Sonrise Church-Utah Sermons

Sonrise Church-Utah
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  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

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.

Episodes

  1. 22h ago

    09-Ephesians: "God's Grace Is an Asset: Are You Investing It?" | Ephesians 3:1-13

    In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul writes from a prison cell and pulls back the curtain on a mystery that was hidden for ages: in Christ, Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the same promise. The good news is not for a privileged few. It is for the whole world.Paul calls himself a steward of God's grace, using a word that meant household management. The grace we receive is not meant to sit untouched. Like the servant in the parable of the talents, we are entrusted with something valuable and called to invest it, not bury it in the ground. And we invest grace the same way it first came to us: we tell others. We go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. As grace is shared, grace multiplies.This message also corrects a quiet misconception, the idea that a faithful life guarantees an easy one. Paul, the former persecutor turned servant of Christ, poured everything into the church and lost his freedom for it. Yet he refuses to lose heart, because the same power that raised Christ is at work in him, and the eternal purpose of God was always the plan.If you have ever been burned and hung it up, this message calls you back to the building site. You are a steward of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Don't bury the grace.Key Texts: Ephesians 3:1-13; Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 1:9-10; Romans 6:16-19; Matthew 25:14-30; Matthew 20:26

    42 min

  2. Jun 8

    08-Ephesians: "Cut to Fit: How God Is Building His Church Today" | Ephesians 2:19-22

    In Ephesians 2:19-22, we step onto a building site. Across this chapter God has cleared the ground, the dividing wall is down, and He has gathered a people who were once dead, once far off, once without hope. But a cleared lot and a gathered crowd are not yet the point. They are the beginning of something He is building.Paul says you are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are not on the porch. You are not knocking at the door. In Christ you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, a family that has stood through the millennia.This house rests on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the chief cornerstone. He sets the line, the level, and the square, and every stone is laid true only in reference to Him. And every stone is cut to fit. We come to Christ raw and unshaped, and the chisel that shapes us is not always gentle. You cannot fill my place. I cannot fill yours. When believers refuse to be fitted into the body, the church grows weak.So the question of this passage is simple and searching: are you investing in the household of God, or only attending it? If you are truly His, you are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. That is an honor. May we never take it for granted.

    37 min

  3. Jun 2

    07-Ephesians: "Unity was always the plan." | Ephesians 2:14-18

    In Ephesians 2:14-18, we hear Paul make one of the boldest claims in all of Scripture: Christ Himself is our peace. Not a peace He hands out. A peace He is.For generations a wall stood between Jew and Gentile. A wall of law, of custom, of open hostility. But on the cross Jesus abolished that wall in His own flesh, taking two divided peoples and making them into one new man. He reconciled both to God in one body, and now those once far off and those always near come to the Father through the very same Spirit.Here is the truth that reframes the whole story: this was never God's afterthought. From His covenant with Abraham, God promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed. Israel was always meant to be a light to the nations. The division we know so well was never the design. It was the rebellion. And in Christ, God resets everything back to His original intent.Pastor Christopher Thompson walks Ephesians 2:14-18 verse by verse, tracing the long arc from Abraham to the cross and exposing the man-made walls we still rebuild today. If you are weary of division, or have ever believed you had to earn your way near to God, this message will rest your soul on the One who is our peace and remind you that unity was always the plan.Key Texts: Ephesians 2:14-18; Galatians 3:28; Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 49:5-6; Philippians 4:6-7; Acts 10:15#Ephesians2 #UnityWasAlwaysThePlan #ChristIsOurPeace #Unity #BibleTeaching #JewAndGentile #OneInChrist #TheDividingWall #Reconciliation #Gospel #Discipleship #SoundDoctrine #Pastor #Jesus #Church #SonriseChurchUtah

