Stones Hill Community Church: Recent Episodes
Matt Gaff
Weekly broadcast of our Church Sermons from Stones Hill Community Church our website is https://www.stoneshill.org/
Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:25-32 NIV
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:17-24 NIV
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:15 NIV
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NIV
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:7-10 NIV
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 3:1-21 NIV
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:1-21 NIV
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:1-21 NIV
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 2:11-22 NIV
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-22 NIV
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-22 NIV
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin sin which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin sin which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin sin which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
John 19:30 NIV
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
2 Timothy 1:6-10 NIV
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:1-23 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Acts 19:1-41 NIV
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. God did extraordinary miracles through Paul so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another.
2 Kings 2:1-18 NIV
When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.“ You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.“ Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.” But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
2 Kings 1:1-18 NIV
After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.” But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went. When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?” “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” ’ ”The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?” They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ”Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men. At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ”“If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men. So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!” The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king. He told the king, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” So he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
1 Kings 21:1-29 NIV
Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’ ”Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” “I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ “And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.”(There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.)When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”
Romans 8:1-4 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Matthew 2:1-12 NIV
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Luke 2:8-20 NIV
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:1-7 NIV
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
Rejoice always pray continually give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Kings 19:1-21 NIV
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
1 Kings 19:1-21 NIV
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
1 Kings 19:1-21 NIV
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
1 Kings 18:41-46 NIV
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
1 Kings 19:1-2 NIV
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
2 Kings 9:30-37 NIV
Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?” He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. Jezebel’s body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’ ”
1 Kings 18:22-40 NIV
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!” Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
1 Kings 18:1-21 NIV
After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. While Jezebel was killing off the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals. ”So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another. As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”“What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ I don’t know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!” Elijah said, “As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.” So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
1 Kings 17:1-24 NIV
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’ ”She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
1 Kings 17:1-24 NIV
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there. ”So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him“ Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink? ”As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die. "Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’ ”She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die? ”Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
Psalms 16:1-11 NIV
Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing. ”I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight. ”Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalms 1:1-6 NIV
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalms 45:1-17 NIV
My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds. Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet. Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir. Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house. Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. The city of Tyre will come with a gift, people of wealth will seek your favor. All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold. In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her— those brought to be with her. Led in with joy and gladness, they enter the palace of the king. Your sons will take the place of your fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land. I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.
Psalms 91:1-16 NIV
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Psalms 133:1-3 NIV
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Psalms 130:1-8 NIV
Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Psalms 121:1-8 NIV
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalms 120:1-7 NIV
I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue?He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar!Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
Mark and Amber Archer 6/30/2024
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Renewed in Righteousness 6/30/2024
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Psalms 127:1-5 NIV
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Psalm 128:1-6 NIRV
Blessed are all those who have respect for the LORD. They live as he wants them to live. Your work will give you what you need. Blessings and good things will come to you. As a vine bears a lot of fruit, so may your wife have many children by you. May they sit around your table like young olive trees. Only a man who has respect for the LORD will be blessed like that. May the LORD bless you from Zion. May you enjoy the good things that come to Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your grandchildren. May Israel enjoy peace.
Psalms 71:17-18 NIV
Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.
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Psalms 127:1-5 NIV
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.Psalm 128:1-6 NIRV
Blessed are all those who have respect for the LORD. They live as he wants them to live. Your work will give you what you need. Blessings and good things will come to you. As a vine bears a lot of fruit, so may your wife have many children by you. May they sit around your table like young olive trees. Only a man who has respect for the LORD will be blessed like that. May the LORD bless you from Zion. May you enjoy the good things that come to Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your grandchildren. May Israel enjoy peace.
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Psalms 127:1-5 NIV
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Psalm 128:1-6 NIRV
Blessed are all those who have respect for the LORD. They live as he wants them to live. Your work will give you what you need. Blessings and good things will come to you. As a vine bears a lot of fruit, so may your wife have many children by you. May they sit around your table like young olive trees. Only a man who has respect for the LORD will be blessed like that. May the LORD bless you from Zion. May you enjoy the good things that come to Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your grandchildren. May Israel enjoy peace.
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Senior Sunday 6/2/2024
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Psalms 127:1-5 NIV
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
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Psalms 127:1-5 NIV
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
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Mother's Day Sunday Service 5/12/2024
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Psalms 127:1-5
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
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Psalms 144:1-15
Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. LORD, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow. Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David. From the deadly sword deliver me; rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the LORD.
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Psalms 103:1-22 NIV
1 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 15 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— 18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.
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Dr. Tim Chaffey Part 3 of 3 (4/14/2024)
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Dr. Tim Chaffey Part 2 of 3 (4/14/2024)
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Dr. Tim Chaffey Part 1 of 3 (4/14/2024)
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Psalms 8:1-9 NIV
1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
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1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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Psalms 2:1-12 NIV
1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. 12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
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Psalms 23:1-6 NIV
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walkthrough the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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Psalms 139:1-24 NIV
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Camp Michawana 3/3/2024
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Sunday Service 2/25/2024
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Psalms 139:1-24 NIV
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Jonah 4:1-11 NIV
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
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Jonah 3:1-10 NIV
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
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Jonah 2:1-10 NIV
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
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Jonah 1:1-17 NIV
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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Luke 1:26-38 NIV
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
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Jonah 1:1-17 NIV
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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Jonah 1:1-17 NIV
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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Bruce Malone Afternoon Service 1/7/2024
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Bruce Malone Main Service 1/7/2024
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Bruce Malone Early Service 1/7/2024
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Titus 3:12-15 NIV
12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. 15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.Grace be with you all.
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Titus 3:1-8 NIV
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. 3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
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Titus 2:1-15 NIV
1 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. 9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. 11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
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Events Podcast Ep2 11/30/2023
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Sunday Service 11/26/2023
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Titus 2:1-10 NIV
1 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. 9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
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Titus 1:1-16 NIV
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
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Upcoming events for SHCC in November and December 2024
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Titus 1:1-16 NIV
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
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Luke 17:11-19 NIV
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
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Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
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Luke 10:38-42 NIV
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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1 Peter 4:1-11 NIV
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
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Bolivia Mission Sunday 10/1/2023
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1 Peter 4:1-11 NIV
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
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MESSAGE TEXT Luke 15:1-32
INTRODUCTION In Luke 15, Jesus told three “Parables of Lostness.” In this parabolic trilogy of lostness, something very striking happens. Each underscores the loser’s sense of loss, tells of the thrill of rediscovery, and ends with a scene of jubilation. The refrain of rejoice is heard at the conclusion of all three parables of the lost (see vv. 6, 9, 23, 32).[2]
Jesus talked about lost sheep who needed a shepherd; about a lost coin that had value and needed to be put back into the future bride’s headband and eventually into circulation; about two lost sons - one who left home and found slavery and one who stayed at home but viewed working for his father as slavery and was far from the father’s heart.*
In the first two parables of lostness, someone goes looking for the lost coin and someone goes looking for the lost sheep. But in this third parable, no one goes looking for the lost younger brother. The searchers of the coin and sheep let nothing distract them. Their sole purpose is to find at any cost that which is lost. But when we come to the Prodigal Son parable, no one searches. And Jesus sets up the question by the way he tells the previous two parables of lostness: “Who should have gone out and searched for the lost son?” And who should have concluded this trilogy of parables on a note of joy but there’s bitterness instead?
*PROPOSITION We are all prodigals. We’ve taken the gifts of the Father and we’ve been wasteful with those gifts and we’ve misused those gifts and we’ve hurt others with those gifts and we’ve incurred a debt. We all need a true elder brother who will foot our bill.
*CONCLUSION Jesus is the elder brother that you’ve never had. We needed One who would not just go to a far country looking for us. We needed One who would come all the way from heaven to earth. We needed One who was willing to pay, even with his own life, to bring us home to be with Dad again. And moved by the sight of what it costs our true elder brother, He would forever win our hearts. We can move this story from an unfinished ending to a delayed ending if you decide in light of it to come home. If you’re a prodigal, you’re never going to find home anywhere but in your Father’s arms.
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Luke 15:11-32 NIV
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
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Matthew 13:44-46 NIV
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The disciples felt as if nothing was happening. Israel’s leaders reject. Jesus stopped presenting the kingdom to them. Caesar was still reigning. Nothing was happening that they could see. Jesus tells several parables that basically say “I’m working my kingdom plan, but it's hidden now. You can’t see it.” Jesus in so many words is saying “I want you to see what other people can’t see. There’s something going on that no one else can see.” That was the disciples. “Nothing is happening!” So, Jesus starts telling stories to illustrate how the mystery kingdom will take shape and you won’t see it. Jesus stops presenting himself to Israel and focuses on a new form of the kingdom – the church. Spiritual treasure is often not where you think it is. It’s hidden and in unexpected places. It’s not openly displayed. It’s unseen. You can’t see it. God is always doing something before you know it.Jesus hides spiritual treasure under a field of ordinariness. Sometimes, it’s not the best-selling author or the Hollywood icon or the Tiktok influencer that offers you the transformational insight; it’s a local pastor or teacher or school janitor or bus driver or farmer that holds the wealth in their hands, the secrets to true, Jesus-kind of joy. Sometimes, the person with the greatest perspective has a double chin or tea-stained teeth or walks with a limp. Sometimes, they live in an RV or an apartment up town and have no fashion sense at all. Sometimes, they live along gravel roads and feed babies and make pies and hang the cloths out to dry. Jesus buries treasure under ordinary people. And these ordinary people get together as a church and champion Jesus and his work.
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Ice Age and Mammoths (with a touch on Climate Change) 8/27/2023
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What was the “Tower of Babel” about And where did the human races come from 8/27/23
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Guest Speaker Julie Von Vett Session 1 8/27/2023
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Galatians 5:19-26 NIV
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
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Grand Canyon: A Beautiful Scar 8/13/2023
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Sunday Service
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Mission Sunday 7/30/2023
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Sunday Service 7/23/2023
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1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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Genesis 1:1-31 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. 6And God said, Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water. 7So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8God called the vault sky. And there was evening, and there was morning the second day. 9And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so. 10God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. 12The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning the third day. 14And God said, Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. 16 God made two great lights the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning the fourth day. 20And God said, Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky. 21So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth. 23And there was evening, and there was morning the fifth day. 24And God said, Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind. And it was so. 25God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. 27So God created mankind in his own image,in the image of God he created them;male and female he created them. 28God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. 29 Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for food. And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morningthe sixth day.
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Romans 8:28-30 NIV
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
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Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 NIV
1 Remember your Creatorin the days of your youth,before the days of trouble comeand the years approach when you will say,“I find no pleasure in them”— 2 before the sun and the lightand the moon and the stars grow dark,and the clouds return after the rain; 3 when the keepers of the house tremble,and the strong men stoop,when the grinders cease because they are few,and those looking through the windows grow dim; 4 when the doors to the street are closedand the sound of grinding fades;when people rise up at the sound of birds,but all their songs grow faint; 5 when people are afraid of heightsand of dangers in the streets;when the almond tree blossomsand the grasshopper drags itself alongand desire no longer is stirred.Then people go to their eternal homeand mourners go about the streets. 6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,and the golden bowl is broken;before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,and the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.“Everything is meaningless!” 9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. 13 Now all has been heard;here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments,for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,including every hidden thing,whether it is good or evil.
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Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 NIV
1 Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. 2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. 3 If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. 4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. 7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. 8 However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. 9 You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
MESSAGE POINTS
Invest your resources in the right things (1-2)*
Cultivate an optimistic attitude toward your circumstances (3-4)*
Avoid overthinking your situation and comparing yourself with other people (5)
Practice acts of kindness throughout your lifetime (6)Express gratitude every day of your life (7)
*Develop healthy strategies for dealing with the hardships and traumas of your life (8)
*Enjoy every day of your life rather than just endure it until you reach the next goal (9)
*Take care of your body because you are going to get older someday (9b)
*Learn to forgive and free your heart from the things that weigh you down (10)
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Ecclesiastes 10:1-20 NIV
1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. 3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are. 4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: 6 Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. 7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves. 8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success. 11 If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee. 12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. 13 At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness— 14 and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming—who can tell someone else what will happen after them? 15 The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town. 16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. 19 A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. 20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
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Senior Sunday 6/4/2023
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MESSAGE POINTS
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might… Why?
*Death: You’re only alive so long to get things done. And nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow. So, time is of the essence. (v.1-6)
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…
- Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…Why?
Family: You might be able to make a living at it and create and support a family that can enjoy the fruit of your labor with you (v.7-10)
*Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…Why?
Opportunity: You have the capability now to do the things you want to do. You may not always have those same capabilities and freedoms. Life brings to us the unexpected (v.11-12)
*Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…Why?
Stewardship: You will look at yourself in the mirror someday and wonder if you did your best – if you took all of the abilities that God gave you and used them to accomplish something meaningful (v.13-16).
*Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…Why?
Legacy: You may want to share your life expertise and what you have learned with someone else someday - so they can glean from your wisdom and experience (v.17-18).
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When six-year-old Calvin (of the Calvin and Hobbes comic) protests the injustice that he has to go to bed earlier than his parents, his father comments that the world is unfair. “I know,” says Calvin, “but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?” Not only is life unfair, but we all are born with an authority problem. We don’t like to be told what to do. It doesn’t help that we have a fallen, twisted authority. Everyone in authority is flawed. So, we need discernment, wisdom.
*Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? God knows. And Solomon has been addressing the question for a couple of chapters.
*Proposition: Sometimes, rebellious people are in authority. How can I remain poised under this kind of pressure? How can I know what is good? This entire passage is an appeal for discernment because the world is broken and fallen. And Satan is at work in it, filling it with moral anarchy. And there’s truckloads of information (much of it bad) to sift through and decisions that are made in light of it. Chapter summary: Honor the King. Fear God. Enjoy your life.
*Definition: Discernment is not just the ability to judge motives. Discernment is not just knowing the difference between right and wrong; it’s knowing the difference between right and almost right. True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best (Sinclair Ferguson). The goal is “not to simply avoid the evil in this life” but “to learn what is good so that we might embrace and enjoy it.” Find the good that’s often hidden within the world’s brokenness.
*Conclusion: With all this, you can end up simmering at life more than savoring the gifts of life. We live in an imperfect world, we are imperfect people, we have an imperfect government -- everybody does -- but, there is a perfect God. Who works out His strange but inscrutable will behind the scenes. And though things aren't perfect, God is working. Be assured of that. Savor more, simmer less.Quotation: In 1 Kings 3, when the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him to name whatever he desired, Solomon pleased God by asking for the spirit of discernment. Solomon’s words were “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong…” (1 Kings 3:9). How should the wise person respond to the inequities and injustices in this world? Wisdom helps us understand people and situations. It helps us to figure out the right thing to do at the right time. Solomon says that we need to think things through. Government touches all of our lives. Another Ism. Nationalism. Government can’t fix hevel - futility. Government is hevel. That’s where he begins but he touches a number of scenarios where discernment is needed.
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Life is not simple. But it gets a whole lot better when we all give up the notion of a perfect world. Sometimes life doesn’t make sense. Why do bad things happen to good people? I challenge the question: Who says we’re good? Why do good things happen to bad people. So, no easy answers. Even the authors of Scripture struggled with these questions. That’s why we need wisdom in a broken, imperfect world. We can’t answer every question and solve every puzzle, but we can trust God... Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes (7:18). Do you know that a predominant extreme is “perfectionism” (see verse 20)?KEY TALKING POINTS Perfectionism creates unhelpful expectations about what life should be. Perfectionism is suffocating in two ways: legalism and antinomianism. Perfectionism will convince you that you are not enough. Perfectionism will bully you into self-rejection. Perfectionism is obsessed by what people think. Perfectionism prevents you from being in the moment. Perfectionism will ruin your relationships. Perfectionism keeps you from becoming the best version of you.
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Mark and Amber Archer Main Service 5/7/2023
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Mark and Amber Archer 5/7/2023 Part 1
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Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 NIV
1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. 3 Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. 6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless. 7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. 9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. 10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these? ”For it is not wise to ask such questions. 11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. 12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. 13 Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
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Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 NIV
1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. 3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? 7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied. 8 What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? 9 Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 10 Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known; no one can contend with someone who is stronger. 11 The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone? 12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Solomon is textbook midlife crisis: growing older, can’t sleep, stagnate career, mediocre marriage, lack of purpose, a few health problems, and a lot of regrets. When a majority of these ingredients join together, the stage is set for a crisis.
