Aletheia Church, Providence Ri

When we consider the story that the Bible tells, a tension develops early on. How will God reconcile sinners to himself and judge sin? In this sermon, Pastor Justin explains how Jesus is the unexpected twist that resolves this tension.

When current events are so uncertain, we need something to fix our hope on. By exploring the anticlimactic ending of Nehemiah, Pastor Justin explains how it (and the entire Old Testament) points us to hope in Jesus. The only way to have an unconquerable hope is to fix it on Christ.

Gathering together to worship God is supposed to have a transformative impact on a person. In this sermon, Pastor Justin examines what the Bible says true worship looks like, and what we can expect to experience when we worship.

In this sermon, Pastor Justin explores the reality of spiritual warfare in the lives of God's people, and the spiritual weapons we've been given to do battle effectively.

Taking a one-week break from Ezra-Nehemiah, Pastor Justin looks at how Jesus builds faith into his disciples. We all experience storms in life, but the faith that Jesus offers means we can be at peace, even when the storm is at its fiercest.

When Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, he encountered a major problem. There was a famine in the land, and the poorer Jews were suffering. Nehemiah called the wealthier Jews to repent of leveraging the situation to build wealth, and to be generously help those in need. He also personally exemplified extreme generosity. The thing that inspired Nehemiah's generosity is the same thing that will move us to be generous.

Ezra and Nehemiah have drastically different personalities, but their prayers are characterized by the same thing… honesty. The work God calls his people to can't happen without honest prayer. In this sermon, Pastor Justin helps us learn from Ezra and Nehemiah how to pray honestly.

In this sermon, Pastor Justin explains how holiness means much more than just moral purity. To be holy is to be "set apart" for God. Holiness requires obedience, but when seen as faithfulness, obedience is a joy, not a burden. When Ezra returned to Jerusalem, he discovered that the people failed to be holy. His response shows us how to lay the groundwork of holiness in our lives.

Sixty years after the dedication of the temple, Ezra is sent to Jerusalem to bring the Law of Moses to the Jewish people. In the same way that the Law of Moses was essential to the lives of those in Jerusalem, the Bible is essential for our lives. In this sermon, Pastor Justin explains how the truth found in God's word is a make-or-break issue. If we lay the groundwork of truth, success awaits us; without the groundwork of truth, failure awaits.

(Ezra 3–5) When met with adversity, the Israelites abandon the work of rebuilding the temple. In this sermon, Pastor Justin explains that all God's people are called to be temple builders. Adversity will try to keep us from the work of God, but God gives us everything we need to persevere in the work.

For this family service, all Aletheia team members and Aletheia Kids gathered together. When Jesus told his disciples he would build his church, he made it clear what their role in that growth would be: gatekeepers—followers of Jesus who welcome others out of darkness and into light. Living as a gatekeeper lays the groundwork for new growth.

Have you ever felt an undercurrent of discontentment in your life? The Bible compares the human condition to a leaking cistern that constantly needs to be filled up. However, Jesus offers a better way—a way to be filled up that never leaves us thirsty again.

What does God think about anger? We often assume he disapproves of it. Yet Jesus got angry… often. Looking at how Jesus handles his anger, Pastor Justin explains how there are two kinds of anger, good and bad. Bad anger can ruin our lives, but good anger is a powerful tool in God's purpose for the world.

One symptom of emotionally unhealthy spirituality is ignoring the impact of our past on our present—our family of origin, painful experiences, betrayals. In this sermon, Pastor Justin unpacks what we can learn from the life of Joseph to help unlock these prisons from our past and free us to embrace God's purpose in our lives.

Jesus's first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding. In this sermon, Denzel Paige shows us how Jesus made time for joy. Though our joy is touched by sadness in this life, Jesus went to great lengths to ensure true joy gives us incredible hope.

Jesus is the embodiment of everything that it means to be fully and perfectly human. That means that his internal life — his emotions — were handled perfectly. In this series, we start off by engaging the idea that Jesus embodies emotionally-healthy spirituality, and enables us to embody it too.