    41 min

  4. May 25

    06-Ephesians: "But Now: Two Words That Bring Us Home." | Ephesians 2:11-13

    In Ephesians 2:11–13, we hear Paul give the church one weighty command: remember. Keep remembering. Never forget who you were before grace found you.Once you were far off. Gentiles in the flesh, outside the covenants, strangers to the promises, with no hope and without God in the world. The religious crowd of Paul's day had traded faith for flesh, leaning on circumcision and bloodline while missing the very Messiah they had waited centuries to see. So Paul takes us back to Abraham, who believed God and was counted righteous before he was ever circumcised. Righteousness has always come the same way: grace through faith, never by works, never by trying harder.Then come two of the most beautiful words in the chapter. But now. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." The blood is the price of your citizenship, the payment that grants the outsider a place inside the family of God.There has only ever been one door into the household of God, and the door is a Person. Ruth came in by it. Rahab came in by it. Every saint before the cross looked ahead to it, and every believer since looks back to it. Jesus said, "I am the door," and "I am the way, the truth, and the life."If you have been measuring your standing with God by your performance, this message calls you to rest in something far more secure than your own effort. Jesus is enough. Come to the one door, and be brought near.Key Texts: Ephesians 2:11–13; Ephesians 2:4–10; Genesis 15:6; Genesis 17:6–11; Romans 4:1–16; Acts 22:22–29; John 10:9; John 14:6#Ephesians #Ephesians2 #BroughtNear #GraceThroughFaith #Gospel #Jesus #BibleTeaching #Sermon #ChristianLiving #Salvation #FaithNotWorks #Discipleship #SonriseChurchUtah

    37 min

  5. May 18

    05-Ephesians: "But God: Two Words That Change Everything." | Ephesians 2:1-10

    🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://get.theapp.co/r78g🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Sonrise_LifeGroup_Ephesians_2_1-10.pdf In Ephesians 2:1-10, we hear Paul deliver one of the most stunning pivots in all of Scripture. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. By nature, we were children of wrath. There was no climb-back. A corpse cannot reach for help. A corpse cannot decide to live.But God.Rich in mercy. Great in love. He made us alive together with Christ. He raised us up. He seated us with His Son in the heavenly places, that in the ages to come He might display the exceeding riches of His grace.This message corrects a misconception that quietly steals the joy of the gospel: the lie that we contributed something to our own salvation. Pastor Christopher Thompson walks Ephesians 2:1-10 verse by verse, distinguishing mercy from grace, exposing the cost Jesus paid, and calling every believer to walk in the good works God prepared for them beforehand.If you have ever wondered what "But God" actually means, or felt the pressure to earn what only grace can give, this message will rest your soul on what Christ has already finished.Key Texts: Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 3:10; Romans 6:8-11; Romans 6:23; Genesis 1:31; Philippians 2#Church #BibleTeaching #Ephesians #ResurrectionPower #PaulsPrayer #Discipleship #ChristianLiving #ChurchLeadership #SoundDoctrine #Jesus #SonriseChurch-Utah#Ephesians2 #ButGod #Gospel #GraceAlone #SavedByGrace #BibleTeaching #MadeAlive #ChristianLiving #SoundDoctrine #Discipleship #Pastor #Salvation #NewLife #Jesus #Church

    45 min

  6. May 18

    04-Ephesians: "Stop Living Powerless: The Power That Raised Christ Lives in You" | Ephesians 1:19-23

    🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://get.theapp.co/r78g🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/StopLivingPowerless_LifeGroup.pdf In Ephesians 1:19-23, we hear the second half of Paul's prayer for the church, and the curtain pulls back on the source of the believer's confidence. The promises of last week's text only matter if the One who made them is actually able to keep them. Paul answers that question by stacking four Greek words for power into a single verse: dynamis (raw ability), energeia (power activated), kratos (power that overcomes resistance), and ischys (possessed strength). God is not just capable. He is engaged.And the proof? Resurrection. Paul measures the power directed toward believers against the highest possible standard: the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the Father's right hand. Every principality, every authority, every might, every dominion has been placed under His feet. And the One who reigns over all things has been given as head over the church, His body.If you are in Christ, you are not powerless. The obstacles in your life are not yours to overcome alone. The same hand that emptied the tomb is the hand that holds you. Stop living powerless.Key Texts: Ephesians 1:15-23; Psalm 110:1; Joshua 10:24; Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:38-39#Church #BibleTeaching #Ephesians #ResurrectionPower #PaulsPrayer #Discipleship #ChristianLiving #ChurchLeadership #SoundDoctrine #Jesus #SonriseChurch-Utah

