Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church of Washington DC

Let us Pray

In this sermon, Pastor Jim preaches about the importance of living a prayer-filled life as both individuals and as a church family. Learning to pray as Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 11:1-13. First, Jesus said what to pray, and then, Jesus explained how to pray. In other words, Jesus not only gives us the words which to pray to God but he also tells us how to speak to God, how to make our requests known to God and what to expect from God. We should pray with "shameless audacity" (Luke 11:8) and with the expectation that God will faithfully respond to our requests (Luke 11:10). 

Civility: The Battle of Spirit vs. Tongue

With James 3:1-12 as his central text, Pastor Lynn exhorts us to consider that civility is dependent upon the condition of the human heart. Namely, the tongue reveals what is truly in one's heart. So, for there to be civility, the tongue must be governed by a good heart, which can only happen through the power and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Which will be evident in a person's public and private speech when it is seasoned with salt (Col 4:6). 

Holy Infection

In this message, Pastor Jim preaches about a single day in the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Mark. Suggesting that when it comes to living our lives we should imitate the way in which Jesus lived his own life. A daily rhythm that involved the inward journey of prayer followed by the outward journey of love and service for others. The video clip referred to at the end of the message can be viewed here. 

Reformation?

On Reformation Sunday, Pastor Lynn tells us how the core of reformation is the return to Scripture, the need for change and the renewal of covenant. So, in your personal life, is your guide the Word of God with the Holy Spirit illuminating your mind to understand and strengthening your will to obey? Is the Bible missing from your life? 

What are you hungry for?

In this sermon, Min. Leslie Harris encourages us to take a spiritual health checkup. To consider for ourselves how we are living as dual citizens of both this world and the Kingdom of God, and to reflect on whether we are regularly standing on the Word of God and honoring God's Kingdom. Posing such questions as, how does your hunger and thirst for the things of God show up in your daily life? And, what are you doing to experience the power of the Word of God and to change the atmosphere around you? 

A Story of Reversals

As Pastor Jim explains, this story about the prophet Jonah causes us to carefully consider the judgement of God as well as the mercy of God. To think about the importance of God’s justice alongside the necessity of God’s mercy. To remain open to the mystery of God’s goodness while recognizing God's freedom to choose not act. And by doing so, we experience the mystery of God's compassion and are amazed by the breadth of God’s love and mercy, which extend beyond the bounds of what people expect or deserve. 

God's All-Consuming Love

In this message, Pastor Jim asks the question, what do you fear? He considers how we are living in a culture of fear, and we may have become a prisoner of our fears. A way of life that is incompatible with the freedom found in Christ. In fact, fear is one of the very things that Jesus came to destroy as part of his saving work of redemption and launching the new creation. As explained in 1 John 4, our fears can be overtaken by the new life available in Christ. Our former way of life can be completely swallowed up in the love of God. Because, as it turns out, God’s love is indeed the real source of life. Fear can no longer exist where God's love is fully present.

All Aboard: The Work of Ministry

In this sermon, Pastor Lynn preaches on Ephesians 4 and explains how the Holy Spirit has given each one of us who believe in Jesus certain gifts to serve others in ministry. Amazingly, these individual gifts fit together so beautifully, and together we really are the Body of Christ. We are Christ's flesh and blood on this earth doing God's work through the power and gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us. 

The Cost of Love

In this message on Matthew 20:1-15, Pastor Jim draws our attention to how Jesus uses a parable about the workers in the vineyard to explain what the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) is like. Yet again, Jesus tells his closest disciples that God is quite different from what they may have been taught to think about God. Views that they may have learned from their religious leaders and heard through "God stories" from family, friends and local community members. A parable which declares in a vivid way how God is completely good. How God’s love is constant and enduring. How our relationship with God is never based on our performance. How God’s actions reveal God’s love for you! 

Child-like Trust

You may ask yourself, “What does it mean to enter the Kingdom of God anyway?” As Pastor Jim explains, the Kingdom of God belongs to those who trust Jesus like children. Those who lay aside what the world and our culture say are important in regard to status, power and prestige. Laying aside big egos and power plays. Laying aside those who are thought to be “in” and those who are thought to be “out.” Choosing, instead, to be the sort of person who trusts God with everything and in all situations. Becoming the kind of person who can give up their desire for control of what is happening, when it is happening and whether or not it produces an outcome they want. To be more like Jesus by having child-like trust in God.