Tenth & Broad Church of Christ Podcast

Deacons

Ken explains the biblical origins and role of deacons as servants in the church who assist with practical needs. He walks through the specific process their church uses to nominate, examine, and affirm qualified men to serve as deacons. The primary qualifications are having a good reputation, integrity, faithfulness to one's family, commitment to the faith, and a willingness to serve humbly.

The Path to Happiness

The path to true happiness is through humility and putting others before yourself, not pride and selfishness. This humble path leads to harmony in relationships, which brings real joy - as modeled by Jesus. Following Jesus by repenting of pride and dying to self opens the way to God's blessings and lasting happiness.

Senior Sunday Message 2024

On Senior Sunday, Hunter preached from 2 Timothy 2:20-22, encouraging the graduating seniors to flee youthful passions and instead pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, and a community rooted in Christ. Using the metaphor of being honorable vessels or instruments, he urged them to align their lives with God's principles and promises as they transition into this next phase of adulthood. Above all, Hunter reminded them that God has good plans to give them a hopeful future if they wholeheartedly pursue Him.

Joy: How to Be Happy No Matter What, Part 2

Even in difficult circumstances like imprisonment, the Apostle Paul remained joyful by trusting God, staying focused on his purpose of serving Christ, and having an eternal perspective. True happiness comes not from self-gratification but from self-sacrifice, anchoring your life fully in Christ. With the right perspective, prayer, the Holy Spirit's help, and faith in God's purposes, you can overcome any pressure or pain and be happy no matter what.

How To Be Happy No Matter What - Part 1

In this sermon titled "How to Be Happy No Matter What (part 1)," Ken discusses how to overcome common "kill-joys" that rob us of joy and happiness. Drawing from Philippians 1:12-30, Ken explains how we can find happiness even amid problems, difficult people, pressure, and pain.
 
Some key points covered include:
 
- Viewing problems from God's perspective, trusting that He is working everything for our good
- Not allowing critical, competitive, or troublemaking people to control our attitudes
- Surrounding ourselves with supportive people who build us up
- Keeping our focus on Christ rather than toxic influences
 
The sermon provides practical biblical wisdom on maintaining joy regardless of challenging circumstances. Ken's down-to-earth teaching style makes the message accessible and encouraging.

Joy in Humility

Jeremy Aaron unpacks Philippians 2:1-8, where Paul urges the Philippians to have unity, love and purpose by humbly considering others as more important than themselves, just as Jesus humbled himself by leaving heaven to serve humanity.

Pray with Joy

In this sermon, part 2 of a series on relationships and joy, Ken teaches from Philippians 1 on the importance of praying with joy for the people in our lives - even the difficult relationships.
He challenges us not just to complain or gossip about the people who irritate us, but to pray for them with a joyful heart. Ken provides a powerful prayer from Philippians 1:9-11 that we can pray over our relationships:
Pray that they will grow in love
Pray that they will make wise choices
Pray that they will live with integrity
Pray that they will become like Jesus
When we pray these things over our relationships, God can change not just the other person's heart, but our own as well. Rather than taking sides, we align ourselves with God's heart by praying blessings over even our most difficult relationships.
If you want more joyful relationships, put this Biblical advice into practice. Pray with joy over your family, friends, co-workers and even your enemies. As Ken says, "God just might change their heart, I can almost guarantee he'll change yours."

The Attitude of Gratitude

In this sermon, Ken focuses on how developing an attitude of gratitude is key to having happier relationships and a more joyful life. He draws lessons from Philippians 1, where the apostle Paul models gratitude toward the church in Philippi despite being in prison.
 
Ken emphasizes that happiness doesn't come from changing our circumstances, but from choosing to be grateful for the people in our lives - our spouses, parents, children, coworkers, etc. He challenges us to have "selective memory" by dwelling on the positive aspects of our relationships rather than the negative.
 
Practical tips are given for cultivating gratitude as a habit, such as praying short prayers of thanks when we think about our loved ones, or asking God to remind us why we love and appreciate them. Ken invites listeners to write down a person or situation they need to be more grateful for and commit to finding reasons for gratitude this week.
 
The sermon also touches on how God's goal isn't just for us to be happy, but to become holy through life's difficult circumstances. Yet paradoxically, choosing gratitude can lead to greater joy and happier relationships along the way.

The Flowering of the Cross 2024

Ken Holsberry’s message this Easter Sunday focuses on James the brother of Jesus, who went from skeptic to believer because of the Resurrection. Ken’s message is followed by the dramatic visual of death to life with the Flowering of the Cross.

What Did Jesus Do on the Cross?

This powerful sermon examines the prophecy in Isaiah 53 about the suffering Messiah and how it was fulfilled by Jesus on the cross. Ken walks through Isaiah 53 verse-by-verse, showing how it vividly describes Christ's crucifixion hundreds of years before it happened.
But more than just predicting Jesus' death, this passage reveals what He accomplished through His sacrifice. On the cross, Jesus took our punishment and gave us forgiveness, took our wounds and gave us healing, took our sin and gave us His righteousness, took our death and gave us life, took our curse and gave us blessing, took our poverty and gave us abundance, took our rejection and gave us acceptance, and took our shame and gave us glory.
Ken drives home the incredible exchange that happened at Calvary - Jesus took upon Himself everything evil, so that we could receive everything good from God. He then shares from the words of Jesus and Peter how we can participate in this salvation - by believing in Christ and being baptized.
This gospel presentation is a powerful call to embrace all that Jesus purchased for us through His atoning death. You'll never look at Easter the same way after understanding the full scope of what Christ accomplished on the cross according to Isaiah's prophecy.