    33 min

  7. May 18

    03-Ephesians: "Why Do Christians Live Spiritually Broke?" | Ephesians 1:15-18

    🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://get.theapp.co/r78g🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/OrderBS_EyesOfTheHeart.pdf In Ephesians 1:15-18, we hear the apostle Paul stop mid-letter and pray. He has just finished one breathtaking sentence in Greek, 202 words long, naming everything that is already true of the believer in Christ. Chosen. Adopted. Accepted. Redeemed. Forgiven. Sealed. And now Paul kneels.He thanks God for the Ephesians' faith in Jesus as Kyrios, Lord above Caesar and the very name of YHWH, and for their love for all the saints, the unmistakable evidence that faith is real. Then he asks the Father to pour out the spirit of wisdom and full experiential knowledge (epignōsis) of Christ, and to enlighten the eyes of the heart (kardias), the whole inner person, intellect and will and affection together.Why? So we would actually see what is already ours: the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. A prepared place. A resurrection body. An imperishable inheritance kept in heaven. Reigning with Christ. The unveiled vision of His face. New heavens and a new earth. Riches so vast they will be displayed across endless ages.And in the middle of all of that, Paul reminds us we are not just His. We are treasured. The One of infinite worth extended that worth to us when He died for us while we were still sinners.Most believers walk through life spiritually broke when the King has already deposited the riches of glory into their account. This message is a call to stop trusting your windshield over the voice of the One who can see further, and to walk in the light you have already been given.Key Texts: Ephesians 1:15-18; Romans 5:8; John 14:2-3; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44; Philippians 3:21; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:21; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 22:4; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-4; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7-8; Titus 2:14#Church #BibleTeaching #Ephesians #Ephesians1 #PaulsPrayer #EyesOfTheHeart #SpiritualMaturity #ChristianHope #Inheritance #Discipleship #ChristianLiving #SoundDoctrine #Jesus #SonriseChurch #biblesermon

    30 min

  8. May 18

    02-Ephesians: "Redeemed, Forgiven, Sealed" | Ephesians 1:7-14

    🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://get.theapp.co/r78g🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Order_BS_Ephesians_1_7-14.pdf In Ephesians 1:7-14, we witness Paul lay down one unbroken sentence of grace, 202 words long in the Greek, cascading like a waterfall from the blood of Christ to the sealing of the Spirit.This is not a run-on. This is a revelation. Every phrase is mortared to the next by "in Him," "through Him," "to the praise of His glory." Paul shows us redemption purchased not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of the Lamb. He shows us forgiveness that does not renegotiate our debt but wipes it clean, past, present, and future. He shows us the riches of grace abounding toward us in wisdom and prudence, the mystery hidden from ages now revealed in Christ, the inheritance secured for all who first trusted Him, and the Holy Spirit given as the guarantee until the day of full redemption.If you have ever wondered what Christ actually purchased, or whether your salvation is truly secure, this message walks you through what God has done, is doing, and will finish in every believer.Key Texts: Ephesians 1:7-14; Hebrews 9:11-14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Romans 6; Romans 8:15-16, 38-39; Romans 10:9-10; Colossians 1:26-27; Philippians 2:9-11; James 3:14-17; Galatians 5:22-23; Psalm 50:10-12

    41 min

  9. May 18

    01-Ephesians: "From Persecutor to Apostle: Introduction to Ephesians" | Ephesians 1:1-6

    🌐 Learn more about Sonrise Church: www.sonrisebc.org💒 Support Sonrise: https://sonrise-bc.churchcenter.com/giving📱 Download our App: https://get.theapp.co/r78g🎥 Streaming License: CSPL166462🎵 CCLI License: 646243📖 Study Questions: https://sonrisebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Ephesians_Introduction_LifeGroup.pdf In Ephesians 1:1–6, Paul opens his most sweeping letter from a Roman prison cell, and the first six verses carry the weight of eternity. Before unpacking the text, we trace the man behind the pen: Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee so zealous he hunted Christians house to house, held coats at Stephen's stoning, and obtained letters of authority to extend persecution to Damascus. Then Christ captured him on the road, blinded him, humbled him, and redirected his life forever.The recipients matter just as much. These Ephesian believers emerged from the Artemis cult and Greco-Roman paganism with zero Old Testament background. Everything Paul teaches about identity in Christ was brand-new revelation to them. The letter unfolds in three movements: In Christ (what God has done), Like Christ (how identity shapes daily life), and For Christ (where you represent Him in home, work, and spiritual battle).Paul then opens the letter itself with a greeting that doubles as an act of defiance: calling Jesus Kyrios (Lord) in a Roman imperial stronghold where that title belonged to Caesar. He declares that God has blessed every believer with every spiritual blessing, chosen us before the foundation of the world, and predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, the Beloved. If your identity has been shaped more by culture than by Scripture, this letter begins to change that today.Key Texts: Ephesians 1:1–6; Acts 9:1–19; Philippians 3:5; Acts 7:58–8:3; Acts 19:24–27; Acts 20:29–31; John 3:16; John 16:33; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 2:1–7#Ephesians #BibleTeaching #ApostlePaul #Grace #Church #ChristianLiving #Discipleship #ChosenByGod #SpiritualBlessings #Jesus #NewTestament #Identity #SonriseChurchUtah

    40 min
  • 9 Episodes

About

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.

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