Practical, biblical preaching from Sonrise Church in West Valley City, Utah. Pastor Chris Thompson teaches through Scripture each week, drawing out timeless truth for everyday life. Whether you've walked with Jesus for decades, are returning to faith, or are still asking the first questions, there's a place for you here. New sermons posted Mondays from our Sunday gatherings. Learn more or join us in person at sonrisebc.org.
01-James: "Count It All Joy: Faith That Holds Under Weight" | James 1:1-6
A man who grew up in the same house as Jesus sits down to write a letter. He could have signed it as the Lord’s brother. Instead he writes, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). For years he did not believe. “For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5). Then the risen Christ appeared to James, and everything changed. This message opens our new series, James: Doers of the Word.James writes to Jewish believers who had known the Scriptures all their lives, now scattered, poor, and under pressure. Their danger was not that they didn’t know the truth. It was that they knew it and weren’t living it. So how can anyone count it all joy when life falls apart? Is joy a feeling that rises and falls with our circumstances? Why do trials keep coming, each one heavier than the last? Who gets to decide what “perfect” means? And when you don’t know what to do, why do so many of us never stop to ask?When James writes of the testing of our faith, he reaches for a metalworker’s word. It described putting silver and gold through the fire. So what is the fire for? To destroy the metal, or to prove it?From there the message walks verse by verse through the opening lines of the letter. A question about which master we serve. A traveler caught by something he never saw coming. A refiner who sits over his silver (Malachi 3:3). A faith that either holds under weight or gives way. A workout that never really ends in this life. A God who “gives to all liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5). And a wave of the sea that cannot steer itself.This message is for anyone who knows the truth but isn’t living it. It is for the believer who has fallen into a trial they never saw coming, and for the one who wonders why the trials never seem to end. It is for the one who has said, “You don’t understand what I’m going through.” It is for anyone facing a situation they don’t have the skill to navigate. And it is for anyone who has been drifting, driven and tossed, and wondering who is steering.Key Texts: James 1:1-6; John 7:5; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Acts 8:1; Romans 6:17-18; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Nehemiah 8:10; Malachi 3:6; Acts 5:41; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:3; James 1:22🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church-Utah: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://sonrisebc.org/app/🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Sonrise_LifeGroup_Study_2026-10-25.pdf#DoersOfTheWord #BookOfJames #James1 #CountItAllJoy #Trials #Endurance #FaithUnderPressure #Wisdom #Bondservant #Discipleship #ChristianLiving #BibleTeaching #Sermon #Jesus #SonriseChurch
22 Oct 2026
03-I Am A Church Member: Loving & Treasured | Luke 17
On the road to Jerusalem, somewhere between Samaria and Galilee, ten lepers stand at a distance and cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13). All ten are cleansed. Only one comes back. This message closes our series I Am A Church Member with the final two characteristics of a believer: loving and treasured.In 1993 a pop song asked, “What is love?” Our culture has been answering ever since: a battlefield, a feeling, a breakup anthem whose answer is to love yourself. So what is love, really? Where does it begin? What does it look like when it is lived out and not just talked about? Why would Jesus heal ten men when He knew only one would return? And underneath it all, a more personal question: what are you actually worth?Jesus calls the man who came back “this foreigner.” The word He uses was carved into the warning stones of the temple itself. Who was that stone written to keep out, and where did he end up?From there the message moves from a definition to a demonstration. Paul’s portrait of a love that “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). James and his warning about a faith that offers the hungry nothing but words. And then a different question entirely: price. A banana duct-taped to a wall sells for millions of dollars, and the buyer eats it. Peter reminds us that we “were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,” but “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The message then asks why a price that high was ever necessary, and what it says about every person God has made.This message is for anyone who has been handed the world’s version of love and found it empty. It is for the believer who loves only when it is returned. It is for the one who has quietly wondered whether they are worth anything to God. And it is for anyone with “that person” in their life, the one you would rather not love, because they were bought at the same price.Key Texts: Mark 12:28-34; 1 John 4:7-19; 1 John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13:4-13; Luke 17:11-19; James 2:15-17; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:22; Isaiah 53:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:21
22 Oct 2026
02-I Am A Church Member: Praying & Serving | Matthew 6
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turns to one of the most personal things a believer ever does. "And when you pray," He says, "you shall not be like the hypocrites" (Matthew 6:5). This message continues our series I Am A Church Member with two of the most challenging marks of a Christian: praying and serving.Think about the biggest source of stress in your life right now. Finances? Work? Kids? A relationship? Underneath many of them is the same problem: poor communication. So what happens when the breakdown is between us and God? What is prayer, really? Do we need special words for God to hear us? Is prayer a way to get what we want? Does God listen more closely when more of us are praying? And the question underneath all of them: are you even on speaking terms with God?Jesus says those who pray to be seen "have their reward." The word He uses was written on ancient receipts. It meant paid in full. What is left for a prayer that was only ever meant for the room?From there the message moves through Jesus' own teaching. A closed door and a Father "who sees in secret" (Matthew 6:6). A mountain where four hundred and fifty prophets shouted all morning while one man prayed about sixty words. A pattern that begins with "Our Father in heaven," and a garden where Jesus prayed it out. Then the message turns to service: two brothers from the fishing boats asking for the best seats in the kingdom, and Jesus answering with Himself, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Paul shows us how far that service went: "taking the form of a bondservant" (Philippians 2:7).This message is for the believer who has quietly wondered, "How am I supposed to pray?" It is for the one who prays more for the ears around them than for the ears of God, and for the one who has treated God more like a genie than a Father. It is for the church member who would rather be served than serve. And it is for anyone ready to talk with the Father like a child and serve like the Son.Key Texts: Matthew 6:5-13; Psalm 51:17; Matthew 18:15-20; Deuteronomy 19:15; 1 Kings 18:26-39; Luke 22:42; 1 John 5:14-15; James 1:13-14; Mark 10:35-45; Philippians 2:5-8
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