*
More specifically, watch out for the unlucky thirteen says Don Anderson:
1.The recognition of the approach of old age, and an increasing desire to avoid it;
2.A sense of boredom after twenty to twenty-five years of marriage;
3.A severe feeling of sadness and loss over the fact that the children are grown and about to leave home;
4.A decline in physical health—the heart palpitates occasionally and the body lugs around extra pounds;
5.Job security threatened by younger workers or computer replacements;
6.Failure—especially the recognition that there are unrealized personal and professional goals which may never be met;
7.Success—(ironically) which has proved unfulfilling, not “all it was cracked up to be”;
8.A consuming thirst to get rich;
9.A perceived need for new challenges, experiences, and opportunities;
10.A desire to search for real meaning and purpose in life, coupled with a feeling of futility concerning present activities;
11.Weariness regarding hassles and responsibilities;
12.A fierce longing to escape gnawing problems and instead start over in life, making a new beginning;
13.The absence of an intense desire to walk with God and to know Him more intimately.When several of these thirteen circumstances exist simultaneously, even in varying degrees, then you have a very real emotional, physical, and spiritual pressure cooker. Like other men in crisis, Solomon’s perceptions about life have changed. Our overcommitted lifestyle, misplace values, neglect of God, and lack of knowledge about His ways finally catch up with us, as we are tested for unworthy goals.
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Brent & Stacy Henderson Part 3 4/16/2023
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Brent & Stacy Henderson Sunday Service 4/16/2023
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Brent & Stacy Henderson Part 2 4/16/2023
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Brent & Stacy Henderson Part 1 /4/16/2023
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Message Text: Matthew 27:50-54
IntroductionThree simple words to change your Easter!*
Message Outline
Curtains.
Anchors.
Tombs.
*Message Points
The curtain was torn in two - you now have access.
The anchor goes into a realm that we cannot go - you now have stability.
The tombs opened - you do not have to fear death anymore.
*Conclusion
The torn curtain says “There’s a way into God's presence for all.” The lodged anchor says “There’s stability in every life storm.” And the split tombs tell us “There’s a way out of the grave.” The gates of the tomb, locked since the primal disobedience of the first couple, have been burst open by Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is God’s commentary on the passion of Christ. Curtains and anchors and tombs. Three words to change your Easter.
*Why not align yourself with the Savior of the world and receive communion in His Name today?
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Message Text: Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
Introduction
What do you want out of life? What is your aim in life? Money, fame, promotions, status, more things? The sobering reality is even after attaining these things, many people are still not satisfied or fulfilled. What is it that people really desire or want out of life? A marketing research team summarized the things people want out of life along with the motivating factor behind it:
*1. High paying job. Human Motivation - to make us feel successful and valuable and essential to our companies or business.
-
Save money, spend less. Human Motivation - to secure the future and allow for the unexpected expenses of life.
-
Use time more wisely. Human Motivation - to enjoy life more by not working as much. So if we can save time at work, theoretically, we can get things done faster and go home sooner.
-
Look better. Human Motivation - to feel more attractive to other people. We like for others to like our looks.
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Learn new things. Human Motivation - to be more empowered by what we know and make better decisions in light of this knowledge.
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Live longer. Human Motivation – the worldviews of the world make us too afraid to die because they give no certainty as to what follows this life.
-
More comfortable. Human Motivation – we want to enjoy a life that is as pain-free and comfortable as possible.
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Want to be loved. Human Motivation – we do not want to be alone in this life. It relieves us from criticisms if we have someone.
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Popular. Human Motivation - affirmation and praise from others makes us feel important and cool to be with.
-
Pleasure. Human Motivation - do all the things I want to do and feel fulfilled.
Maybe you’re still thinking: “I still don’t know what I want out of life?”Now at the end of the message, we’re going to apply the wisdom of this passage and shape this list into a better list, a better approach for how to live our lives.*
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Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 NIV
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
Message Points
The best advice I've heard that has kept me stable in chaotic times - strategies for soul-care and time in the wilderness - is as follows:
1) Acknowledge your God. Stand in awe of Him and fear Him.
2) Take your step. Take the next right step… toward God and His community (v.1)
3) Watch your mouth. Stay calm. Form a buffer from distraction and noise (v. 2-3)
4) Keep your word. Maintain a schedule of your commitments and promises (v. 4-5)
5) Learn your lesson. Stay centered and grounded (v.6-7)
*Conclusion
So on one hand, we have a duty to respect God with a healthy, robust respect that doesn’t just barge in like we own the place. But then when we read about what Christ has done, we can barge in when we are afraid or upset or when we’ve given parts of the bracelet away that we never should have. Jesus makes that possible. Have you been avoiding God because of an unhealthy fear of Him? A fear that He would never accept you. Based on the righteousness of Jesus all you have to do is admit that you're not good enough on your own and accept the Lord’s work on your behalf.
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Helmut Welke Biblical Worldview of UFO's and Aliens 3/19/2023
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Helmut Welke Human Genetics and the Bible 3/19/2023
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Helmut Welke Dinosaurs and the Bible 3/19/2023
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Solomon has reflected on some of the most complex problems known to man: finding life’s meaning, political and personal oppression, elusive happiness, empty pleasure, unsatisfying wealth. Then he turns this corner and basically says life is better with friends. When you wake up tomorrow morning, the problems will still be there, but if you have a friend, it doesn’t feel quite as lonely as it did before.
*
A pioneering band of researchers studied the age-old question of what makes people happy. What appears consistently at the top of the charts is not success, wealth, achievement, good looks, or any of these assets. The clear winner is relationships. Close ones. (Parrot, Relationships...) This totally makes sense to me. If you’re successful but have no one you care about to applaud you; if you’re wealthy but have no one to enjoy it with; if you have stunning good looks, but no one who truly loves you for you - it would all feel meaningless. We want to be wanted, accepted, enjoyed, and loved.
*
An English publication offered a prize for the best definition of a friend, and among the thousands of answers received were the following: one who multiplies joys and halves griefs; one who understands our silence. But here is the definition that won the prize: “a friend is the one who walks in when the whole world has walked out.” Whether married or single, young or old, rich or poor, we were never meant to experience life alone.
*
Contextualization
Recall from last week that Solomon has just finished describing the lonely life of the self-centered miser; Ebenezer Scrooge we called him. He is alone, self-absorbed, competitive while racing along in his mad pursuit for more. He becomes the epitome of loneliness (4:1-9). And following that, Solomon really doesn’t break his train of thought but immediately begins to commend and encourage relationships with one another (4:9-16). Two are better than one… This is then further explained through three mini scenarios (which we will discuss).
*
The picture painted in the next couple of verses seems to focus on the risks of travel in Solomon’s time. Roads and paths in Palestine were not paved or even leveled, and there were many hidden rocks in the fields. Walking on trails that frequently follow the edge of ravines, people can easily stumble and plunge down the embankment. It was not uncommon for even the most experienced sure-footed traveler to stumble and fall, perhaps break a bone, or even fall into a hidden pit. A traveler had to contend with pits and ravines along the way (10) where you might have a mishap. They had to contend with the adversity of cold nights (11). And they had to face hostility in wayside bandits (12a).
*
Two can get more work done than one. Verse 9 makes the point; vs 10–12a give illustrations; v 12b restates the matter. Verses 13-16 is an interlude or a story of someone who is craving one true life friend. Solomon uses a different device to clinch each of the three illustrations: a woe/pity saying for the first (v.10), a rhetorical question for the second (v.11), and a proverb for the third (v.12).
*
Proposition
Solomon delivers in this paragraph SIX PRACTICAL WAYS you can be a great friend or a great travel companion in life. Would you like to be a great friend? Would you like to have a great friend? Solomon shows you how.
*
Main Discussion Points
Listen Up (v.9)
Show Up (v.10)
Warm Up (v.11)
Stand Up (v.12)
Wise Up (v.13-16)
Look Up
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A Season For Everything 2-26-23
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Message Text: Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
Introduction
There is little doubt that King Solomon wanted his son, Rehoboam, to read his journal and learn from it, but I wonder if Solomon had any idea his journal would be read and studied for the next 3,000 years, right up until today. So far, we have learned how Solomon writes with a down-to-earth, hard-hitting, in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it kind of realism. His quill is often dipped in the acid ink of futility and frustration and cynicism. Cynicism is calcified anger (Rachel Evans, Wholehearted Faith). Cynicism is your once-tender heart now calloused and hardened. Psychologists tell us it’s a defense mechanism to keep you from getting disappointed again.
*
Question
Who or what can rescue us from cynicism? This sense of being jaded at the world all the time? A jaded preacher-king named Solomon asserts one primary truth – the Sovereignty of God. He says in so many ways: “God is in control.” Hands go up all over the room. "What about those who do pleasure and gratify the senses. Is God still in control Solomon?" Solomon shows you the hedonists lacks joy even though surrounded by pleasure. "What about those who build their lives on atheistic philosophy and scoff at God? Is God still in control Solomon?" Solomon shows you that you cannot devalue life without carrying guilt and regret? "What about the wrongdoer that never gets caught? What about the Hitlers, Stalins, Castro’s, Pol Pots? What about the truly selfless servants who never get acknowledged? Is God still in control Solomon?" "What about a humans and animals buried in the same dirt at the end of the day regardless of how they lived? Is God still in control now Solomon?”
*
Proposition
One of the main arguments of Solomon’s book: only preparing to die will teach us how to live. Solomon doesn’t want you to desire death, fear death, or ignore death. He simply wants you to live in light of it. I want to persuade you that the only way we can talk about abundant joy is to talk about death. Only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live. Here’s the irony: Being aware of death makes us more aware of life. What Solomon says here can be simplified by FOUR TRUTHS / PERSPECTIVES that will help you with learning to live by preparing to die. When he talks about death, he wants you to “Pay attention in life.” Time passes so quickly. Our time in this life is limited. If you stay jaded, that’s time you’ll never get back. You’re not going to be here forever. And so when we face the reality of death, it gives meaning to today. Solomon already mentioned the certainty of death in 2:12–23, and he will bring the subject up several times before he ends his book (4:8; 5:15–16; 6:6; 8:8; 9:2–3, 12; 12:7–8). Life, death, time, and eternity: these are the “ingredients” that make up our brief experience in this world, and they must not be ignored.
*
The Perspectives
Life is a gift.
Death is sure.
Tomorrow is not promised.
God is always working.
*
Application
With this understanding, what do you have to offer this cynical world? How can I stop being jaded?
The Hands-On Solution: Ordinary people doing ordinary things with Gospel intentionality.
The Eyes-Open Solution: Pay attention. Paying attention will give you a big heart and open hands and enable you to relish all the small things of life in deeply profound ways.
*
Invitation
Is there a way out of this shadowy reflection found in Ecclesiastes 3:18-22? Leave God out, and you have no assurance of an afterlife. You throw out the Bible - God’s revelation and you’ve got nothing. If Jesus is not raised there is no way out of this text. May the somber words of this text drive us to Jesus.
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Message Text: Ecclesiastes 3:9-17
Introduction
A person who is a cynic is always assuming the worst of everyone and everything. A cynic develops this bite toward people and life. Small irritations turn into hostile attitudes. And this collection of attitudes and hostilities and irritations forms this shadowy perspective, where we seek out and focus on the worst in people and in life. We definitely want to avoid this view of life. But it’s especially hard to do when life’s small irritations are mingled with some of the great injustices of life.
*
In his older years, Solomon had become very cynical about life. He tried everything but nothing brought a lasting joy. But here’s the irony in today’s message. The irony is that the cynic has given us the keys to avoid cynicism! How so? Does Solomon say “Retaliate! Resent! Become bitter!” Does he say “Move to some lonely spot and grind our your twilight years in frustration and anger”? Does he say “Build yourself a fantasy world. Create your dream and insulate yourself from problems”? Even as a cynic, he avoided this tone.
*
Proposition
What kind of cynic-free perspective should we have? I want to put Solomon’s observations into six encouragements. They will keep you from cynicism.
*
Observation #1 - Don’t lose heart as God composes your story. Reject self-pity.
*
Observation #2 - Don’t lose touch with that sense of eternity.Reject living for just the here-and-now.
*
Observation #3 - Don’t lose out on the joy of life’s simple things. Reject the lie that more is better.
*
Observation #4 - Don’t lose sight of God’s sovereignty. Reject the depressing notion that life is static rather than dynamic.
*
Observation #5 - Don’t lose peace over the raw-deals of life. Reject resentment.
*
Observation #6 – Don’t lose confidence that God makes all things right. Reject retaliation.
*
Conclusion
Let’s replace stale cynicism with fresh hope. The cynic is showing us how not to be cynical. If cynicism has taken an active role in your life, then it’s time to seek God’s healing. Cynicism is a product of our fallen nature. We are sinners, and, when we’re walking in the flesh, it’s easy for us to adopt a cynical attitude in response to suffering or disappointment. God has better plans for us, though. He wants to heal us and rid our lives of cynicism. Ultimately, the key to dealing with cynicism in our lives is Christ Himself. We need Christ in our hearts to remove the anger, dissolve the bitterness, and make us a new creation.
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A Season For Everything 2-5-23
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV
1 There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up,a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend,a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.
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Message Text: Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
Introduction
You work hard and someone else gets all the credit. You struggle to be good, and bad people trample you. You accumulate money, and it goes to spoiled heirs. You seek pleasure and it turns sour. Is it any surprise that in the very beginning of Ecclesiastes in the very first verses, Solomon the author says: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
*
You’ll notice what he says is not that life is meaningless. He says life is meaningless under the sun. It says in 1:11, “…everything was meaningless … nothing was gained under the sun.” That’s also chapter 2 verses 17, 20, and 22. It actually happens 30 times in the book.
*
Thirty times in the book of Ecclesiastes it uses the phrase “under the sun.” when he says, “I looked at life under the sun,” what he meant is, “I considered life here on earth without regard to eternity or God. Let’s make believe for a moment that this life is all there is.” Let’s find meaning in all aspects of this world, presumably without coming to know the world’s Creator, Sustainer, and Final Judge. To use a phrase from John Lennon, let’s imagine there’s no God above us, no heaven, no hell. Just this life.
*
Observation
All the commentators agree that what he means by under the sun is life here and now, considered in isolation from anything else. He says, “I’m going to look at the world as if this life under the sun is all there is.” This is a secular worldview or mindset. We have to find our comfort here. We have to find our happiness here. We have to find our meaning right here in this life. This is life under the sun.”
*
Illustration
Pastor Stephen Davey lived under a lot of sun and near the beach growing up. He said that many coastline states and other countries around the world hold elaborate sandcastle contests every year in the summer months along their sandy beaches. There are sandcastle building tournaments that offer cash prizes of $10,000 dollars or more. Some of winners from around the country feature exquisite, beautiful artistry. Every year, thousands of people come to watch these contestants create their masterpieces and some of them are super elaborate.
*
What is really remarkable, they can be built in such a short amount of time. Typically, the contest begins around 9:00 am and runs until late afternoon. The contestants choose their places on the beach and start from scratch. But they have to finish their creative masterpieces around 3:00 o’clock so their entries can be judged. And that is because someone else, or I should say, “something else” is going to show up to take a close look at these castles.
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When this thing shows up, and it never fails to show up right on time, and when it does, everything stops. We have a name for it. We call him, “The Tide”. Not the Crimson Tide of Alabama, but the Ocean Tide. The tide comes in where the water level rises up on the shore and then the tide falls back. When the tide arrives all these sandcastles and creative masterpieces are washed away.
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The tide is an expected event at the ocean and it’s always on time. And there isn’t anything any sandcastle can do to avoid it; no matter how beautiful or how elaborate or how creative or how magnificent it is. The tide is always on its’ way.
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Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 NIV
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;I refused my heart no pleasure.My heart took delight in all my labor,and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had doneand what I had toiled to achieve,everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;nothing was gained under the sun.
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Message Text: God's Sovereignty in Ecclesiastes
We usually work through these Bible book passages verse-by-verse. But I want us to pick up on this theme of God’s sovereignty which is first raised here in Ecclesiastes 1:13, but it keeps popping up throughout the rest of the book. Whenever Solomon mentions God’s sovereignty, he always talks about enjoying life and vice versa. "God is in control, so enjoy your life" seems to be the message.
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Quotation
1:13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!
2:24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
3:10-11 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
5:18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
6:1-2 1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other…
8:15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
9:7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.
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John 1:14 NIV
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Message Text: John 1:14
God became flesh. The implications of this greatest of all miracles are astounding. The rest of John's Gospel, in fact, is spent trying to unfold the significance of what we have just considered here.
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Salvation: Our sin and estrangement from God has made it impossible for us to save ourselves. History is littered with man's futile efforts to reach God. In the incarnation, we see God writing himself into our history so that we could be saved by simply believing the message of the incarnation, the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus.
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Affirmation: The incarnation is an affirmation of the value of human existence. We're valuable to God. Jesus never despised the virgin's womb; he never was angry over the fact that he had to set aside a previous existence that dwarfs our little puny concepts of reality and life. Instead, he affirmed the humanity that was home to him by coming as one of us and loving us.
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Identification: He identifies with our weaknesses and sufferings. He shares our human struggles. He is not aloof or distant. What's amazing is that when Jesus became a man, he became a man for all eternity. He has forever committed himself to understanding and loving us.
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Adoration: The greatness of what God has done for us in the incarnation drives us to our knees in worship. Barclay has commented that a lifetime of study and thought could not exhaust the truth. It's true because in the incarnation we have the union of divine and human natures coming together in such a way that neither is diminished.
