Sunwest Fc's Weekly Sermon Podcast

The Christmas story fulfills God’s promises throughout history. This week, we’ll look at the earliest one—a brief but powerful promise given thousands of years before Jesus’ birth. For generations, people waited for its fulfillment, but often misplaced their faith in the wrong people out of misunderstanding or impatience. And even with the full light of the Christmas story, we still fall into the same pattern today.

The lives and stories that came before us shape who we are, often more than we realize. This week, we’ll explore how the Gospel of Matthew reaches back to an Old Testament prophecy to reveal a centuries-long story of God’s faithfulness; a promise woven through kings, crises, and choices, all the way to Joseph deciding whether to remain engaged to Mary, now unexpectedly pregnant. And through it all, God was working. God was present. God was, and is, still with us through this promise kept.

2025-12-07 When Isaiah spoke God’s promise into Assyrian darkness, he named a child not yet born: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Seven centuries of waiting. Then Bethlehem. Every title kept. Every promise fulfilled. The government truly on his shoulders—our burdens included. If God kept his biggest promise through a baby in a manger, he’ll keep the one you’re holding onto today. The kingdom grows. The light still breaks through.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

2025-11-30 As we enter Advent we are starting a new series: Promises Kept. From Christmas music to ancient songs, we’ll explore how Psalm 98 invites us to remember God’s faithfulness, sing a new song, and rediscover joy. Just as Israel sang of God’s past victory and Mary echoed those promises at Jesus’ birth, we too are invited to remember God’s promises kept. Together we’ll discover how the birth of Jesus fulfills the hopes sung by generations before us.

2025-11-23 This week, we’re looking at Daniel’s most famous moment. He stands firm and loves well in a culture of compromise, and it lands him in a lion’s den. The miracle everyone remembers is that he survived the night—but the real miracle happened long before he ever entered the den. Join us this weekend as we finish our series “Life in Babylon.”

2025-11-16 How would you live if you knew the length of your time on earth? Would that perspective change your priorities and your goals? Daniel speaks truth to power and Babylon again, challenging their short-sighted perspective. Sometimes we can forget that our time on earth is but a breath. Although that perspective can feel heavy, it actually frees us to live with eternal hope and purpose today.

We’ve been following the story of Daniel and his three friends—an inspiring picture of integrity and influence in the midst of Babylon. But what if we’ve been reading it from the wrong perspective? Instead of identifying with Daniel, maybe we’re more like King Nebuchadnezzar—people with power, pride, and something to lose. Join us this week as we explore the King’s dramatic transformation.

Daniel's three friends find themselves face-to-face with the ugliness of Babylon. Their personal convictions become a public ultimatum. Yet they demonstrate a posture, a resolve, and a faith that have made this one of the most beloved stories in Biblical literature. But the story wasn't written down just to be retold; it is intended to be re-lived.

There have been many ‘Babylons’ in history. Many societies and countries have risen to power only to fall shortly thereafter. This week, we look at a prophetic, yet timeless dream that Daniel interpreted for a King. It challenged their true allegiances and hopes then, and it should still challenge ours today. Where does our true hope lie? The invitation for them and for us is to come face to face with the ‘rock bottom’ truth of the dream so we can live with true hope.

Babylon is not a locality—it’s a mentality. God’s people have always faced the challenge of living in “Babylon” without losing who they are or what they’re called to. Yet God also calls His people to influence Babylon. How can we live with conviction while building connection, favour, and influence? Join us as we learn from the roadmap Daniel and his friends left us.

2025-10-12 How do you live with character and integrity in a hostile and contentious culture? How do we stand firm and love well in a culture of compromise? As followers of Jesus, we are called to love God and love people. Loving people involves having the courage and tact to speak truth with grace. Loving God can sometimes mean believing and doing countercultural things. Join us this week as we begin a new series, following the life of Daniel, learning to live in Babylon.

We’re celebrating 30 years of God’s faithfulness at SunWest — and you’re invited to join the story! Whether you’ve been part of our church family for decades or just recently started attending, this milestone weekend is all about reflecting on where we’ve been, celebrating what God is doing, and looking ahead to the future He has for us. Come be part of the celebration — because this is a story worth telling!

Batman and the Joker. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Frodo and Sauron. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Every good story has a hero and a villain—two characters locked in conflict. But have you ever wondered what really separates them? Why we cheer for one and recoil from the other? Truth is, the line between hero and villain is surprisingly thin. And how we respond to that line is what makes our own lives a story worth telling... or one that isn’t.

2025-09-21: All good stories have a guide. Luke had Yoda, Frodo had Gandalf, Harry Potter had Dumbledore, and the Karate Kid had Mr. Miyagi. If we want to live a story worth telling, we too need a guide to help us along the way. Like sheep who need a shepherd, we need the good shepherd to guide us into the lives Jesus has for us. This journey is not done alone, but with the help of others who are living like the people Jesus wants us to become. Discover how, with the guidance of others, we can live a story worth telling.

2025-09-11: What if the very thing we spend our lives avoiding is actually the key to the story we're meant to live? This message tackles our uniquely Canadian talent for conflict avoidance (we apologize when someone steps on our toes!) and reveals why our mental health crisis might be connected to our pursuit of a conflict-free life. Through surprising insights about great stories, thriving relationships, and Jesus' most counterintuitive invitation, discover why the ultimate conflict might just be the ultimate freedom. Spoiler alert: The most dangerous lie isn't what you think it is.

2025-09-07: We’ve all put down a book or turned off a movie that wasn’t worth finishing—it was probably missing the essentials of a good story. The same is true in life. The very elements that make stories compelling are the ones that make our lives meaningful, because they echo the greatest story ever told—the gospel, the story of Jesus. Don’t waste your life. Live a story worth telling.

2025-08-31: We all end up in the wilderness—by choice, by others, by circumstance, and even by God’s leading. But the wilderness is not your home. Follow Jesus through it. Don’t take shortcuts—they only keep you stuck. Jesus went through the wilderness so it would never be your destination.

2025-08-24: After calling down fire from heaven in a great display of faith, Elijah finds himself the very next day alone and afraid in the wilderness. God shows up and meets him in an unexpected way—not through a big display, but in a gentle whisper. This Sunday, we’re going to explore the importance of being more aware of the whisper, as it's God’s voice that sustains us through both the highs and lows.

2025-08-17: This Sunday, we are talking about the greatest rescue mission in history. What happens after we are saved? Through Scripture, the story of the Samaritan woman, and real events, we'll challenge how the Gospel is not just good news to receive but a mission to live out.

2025-08-10: In the dark of night Jacob finds himself alone, wrestling not just with a mysterious man, but with God Himself. This encounter leaves him wounded, renamed, and forever changed. Sometimes God doesn’t show up to comfort you — He shows up to confront you. And that’s where real transformation begins.