Chris Watts Sermon

The Purpose of Existence

The turn from 1 to 2 Chronicles focuses on David’s and Solomon’s efforts in building the temple, but during this process both David and Solomon recognize a puzzling aspect to their work; God doesn’t actually need a temple, everything that they used to build it came from him, and a temple can’t contain him anyway. So why build the temple? This question is a microcosm of a much larger question: why did God create anything at all? What is the point of our existence? David’s and Solomon’s prayers provide a good foundation from which to explore this deep question.

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(Preaching through Chronicles. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 7, 2025.)

Chris Watts Sermon

The Kindness and Severity of God

The latter part of David’s life is marked by civil war, conflict, strife, and a lot of pain, stemming from David’s poor choices and God’s discipline. But in the midst of all his sorrow, we also see God’s grace and mercy toward David. How do the kindness and severity of God weave together at the end of David’s life, and how should we be thinking about these traits of God in our own lives?

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(Preaching through the history of early Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 27, 2025.)

Chris Watts Sermon

A Clean Heart

2 Samuel 11-16 are the low points of David’s life: sinning with Bathsheba followed by several devastating consequences and the fallout of family discord and civil war. But out of this terrible time comes one of the most powerful Psalms. What can we learn from Psalm 51 and how can we read it prophetically as something we too can pray to God in the depths of our sin and consequence?

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(Preaching through the history of early Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 20, 2025.)

Chris Watts Sermon

The Kingdom Covenant

2 Samuel 7 is one of the key chapters of the Bible, akin to Abraham’s call in Genesis 12 or the beginning of the gospels. The promise made to David is a recurring theme throughout the rest of the story of Israel. Why is this chapter so pivotal, and how does it connect to the rest of the Bible story?

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(Preaching through the story of early Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 13, 2025.)

Chris Watts Sermon

A Man After God’s Own Heart

After Saul’s rebellion and rejection, God told Samuel he would choose a new king after his own heart. What did God mean by this, what made David such a person, and how can we emulate the heart of David?

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(Preaching on this history of early Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on April 6, 2025.)

Chris Watts Sermon

Biblical Manhood

As we transition into more specific areas of living Biblically, we begin with men: what does it mean to be a man, according to the Bible? What can we learn from men of God throughout history?

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(Preaching on living Biblically. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on July 2, 2023.)

Chris Watts Sermon

The Saga of Absalom, Part 2

The middle act of Absalom’s story leaves the reader full of questions. What kind of peacetime king was David? How did he miss his son’s intentions? And, most of all, why did God allow this all to play out as it did?

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(Preaching on the life of David. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on January 1, 2023.)