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Separation: This is what the incarnation meant to Jesus personally. He was separated from his Heavenly Father for over 30 years! And there were several reasons He did it. To reaffirm some of what we've already covered: To reveal more about who God is and what He’s like; To show us who human beings really are; To deliver all of the fallen creation from the curse; To restrain and eventually destroy Satan; To lead Israel to her true calling as a nation; To reign and rule over all the earth. To say “I love you” in a way that we wouldn’t miss it.
The Incarnation tells us that God is a Person to be known and loved and worshiped and enjoyed, and if you have him you have everything. Do you have Him?
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Message Text: Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 - Part 1
Many are preoccupied with the question: Is there life after death? But Solomon who is older now and looking back addresses the all-important question: Is there life before death?
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We come to the end of a day, a year, or a lifetime and we instinctively ask “What have I accomplished?” “Will any of it really last?” Solomon is here to push us toward these questions – to get honest about our lives. What essentially does he say in this book we call Ecclesiastes? “Go ahead and try to live without God. But your outcome will be bleak just like mine was and is.”
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King of the Mountain
King of the mountain is a children’s game. Kids climb a pile of snow or a mound of dirt and try to be the only person standing on top. Kids push each other down the snow or dirt pile and try to get to the top to push the "King" off so they can be the new king until someone pushes them off. You get on top of the hill and you defend it against others who come against you.
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Well, Solomon played king of the mountain in real life. Solomon is essentially the most brilliant man alive in 931 BC. He was king of the mountain. He built stables and fortresses. He married women to form political alliances. You would be much less likely to attack a king who was married to your daughter. He was king of his mountain and with no wars to fight, he had time for a life experiment. Solomon is going to give us the details of his experiments in the chapters that follow Ecclesiastes 1, but for now he gives us a summary of what he spent much of his life doing. He has been a diligent explorer and a dedicated student. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar . . . to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear . . . Solomon(I Kings 4:29-34).
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A Season for Everything 11/27/2022
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A Season for Everything
The writer of Ecclesiastes undertook a hugely ambitious life experiment and he made himself the guinea pig, the lab rat. King Solomon had the time, money, and power to pretty much pursue any avenue of life he thought would bring pleasure or satisfaction. Solomon decided to conduct a massive experiment in human happiness and meaning. He became his own test subject, his own lab rat. “I know there is a God, but I’m going to live as if there isn’t and see what that’s like.” He became this mad scientist in search of serum, an antidote to fix him. But nothing was ever enough. He lost sight of the Giver of the Gifts. Have you lost sight of what's important? The theme of the book is a virtual summary of the biblical worldview: life lived by purely earthly and human standards is futile, but the God-centered life is an antidote. Solomon tells us what he wants us to remember when life gets confusing, mysterious, unfair or as black as night - keep your trust in Creator God’s plan. Life in the world has significance only when man remembers his Creator (12:1). Welcome to "A Season for Everything" - Finding Meaning in the Book of Ecclesiastes!
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Life Lab Rat
The writer of Ecclesiastes undertook a hugely ambitious life experiment and he made himself the guinea pig, the lab rat. King Solomon had the time, money, and power to pretty much pursue any avenue of life he thought would bring pleasure or satisfaction. Solomon decided to conduct a massive experiment in human happiness and meaning. He became his own test subject, his own lab rat. “I know there is a God, but I’m going to live as if there isn’t and see what that’s like.” At the root of this question is a core belief: “God doesn’t really make much of a difference in life.” Have you ever decided to be your own life lab rat? That’s what King Solomon decided to do. “Why make your own mistakes,” the Preacher is saying to us, “when you can learn from an expert like me instead?”
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“What will fill this hollow place inside of me?” And so, he searches for the Next Thing. He didn’t’ just dabble into stuff – he went all in. The phrase “I applied myself to / tried / tested…” pops up in his book. He threw lavish parties. He surrounded himself with parks, gardens, vineyards, art collections, comedy routines. He had a palace built that took thousands of workers thirteen years to build. He acquired hundreds of tons of gold. He didn’t have Spotify, so he drafted an orchestra to entertain him at mealtimes. He had 700 wives and 300 girlfriends. He indulged every appetite, chased every pleasure – wealth, women, and wisdom. The intellectual. The sensual. The carnal. He became this mad scientist in search of serum, an antidote to fix him. But nothing was ever enough. He lost sight of the Giver of the Gifts.
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Been There, Done That
After Solomon spent a long season of his life “wanting” things or people, he could say to almost everything: “I’ve been there, done that, but I’m still empty.” “Been there, done that!” Meaning the thrill is gone. Solomon found himself asking: “Is life worth living?” Now that he was older and looking at life through the rear-view mirror, he wanted to caution his own sons and anyone else who would listen about going down this path. That essentially is the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is his memoir—an autobiographical account of what he learned from his futile attempt to live without God; a diary of all the ways we can lose our life by trying to save it on our own. If Solomon can’t find meaning without God; if he can’t find happiness, then it can’t be done.
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Matthew 25:14-30 NIV
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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Message Text: Matthew 14:22-36
So, last week I spoke to you out of Mark 6:45-52. Well, in the parallel passage of Matthew 14, there’s four interesting verses that Mark leaves out in his rendition of this story and they have to do with something that happened to Peter. One commentator calls our passage today a “story within a story.”
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A Test Case
Jesus knew that the weather toward Him was going to be changing. After the feeding of thousands, thousands walked away because Jesus refused to play the role of miracle worker, nor would he be king or liberator. Jesus wasn’t going to be as popular as He used to be with some people.
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Also, Jesus knew that the weather was going to be changing for his disciples, both spiritually (following Jesus would get harder) and literally (a storm was brewing). So He promptly put them on a boat. They were going to face a storm – both literally and spiritually. It was a kind of test-case for what was ahead of them.
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The disciples experienced two physical storms in their three-and-a-half-year residency with the Savior. In the first storm, Jesus was present, but asleep on the boat. But in the second storm, Jesus had withdrawn to a distant hill. And although He could see them, the blindfold of darkness prevented them from seeing Him.
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Message in a Nutshell
Jesus seems to be saying through this, “Boys, when the crowds want you to go in a certain direction and they walk away when you don’t; when you are asked by the Master to get in the boat despite your objections; when you face the scariest situations of your life and you don’t have Me visibly present with you – you must know that I see you at all times and I can walk on the water to reach you if necessary." The disciples came away from this experience with a new conviction: “Jesus, you may be out of my sight, but I am never out of yours.” Even in our sinking moments, when life is heavy and we’re losing buoyancy, you show up with an outstretched hand at just the right time to keep us from going under.
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Lessons
Nobody gets to navigate in trouble-free waters.
Storms come in all shapes and sizes.
Sometimes you need the storm to see the glory.
Jesus is Lord of the Storm.
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Closing
What storm are you going through in your life right now? Is it a storm of addiction – trying to break free from a bondage you have had for years? Is it a storm of sickness – praying and believing God for healing? Is it a storm of financial pressures – trying to get out of debt? Is it a storm of relationship challenges – trying to restore a broken relationship? Is it a storm of doubt and hopelessness? How can we hope to survive the storm? There are storms coming in your life that will be beyond you. You will be out of your depth: bereavement, illness, relational betrayal, and financial disaster. I don’t care how hard you work, how smart you are, how many good connections you have. I don’t care what you do. You’re not going to avoid those things.
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Maybe you’re riding a storm, searching the coastline for a light, a glimmer of hope. Matthew 14:28, immediately Jesus in verse 27 says … just what Mark said., “Take courage, it’s I, do not be afraid. Peter said to Him,” verse 28, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
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Believer, Jesus saith to you, “I am.” Is your wife dead? Is your child to be buried? Have your possessions failed? Is your health departing? Are your joys declining? Alas! it is a dying, fleeting world, but there is One who is always the same, for Jesus says to you, “I am; and because I live, you shall live also.” “He has ultimate authority, and when he comes into my life, he has to be the center of my life. He is the preeminent thing. It doesn’t matter what else I want to do. It doesn’t matter what other things I love. Loving him, obeying him, following him, has absolute, unconditional, unconditioned authority in my life.”
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Jesus says: “There’s one storm in which I do sink. There’s one storm in which the waves and the billows go over me. I won’t walk over them. I’m going under the only storm that can really kill you. It’s the storm of justice, the storm of punishment for sin, the storm of eternal justice. I’m going under those waves. I’m going under those billows. I’m going to be really cast out. It’s because I sank in the only storm that can really kill you that you’re going to be able to walk with me through every other storm that ever strikes you.”
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In other words, Jesus Christ is not only a Lord. He’s a Savior. He’s a substitute. If you’re in a storm right now, you look at it and say, “How do I know he’s with me?” My goodness. What you say is, “If he refused to abandon me in the only storm that can really kill me, if he went under all of those real waves, all of those real billows, for me, then he’s not going to abandon me now.” And even though you can’t see Jesus right now, He can see you. And He knows what you are going through. And He is watching you. And He cares about you. And when the time is right, He is going to come to you with the solution that you need.
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Jesus is Lord of the Storm.
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Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
"This Must Be Stronger Than That"
Diedrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Germans, built this alternative seminary for pastors in Nazi Germany that would not be held captive by the hate and deception of the National Church that had gone over to the Nazi’s. Bonhoeffer came from money and privilege and education and so he was expected to become a well-respected teacher and influencer. His family sent a family friend out to talk him out of this alternative seminary and church movement. “What are you giving your life to? This underground seminary on the outskirts of Poland? Come back to national Germany and give your life to something big and important.” Bonhoeffer got in a row boat with this family friend and rowed across the lake, hiked to the top of the hill on the other side of the lake and apparently on the other side was a Nazi base of operations and a Hitler Youth Camp there. Bonhoeffer pointed in the direction of his new seminary and said “This must be stronger than that” – while turning his attention back to the Hitler Youth Camp. “This – our biblical worldview church, our discipleship plans – must be stronger than the secular university, than social media, than woke corporations, than liberal politics, the progressive Christianity’s, the social extremism, the materialism, and hedonism of the world.” Our community has to be stronger. Build a worldview that is stronger than all this.
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Salt hinders the process of decay and light dispels the darkness. Two concerns Jesus has: the salt being contaminated, and the light being hidden. And when that happens, not only is the believer useless but the world gets darker. You are salt. You are light. This is your identity.
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Message Text: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus explains what our relationship to the world should look like. Jesus used two common metaphors here. Jesus uses the metaphor of salt because its properties and usefulness provide an excellent analogy to the believer - the believer who slows down the process of cultural decay. Second, Jesus uses the metaphor of light because the world is filled with darkness and believers are a light that shines into the darkness. Today, we'll focus on the analogy of salt.
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First, Christians Like Salt Are Of Infinite Value.
Second, Christians Like Salt Act As A Preservative.
Third, Christians Like Salt Are to Promote Thirst.
Fourth, Christians Like Salt Can Lose Their Usefulness.
Fifth, Christians Like Salt Must Have Contact To Have An Influence.
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John Stott, the late Rector Emeritus of All Soul’s Langham Place, once said this in the USA: “You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion. Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?" If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?" If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?" (John Stott, adapted by Adrian Dieleman, The Salt of the Earth).
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Salt hinders the process of decay and light dispels the darkness. Two concerns Jesus has: the salt being contaminated, and the light being hidden. And when that happens, not only is the believer useless but the world gets darker. You are salt. You are light. This is your identity.
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Message Text: John 14:1-6
The message today is a simple one, but it comes to us in a passage that is filled with love and care for the broken-hearted.
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"I’m wandering about; I don’t know where I’m going." Jesus is the way.
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"I’m confused; I don’t know what to think." Jesus is the truth.
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"I’m dead inside and don’t know if I can go on." Jesus is the life.
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Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living.
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Invitation: If Jesus Christ is the way – you are lost unless you are following His direction. If Jesus Christ is the truth – you are deceived unless you are believing His message. If Jesus Christ is the life – you are hopeless unless you are receiving His gift. Invite Him in today!
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There’s only one place where Jesus tells us about his own heart.
Matthew 11:28-30 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
MESSAGE OUTLINE
FIVE CATEGORIES of words used by Jesus here: words that invite, words that expose, words that describe, words that promise, and words that relieve (with help from Swindoll - Matt. 11:28–29).
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The first set of words (actually a trio of words) invites: “come,” “take,” “learn,” “find” The greatest invitation you’ll ever receive (come, take, learn).
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The second set of words exposes: “weary and burdened” (11:28). The greatest need you’ll ever have (relief from weary and burdened life)
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The third set of words describes: Jesus is “gentle and humble in heart” (11:29). The greatest person you’ll ever meet (He’s God but gentle).
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The fourth set of words promises: “I will give you rest” and “You will find rest for your souls” (11:28–29). The greatest rest you’ll ever enjoy (given and discovered).
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The fifth and final set of words relieves: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). The greatest lesson you’ll ever learn (easy yoke, lighter load).
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Invitation
Exchange your unfruitful, constant activity for all that Christ wants to do in your life. Come to Him, take His yoke, learn from Him, receive His promises, and bask in His peace. To the broken, bruised, downtrodden, oppressed, failed, fallen, ashamed, rejected, brutalized, and bullied, Jesus’ invitation comes like a gasp of air to a drowning person. By surrendering control, we lose nothing and gain everything. And by daily reminding ourselves that we’re under His yoke, we can rest in His protection, His provision, His perfect timing, and His constant guidance. Tied to Him, we can be confident that we’re not running ahead or lagging behind in danger. We can be sure that we’re accomplishing the task He wants accomplished through us. And we don’t have to worry about where our ability and sufficiency might come from. He provides both.
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Welcome to "Jesus is _______." We invite you to make this journey, which will take us deeper into the life of Jesus. He shows us how to be fully human and alive to God. Would you like to be a fully alive human that is God-responsive, yet earthy and willing to mix it up with others in this messy world? Welcome to "Jesus is _________."
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
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Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
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What is happening to our world? You and I are witnessing at warp speed the devolution of a nation. If things move toward a “post-Christian nation” and some are now arguing that this is the case, then how should the people of God operate when relegated to the cultural margins? What is the way forward in a hostile world? Welcome to the Old Testament book of Daniel!
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Daniel 8:1-27 NIV
Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
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Daniel 8:1-27 NIV
Living in the Lion’s Den: The People of God in Exile
Today's Text: Daniel 7:1-28
Daniel gives these incredible insights as to how we can live in a post-Christian culture, a secular age that wants to push a Biblical Worldview to the margins, if not completely out of the picture. So far, our sermons in the Daniel series can be succinctly stated:
Jer. 29:1-14 – Live your life
Dan. 1:1-7 – Stamp your child
Dan. 1:1-7 – Draw your line
Dan. 1:8-21 – Stand your ground
Dan. 1:8-21 – Love your people
Dan. 2:1-23 - Face your crisis
Dan. 2:24-49 - Know your prophecy
Dan. 3:1-30 - Trust your Savior
Dan. 3:1-30 - Understand your culture
Dan. 4:1-37 – Guard your mind
Dan. 4:1-37 – Surrender your pride
Dan. 5:1-31 - Honor your God
Dan. 6:1-28 – Remember your home:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Show your loyalty:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Embrace your leadership:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Check your attitude:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Maintain your integrity:
Dan. 6:1-28 - Establish your consistency:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Welcome your humility:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Seal your legacy:
Dan. 7:1-28 - Quiet your panic:
Dan. 7:1-28 – Resist your (rogue) government:
Dan. 7:1-28 – Worship your God:
Dan. 7:1-28 – Protect your space:
Dan. 7:1-28 - Define your reset:
Dan. 8:1-27 - Improve your serve:
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Exiles on Assignment
How do we build biblical worldview communities within our condition of internal exile, and under increasingly hostile conditions? Can we live with joy and confidence though marginalized? If you’re caught between a host empire you cannot embrace and a church that has no worldview mission, where do you go?
For much of recent history individuals and Biblical Worldview institutions could plan, execute, and flourish with their visions of a better world. That may no longer be the case in a few years. But don’t despair. For in the midst of the chaos of a crisis comes opportunity. The history of the church tells us that crisis always precedes renewal, and the framework of renewal offers us new ways forward. A Non-Anxious Presence shows how that renewal happens and offers churches and leaders strategic ways to awaken the Church and see our culture changed for Christ.
The question is: How? How can we engage a post-Christian society? How can we influence a culture which is desperate to press you into it’s mold? This is not to say that God isn’t at work in dominant culture. He has his “Daniel’s” strategically placed to do His bidding in the “Babylon’s” of the world. There are others who are being prepared to become “Esthers” (in Persia) and “Jonahs” (in Ninevah) and “Josephs” (in Egypt) – those who bring a biblical worldview to the culture, but within the culture itself.
