Harbor City Church Sermons

Guest Speaker: Joel Fitzpatrick

Series Title: The Superiority of JesusSeries Summary: The book of Hebrews begins with the audacious claim: Jesus is God’s last word. Jesus is God’s last word because he is the one who brings together all of the voices of the Old Testament. Jesus is God’s last word because he is the divine Son - God himself speaking to us. With this claim comes a question: Are we listening?Passages: Hebrews 3:7-19Speaker: Omar OrtizUnbelief and Sin can erode our confidence in the Lord. Using the story of the wilderness wanderings in the Old Testament, the pastor encourages us to be on guard against both. Instead, we are told to hold firmly onto Jesus as we navigate the difficulties of life.

Series Title: Lord, Teach us to PraySeries Summary: Jesus was a man of prayer. He modeled it. He taught on it. He lived it. His life of prayer was so powerful that the disciples closest to him asked him to teach them about prayer. We need to learn from him, too. In this series, we will be looking at some of Jesus’ teaching on and examples of prayer. We will see how Jesus’ established practices of prayer (regular prayer and times of solitude) moved him to pray in various situations. His call to persevere in prayer is an invitation to follow him in this spiritual practice.Photo by ⁠⁠Jon Tyson⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠Unsplash⁠⁠Passages: Mark 9:14-29Speaker: Omar OrtizJesus saw prayer as an important weapon in our spiritual warfare. In this week’s sermon, we see how Jesus (and Paul after him) used prayer when dealing with spiritual forces of evil. We also consider some of the lies that the devil can use to keep us from prayer.

Series Title: Lord, Teach us to PraySeries Summary: Jesus was a man of prayer. He modeled it. He taught on it. He lived it. His life of prayer was so powerful that the disciples closest to him asked him to teach them about prayer. We need to learn from him, too. In this series, we will be looking at some of Jesus’ teaching on and examples of prayer. We will see how Jesus’ established practices of prayer (regular prayer and times of solitude) moved him to pray in various situations. His call to persevere in prayer is an invitation to follow him in this spiritual practice.Photo by Jon Tyson on UnsplashPassages: Matthew 6:5-8; Luke 5:16; 6:12-13; Matthew 19:13Speaker: Omar OrtizIn the first sermon of our series on prayer, we look to the example of Jesus. Jesus’ rhythm of prayer was private and public, spontaneous and structured. Seeing Jesus’ example, we are committing ourselves as a church to a six-week period of prayer.

Series Title: Son of DavidSeries Summary: When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus, he told Mary that her son would rule on David’s throne. Matthew’s gospel opens with a genealogy which emphatically connects Jesus of Nazareth with the kingly family of David. This is because the prophets had told God’s people that the coming “Son of David” would also be the Son of God. The Old Testament kings of Israel were flawed–some more than others. The best ones, although far from perfect, were remembered by Israel as displaying some of the marks and virtue of the Ultimate Son of David. In this Advent series, we are focusing our attention on four sons of David, four men named in Jesus’ genealogy–Solomon, Asa, Hezekiah, & Josiah. Each one points us to something true about their future son. Each one’s flaws remind us that we needed a great King. Passages: 2 Chronicles 15Speaker: Omar OrtizWhen God calls Asa to revitalize Israel’s worship, he responds with remarkable courage. Asa's faithfulness leads the whole nation to seek the Lord. Sadly, this is not how his story ends. Asa ultimately points us to Jesus, the King who seeks the Father with perfect courage to the very end and who leads us to seek him as well.(This is a recording of the sermon Omar preached at First Presbyterian Church on the passage the previous week. The audio for the sermon preached at Harbor was not available. )

Series Title: Son of DavidSeries Summary: When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus, he told Mary that her son would rule on David’s throne. Matthew’s gospel opens with a genealogy which emphatically connects Jesus of Nazareth with the kingly family of David. This is because the prophets had told God’s people that the coming “Son of David” would also be the Son of God. The Old Testament kings of Israel were flawed–some more than others. The best ones, although far from perfect, were remembered by Israel as displaying some of the marks and virtue of the Ultimate Son of David. In this Advent series, we are focusing our attention on four sons of David, four men named in Jesus’ genealogy–Solomon, Asa, Hezekiah, & Josiah. Each one points us to something true about their future son. Each one’s flaws remind us that we needed a great King. Passages: 1 Kings 4:20-34Speaker: Omar OrtizSolomon’s reign was the high point of the Davidic monarchy. Blessed by unmatched wisdom, Solomon’s rule brought prosperity and peace, security and safety, flourishing and abundance. But there were cracks in the kingdom. Those cracks point to the need for a king who would be wiser than Solomon, and who would use his wisdom perfectly. Jesus is everything Solomon ever was, and so much more.