pastor Jay on the fourth commandment that he mentioned yesterday [April 29, 2012]: The Abiding of the 10 Commandments: The Law of God & the Believer [A Reformed Perspective] article from Dec. 30, 2011 Out With the Old, In With the New (Mark 2:18-22) sermon from Jan. 13,2012 The 4th Commandment, Sabbath, Lord’s Day: The Sabbath Question – Part 1 (Mark 2:23-28) sermon...

In conjunction with the sermon he preached Sunday, “How the Resurrection Effects Us Now” [Romans 6:1-7, 11] Pastor Jay writes: The doctrine of union with Christ from Romans 6:1-14 is a glorious truth no doubt. Our union with Christ has liberated us from the enslaving power of sin in our lives. This was just one of the many benefits that Christ has merited for us in his atoning work. But even though we have this wonderful blessing,...

2011 has been a tremendous year for our church. We have seen several people added to our number, we have seen others move on. Through both trial and heartache I believe we have grown. There is something about the lessons of time and experience in life that cannot be produced or manufactured. Only through God’s refining process of sanctifying us as a church both as individuals and as a congregation have we come to grow in the grace and...

Pastor Jay post: Typically Reformed Christians have always believed in the third use of the law. The third use of the law is that the moral laws of God or the Ten Commandments are morally binding on the Christian and a normative pattern for the Christian life. The third use of the law teaches that the moral law becomes a rule of life for the believer. In the Geneva Catechism Calvin asks, “What is the rule of life which God has given...

I thank God that Scripture is so clear on certain issues. Certainly some issues are not as clear as others, but God is very clear about the issue of Christian character. One place where we can see God’s design for women is in Titus chapter 2:3-5. “the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to...

In conjunction with this week’s blogs on “The Indicative & Imperative In Preaching” and “Are You Performance Driven?“, here are two short audio clips from each of our pastors that relate to these issues. The first is from Pastor Emilio’s most recent sermon (2 minutes audio clip): Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here....

Concerning the relationship of the indicative and imperative in preaching. I thought that it would be a good time to give my perspective as to what I feel is the relationship of the indicative and imperative in preaching.  In case you may not be familiar with the terminology, the indicatives of scripture are based on the gospel and what Christ has already done. They are statements of facts about our standing in grace and the gospel.  If for...

We are looking to start somewhere around the first week of August. The following books will be needed to start: Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Third Edition by William D. Mounce Zondervan / 2009 / Hardcover Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook, Third Edition by William D. Mounce Zondervan / 2009 / Trade Paperback   It would be helpful but not mandatory to get the latest edition of the book, so don’t worry if you have an older...

It is always important to reflect on the Lord’s faithfulness on New Years. More than anything we should use this as a time to reflect on God’s faithfulness and give thanks to Him for His unfailing love and mercy which He has so richly lavished us with in Christ. I am personally grateful for the ministry of Sovereign Joy Community Church (SJCC). I am grateful that God has taken our church through so much expositional terrain. I am...

In two sermons, Pastor Jay preached on James 2:14-26 which is the famous “faith without works is dead” passage. His sermon was based on a 30 page exegetical paper he did for school and wanted to provide it here as an additional resource to his sermons on this text since it is, as he says, an “often debated passage”. He went on to say: “I used the paper for the sermon and I thought that it would be profitable...

We are in the middle of our sermon series through 1 Corinthians with Pastor Jay Jesuroga. We have just finished up going through 1 Corinthians 8-10 (in 7 sermons) which is all about the issue of Christian Liberty. In the first sermon, during the intro, Pastor Jay gave a 2 minute overview of chapters 8-10, which are all dealing with Christian liberty: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip....

As many of you already know, Pastor Jay was out of town this past week. What you may not of know is that he was enjoying some time at the Trinity Baptist Church of Montville’s 27th Annual Pastors’ Conference 2010. He was very edified by one sermon in particular and wanted to share it with us. This from Jay: “I had the distinct privilege of attending a pastors conference at Trinity Baptist Church. I was blessed beyond measure at...

Pastor Emilio Ramos has been preaching through John 17. After one of the sermons he wrote the following: In one sense we can say that John 17 takes one from glory to glory. Christ begins by communion with the Father and focusing on their fellowship which leads to Christ’s request for His personal return to the eternal glory which characterized the realm of the Triune God, the realm to which Jesus rightfully belonged (Phil. 2:6-7). The final...

After Pastor Emilio Ramos preached “Assurance, Prayer, & Deadly Sin ” from 1 John 5:13-17 he wrote the following: 1 John 5:16 contains what some have called the most difficult passage in Scripture. The substance of the controversy deals with what John calls, “sin leading to death”. The majority of interpreters breakdown the passage into two ultimate views. One being that John is referring to God putting to death a believer for...