So our primary job is not to make everything “Christian” in culture. Our job is to live out a Biblical Worldview wherever we find ourselves and bear witness to the truth. But, there’s no room for neutrality. The corrosive soil and polluted air of a secular worldview will have to be breathed by your children. You will face marginalization for living out a Biblical Worldview.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Daniel 7:1-28 NIV
Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Living in the Lion’s Den: The People of God in Exile
Today's Text: Daniel 6:1-28
Daniel gives these incredible insights as to how we can live in a post-Christian culture, a secular age that wants to push a Biblical Worldview to the margins, if not completely out of the picture. So far, our sermons in the Daniel series can be succinctly stated:
Jer. 29:1-14 – Live your life
Dan. 1:1-7 – Stamp your child
Dan. 1:1-7 – Draw your line
Dan. 1:8-21 – Stand your ground
Dan. 1:8-21 – Love your people
Dan. 2:1-23 - Face your crisis
Dan. 2:24-49 - Know your prophecy
Dan. 3:1-30 - Trust your Savior
Dan. 3:1-30 - Understand your culture
Dan. 4:1-37 – Guard your mind
Dan. 4:1-37 – Surrender your pride
Dan. 5:1-31 - Honor your God
Dan. 6:1-28 – Remember your home:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Show your loyalty:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Embrace your leadership:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Check your attitude:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Maintain your integrity:
Dan. 6:1-28 - Establish your consistency:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Welcome your humility:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Seal your legacy:
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Project Life Voice Part Two 5/15/2022
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Project Life Voice Part One 5/15/2022
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Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Living in the Lion’s Den: The People of God in Exile
Today's Text: Daniel 6:1-28
Daniel gives these incredible insights as to how we can live in a post-Christian culture, a secular age that wants to push a Biblical Worldview to the margins, if not completely out of the picture. So far, our sermons in the Daniel series can be succinctly stated:
Jer. 29:1-14 – Live your life
Dan. 1:1-7 – Stamp your child
Dan. 1:1-7 – Draw your line
Dan. 1:8-21 – Stand your ground
Dan. 1:8-21 – Love your people
Dan. 2:1-23 - Face your crisis
Dan. 2:24-49 - Know your prophecy
Dan. 3:1-30 - Trust your Savior
Dan. 3:1-30 - Understand your culture
Dan. 4:1-37 – Guard your mind
Dan. 4:1-37 – Surrender your pride
Dan. 5:1-31 - Honor your God
Dan. 6:1-28 – Remember your home:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Show your loyalty:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Embrace your leadership:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Check your attitude:
Dan. 6:1-28 – Maintain your integrity:
Dan. 6:1-28 - Establish your consistency:
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Exiles on Assignment
How do we build biblical worldview communities within our condition of internal exile, and under increasingly hostile conditions? Can we live with joy and confidence though marginalized? If you’re caught between a host empire you cannot embrace and a church that has no worldview mission, where do you go?
For much of recent history individuals and Biblical Worldview institutions could plan, execute, and flourish with their visions of a better world. That may no longer be the case in a few years. But don’t despair. For in the midst of the chaos of a crisis comes opportunity. The history of the church tells us that crisis always precedes renewal, and the framework of renewal offers us new ways forward. A Non-Anxious Presence shows how that renewal happens and offers churches and leaders strategic ways to awaken the Church and see our culture changed for Christ.
The question is: How? How can we engage a post-Christian society? How can we influence a culture which is desperate to press you into it’s mold? This is not to say that God isn’t at work in dominant culture. He has his “Daniel’s” strategically placed to do His bidding in the “Babylon’s” of the world. There are others who are being prepared to become “Esthers” (in Persia) and “Jonahs” (in Ninevah) and “Josephs” (in Egypt) – those who bring a biblical worldview to the culture, but within the culture itself.
So our primary job is not to make everything “Christian” in culture. Our job is to live out a Biblical Worldview wherever we find ourselves and bear witness to the truth. But, there’s no room for neutrality. The corrosive soil and polluted air of a secular worldview will have to be breathed by your children. You will face marginalization for living out a Biblical Worldview.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
1 Corinthians 15:3-11 NIV
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
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Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
What is happening to our world? You and I are witnessing at warp speed the devolution of a nation. If things move toward a “post-Christian nation” and some are now arguing that this is the case, then how should the people of God operate when relegated to the cultural margins? What is the way forward in a hostile world? Welcome to the Old Testament book of Daniel!
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A Biblical Worldview Renewanation Part 2 3/20/2022
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A Biblical Worldview Renewanation Part 1 3/20/2022
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Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Strangers, Aliens, Exiles
God’s people do their best work when in exile. We always have. Exile infuses communities with new creative energy that rises to meet the challenges of new cultural circumstances. The way forward is to look around and understand our context, to look back and gather the resources the Word affords to us, and then to look forward with a clear vision of how we can function as the Lord’s people in a time of contemporary exile.
That’s why we have transitioned to “A Biblical Worldview Church.” It’s a vision for how to do life in cultural exile and it empowers you to come together with a game plan that will prepare your family to live in this world rather than just integrate with dominant culture. It’s the local church that can form a vibrant counterculture.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Daniel 3:1-30 NIV
Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Strangers, Aliens, Exiles
God’s people do their best work when in exile. We always have. Exile infuses communities with new creative energy that rises to meet the challenges of new cultural circumstances. The way forward is to look around and understand our context, to look back and gather the resources the Word affords to us, and then to look forward with a clear vision of how we can function as the Lord’s people in a time of contemporary exile.
That’s why we have transitioned to “A Biblical Worldview Church.” It’s a vision for how to do life in cultural exile and it empowers you to come together with a game plan that will prepare your family to live in this world rather than just integrate with dominant culture. It’s the local church that can form a vibrant counterculture.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Biblical Worldview COSt Part 3 Q&A 2/20/2022
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Biblical Worldview COSt Part 2 2/20/2022
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Biblical Worldview COSt Sunday Service 2/20/2022
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Biblical Worldview COSt Part 1 2/20/2022
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Daniel 2:24-49 NIV
Living in the Lion's Den: The People of God in Exile
Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
As the church enters this time of exile from the center to the margins, we must have a vision through the unique challenges that are presented. As a Christian, in a hostile environment where the dominant values run counter to one’s own, you now experience exile while you REMAIN in your homeland. Just demonstrate that you are unwilling to conform to the tyranny of majority opinion, and you’ll know exile while still at home – forced removals, cancellations, disenfranchisement, job losses.
The Way Forward
What is the way forward in a hostile world? Discerning the meaning of the present moment requires sobriety for no one knows how hostile it may become. Eventually, a post-Christian society moves from assuming Christian values to ignoring them, to resenting them, to repressing them, and eventually to persecuting them. What was once Christian and is now post-Christian will eventually become anti-Christian, led by those who actively destroy it.
Strangers, Aliens, Exiles
God’s people do their best work when in exile. We always have. Exile infuses communities with new creative energy that rises to meet the challenges of new cultural circumstances. The way forward is to look around and understand our context, to look back and gather the resources the Word affords to us, and then to look forward with a clear vision of how we can function as the Lord’s people in a time of contemporary exile.
That’s why we have transitioned to “A Biblical Worldview Church.” It’s a vision for how to do life in cultural exile and it empowers you to come together with a game plan that will prepare your family to live in this world rather than just integrate with dominant culture. It’s the local church that can form a vibrant counterculture.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Daniel 2:1-23 NIV
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” 4 Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” 5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.” 7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” 8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.” 10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.” 12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. 14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons;he deposes kings and raises up others.He gives wisdom to the wiseand knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things;he knows what lies in darkness,and light dwells with him. 23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:You have given me wisdom and power,you have made known to me what we asked of you,you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
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Daniel 1:8-21 NIV
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
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Daniel 1:1-7 NIV
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
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Post-Christian Culture
It has been said that our world is becoming a “post-Christian” world. Post means after. Christian means an era of time when Christ and His teachings were a dominant influence in society. Culture means the way we think and value things. This means that, over the course of recent generations, there has been an observed decline in the Church’s influence in society.
Think of it in these terms. In a “post-Covid” culture, the virus is losing the influence it once had. “Pre-Covid19” it was dominant: where we go (avoid large groups), how we travel (keeping distance), what we eat (no buffets), who we’re with (avoid exposure), what we wear (a mask that coordinates with our outfit), when we sanitize and for how long). But slowly, it’s losing its dominance. We are rapidly moving toward a “post-Covid” culture.
The same trend, many now argue is happening with Christianity. In a post-Christian culture, the dominant worldview is no longer founded on Christian principles — or at least we can no longer assume that they will be.
Study cultures where the arts and learning has flourished and you’ll find a vibrant Christianity. Christianity and it’s principles have made us great. But now we’re here, the prevailing sentiment is "Let’s abandon it and our true King." So now we’re too big for our cultural britches. “A kingdom without the king” says Mark Sayers. All the fruits of Christian culture but without the seed. A kingdom without the King.
Exiles on Assignment
So, what should be our approach in a post-Christian culture? Jeremiah the prophet gets us started in a letter he wrote to a young exile named Daniel and to a host of others who needed an encouraging word:
Face reality.
Carry on.
Value marriage.
Cherish kids.
Enhance Community.
Discern (beware of the wrong) voices.
Plan for the future.
Seek the Lord above all.
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Luke 2:1-21 NIV
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
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The message of Christmas is the world can be a dark place, and the more you look for the solutions, the darker it can get. But whenever God wants to give hope in the darkness, He likes to talk about a baby – and does so all through the Old Testament but especially the OT book of Isaiah. If you think about it, babies give joy no matter how dark it is. There’s a phrase from “O Holy Night” that says “the weary world rejoices.” What about the phrase that comes before? "A thrill of hope; the weary world rejoices….” When God wants to thrill with hope, He always talks about one baby in particular. Ray Ortlund says, “God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child.” The Infinite infant who brings a message of unparalleled hope. Welcome to Stone's Hill and the Christmas season!
Isaiah 9:1-7 NIV
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darknesshave seen a great light;on those living in the land of deep darknessa light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nationand increased their joy;they rejoice before youas people rejoice at the harvest,as warriors rejoicewhen dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,you have shatteredthe yoke that burdens them,the bar across their shoulders,the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battleand every garment rolled in bloodwill be destined for burning,will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be calledWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peacethere will be no end.He will reign on David’s throneand over his kingdom,establishing and upholding itwith justice and righteousnessfrom that time on and forever.The zeal of the Lord Almightywill accomplish this.
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A Biblical Worldview Church - Redeeming Gender
America is in a “transgender moment.” Rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD). Formerly known as gender identity disorder – it’s characterized by a severe and persistent discomfort in one’s biological sex. Increasingly, when confronted with a person who experiences gender dysphoria, doctors and psychologists are allowed to offer only one diagnosis: the patient is transgender.
It used to be 12 sessions, then you could do hormones. Now, it’s 1 or 2 and here we go. Here’s the four-stage transitioning process:
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Social transitioning: a new name, new wardrobe, new pronouns.
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Puberty blockers: prevent normal maturation; no progression of the pubertal stage; regression of secondary sex characteristics.
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Cross-sex hormones: boys receive estrogen; girls receive testosterone – trying to mimic the process of puberty in the opposite sex.
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Sex reassignment: I won’t even talk about how the anatomy is changed and the horror stories when it goes wrong.
We are told that not treating people as the gender they claim to be is discriminatory. Is it really true that a boy could be trapped in a girl’s body? But if you have a male brain, how would you even know how a girl is supposed to feel? And there’s a slight change in wording. Instead of saying “a biological boy or girl who identifies as this…”; it is now “people actually are the sex they claim to be.”
People who experience this must be treated with compassion, kindness and respect. And above all, told the truth. You can have feelings that are real to you, but those feelings don’t change bodily reality. Parental authority is being denied and they are told if they don’t use puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, then their child is at risk to commit suicide.
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A Biblical Worldview Church - Redeeming Marriage
As a Biblical Worldview Church, we want to do a great job of conveying the beauty of marriage to our little ones – and do this from an early age. How do we do that? How do we prepare a son or daughter or a grandchild for marriage? And when should that preparation start? And how do we guide them around things that can do potential harm to their future marriage? The early teen years are not the time to start the conversation. They are the time to put the finishing touches on a lengthy discussion that has already been happening since the child was very young.
How do you prepare those little ones for marriage?
First, you define it biblically.
Second, you model it practically.
Third, you discuss God’s purpose for the gift of our sexuality consistently.
Fourth, you resolve conflict openly.
Amplify "Defining Marriage Biblically" (See Above)
There are SIX FACETS of a cosmic marital coupling that you can build your life on. Marriage is...
Heterosexual / Complimentary
Monogamous
Loyalty
Public
Physical
Spiritual
Genesis, therefore, holds that marriage is not merely a humanly devised convention to be changed or adapted to new circumstances or conceptions of human sexuality.
This is Biblical Marriage. And we need Jesus to get marriage right. Invite Him into your marriage today!
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Biblical Worldview
The story of the world can be told with FOUR WORDS representing four plot moves. All worldviews must deal with the questions that are raised in these four plot moves.
Plot Move #1
Creation. This tells us how things began, where everything came from (including us). Who made the world? Where did we come from?
Plot Move #2
Rebellion. This describes the problem. What went wrong with the world? What is wrong with us?
Plot Move #3
Redemption. This gives us the solution, the way to fix what went wrong. What is God doing to fix our world? What is God doing to fix us?
Plot Move #4
Restoration. This explains what the world will look like once the repair takes place. How does it all resolve eventually? Will we become what God intended?
Two Major Worldviews Summarized
Biblical Worldview: A Biblical Worldview says that God is the Author of our universe, that we are accountable to Him, and that we have hope of being a part of His grand story to triumph over all evil in our world through Jesus. You see, Christians believe that there’s a larger story going on in human history; that there is a God and He made all that we see and know, including human-beings and it was perfect; that something went wrong in the world because of our rebellion prompted by the Evil One; that God has initiated a plan to fix this mess and that Jesus’ coming was promised way back in Genesis 3:15; that I am part of His plan to restore this world to all that He intended for it; that as I live a life He endorsed and as I struggle to make sense of all the suffering in this fallen world, somehow Christ’s takes shape in me and uses me to give hope to the broken. That’s a Christian Biblical worldview in summary form.
Secular Worldview: A Secular Worldview says that we have no Author, that we are not accountable to anyone, and there are no ideals or grand story's of redemption. The prevailing post-modern story is this: “Once upon a time, there were no big stories, only local ones. So don’t pretend you know the big story of the world because you might start to believe yourself and therefore begin oppressing people who disagree with your story.” Since we are on our own, we should seek all the gratification and satisfaction we can now. Each individual is free to create a belief system that works for them. And then at death – full stop. Life is over. We cease to exist. So, in this worldview, we are marooned on a pale blue dot in a possibly endless cosmos. We are unnoticed, insignificant, and on our own. Humans have huge problems and may not be able to ever overcome them. And there is no hope beyond the grave.
Which worldview do you want to shape your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren? What you believe about yourself and your worth and value ties directly to your worldview.
Would you like to have Jesus in the center of your life and worldview? Welcome Him into your life today!
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Biblical Worldview
The story of the world can be told with FOUR WORDS representing four plot moves. All worldviews must deal with the questions that are raised in these four plot moves.
Plot Move #1
Creation. This tells us how things began, where everything came from (including us). Who made the world? Where did we come from?
Plot Move #2
Rebellion. This describes the problem. What went wrong with the world? What is wrong with us?
Plot Move #3
Redemption. This gives us the solution, the way to fix what went wrong. What is God doing to fix our world? What is God doing to fix us?
Plot Move #4
Restoration. This explains what the world will look like once the repair takes place. How does it all resolve eventually? Will we become what God intended?
Two Major Worldviews Summarized
Biblical Worldview: A Biblical Worldview says that God is the Author of our universe, that we are accountable to Him, and that we have hope of being a part of His grand story to triumph over all evil in our world through Jesus. You see, Christians believe that there’s a larger story going on in human history; that there is a God and He made all that we see and know, including human-beings and it was perfect; that something went wrong in the world because of our rebellion prompted by the Evil One; that God has initiated a plan to fix this mess and that Jesus’ coming was promised way back in Genesis 3:15; that I am part of His plan to restore this world to all that He intended for it; that as I live a life He endorsed and as I struggle to make sense of all the suffering in this fallen world, somehow Christ’s takes shape in me and uses me to give hope to the broken. That’s a Christian Biblical worldview in summary form.
Secular Worldview: A Secular Worldview says that we have no Author, that we are not accountable to anyone, and there are no ideals or grand story's of redemption. The prevailing post-modern story is this: “Once upon a time, there were no big stories, only local ones. So don’t pretend you know the big story of the world because you might start to believe yourself and therefore begin oppressing people who disagree with your story.” Since we are on our own, we should seek all the gratification and satisfaction we can now. Each individual is free to create a belief system that works for them. And then at death – full stop. Life is over. We cease to exist. So, in this worldview, we are marooned on a pale blue dot in a possibly endless cosmos. We are unnoticed, insignificant, and on our own. Humans have huge problems and may not be able to ever overcome them. And there is no hope beyond the grave.
Which worldview do you want to shape your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren? What you believe about yourself and your worth and value ties directly to your worldview.
Would you like to have Jesus in the center of your life and worldview? Welcome Him into your life today!
