From the Blog
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Staying Together
How many of you have felt the pain of a troubled or broken relationship? If you’ve been breathing for even a couple of years, then you’ve felt the hurt that comes from conflict between you and your parents, your siblings, your friends, your neighbors, your spouse. How many have said, “I can never forgive him!” Or, “What she did was unforgivable!” Or, “This is the end of our friendship or marriage. There is no hope of reconciliation!” But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can learn how to reconcile and stay together!
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave the church instructions on how to rightly treat one another and stay together as one body in Christ. We can stay together as one body in Christ. -
Release Your Child to the Lord
Parents have questions… Practical questions like: How and when should I discipline my child? How do I get them potty trained? And spiritual questions like: When is my child old enough to confess faith in Christ? What about baptism and the Lord’s Supper? How can I be sure that they are saved? In answering these questions, we have God’s Word as our guide, but we must also take into account the child’s level of maturity. Have you noticed that every child is unique? No two are the same. And as they grow, they change. So the parenting style that seemed effective when they were small, doesn’t work when they’re older.
Godly parents recognize their call to be leaders who make disciples. If we want to be effective, we have to match our parenting style to every child’s situation. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul told them that he had discipled them like a parent according to their situation, sometimes gentle and affectionate like a mother and sometimes strong like a father in order to release them to live up to God’s calling. We can parent our children following God’s Word to match our child’s situation with a goal of releasing them to the Lord. -
Raise Up Your Child in the Lord
What is your parenting approach? Where did you learn how to be a mom or dad? Was it from your parents? From friends or a book? Or are you just winging it? What is your parenting style?
God’s Word teaches the importance of balancing discipline and affection in child-rearing. The apostle Paul told the Ephesians how to raise up their children according to God’s plan. As Christians, we can follow God’s Word in the training of our children and raise them up to maturity according to God’s plan. -
Receiving Children as a Gift from God
Let’s admit it. Parenting can be very scary! Now, I realize that not everyone here is a parent. Whether you’re single, married w/o kids, or you’re empty nesters, what the Bible teaches about parenting is still relevant. Because as a church family, we all can help support and encourage the raising up of the next generation.
In Psalm 127, Solomon wrote about the necessity of recognizing the Lord as the One builds families and watches over them. As a result, he wrote that children are to be received as a gift from the Lord. We can receive our children as a gift from the Lord. -
Eternal over Relevant
Many think the church is irrelevant to their lives. Responding to this, we have titled today’s sermon, “Eternal Over Relevant,” because the Church is the one entity in this world that will live forever! If we stay on the true message of the Word of God and live as God’s people, the church will always be not only eternal, but always relevant!
People are struggling with issues and they don’t think the church addresses them. They think the church is only for faith and religious stuff, not family, parenting, work, school, finances, mental health, and a host of other real-world issues. People in our community are asking questions and they don’t think the church is answering them. The church only becomes irrelevant when it forgets its eternal identity and purpose. -
Freedom over Rules
True freedom is something we all hunger for. A student longs to be free of instruction, a teenager longs to be free of their parents, a debtor longs to be free of their debt, and we all long for the freedom to live our lives the best way we know how. Our country was founded on this idea of freedom. We celebrate our independence because we desired freedom from tyranny and the right govern ourselves.
True freedom can only be found in Jesus. This freedom frees from not only the physical but spiritual bonds which enslave us. As our text will conclude today, “If the Son sets you free, you are truly free." In John chapter 8, Jesus taught in the temple of Jerusalem that those who He set free were truly free indeed. We can experience this true freedom by faith in Jesus. -
Unity Over Division
Our culture has truly made diversity one of the highest pursuits for our society. One might argue that diversity has become its own god in our society. In its purest form, the idea of “diversity”, has the meaning of different things coming together as one. However, most of what you will hear, see, read, and receive from this culture is a celebration and even a quest to be more and more different, to the point that coming together is increasingly more difficult. We hear people say, “Let’s come together” and “Accept me the way that I am”, yet, our differences are so strong—and beliefs at war with one another in many cases—that there is no common value to bring us together.
In Galatians chapter 3, the apostle Paul taught the church of Galatia that because of their faith in Jesus Christ they were now one unified family; sons and daughters of King Jesus. Today we will learn how and why our faith in Jesus makes us one family through three reasons we see in our text. -
Forgiveness over Condemnation
Many believe that Christ and His church are more about condemnation than about forgiveness. This is not entirely surprising since our society embraces and even celebrates behaviors and mindsets that the Bible would call sin. This seems to put God and His people in opposition with the people of this world. But in fact the opposite is true. God is for forgiveness and His desire is not to condemn but to forgive and so also His church must be for forgiveness over condemnation.
Our God is the God of forgiveness, overlooking our wrongs, adopting us into His family, and empowering us to forgive as He forgive. In Colossians chapter 3, the apostle Paul taught the church of Colossae that they could forgive each other by putting on the traits of Christ. We can forgive each other by putting on traits of Christ. -
How the Mighty Have Fallen
The original game of thrones goes all the way back to the beginning of humanity. For it was Adam and Eve who first “rejected God from being king over them.” And as a result humanity has fallen. Since then, humanity has continually struggled against God in a kind of game of thrones. Now Saul, the man who would not surrender his throne to God, has fallen. O how the mighty have fallen!
Who sits on the throne of your life? Is it you? How’s that working for you? Have you got everything under control? Or are things flying apart? And what about tomorrow? Can you see the future? Are you ready for tomorrow? Even more important, are you ready for eternity? Because there’s no sugar coating this last chapter of 1 Samuel. It’s about Saul’s fall, his death.
In the final chapter of 1 Samuel, the Lord brought Saul’s life and kingdom to an end, preparing the way for His anointed king, David. We can learn several important spiritual lessons from Saul’s death. -
Finding Strength in the Lord
Does anyone need strength today? Do you need encouragement? Many are feeling weak and discouraged today. Are you discouraged? The dictionary defines discouragement as a loss or lack of confidence or enthusiasm. To feel dispirited, demoralized, despair, despondent, or disheartened. It is the loss or lack of strength and courage to go on.
David was struggling with discouragement too. But that’s when he turned to the Lord! In the book of 1 Samuel 29-30, when David was at his weakest, he found strength in the LORD his God. We can find our strength in the Lord.