June 14, 2020 |
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 |
racial unity
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Are you overwhelmed by the hatred and violence in our country these days? Don’t you wish we could all just get along? For some of you, the disunity is more than a news report or a social media post. It’s starting to affect your relationship with your neighbors, your co-workers, maybe even your relationship with your family and friends. Some of you have taken sides and made your positions known. Others of you are afraid to say anything, but even your silence is judged. Everyone has a different perspective on the root problems and the solutions. Everyone thinks they’re right and the others are wrong. How can we find reconciliation and peace again?
Where is God in all of this? Do our broken relationships with one another matter to Him? And if they do, how can we understand how much relationships matter to God?
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he sought to make them understand how being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus affected all of their relationships. We can understand how being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus affects our relationships.
June 7, 2020 |
2 Timothy 1:8-9 |
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What matters most begins with deciding whether Christ will be your Master, your Lord. Then second, learning what mission, what purpose, Christ has for your life. Then, who you choose as your mate or who you choose to fellowship with should line up with the first two.
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he charged Timothy to fulfill God’s purpose for him in Christ Jesus. We can fulfill God’s purpose for us in Christ Jesus.
May 31, 2020 |
Philippians 3:7-14 |
faith
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As we begin to return to life outside our homes, what have you learned about what really matters to you? Having so many things closed and isolated from school mates, neighbors, church attendance, even family… what have you missed the most? And have you considered whether everything in your formerly busy life should be just added back willy-nilly? Or should we carefully consider how we order up our lives going forward, asking what really matters?
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he challenged them to follow his conviction that faith in Jesus Christ is what really matters above all other things in life. We can choose to see our faith in Jesus Christ as what really matters most in our lives.
Has life become almost impossible to handle? Pandemics, cancellations, quarantines, layoffs, shortages, social distancing… No one had these in their 2020 plans. Many feel that they can’t handle one more thing! Where do we turn at times like this?
May 10, 2020 |
Philippians 4:4-7 |
anxiety
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Over the past few weeks, we have talked about how troubled times can cause us to be overwhelmed by fear, by
depression, and by doubt. Today, we want to consider how trouble can cause us to feel overwhelmed by anxiety. Certainly, the “uncertainty” of this time has caused much anxiety in our world today. Yet, even before COVID 19, anxiety was a pervasive condition for Americans.
Are you overwhelmed by anxiety today? Do you have a constant sense of unease? A kind of nervousness? Have the uncertainties of what’s coming next overwhelmed you with worry? The truth is, there will be trouble in this world. But do we have to be overwhelmed by anxiety as we face it? In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he taught them to turn to the Lord when overwhelmed by anxiety. We can learn to turn to the Lord when we are overwhelmed by anxiety.
April 26, 2020 |
Psalm 42:11 |
depression
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How many of you are struggling with depression today? How many of you have had more trouble with depression because of the pandemic? Depression causes symptoms that affect how we feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, and working. The Bible is filled with those who struggled at times with the symptoms of depression, such as: Job, Moses, Naomi, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, and Paul.
Yet, no matter its cause or its degree, those who suffer from depression, need mercy not judgment. And perhaps more than anything, they need hope! In Psalms 42, the psalmist described how he put his hope in God when his soul was overwhelmed by depression. We can put our hope in God when we are overwhelmed by depression.
April 17, 2020 |
1 Peter 1:3-5 |
easter, hope
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What is hope? For many of us, hope is made of flimsy, fragile stuff. Kind of like a thread. For many, their hopes are like wishes, and their hopes are often broken. Their “thread” of hope is easily broken.
But when the Bible speaks of hope, it speaks of much stronger stuff! For biblical hope is more like a rope! It’s a living hope anchored in Christ’s resurrection and extending through our present and into Christ’s future return.
March 29, 2020 |
1 Samuel 14:47-15:35 |
exposition
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You may not yet understand how you have rejected God as your True King, but I’m sure you know how rejection feels. You love someone and they betray you or leave you. They act one way to your face, but another behind your back. They say they love you back, but they don’t mean it. Or someone has rejected you for a place on a team, a part in a play, or a position of employment. Rejection hurts! And that’s how God feels toward us.
As we conclude our 1 Samuel study, we’ll see that our rejection grieves the Lord. nclude our 1 Samuel study, we’ll see that our rejection grieves the Lord.
BODY: In 1 Samuel 15, the LORD rejected Saul from being king of Israel because he had rejected the Word of the LORD God who is the true King over all. Saul represents all of us. For all humanity since the time of Adam has been in rebellion against God as its true King. We can recognize that we have rejected God as our True King, so that we may repent and follow Him as our True King.
March 22, 2020 |
1 Samuel 13-14 |
exposition
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Sometimes we make a mess of our lives and don’t know how to clean it up and we don’t want to admit it’s our fault. How we respond to the mess we make with our lives matters to God.
In 1 Samuel 13-14, although the newly anointed King Saul was regal in appearance and enjoyed popular support, he soon demonstrated a fatal flaw–– he foolishly rebelled against God’s Word and made trouble for himself and his nation. We have the same fatal flaw as Saul. When we rebel against God’s Word, we make trouble for ourselves and others.
March 15, 2020 |
1 Samuel 12 |
exposition
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If you’re trying to sit in the judge’s chair today, then it’s impossible not to live the life of a hypocrite. It’s always easier to see the wrong in others. But God’s Word is like a mirror. When we look into it, we see our sin and our hypocrisy. It makes us stop judging and instead look for an attorney for our own mess! Or it causes us to turn away and try to hide. Yet, in hiding we continue to suffer from the consequences of our sin: broken relationships, making excuses, never being real, always covering up for the ugliness underneath.
Which seat will you sit in today? Will you listen closely as we call our first witness…
In 1 Samuel 12, the prophet Samuel called the people of Israel to bear witness that they had sinned greatly by asking for a human king when the LORD God was their King, making it clear that how they responded to this truth would determine their future as God’s people. We too have rejected God as King and how we respond to this truth affects our future. What questions must be considered in rightly responding to God as King?
March 8, 2020 |
1 Samuel 9-11 |
exposition
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God is our Creator and He has made us for Himself. The throne in our hearts was built for Him. No other will satisfy our heart’s desire. So we keep on searching. That’s what’s going on in our Scripture text today. We will see a son searching for his father’s donkeys, a prophet looking for a prophesied prince and a people searching for a king like the other nations.
In 1 Samuel 9-11, the LORD answered Israel’s desire for a king, anointing a Benjamite named Saul to rule over them and save them from their surrounding enemies. We can understand that the LORD answers our heart’s desire for its true King today.