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Romans 1:18-25 NIV
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Why a series on “A Biblical Worldview Church”?
Three important reasons:
-
Personal: Christ-followers must measure our involvement and activities, our use of time and money against one yardstick, not as a burden, but as a gateway into total life flourishing: Is it consistent with a biblical view of life, and does it bring glory to God? Your beliefs about reality will impact your personal life and moral choices – who you marry, what you do, and how you raise your kids. People function on the basis of their worldview. We are inundated with worldview ideas daily. Worldviews are important because they get lived out.
-
Apologetics: What will you do when your kids come home from high school or college biology class where their confidence in truth has been shaken? What hope will you offer when your neighbor buries a 12-year-old? What story can you share when someone has already written the suicide note? We are all faced with a smorgasbord of worldviews every day, all of which make truth claims about life and about our place in this universe. Enjoy people, but you have to be discerning about ideas and beliefs.
-
Evangelism: We are champions of the Larger Story which orients all of life. This series allows us to have meaningful conversations with people and really get at the root of our differences. We can stay away from surface level disagreements and focus on how people answer the questions on the cards. When we are familiar with worldviews, it enables us to love our neighbor with the Good News of the Gospel by helping them understand their worldview, how they came to it, and what shaped it. And just maybe, a friendship will be born out of all of this. You have the message that our fragmented world needs.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Genesis 1:1-27 NIV
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Why a series on “A Biblical Worldview Church”?
Three important reasons:
-
Personal: Christ-followers must measure our involvement and activities, our use of time and money against one yardstick, not as a burden, but as a gateway into total life flourishing: Is it consistent with a biblical view of life, and does it bring glory to God? Your beliefs about reality will impact your personal life and moral choices – who you marry, what you do, and how you raise your kids. People function on the basis of their worldview. We are inundated with worldview ideas daily. Worldviews are important because they get lived out.
-
Apologetics: What will you do when your kids come home from high school or college biology class where their confidence in truth has been shaken? What hope will you offer when your neighbor buries a 12-year-old? What story can you share when someone has already written the suicide note? We are all faced with a smorgasbord of worldviews every day, all of which make truth claims about life and about our place in this universe. Enjoy people, but you have to be discerning about ideas and beliefs.
-
Evangelism: We are champions of the Larger Story which orients all of life. This series allows us to have meaningful conversations with people and really get at the root of our differences. We can stay away from surface level disagreements and focus on how people answer the questions on the cards. When we are familiar with worldviews, it enables us to love our neighbor with the Good News of the Gospel by helping them understand their worldview, how they came to it, and what shaped it. And just maybe, a friendship will be born out of all of this. You have the message that our fragmented world needs.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Biblical Worldview
The story of the world can be told with FOUR WORDS representing four plot moves. All worldviews deal with these four plot moves that describe the Story of the World and how the world began, why the world is the way it is, what role we play in the drama and how all the plotlines of the Story are resolved in the end.
Plot Move #1
Creation. This tells us how things began, where everything came from (including us). Who made the world? Where did we come from? The world God made was good. The secular worldview says that we are a random product of time and chance not a personal creator.
Plot Move #2
Rebellion. This describes the problem. What went wrong with the world? What is wrong with us? We don’t start off neutral in life. We are born with a sin nature. We struggle to know and understand the truth. We are bent towards selfishness. The secular worldview says we are basically good and just need a better environment; that there has been no "rebellion" because there is no God that has established truth.
Plot Move #3
Redemption. This gives us the solution, the way to fix what went wrong. What is God doing to fix our world? What is God doing to fix us? God never walked off and left us. He wants to restore you, beginning now. It has always been God’s plan, not just to forgive you, but to restore you – to make you like Jesus. The secular worldview says our world will be redeemed through ecology and creation care; that’s how we save the planet. And let’s create a utopia and let socialism be the way that we solve the world’s problems.
Plot Move #4
Restoration. This explains what the world will look like once the repair takes place. How does it all resolve eventually? Will we become what God intended? Through Christ our world will be restored to what God had intended all along. We will all be what we were supposed to be. The secular worldview says that everything is physical and material and eventually, it will all decay into nothingness.
Two Major Worldviews Summarized
Biblical Worldview: A Biblical Worldview says that God is the Author of our universe, that we are accountable to Him, and that we have hope of being a part of His grand story to triumph over all evil in our world through Jesus. You see, Christians believe that there’s a larger story going on in human history; that there is a God and He made all that we see and know, including human-beings and it was perfect; that something went wrong in the world because of our rebellion prompted by the Evil One; that God has initiated a plan to fix this mess and that Jesus’ coming was promised way back in Genesis 3:15; that I am part of His plan to restore this world to all that He intended for it; that as I live a life He endorsed and as I struggle to make sense of all the suffering in this fallen world, somehow Christ’s takes shape in me and uses me to give hope to the broken. That’s a Christian Biblical worldview in summary form.
Which worldview do you want to shape your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren? What you believe about yourself and your worth and value ties directly to your worldview.
Would you like to have Jesus in the center of your life and worldview? Welcome Him into your life today!
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shcc/message
Mark 10:17-22 NIV
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Love Starts Here
How are you dealing with that sense that you’re not quite right, the sense that something is missing? There’s something in your life to which you’re looking to deal with that.
Some of you are desperately trying to turn material wealth into a spiritual treasure to deal with that inner sense of poverty.
Some of you are desperately trying to turn physical beauty into spiritual beauty to deal with that inner sense of deformity.
Some of you are looking to love. Some of you are looking to romance. Some of you are looking to family. Some of you are looking to making a hit in some professional world. Some of you are trying desperately to get into some inner ring, to be included, to be accepted, to deal with that inner sense of exclusion and alienation and unworthiness you feel. Everybody’s trying to do something.
This young man in our text was doing it with career, money, and status, observes Tim Keller. Maybe that’s why you feel panic if you don’t have enough money, because money is not just your money. It’s your father. It’s your savior. It’s your essence. It’s your identity. It’s your self. It’s your name. Jesus doesn’t just say, “Give away all your money.” He says, “Give away all your money and follow me,” which is his way of trying to say, “I want you to see that if you have me you have everything you need.”
Jesus loved the young man, yet made no attempt to dissuade him from walking sadly away when he could not or would not take up Jesus’ challenge. Jesus makes no further attempt to persuade him. The conditions had been set: the young man must make up his mind.
Whatever you do, don't walk away "wealthy but sad." There's joy. Jesus offers it. Decide!
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The story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus is remarkable for three reasons:
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She was a Samaritan; He was a Jew and he talked to her. The Northern kingdom of Israel was conquered over 700 years before the time of Jesus. The conquering nation of Assyria had a transplant policy. They would deport Jews out of Israel and import Assyrians and other peoples into Israel. Reason? They would intermarry and lose their cultural and religious identity. The result of all this intermarrying was the Samaritans. So the Samaritans built their own temple and did not need the temple in Jerusalem. Jews ordinarily would not travel through the area known as Samaria in the first century, but would go out of their way down to the Jordan Valley in order to skirt around it, adding an extra day or two at least to their journey. The animosity was so deep that when His enemies wanted to call Jesus an insulting name, they called Him a Samaritan (John 8:48).
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She was a solitary woman; He was a single man and he talked to a woman in public. Social taboo prohibited sustained eye contact between the sexes much so a conversation was way over the cultural line. And when it comes to getting water, all the women either come early or late when it’s cooler. What is she doing alone? The answer is she was a moral and social outcast. She had had multiple husbands. She was into serial marriage. Five of the women in town are probably married to her five former husbands, if in fact these were all divorces.
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She was a stranger; He talked to someone he had never seen before and asked her for a favor. According to popular opinion of the day, to receive food or drink from the hand, or vessel, of a Samaritan, would be to share in their impurity. To the Jew, this was an amazing story. Here was the holy Son of God breaking down the barriers of race, sex, and orthodoxy. He does not ask for permission to get a drink, but for a drink from her bucket. “Can I have a drink from your water bottle?” Let’s have a conversation.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband." (John 4:17-18)
She was at the well, but dying of thirst. She thought marriage could do it. A man would pay attention to her and love her and romance her and build a life with her. She thought the right ethnicity could quench her thirst. She thought the right religion could quench her thirst. She thought that a boyfriend could quench her thirst. But thirsty she remained until this day.
Here was someone who valued her beyond a label. He knew all about her but still enjoyed their brief relationship. He wasn’t trying to get her in bed, yet he was a man. He wasn’t trying to win an argument, yet he was Jewish. He wasn’t trying to expose all of her diary secrets, yet he knew all things. Quite simply, what Jesus offered to this woman was Himself. It was a different kind of romance. The Messiah came to her. The insignificance of her life was swallowed up by the significance of this moment. God had come to us, to her in a personal moment. I have a hunch that they talked about a lot more than just 5 former husbands (see verse 29).
You know, numbers mean a lot to Jewish writers. She had six men: five former husbands and a live-in. But then, she met a seventh (the number of completion), and she was totally smitten by him, but not in the way you might think. The “romance at the well” motif or ancient betrothal scene is prominent in the Bible. We'll talk more about this, but suffice it to say here that this was the "Seventh Man" in her life - the Perfect One. With him, we are then set up to do marriage better; to face tragedies like 9-11 better; and to find fulfillment for our deepest thirsts in life.
Are you thirsty?
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John 19:38-42 NIV
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
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Mark 2:1-12 NIV
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
When Jesus is At Home... Mark 2:1-12
The Word is taught (v.1)
The Hurting are helped (v.2)
The Failures are forgiven (v.3-4)
The Critics are confronted (v.6-10)
The Miracles are manifested (v.11-12a)
The Lord is glorified (v.12b)
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Two General Applications from John 2:10
“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
...the cheaper wine… What are you sipping on?
...you have saved the best till now... Would you like for the next half of your life to go differently than the first half? It can - through Christ.
A Special Application: Moms and Their Sons
Based on subtle nuances in this passage, Mary had some hidden motives that Jesus knows about and deals with while at the same time, actually addressing the need.
Sue Bohlin of Probe Ministries helps us here. Here’s the wisdom she’s learned about being a mom to a son.
• Push your son towards his father and encourage their relationship.
• Affirm your son’s masculinity. It’s great that you’re a man.
• Allow for emotional distance and independence. Don’t try to keep him bound to you like a baby as he gets older.
• Refuse to diminish the glory of the father / son relationship; don’t get in the middle of it.
• Nurture and comfort with empathy, but allow your husband to nurture differently (aggression nurturing), such as “Hop up, you’re OK.” Boys need to learn to develop a thicker skin from their dads.
• Don’t insist that he look you in the eyes when you’re having a difficult conversation (except when it’s time to apologize). It’s especially threatening and painful for most boys. Take a walk or drive with him where you are shoulder to shoulder, or talk to him in dim lighting (such as bedtime), to encourage him to open up to you.
Rhonda Stoppe shares that there are some possible negative consequences that could result from coercing or plotting for a son’s success.
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He will realize that you are attempting to gain recognition for yourself through his accomplishments and will rebel. “Why do you involve me?” “Eh, because I want to prove to everybody how wrong they’ve been about me.”
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He will find himself pushed into a position he is not ready to take on. “It’s not my hour.” Jesus knew how to handle his mother; most sons don’t.
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He will become prideful, arrogant, and self-exalting. Again, Jesus guards against this by remaining behind the scenes at the wedding.
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He will become a momma’s boy who can’t pursue accomplishments on his own. Was Jesus a momma’s boy? Did he say on track with his mission?
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He will feel he is entitled to special treatment. Jesus refused that mindset. That’s what the hour was about – the time when I’m treated the opposite of how I should be.
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He will be resented by his peers and siblings. When people see a mom trying to get her son the starting spot or the best job or the limelight, they resent it. And Jesus’ siblings resented him.
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Luke 5:1-11 NIV
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Broken Things... Growth Things...
Let’s talk about us for a moment.
I see the broken things in this passage. Things get broken in life…
A Broken Net (v. 6) – something you really needed breaks. When the big moment comes, your equipment fails.
A Broken Man (v. 8) – something inside you breaks. You realize your life priorities are all screwy.
A Broken Partnership (v. 10) – someone you really counted on breaks. They leave you to clean the fish.
I see the growth things in this passage… how to go deeper.
Learn more.... Verse 1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. Growing spiritually puts you in a position to see Jesus work in both your life and the lives of others.
Launch out.... Verse 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water…” If Peter had said no, then no catch. The fish didn’t jump up in the boat or flop up on the shore all by themselves. God loves to do things via human agency that is filled with Christ’s presence.
Leave all.... Verse 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Peter had to not only make Jesus Captain of the Boat; he had to make Him Lord of all life.
Are you broken? Do you need to grow? Join Peter at the knees of Jesus.
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Mark 10:13-16 NIV
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:45 NIV
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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This is a series about Jesus and his interactions with his first followers. It allows us to see Jesus as we’ve never seen him. It’s also a series about people who are far from God and they experience Jesus and suddenly God shows up. You’ll meet many of them as you watch the episodes. Matthew the tax collector. Nicodemus, the strict Pharisee and religious person. Andrew and his outspoken brother Peter who are fishermen. And they all come to a place of conviction and confidence in a Savior. The Gospel is not so much an argument to assent to (though there are many arguments one can make for the Gospel); but more than this, the Gospel is a person that you place your confidence in. So, welcome to "The Chosen". And welcome to Stones Hill Community Church and Online Notes!
Matthew 9:9-13 NIV
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:14-17 NIV
14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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The Chosen - Episode 1
The Gospel is not so much an argument to assent to (though there are many arguments one can make for the Gospel); but more than this, the Gospel is a person that you place your confidence in. And that’s what Mary Magdalene does in this first episode.
Church traditions dating back to the early fathers have identified Mary Magdalene with the anonymous woman of Luke 7. And there's one detail I want you to pay attention to in the story: the flask around her neck.
The text says "she brought an alabaster jar of perfume..." This jar was not a mega-sized container. Think necklace-size, more like a vial or flask than a jar. An alabaster flask was a little globular … It had a bulb, and it had a very long, skinny neck. At the very top there was a tiny, little opening. Inside this flask, when it was created, perfume was placed in the bulb, so the aroma could get out, but there was absolutely no way for the perfume to spill out. When the text says she pours, the only way to pour was to break the flask.
The jar wasn’t that valuable; and the stuff inside varied in price – from not that expensive to a whole years wage – depending on the quality of what was in the vial. This was the most expensive thing she owned. It was important to her and one of the tools of her trade. She wore it often. For a woman to take the tool of her trade off and pour it at his feet was to say, “I have a better use now for this perfume.” She was changing the direction of her life. She’s saying, “If you are who you say you are, that changes everything. I come to you without conditions. I give you everything I am. I give you everything I have.”
She refused to see anything more valuable than Him. That means making him master of everything: your job, your behavior, your ethics, the way you use your money, your relationships, your sexuality, your thought life, your intellectual life. Everything! She is saying, “Lord, I have always trusted in my beauty. I’ve always trusted in my desirability,” and, of course, her beauty and desirability are not going away. But she says, “No longer will this be the fundamental thing I trust in my life. No longer, because though I trusted in it, it mastered me. It controlled me, and now you are the Master.
Everybody has a little flask around their neck, the things that are important to them. You’re going to pour them out at somebody’s feet. There is something in someone that you’re going to live for. Who gets your heart? Whom do you live for utterly and entirely? Would you be willing to pour it out at His feet today?
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 2:11-15
Alive! In Him.
Are you alive spiritually to Christ? Have you dethroned the “flesh” as Paul calls it?
Forgiven! With Him
Have you personally accepted His forgiveness? Are you free from guilt?
Victorious! Through Him
Do you enjoy a life of spiritual victory? Would you like to make the victory of Jesus your very own?
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Colossians 3:17-25 NIV
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Letters from Prison - Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Our text this morning is straightforward and simple. It divides naturally into four parts:
Involved
Consistent
Aware
Nurturing
Ken Canfield calls these the I CANs of fathering. It’s a framework for what every child needs. I'll explain in the message, but here's the outline:
First there is the address, "Fathers..." Involved
Second, there is the command, "Do not exasperate, embitter, provoke…" Consistent
Third, there is the focus of the command – “your children...” Aware
Fourth, there is the purpose of the command, "That they may not lose heart." Nurturing
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 2
I want to talk to you today about avoiding capture or avoiding being spiritually kidnapped. The section from verse 8 to verse 19 consists of three warnings. The three ways in which Paul raises the alarm are forceful and expressive:
1. Don’t let anyone kidnap you! (verse 8).
See to it that no one takes you captive…
You need a Pastor!
2. Don’t let anyone condemn you! (verse 16).
Therefore do not let anyone judge you...
You need a Savior!
3. Don’t let anyone disqualify you! (verse 18)
Do not let anyone… disqualify you.
You need a Church!
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 2:1-10
Colossians 2:6-8 is a short version of the Christian life.
Consistency. Keep walking with Jesus through your experiences.
Stability. Deepen your growth in Jesus over time so that several years from now, you’re still on this Jesus-journey.
