
Episode #32
God's Sovereignty in Salvation
August 30, 2026 Rarely does a sermon tackle one of Christianity's most debated tensions with such refreshing honesty. This message dives into Acts 13:44-52, where Paul and Barnabas face fierce rejection from Jewish leaders, and what unfolds reveals something profound about God's sovereign design for salvation history. Larry unpacks how the Jewish rejection of Jesus was not a divine accident. Paul quotes Isaiah 49:6, showing that Christ was always meant to be "a light to all nations." The rejected cornerstone, as drawn from Isaiah and Psalms, becomes the very foundation of a gospel that reaches every corner of the world. (It is a genuinely moving image when Larry describes Jesus weeping at Jerusalem, grieving that people missed who he truly was.) What does it mean that God both predestines and invites? Larry wrestles honestly with Acts 13:48, Romans 8:29, and John 6:44, sharing his own journey through college debates between Calvinists and Arminians, and his conversations with Dr. Belcher. He moved from firm five-point Calvinism toward something humbler and harder to label. Ultimately, he lands on a simple, urgent truth: proclaim the gospel to everyone, and trust God to do the rest.