Memory. Activate a radical gratitude that looks for the Lord’s blessing and remember where you’ve come from.
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What is forgiveness?
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
We’re going to talk about what forgiveness is and what it is not. But first, why is it so hard to forgive, especially when forgiveness is more beneficial and relieving?
Why we won't forgive?
Paul Tripp suggests that we hold people in our debt for the following reasons:
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Debt is power. There is a power in having something to hold over another’s head.
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Debt is identity. We feel superior, more righteous and mature than the person who has offended us.
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Debt is entitlement. We are owed and we deserve this after what we’ve endured.
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Debt is weaponry. We can throw stuff in their face.
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Debt puts us in God’s position. We make sure that they feel an appropriate amount of guilt.
What forgiveness is NOT
Most of us think forgiveness is a good idea, till we have to give it. What does this word mean? Let’s start off with what it doesn’t mean.
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Forgiveness is not pretending that it never happened – that’s called repression.
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Forgiveness is not excusing what the other person did.
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Forgiveness is not reconciliation.
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Forgiveness is not giving up on justice and change.
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Finally, forgiveness is not forgetting.
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 3:5-11
One pastor calls this passage “Negative Newness”.
Why? Well, Paul writes about stuff that holds you back in your spiritual growth. You can present “Negative Newness” in a positive form.
The stuff Paul says to stop engaging in will result in newness of life…
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There’s a new cleanness (3:5-7)
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There’s a new calm (3:8)
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There’s a new candor (3:9-10)
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There’s a new community (3:11)
Do you need a new cleanness? A new calm? A new candor? A new community?
I think Paul is trying to position the church in Colossae to love people back to life. This is really hard to do if we are not like Christ in our purity and in the expression of our emotions and feelings and words.
In Search of a New Calm
John Van Diest says that anger hurts others when: You hold onto it too long; you refuse to forgive; you attack the person, not the action; you let it become a habit; you lose control; you become abusive; you hurt those you love; you react rather than act; you dwell on it constantly; you damage someone’s reputation.
Do you need a new calm? You’re not a slave to your anger anymore. When you get those anger invitations, you can decline them. You don’t have to go to every anger party you’re invited to.
When it comes to hurt and anger, you have one of three alternatives.
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Repress it.
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Express it.
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Confess it.
So speaking of anger, are you mad today? How come? If you were honest, could you trace your anger back to your own ego or your own disordered loves? Furthermore, upon a closer analysis, would you be willing to admit that maybe you're angry with God?
It's important to admit our anger; to be in touch with our anger. Admit it because anger tends to hide itself. Until we recognize disordered love, we can’t heal disordered anger. What you’re doing in confession is ordering your love, in a way. You’re saying, “Look, why do I love that so much?” "God, I want to call an emotional time out. This is how I feel. Can you help me understand why I feel this way? Can you show me what I should do about it? Can you transform this into something helpful and good?"
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 3:1-11
This is the "bridge passage" that links together the two main sections of this letter.
The new believers of Colossae were being influenced by a first century type, progressive Christianity: a lot of mysticism, legalism, ritualism, and asceticism. So, here is how the book flows.
Colossians 1
First, in verses 1 through 14, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Gospel.
Second, in verses 15 through 17, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Creation.
And third, in verses 18 through 23, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Church.
And fourthly, in chapter one verses 24 through 29, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in genuine ministry.
Colossians 2
And then in chapter 2, under the overall heading that Jesus Christ is the Truth, we have Christ’s preeminence defended. And Paul defends Christ’s preeminence against three dangers that just about every individual Christian, and just about every local church, will face sooner or later.
First, there is the danger of empty philosophies, like Critical Race Theory, instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 1 through 10.
Second, there is the danger of legalism instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 11 through 17.
And thirdly, there is the danger of man-made doctrines instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 18 through 23.
So in chapter 2, the Apostle Paul defends the preeminence of Christ against those three dangers, and he declares the preeminence of Christ as the sure cure for vain philosophies, and for legalism, and for man-made doctrines.
Transition: Our passage is a “bridge” passage that joins the indicatives concerning our salvation in Christ (chap. 1-2) with the ethical demands, the imperatives that flow from these grace truths (chap. 3-4).
And then in chapters 3 and 4, under the overall heading of Jesus Christ is the Life, we have Christ’s preeminence demonstrated. And Paul says that the preeminence of Christ must be demonstrated in the believer’s life, and in the life of the church, in 6 ways.
Colossians 3 and 4
First, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s conduct. We have that in chapter 3 verses 1 through 11.
Second, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s character. We find that in chapter 3 verses 12 through 17.
Third, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s home. We find that in verses 18 through 21.
Fourth, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s work. Paul addresses this in chapter 3 verse 22 through chapter 4 verse 1.
Fifth, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s witness. We find this in chapter 4 verses 2 through 6.
And finally number six, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s service. We find this in the rest of chapter 4, verses 7 through 18.
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John 14:15-16
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. (NIV)
1. ARE YOU ALLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE WITH YOU IN YOUR VALLEY?
2. ARE YOU CALLED TO BE WITH
SOMEONE WHO IS IN A VALLEY
RIGHT NOW?
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Letters from Prison - Colossians 3:1-11
This is the "bridge passage" that links together the two main sections of this letter.
The new believers of Colossae were being influenced by a first century type, progressive Christianity: a lot of mysticism, legalism, ritualism, and asceticism. So, here is how the book flows.
Colossians 1
First, in verses 1 through 14, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Gospel.
Second, in verses 15 through 17, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Creation.
And third, in verses 18 through 23, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Church.
And fourthly, in chapter one verses 24 through 29, we find that Jesus Christ is preeminent in genuine ministry.
Colossians 2
And then in chapter 2, under the overall heading that Jesus Christ is the Truth, we have Christ’s preeminence defended. And Paul defends Christ’s preeminence against three dangers that just about every individual Christian, and just about every local church, will face sooner or later.
First, there is the danger of empty philosophies, like Critical Race Theory, instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 1 through 10.
Second, there is the danger of legalism instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 11 through 17.
And thirdly, there is the danger of man-made doctrines instead of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 18 through 23.
So in chapter 2, the Apostle Paul defends the preeminence of Christ against those three dangers, and he declares the preeminence of Christ as the sure cure for vain philosophies, and for legalism, and for man-made doctrines.
Transition: Our passage is a “bridge” passage that joins the indicatives concerning our salvation in Christ (chap. 1-2) with the ethical demands, the imperatives that flow from these grace truths (chap. 3-4).
And then in chapters 3 and 4, under the overall heading of Jesus Christ is the Life, we have Christ’s preeminence demonstrated. And Paul says that the preeminence of Christ must be demonstrated in the believer’s life, and in the life of the church, in 6 ways.
Colossians 3 and 4
First, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s conduct. We have that in chapter 3 verses 1 through 11.
Second, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s character. We find that in chapter 3 verses 12 through 17.
Third, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s home. We find that in verses 18 through 21.
Fourth, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s work. Paul addresses this in chapter 3 verse 22 through chapter 4 verse 1.
Fifth, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s witness. We find this in chapter 4 verses 2 through 6.
And finally number six, Christ must be preeminent in the Christian’s service. We find this in the rest of chapter 4, verses 7 through 18.
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Ephesians 6:5-9 NIV
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Letters from Prison - Ephesians 6:5-9
Think about how much of your life is built around work. How can we approach our work and jobs in a way that honors Jesus?
Paul says a great employee is going to be:
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Obedient - obey your earthly masters... – do what is asked (not immoral things of course).
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Respectful - obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, – show deference to your boss who is responsible for things. Show respect to everyone. Be friendly and open, not territorial.
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Vested - serve wholeheartedly- give it all you’ve got with a good attitude. Bring a can-do spirit – an energy to every task.
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Loyal - when their eye is on you – you never know who sees what you do; but do good work anyway.
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Sincere - sincerity of heart – really get after it. Solve problems. Share your expertise so others can get better too.
How to See My Job
Three ways to see your job…
See Your Job as a Partnership and Stewardship with God. “Look at God in the eye when you’re working.”
See Your Job as a Place of Preparation and Opportunity. You are doing something for Jesus by living for Him where you work. And you’re earning income that you turn into ministry.
See Your Job as a Position of Truth-Exhibition and Servant-Ministry. You’re the only Bible some people will ever read. Ironically, it will be your life bearing witness to the truth of Jesus.
Let me state these three things another way…
Do great work, but don’t brag. Let the work speak for itself. It will get noticed in time.
Help your co-worker, but don’t lag. Pull your part of the load. You don’t want to be the one to bottle-neck everything.
Live the truth, but don’t nag. It’s not your job to clean up everybody’s language or dirty jokes. Live the truth.
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 6:1-4
There are two questions parents have to answer; two crucial questions that all of us as children need answered from the beginning of our lives. If they're answered positively, then "honoring your parents" is a joy. If they're answered negatively, not only does it leave us vulnerable, but honoring and obeying parents will always be a struggle.
Here are those two questions:
1. Am I worthy of love? (Am I important to someone?)
2. Are others capable of loving me? (Am I safe?)
Based on how these two questions get answered forms our identity and our core beliefs about ourselves. If parents / caregivers do a good job of answering them, then a child feels safe and secure, thus a greater ability to deal with lifelong stress. And we feel safe and secure and we can try new things without fear, because we are convinced that failure doesn’t bring condemnation or abandonment.
But if these questions go unanswered then we end up having these scathing inner dialogues with ourselves as we get older. “I’m worthless. Nothing I say or do is ever right. I’m ugly, fat, and lazy. I’ll never amount to anything.” And what makes these scathing inner monologues and self-abuse even more dangerous is how a person tries to silence those voices with various mechanisms and strategies.
An early rupture in attachment with parents or caregivers can be devastating. If you’ve experienced abandonment on some level, when it comes to your parents, you may feel pain, anger, and confusion rather than closeness, warmth and security. And so, when we talk from Ephesians 6:1-4 about honoring parents, then it will be a struggle.
Would you like to do a great job of answering those two questions for your kids? Would you like to find a measure of healing from the pain you've endured because those two questions were not answered for you? I would invite you to consider what is shared today in the message and to open your life up for Christ to meet you in your wounds and bring about your healing.
Ephesians 6:1-4 NIV
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
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Ephesians 6:1-4 NIV
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Letters from Prison - Ephesians 6:1-4
Paul reflects a basic understanding for how fathers, mothers and families work in our passage today.
Moms & Sons
There are three N’s for wives and moms. The “training and instruction of the Lord” through a mom is:
Nourish. Nurture. Nest. (with Sons as a focus in the sermon)
Dads & Daughters
There are three P’s for husbands and dads. The “training and instruction of the Lord” through a dad is: Protect. Provide. Push.
Protect. Provide. Push. (with Daughters as a focus in the sermon)
Mistakes Parents Often Make
Some common mistakes that parents make. (with help from Rick Johnson).
Mistake 1. Emphasizing weaknesses, not strengths.
Mistake 2. Avoiding physical affection.
Mistake 3. Giving too little time.
Mistake 4. Pushing for performance.
Mistake 5. Forgetting to have fun.
Mistake 6. Fearing failure.
Mistake 7. Abusing your power.
Mistake 8. Neglecting your own need for friends and recreation.
Mistake 9. Being inconsistent.
Mistake 10. Being complacent or passive.
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The Hope of Easter Remains - 1 Peter 1:3-5
How does the resurrection give us hope? There are five things in our text today. FIVE reasons why we have hope…
We have been completely forgiven.In his great mercy
We are no longer terrified of death.an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
We now have God’s Spirit at work in us.he has given us new birth… shielded by God’s power
We know that God will never abandon His plans for us.This inheritance is kept in heaven for you
We know what God’s purpose for our life is. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! … he has given us… a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 5:21-33
“Mawwiage Is What Bwings Us Togevah”
- Sidewalk Sign in Seattle
What every spouse wants and needs...
- He wants and needs you to affirm his leadership. She wants and needs you to lead. 5:22-24
Be attentive in conversation.
- He wants and needs your sacrifice. She wants and needs your sacrifice. 5:25-27
Be encouraging in hardships.
- He wants and needs your tenderness. She wants and needs your tenderness. 5:28-30
Be gentle in disagreements.
Talking Points: Three Pictures in Ephesians 5:25-27
There’s all kinds of things playing in verses 25-27. In order for us to understand this sanctifying love, I want us to think of three pictures or layers: a Jewish picture, a Prophetic picture, and a Marital picture.
The Jewish picture is this: A bride’s wedding day...
The Prophetic picture is this: Jesus and the church...
The Marital picture is this: You and your spouse...
Ultimately, marriage points to the spousal love of Jesus Christ. You need Him to do marriage.
Will you receive Him today? Would you take the place of this Man in self-sacrifice? Would you take the nails from His hands - and live a crucified life?
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 5:22-33
After reading through this passage, tucked away within the seams of these verses are two questions. There’s so much controversy in all this. How can we bypass all of it and get right to the heart of the issue?
Two questions:
Question #1: The wife must set aside self-centeredness and come to terms with her calling and ask: “Do I love my husband enough to live for him?”
Question #2: And equally important, the husband must set aside self-centeredness and come to terms with his role and ask: “Do I love my wife enough to die for her?”
The wife is told to love her husband so much that she lives for him, but the husband is told to love his wife so much, he would die for her. The wife is given the analogy of the Savior’s life. But the husband is given the analogy of His death (help from Strike the Original Match, Charles R. Swindoll).
Application:
“Do I love my husband enough to live for him?”
As I examine these verses, I find that a wife’s primary responsibility is to know herself so well and to respect herself so much and walk with Jesus so closely, that she gives herself to her husband without hesitation. She chooses to honor and respect her husband as an overflow in her walk with Christ regardless of how much she’s being loved or neglected.
“Do I love my wife enough to die for her?”
I find that the primary responsibility of a husband is to love his Lord so deeply and to accept himself so completely, that he gives himself to his wife without conditions. He chooses to lead and love and serve his wife and family regardless of how much respect he is shown or isn’t shown.
Notice, the husband is not told to demand respect from his wife – that’s something you earn. And the wife is not told to demand love from her husband – that’s something you woo him to do.
Marriage is a primary focus and center of your life. If everything around you is weak, but your marriage is strong, it doesn’t matter about the rest of life. You move out into the world in strength. If everything around you is strong, but your marriage is weak, it doesn’t matter what’s out there. You move out into the world in weakness. Your marriage is the center of everything. It’s the vortex of your life. If you neglect it, you’ll struggle so much in so many other ways (Tim Keller).
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Ephesians 6:10-20 NIV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 6:10-20
How can we claim the reality of Christ’s victory over the darkness? How can we live in His authority? By understanding THREE things…
Three Things that Lead to Living in Christ's Authority
The Nature of Our Weapons –
they’re spiritual and powerful
The Need for Our Weapons –
we have an enemy and an evil day to face
The Names of Our Weapons –
the weapons cover the whole body.
Four Things that Prepare You For Spiritual Warfare
There are FOUR things we need to do when we are facing spiritual warfare in our lives; four things to consider if you intend to activate your Christ-provided authority.
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Acknowledge the adversary. Remember: There is an enemy. Satan is real (1 Peter 5:8-9). Why would God send his Son to fight what does not exist? The Bible says in 1 John 3:8, “ (NLT). When you’re being attacked, it’s proof that you’re a believer. The more you make an impact for God, the more the Devil is going to fight you. You never outgrow it; it just gets more intense.
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Accept God-given authority. Remember: The victory has already been won. Most believers don’t understand about the authority they have against the Devil. Matthew 28:18-19 says we have all authority in Heaven and on Earth. Then Jesus says, “ (NIV). He transfers the authority to you and me. He does that because he’s given us a specific mission: sharing the message of Jesus as his ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).
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Put on God’s armor. Remember: The enemy is not people. When Paul wrote about the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-17, he was in prison chained to a Roman guard. Paul used the Roman centurion as a model for spiritual armor. Paul says that just as the Roman soldier was properly dressed to do battle, we also need to be dressed for battle. What is that battle? Prayer.
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Aim the artillery at your thoughts. Remember: You yourself will be your own worst enemy. The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in your thought life (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The weapons God gives you to demolish arguments are truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and Holy Spirit. Take every thought captive!
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 6:10-20
There’s an “Oh, no!” in this passage. And there’s an “Oh, wow!” in this passage.
"Oh, No!"
When Paul talks about spiritual armor, he’s saying, “This is your new default view of life: ‘Life is war.’” The Christian life is not a playground, but it is a battleground. Spiritual warfare is an invisible chess match behind enemy lines. There’s a behind-the-scenes maneuvering, where people are locked in mortal spiritual combat. That’s the “Oh, no!”.
"Oh, Wow!"
What’s the “Oh, wow”? Well, there is spiritual warfare, BUT we have “weapons of authority.” The key is to understand these weapons and activate them. By ourselves, we are nothing. But when we put on that red uniform known has the blood of Christ, Satan has to stop and take notice.
How can we claim the reality of Christ’s victory over the darkness? How can we live in His authority? By understanding THREE things…
The Nature of Our Weapons –
they’re spiritual and powerful
The Need for Our Weapons –
we have an enemy and an evil day to face
The Names of Our Weapons –
the weapons cover the whole body.
Invitation: Jesus was and is the ultimate warrior. Jesus lived in righteousness and faithfulness for our salvation. Jesus gave us all a breastplate of perfect righteousness. He secured our peace so that no matter where we go, we can share peace with others. Jesus tells us who we really are and shields us from accusations. Jesus wielded the sword of the Spirit to defend our place in creation. "Oh, Wow!"
Receive Him today!
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 5:17-21
Everyone fills their life with something. Bank accounts. Sports. Adventure. Collectibles. Friends. Romance. Children. Accomplishments. Current events. Books. Alcohol. Beer bashes. Parties. What will you fill your life with? I know how Paul would want you to answer that question. How many live lives filled with the Spirit; where He occupies every room in your house? And if one chooses to not be filled with the Spirit, what will you be filled with? And if the church is not filled with the Spirit, who will be?
What does new life in Christ look like? What will happen if you are living the Spirit-filled life?
You’ll speak to one another. Approachable.
You’ll sing with one another. Joyful.
You’ll give thanks with one another. Thankful.
You’ll submit to one another. Respectful.
Summary: Approachable. Joyful. Thankful. Respectful. Sounds like a vision statement; my kind of family; my kind of church; my kind of party.
Sometimes people may ask: “Is that a Spirit-filled church?” Do you see the sensational happening: Miracles. Emotional experiences. Visions. Sensational prophecies.
Do you know what Paul says a Spirit-filled church is? It's actually pretty basic to everyday life. You’ll speak to one another, regardless of your differences. You’ll sing with each other and create a joyful, positive interactions. You’ll live in contentment and express gratitude. You’ll put others first and submit to spiritual authority in your life.
What are you filled with? Why don't you step into the "Jesus-Life" and be filled with Him?
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A Christian ultimately is not trying to lead a godly life simply because immorality is terrible. A Christian leads a godly life because he or she is infused, his consciousness is infused, with the glorious facts of who you are. Put on the new self means remember your identity. Remind yourself of who you are now that you’re a Christian. That is the secret. That is the principle, and that makes the Christianity very different than all other ethical systems.
When we accept Christ and are welcomed into the family of God, we are essentially playing for a new team! Stepping out into the same life but with a different agenda.4:24 and to put on the new self...
In appealing for proper Christian conduct Paul says that Christians are to put off the conduct associated with their former life apart from Christ and put on a new pattern of behavior, just as they might put on a new dress or suit.
Would you like to exchange your old life for a new life? Exchange the old marriage for a new marriage? Exchange the old habit routine for a new routine? Exchange the old cantankerous spirit for a new perspective? Exchange all the fear for a lot of hope?
Why don't you come to Christ today?
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 4:25-5:4
Each of the following exhortations in our passage about a believer’s conduct has three parts: (1) a negative command, (2) a positive command, and (3) the reason for the positive command. Note: "the course of action (consisting of both a negative and positive command) is followed by a motivating clause" or reason for the positive command.
The "motivating clauses" have to do with community life. And in all this, Paul will occasionally drop a couple of hard-hitting lines that really could fit anywhere in the list. Today, we’ll just look at a couple of these and we’ll deal with the entire list in an upcoming message.
Ephesians 4:27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
What is a foothold?
It isa ledge, hollow, or other place affording a secure grip for the foot, as you might need if you were climbing. But let’s keep it where most of us live. A foothold can be best understood by most of us non-climbers by imagining yourself being chased by a person. You run up to your room and try to close the door, but the person sticks his shoe at the bottom end of the door so you can't close it. That part of his foot that prevents you from closing the door effectively is called a "foothold."
The Devil has many “foothold” techniques that He likes to use to keep you from being intentional in your obedience. Later in Ephesians 6 we’ll talk about the devil’s schemes. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
What are the devil's "footholds" and "schemes"?
So, what are these "schemes", these "footholds"? (with help from *Deb Koster) All of the things in our passage create...
Distraction – all of this drama in our passage created distraction.
Delay – all of this drama takes so much of our energy and time that we put-off important things.
Discouragement – all of this drama has a discouraging affect on the whole group.
Distortion – all of this drama in our passage distorts our perspective.
Doubt – all of this drama creates doubts, especially when we pray and seek God’s face in the face of all the falsehood in the world.
These tools of the devil are devious, but as we recognize them, we discover that Christ has overcome. John 16:33 Jesus tells us, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Christ has conquered evil, and as the Spirit empowers us, we go forward well-equipped to handle the devil's snares.
On D-Day, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. It was critical that they establish a beachhead — that is, a foothold on the beach that would allow them to set up a staging area to bring in more men and equipment for the battle. From that tiny foothold, the Allied forces were able to push inland in an effort to liberate France.
Let God have a foothold in your life. Paul contends that all the old-life things in this Ephesians list gives the devil a beachhead from which to organize further attacks. Well, because of our new life in Christ, we can also give God a beachhead to operate from.
Who has the best foothold in your life? God or the devil. Why don't you yield to the Lord Jesus today?
*5 Ways You Give the Devil a Foothold in Your Life | FamilyFire
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This is our online concert celebrating 2021 and bring in Hope. To find out more about Stones Hill Community Church please visit our website https://www.stoneshill.org
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 2:1-10
So, a basic outline for today's message:
What We Were – (v.1-3)
Are we really this bad?
What We Are – (v.4-6)
Is God really this good?
What We Shall Be – (v.7-10)
Is our future together really this bright?
Kathy Koch has observed in her book Five to Thrive that we’ll never unlock who we were meant to be until we connect with the One who made us. She asserts that we need five key questions answered. It occurred to me this week that Paul answers all five of these questions in Ephesians 2:1-10.
Who can I trust? That’s a security question.
Who am I? That’s an identity question.
Who wants me? That’s a belonging question.
Why am I alive? That’s a purpose question.
What do I do well? That’s a competence question.
First, have you been made alive with Christ? Has God put his new principle of life within you? Do you sense a new spiritual disposition in what you do? Are you born again?
Second, have you been raised with Christ so that your orientation is now heavenly, rather than being only earthbound?
Finally, have you been seated with God in Christ in the heavenly realms? That is, have you made your true, blessed, and intimate home with God?
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Sunday Service 12/27/2020
Guest Speaker - Levi Nelson
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 1:1-14
You will move into a life of significance as all of your ambition and plans move toward these THREE things:
A greater glory in the Father (who works out everything in His will).
A deeper love in the Son (who self-sacrifices for those he loves).
A lasting joy in the Spirit (who transforms our hearts and our fears and brings us contentment)
You have items in your spiritual bank account, deposited there by the Trinity. Ephesians 1:1-14 tell us how much God was willing to give in order to win you back and restore you and all of creation.
The first thing Paul wants to talk about is the selection of the Father. Then he’s gonna talk about the sacrifice of the Son. He will conclude this section with the sealing of the Spirit. At the end of each section he’s going to tell you why God has done this.
So again, this section of Ephesians is the open vault of… the selection of the Father (1:4–6), the sacrifice of the Son (1:7–12), and the seal of the Holy Spirit (1:13–14). There are key words in each of these sections and we'll look at some of those.
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 1:1-14
Passages like we have today can get very theological and deep and we miss the practical. While we'll deal with some weighty concepts, like predestination, election, and the Trinity, we'll also apply this to the real life experiences of young ladies - and in so doing, I think we'll get insights into all of our hearts and lives.
The culture of Ephesus put a lot of pressure on young girls. Artemis (Greek name) or Diana (Roman name) had a temple there and it was one of the seven wonders of the world to this false goddess - Diana. This was the Ephesian claim-to-fame; it was their identity. It took 244 years to build it. It was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece (418 by 239 feet) Artemis was the patron goddess of young girls. As the saying goes, Diana fell out of heaven from Zeus. She is depicted with many breasts, a superwoman as it were. And these young Ephesian girls loved jewelry and they were conditioned by beauty, wealth, security. Diana was worshipped in nature. When a young girl came of age, they would give their maiden garment as well as a lock of their hair to this goddess in an offering. They lost their identity in all of it.
Do you young girls know how secure you are in Christ? The experiences of young ladies mirror what we all feel; they teach us about identity and worth in their struggle to find it. I think there were many women in Ephesus with identity issues.
Almost all young ladies are wanting answers to these four questions: Who am I? What do I want? Who do I want to be? What should I do? Come to think of it, I think we all want answers to these questions. The experiences of young ladies mirror what we all feel; they teach us about identity and worth in their struggle to find it. We'll look at ourselves through the mirror of "young ladies" today and see what God has to show us.
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Letters from Prison - Ephesians 1:1-14
Background
As Paul traveled about the Roman empire, he came to colonies and to cities where people were spiritually and materially impoverished -- they were poverty-stricken people. Many of them were slaves. They had nothing of this world's goods. They were depressed, discouraged, beset with fears and anxieties, jealousies, and hostilities. They were under the grip of superstition and filled with the dread of the future. They had no hope of life beyond death. And it was the apostle's great joy to unfold to them the riches available to them in Jesus Christ -- riches which, if accepted as facts, would free them, would transform them and make them over into wholly different people, would bring them into a sense of joy and love and faith and radiant experience. That happened again and again. So the apostle gloried in these exceeding great riches in Jesus Christ. You have these same riches.
The first three chapters of Ephesians deal with doctrine (teaching), and the last three with practice (application). In the first three chapters, he tells you what your riches are; and in the last three he tells you how to use them, in key areas such as sex, marriage and alcohol. Of course, there is some doctrine in the last three chapters and some application in the first three, but generally this is how Paul organized his material.
The first 3 chapters are filled with truth about who God is and what he’s done in the gospel; the last 3 chapters offer some of the most practical instruction you’ll find anywhere in the Bible— on marriage, forgiveness, conflict management, family, workplace relationships and a host of other day-to-day issues. Some say that you could do all your biblical counselling from Ephesians alone. This is said because Paul, in Ephesians, places so much emphasis on our identity being in Christ alone. As Christians, we live from our identity, not for it. We are defined by who we are in Christ. That’s why Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians the way he does; he defines himself, and he defines his listeners, both in relation to Jesus.
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Letters from Prison - Philemon 1:1-25
As we draw this second letter from prison to a close, there are two outstanding questions that remain for our consideration:
First, will Philemon forgive Onesimus, his runaway slave?
Second, whatever happened to Onesimus after returning home?
Will Philemon Forgive? Will You?
Matthew Henry cited 14 arguments, that Paul used in verses 8 through 21, to convince Philemon to receive and forgive Onesimus:
Philemon's love for all the saints (v. 8);
Paul's authority (v. 8);
The basis of Paul's appeal being love, rather than authority (v. 9); Paul's age and his condition as a prisoner (v. 9);
Paul's spiritual relationship to Onesimus (v. 10);
Philemon's own interest (v. 11);
Paul's love for Onesimus (v. 12);
Paul's self-denial in parting with Onesimus (vv. 13-14);
The assurance that Onesimus would not run away again (v. 15);
Onesimus' relationship to Philemon as his spiritual brother (v. 16);
Onesimus' identification with Paul (v. 17);
Paul's promise to pay Onesimus' debt to Philemon (vv. 18-19);
The joy that Paul would receive by Philemon's acquiescence (v. 20);
Paul's good opinion of Philemon (v. 21).
If I could give you 14 reasons to forgive someone, would you do it?
How about if I just gave you one? The primary reason to forgive: Jesus.
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Letters from Prison - Philemon 1:1-25
Pay close attention how Paul treats Philemon in this letter and the power of his example. For in this, we have insight into what you and I can do with others - appeal on the basis of love (verse 9).
Philemon 1:8-10 8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
Consider what Paul the prisoner did:
*He led Onesimus to Christ—You can do that.
*He risked a friendship to help a new believer–You can do that.
*He took a stand in a small way—You can do that.
*He applied the gospel to a personal need—You can do that.
He saw God’s hand at work and gave God all the credit—You can do that. He personally intervened to help someone in need-You can do that.
*He offered to pay the debt Onesimus owed—You can do that.
*He didn’t complain about an unjust system and about how he unfairly imprisoned and he didn’t focus on anything but the problem at hand—you can do that.
*He didn’t try to be a hero and change the world. He just tried to help out wherever he could—You can do that.
Paul didn’t do anything unusual, strange or extraordinary. He simply did what any Christian should do—and could do – on the basis of love. That’s the power of individual example.
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Letters from Prison - Philemon 1:1-25
Martin Luther wrote, “We are all the Lord’s Onesimi.” Martin Luther said, “All of us are Onesimuses!” and he was right.
Are you stealing from your Master? Are you robbing your Lord like Onesimus was robbing from Philemon?
Maybe your parents raised you right, and you’ve dishonored them. God gave you a healthy body and you’ve squandered it on drugs. The Lord blessed you with a good job, but you never give to anyone anything. God gave you a great person to date, and you took more than you should have. God gave you a talent, but you won’t honor Him with it.
God created you to serve Him. He is your rightful owner and master. But, like Onesimus, you rebelled against Him. You said, “I will not have this Master to rule over me.” And so you took the body, the intelligence, and the talents that God had entrusted to you to use for Him and squandered them on yourself.
Claiming to be free from God, you became the slave of sin. Like Onesimus, you were a condemned fugitive on the run, useless to your rightful Master, guilty, and indebted to Him. You had robbed God.
Are you stealing from your Master? I’m not going to command anything. I appeal. If you’ll return home and live for Him, you’ll like it when it comes to say goodbye to this world.
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Letters from Prison - Philippians 1:9-11
In some ways the prayer in Philippians 1:9-11 covers the whole range of what God wants to do in us and through us. 1. It starts with abounding love 2. That manifests itself in knowledge and discernment 3. Resulting in the ability to make wise choices under pressure 4. And the visible fruit of a righteous life 5. That comes from a living relationship with Jesus Christ 6. So that God alone gets the glory.
There are several prayer requests listed here for what I see as a Supernatural Life. Implied in this entire prayer is Paul’s hope that they would make great decisions. Our life is the sum of all our decisions. Essentially, this is a prayer that every decision they make would be motivated by love. your love may abound more and more
Message talking points:
Superabounding Love
Superabundant Growth
Superfocused Decisions
Superopen Approach
Supersized Results
All of this - One Supernatural Life!
In the supernatural life, our love should be flowing, growing (in insights), knowing (in decisions), showing (in authenticity), and sowing (for fruitfulness).
Is your love abounding? Are you growing? Has your discernment deepened? Can you be real and authentic? Is your life producing fruit? Is God lifted up through you?
This is my prayer for you!
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Letters from Prison - Philippians 2:1-11
The Mind of Christ
Paul’s under house arrest; he’s in chains, under constant guard, without any freedom of movement, isolated from his friends and misunderstood by the church in Rome – and here he says, “What would really make me so incredibly joyful would be for you to demonstrate the unity of humility.” I couldn’t help but wonder – how would we fill in this blank? “What would really make my joy complete would be _____.” What would you fill in that blank? “What would really make me incredibly happy in life is _____.” Paul effectively says here, “What would top off my tank of joy isn’t getting out of house arrest – it isn’t getting all my friends back – it isn’t being vindicated before church leaders who are condemning me – given an award for serving Christ – no. Paul says it would bring me incredible, fulfilling joy to see the church demonstrating humility toward one another. We don’t all love the same things, but we share the same love. We have all received the love of God through Christ. And we’re to demonstrate that by taking that same kind of selfless love and live it out with each other.
What is the profile for the selfishly ambitious?
There is an inability to admit wrong-doing or fault. They get extremely angry and defensive if criticized while they themselves have a critical spirit. They will not forgive easily. They are given to petty jealousies. They love to hog the credit. They want to be the one who came up with the great idea. They want to be the one in charge, the one that everything has to come through, the one who controls everything.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Humility of mind is an attitude. It’s not so much how you dress, or what you drive, or where you live. In fact, we’re never commanded to “look” humble. No, humility is an attitude of the mind and heart. It say’s “I don’t have to be first all the time.” It says, “I care about those beneath me.” It say’s “I’m going to help someone else win for a change.” Furthermore, it say’s “I’ll help others win even when no one notices.” Humility is not a phony-baloney style of fake piety, a self-degrading attitude, full of self-pity. It’s not a sad or long face. Rather, it’s a genuine attitude that doesn’t push ourselves forward, nor push ourselves backwards. But rather, humility forgets self and pushes others forward and upward.
Will you follow the mindset of Jesus?
What Paul is doing in the Philippian passage is that he’s holding up the incarnational example of Jesus and he’s saying that the only way people can be reached and relationships healed and joy found sometimes is through extreme self-demotion. And what he’s saying is that Christ volunteered and said, “I’ll be demoted.” We want love to work another way, a less painful way, a less costly way, but love can’t. Paul talks about a death to self so that the life of Christ can be born more fully in us. They were to be like Christ, the chief servant. Christ’s attitude was to become theirs. They were to focus on giving rather than receiving. If God chose to exalt them, they would be truly exalted, but there were no guarantees of what that meant. True servanthood can never be perceived as simply an alternate route to the top, to exaltation.
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Letters from Prison - Philippians 4:15-20
Generosity is the act of being kind, selfless, and giving to others.
Why be generous? It frees you from materialism. You generally feel better when you sincerely help someone else, not that you do it for that reason, but it’s generally true. And someone is going to remember what you did for them and they may do the same someday. Changing even one life is worthwhile.
Generous people have an assurance that God will meet every need. They know in life the days are long, but the years are short. Make it count. Generous people are generally more relaxed, have better relationships with people, and bring more confidence and contentment to life, realizing that it’s God’s universe, not theirs. And, a generous person is rarely ever mentally ill.
How might God meet your needs? And how will He use what appears to be your unmet need in a way that affirms His love for you, touches others, and accomplish His purpose?
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It might be personal. (a Christian friend who loves God may meet a need) 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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It might be through a promise (God shows you in the Word that you don't "need" it). 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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It might be a unique provision. (you find that you don’t owe what you thought you did) 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Your unmet need might be to get you to a Person. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Your needs might root you in a new life purpose. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Conclusion: What is your need today? Will you put that need into the hands of a loving Father? Will you trust Him to meet your need? Will you show the world that your source and supply is from your Heavenly Father? Will you be that person who will allow God to work through you to meet someone else’s need? Will you adopt an attitude of faith that knows God will take care of you, therefore, you begin to see who you can help? Remember, my God will supply all your needs….
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Letters from Prison - Philippians 4:10-13
How would you like to be a truly contented person? People can get new stuff and you’re fine. Friends can get married and you’re fine. Teammates can win awards and you’re fine. Your ex can get the kids, you’re fine. Co-workers get the promotion and you’re fine. Others make more money, you’re fine. Marital partners get along great, you’re fine. Contentment – at ease and at peace.
Contentment is being at peace with the unchangeable circumstances, choices, and mistakes of my life (Jeffress, Solomon…27). Contentment isn’t just sitting back and saying “Well, God’s going to do what God is going to do. So I’ll just hang back and let it all happen.” I don’t think that is what Paul is saying.
Contentment is a “Steady confidence that God is at work while you’re being faithful to do what he’s called you to do or things you’re having to do due to current life circumstances or events.”
Even as he sat in prison, God was stirring the hearts of Christians hundreds of miles away to minister to Paul’s needs. God can do that.
Discontent is the result of negative thinking about yourself, about your suffering, about what you don’t have, what’s not going right, what you don’t like, and it’s a monster that if well feed gets very large.
Consumer debt? The rate at which we move? Divorce rates? Violent protesting? Legal cases? Seventy-billion spent on lottery tickets in a single year? It’s not hard to diagnose our discontent. So the grass is always greener in the next lawn. The traffic is always faster in the next lane. People are always happier in the next state and life is always better with the next person.
Contentment. How can I get you there? How can we raise your contentment level a little? FOUR WORDS…
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The first word is gratitude.
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The second key word is responsibility.
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There’s a third word that comes to mind in this text – and it’s the word, acceptance: Not only should you appreciate whatever you have; And apply whatever you learn. Thirdly, accept wherever you are.
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Fourthly, a final key word - dependence. Appreciate whatever you have; Apply whatever you learn. Accept wherever you are; And now finally, Abandon to Christ whatever you do.
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Letters from Prison - Philippians 4:1-9
Christianity isn’t a Joy Ride, but a Joy Road. When we travel Jesus’ road, we’ll experience more joy than just a ride. Today, we’ll talk about the right mindset to travel on the Joy Road of Philippians 4.
God give us…
A Big Heart
A Firm Stance
A Warm Embrace
A Merry Soul
A Relaxed Body
A Clear Mind
Does this describe your life? Would you like to travel this kind of road? Perhaps you feel you're in a kind of "prison" like Paul was when he wrote the letter to the Philippians.
Turning your prison into a palace. Is this even possible?
You say, “Well, Pastor, I’m not in prison, and I don’t intend to be.” Well, there’s more than one kind of a prison, isn’t there? There are some right here who are in a dungeon of despair. Others are surrounded by walls of resistance. There are others who are in chains of poor health. Others are behind iron bars of disappointment. Some are in the bondage of circumstance. Some are immersed in technological bondage. You may feel that "There is no way out of these prisons". But how about you invite Jesus in - and lets see what happens?
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The key word is focus.
Here is how you focus.
Regarding Your Past – Forget It!
Forgetting what is behind… Are you carrying some major life regret? The scholarship you turned down? The error that cost your team the championship? The way you raised your child? The times you ignored your parents? Are you carrying some major life regret? The crime you committed? The date you went on? The move you made? The words you spoke? Will you just come to the Lord and respond to his love today?
Regarding Your Present – Live It!
But one thing I do… right now! When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he didn’t sit there resting, thinking about all the things he couldn’t do because he was in jail or bemoaning all of his bad decisions in life. He wrote letters to churches. He dispatched messengers. He resolved problems. He built relationships. He enlarged the lives of those around him. He led Praetorian guards to Christ. Paul had a “can-do” spirit. He was surrounded by so many negative people at times. But he had settled the question of who he was going to live his life for.
Regarding Your Future – Seize It!
I press on toward the goal to win the prize… Paul said, “I’m not quitting. I’ve made some wrong turns in the race, but I’m on track now.” Your whole life is about one thing. Your whole life is pushed into one thing. As a result, you become a person of enormous energy and power. There will be times of exhaustion that will make you want to quit. There will be times when other runners make you mad enough to quit. There will be times when you feel that you can’t win anyway so you might as well quit. Stay in there anyway. Endurance or stamina is the key. Run for the satisfaction of knowing that you please your Master-Coach. And remember, Paul is in his senior years. There’s a lot of mileage on that body. But I don’t get a feeling that Paul is going to coast any.
Are you weak? -- Press on. Are you weary? -- Press on. Are you worried? -- Press on. Are you weeping? -- Press on. “Press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
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Paul uses five terms to describe Epaphroditus...
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A Brother
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A Fellow Worker
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A Fellow Soldier
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A Messenger
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A Minister
Epaphroditus made some key decisions which each allowed him to give his very best:
- He was a People Lover
Question: Do you long for people?
- He was a Risk Taker
Question: Do you play it safe?
- He was a Tireless Worker
Question: Do you work tirelessly?
- He was a Servant-Leader
Question: Do you lead the way in some area of service?
How do you build a golden bridge for someone to come back home?
(with help from John C. Maxwell and Les Parrott III)
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Start With Yourself – who built a golden bridge for you?
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Practice the 30 Second Rule. Say something encouraging in the first 30 seconds. Philippians 1-Paul’s joy focused.
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Let People Know You Need Them. Paul did with the Philippians.
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Create a Memory and Visit It Often – Paul did this in his prayer for them.
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Compliment People In Front of People – Paul supports Epaphroditus publicly.
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Give Others a Reputation to Uphold – Those Philippians were in elite company.
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Say the Right Words at Right Time – Paul was a master at the timely word.
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Encourage the Dream of Others – They wanted a stake in this Gospel Enterprise.
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Pass the Credit Onto Others – Paul gave the Philippians a lot of credit.
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Offer Your Very Best – Epaphroditus gave all he had and then some.
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Share a Secret With Someone – Paul told them they were the only ones that helped him.
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Mine the Gold of Good Intentions – Paul affirmed their intentions.
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Keep Your Eyes Off the Mirror – Paul never felt sorry for himself.
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Do for Others What They Can’t Do for Themselves – Paul was in a position to bestow honor and he did.
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Listen With Your Heart – Paul knew how much this meant to them.
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Be the First to Help – Philippians jumped on this opportunity.
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Add Value to People – By the time Paul is done, Epaphroditus is a hero.
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Remember a Person’s Story – Paul knew their story of Acts 16.
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Give With No Strings Attached – Philippians made no demands.
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Write Notes of Encouragement – That’s why we have Philippians.
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Live so as to be missed.
How do you do that? By becoming a brother or sister to those in this family around you; By becoming a fellow laborer in our common mission and a fellow soldier with common courage to represent Christ and His gospel; By becoming a messenger boy whose great delight is in serving someone; talking about someone else; living for someone else; By risking all that you are – for all that Christ is – for all that Christ’s church can become..
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Letters from Prison - Philippians
Paul is teaching in Philippians that it’s not the circumstances of your life, it’s not whether things go well for you or go ill for you, it’s the way you define life that will determine whether you stand or fall in this world.
What is your definition of life? What are you living for? What is the most important thing for you? what is that thing which will make your life worth living regardless of what else happens? What is life?
Later in Philippians 1, Paul will say “to live is Christ.” Tragedies and troubles come to us, and they take away that which makes our life worth living. Unless you change your definition of life, you collapse. We say, “To me, to live is to have that.” When the circumstances, the tragedies of life, come and go after your bottom lines, you utterly collapse. Paul says there is only one definition of life. There is only one bottom line.
If your whole life is collapsing, the problem is not the circumstance of your life; it’s the definition of your life. What do you live for? Who do you live for? What’s the passion for which you live? What drives you? What sucks up your energies? What dominates your time? What dominates your thinking? What dominates your reading? What makes your life tick? What passion do you carry in your heart?
Everybody is passionate about something. All of us have someone or something that we live for - some passion or ideal that drives us on giving our life purpose - some sense of meaning raising us up from a mere level of existence.
What is your bottom line?
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Sent
Some perspectives Paul always kept in mind (with help from Tim Keller):
- Life is a struggle.
Paul says, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
- Death is an adventure.
The word departure was a way of talking about death, but it’s a fascinating way because it’s a word that means to untie. It was especially used for untying a boat so the boat could leave and go on a voyage. I want you to see this incredible balance Paul has, that the Bible has, with regard to death. When a boat unmoors and goes off, on the one hand it’s sad. It’s a departure. On the other hand, it’s exciting, because it’s a newness, it’s a journey, it’s a voyage, and it’s something new.
- The gospel can’t be stopped
Why does Luke end not telling us at all what happens to Paul? Did he get a fair trial? Did he actually speak before Caesar? That was a big deal. Was he able to preach the gospel to Caesar? Did it ever happen? Luke doesn’t even tell you. All it tells you is … Here’s the last line. “The gospel is being preached with boldness and without hindrance.” Do you know the reason why we’re kind of saying, “Whatever happened to Paul?” and Luke doesn’t even tell you? Because the book is not about Paul. What is the story of the book of Acts about? It’s about the gospel, and it’s about the progress of the gospel. For Luke to end it this way is his way of saying, “Look at all this stuff the world threw at us. Look at the world. Look at the flesh. Look at the Devil. Look at all the opposition. Well, you can imprison people, you can kill people, but you can never imprison or kill the gospel. The gospel cannot be stopped.”
- Ultimately, in the end, you only need one primary thing.
In some ways this is the key to the rest, and as I said, Paul knew there was only one thing in the end he really needed. Do you know what that is? Look here in 2 Timothy 4:16. “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.” Then he says, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength…”
Do you have a sense of his presence like this? You say, “Well, how do you get that?” I’ll tell you how Paul got it. It’s through the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is so much fear: Fear of authoritarianism. Fear of pandemic. Fear of personal safety. Fear of political uncertainty. Fear of economic collapse. Fear of failure.
Who is at your side?
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Sent
A pastor described Agrippa with the phrase "the curse of casualness." He seemed to be relaxed and unconcerned. Indifferent. Apathetic. Contrast this with Paul. Paul had a sense of urgency. What is urgency? Something requiring immediate action or attention.
A key verse is Acts 26:28. It says: "Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (NIV). The reading is slightly different in the NKJV (New King James Version): "Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
This verse gives us three important words (with help from Warren Wiersbe):
"Christian" - a despised word
"Persuade"- a decisive word
"Almost" - a dangerous word
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Sent
This passage highlights the lasting legacies of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and indeed, can be a model for those of us who would follow in Paul’s steps. The legacies were and are: (1) a personal example, (2) a preached Word, (3) a present surrender, (4) a prepared leadership, and (5) a powerful closing.
At the heart of the matter of texts and topics is the issue, What do you want to leave behind? What lasting legacy do you want to entrust to those who remain when you depart?
Would you want anyone to follow your personal example?
Do you have a high view of Scripture and is it authoritative in your life?
What is your life mission and how do you act on it daily?
Who will replace you and are they ready?
Have you endeared yourself to anybody through authentic living and relationships?
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Sent
“Lord, I can’t do this anymore.” That's how Paul felt in Acts 18. He faced several challenges. We'll note those challenges today.
But allow me to encourage: Do what you are called to do. Not everyone will understand. Not everyone will approve. Not everyone will applaud. Not everyone will affirm. Not everyone will celebrate. Not everyone will support. Not everyone will stay. Not everyone will encourage. Do what you are called to do. That's what Paul did and so can you.
I have a Three-fold purpose for the message today:
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to encourage you as you face life-challenges;
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to alert you as you face a dangerous new worldview (I'll elaborate more);
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to invite you to be a disciple of Jesus.
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Sent
Despite what we are seeing in the culture, revolution is NOT the answer. It’s revelation. It’s understanding what our gods are, what is behind our idolatry, and how Jesus corrects our faulty view of God and shows us His beauty instead.
Question then? How do you move people from revolution to revelation? Relationship. Paul builds a bridge so Jesus can eventually walk over it into your life.
In Acts 17, Paul takes the Athenians through the whole Bible: creation, resurrection, judgment, but he never quotes it. While doing so, he addresses two things:
A Common Fear – God Isn’t Good (but Paul Says He is)
Our Common Groping’s – Invalid Approaches to God (Paul said to Stop Searching)
You could say we are defined by our searches. What does your data trail say about you? Where does the search you are on lead?
We have disordered loves. It’s called idolatry. It’s not some crude statue in a distant country. It’s a sophisticated approach to justify my gods.
What disappoints you (disproportionate disappointment)?
What do you complain about the most (its what really matters)?
Where do you make financial sacrifices (where does your money go)?
What worries you (your job, you health)?
Where is your sanctuary (where do you go when you’re in - HALTSD)?
What infuriates you (makes you crazy)?
What are your dreams (to give God glory)
Set aside God’s competition, set your affection on Him, and see what happens.
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Sometimes "sent" people make mistakes on this Gospel-oriented life adventure. Mark made a mistake; he wasn’t ready for pioneer missions. Paul made a mistake; he was too harsh. Barnabas made a mistake; he separated from his close friend. We all make mistakes! How can we make the most of them? .
Step Back: Mark went back to Jerusalem. Mark needed some space to sort this out if he was going to be a team player.
Scale Down: Mark had to go back to Jerusalem and think things over a little more before he engaged in the rigors of pioneer missions where you’re up against all kinds of challenges. He had to get back to something familiar in order to process what this all meant for him.
Change Patterns: Eighteen years after the events of Acts, chapter 15, Paul has evidently changed, and so has John Mark! Something in your life went before the mistakes you’ve made. You were trying to get validated; you were trying to prove your worth; you were reacting to a hurt or disappointment in your life; you were searching for your purpose; you were trying to numb some pain that may have been unacknowledged. Understand these issues enough so that you can steer shy of future mistakes, especially when you know your tendencies.
Rebuild Credibility: Mark was mentored by Peter (who happened to know a thing or two about failure). Just as Paul had adopted Timothy as his young disciple, so Peter had adopted Mark. The apostle who benefited most by a second chance given by God, now discipled his son in the faith, this son of the second chance. It takes time to rebuild trust with others and to personally sort out what’s truly important to you. People will question your actions and motivations and only time can convince them you’re for real this time. When you’ve broken trust, you have to do extra things to build it back; its par for the course for those who have stung others with betrayal.
Take Time: It took Mark 10 years or more to sort things out and for Paul to change his mind about him.
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You’re not Peter or Paul or Barnabas. But you can be "you". You are SENT with a message. Don’t hold on to what God is calling you to give away.
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Do not automatically remove any possibility. He may have you going to the strangest of places like Antioch to do his work.
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Do not allow lots of activity to dull your senses from hearing God’s new course for your life.
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Do not require others to do what you are being selected by God to do. Some won’t go with you, and that's ok. And sometimes, you’ll want to go do something, but God will say, “Nope, that’s for them to do, not you.”
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Do not resist the Lord’s leadership. When He says “Go” – obey Him.
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So, we’re wrapping up the series today: Hidden Figures. We’re looking at some people who aren’t as well known in the Bible, yet they fulfill a vital calling; they’re hidden figures who do an incredible work. The Bible is full of stories about such people who took considerable risks to lead boldly in their time. This series will focus on how some of these biblical figures used their influence to advance God’s purposes. We will also look at who the “Hidden Figures” might be in our lives today and what they can teach us about how to lead with wisdom, strength and God's bold vision for justice and mercy in our world. Welcome to Stones Hill Community Church and Online Notes!
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