We are a community of people dedicated to follow Jesus in all that we do. If you’re looking for a church committed to loving God, loving each other, teaching his word, and worshiping him, then we invite you to come join us at any of our worship gatherings and activities for adults, youth, and children (see our About page and Activities page). Also, if you’re looking to learn more about Jesus and what it means to be his follower, I would love the chance to talk with you (also, see our About page for contact information, or see our Follow Jesus page).
Check out our site, read the blog posts below for news updates and devotional posts, and check out one of our worship gatherings!
~ Pastor Mike
Sunday Morning Schedule
9:45am ~ Small Groups / Sunday School
10:45 am ~ Worship Gathering
This Sunday, we’ll continue our journey through Exodus by taking a look at 28:1-30:38 and see the purpose for the Old Testament priesthood and how Jesus is our perfect Priest who stands with us and for us. We hope to see you there!
Schedule
@945 Small Groups / Sunday School for all ages
@1045 Worship Gathering
@6pm Philippians video study in youth room
Sermon Notes The Priests ~ Exodus 28:1-30:38
The sermon in one sentence: Old Testament Israel had the priests, those set apart by God to represent him to the people and the people to him; we have Jesus, the perfect Priest who stands with us and for us.
The Priests (Exodus 28-30)
Represented the people before God
Represented God to the people
Had to be holy and pure before the Lord
Jesus, the perfect Priest (Hebrews 4-9)
Jesus is the permanent priest
Jesus is holy and pure before God
Jesus represents God to us
Jesus represents us to God
Our response
Trust in Jesus with a steadfast faith (Hebrews 4:14, 7:25)
Come to Jesus with your weaknesses and temptations (Hebrews 4:15-16)
Live in obedience to Jesus as he brings us God’s instruction (Hebrews 5:9)
Songs for Worship Let There Be Praise All in All Lily of the Valley I Will Glory in My Redeemer Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
Faithfulness is the seventh fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23.
To be faithful is to “keep hold.” Faithfulness to God is described in Hebrews 10:23 as “let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.”
God is faithful to his people and to do all the things he has promised. God does not fail to do a single thing that he has said he would do. And God will not lose from his hand those who have received eternal life through Jesus (John 10:27-30).
On this foundation, God has called us to be faithful to him. The letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3 call for faithfulness or endurance. To be faithful to God is to live in the light of his promises no matter what the world throws at us. People might disappoint. Disaster might strike. We might suffer loss. But God will make all things right, so we hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on…
Faithfulness also extends to others. This will look different from relationship to relationship, but faithfulness will “keep hold” for the good of others. As spouses, we are faithful as we live in sexual purity, sharing our bodies only with each other. We are also faithful as we devote ourselves to sacrificial love that we seek the best for our husband or wife. As parents, we are faithful as we commit to supply and care for our children until they become adults who can care for themselves. Then we continue to be faithful as we pray for them, love them, their spouses, and their children. As friends, we are faithful as we encourage one another and nurture the friendship so we can see each other excel in life and godliness.
Faithfulness takes many forms, but at it’s root is that sense of commitment. Faithfulness says, “I’m in this for the long haul and I won’t be derailed.”
The strength for faithful endurance comes from the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Life and relationships will have their ups and downs. Sometimes life even throws massive curveballs that we didn’t see coming. The Spirit guides us through all of this. He develops in our hearts the fruit of greater faithfulness so that we won’t simply endure the bumps but will be better on the other side (James 1:2-4).
So, let us pray that God will grant us greater faithfulness through the power of his Spirit.
Next time we’ll consider the fruit of gentleness.
Scripture references taken from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
The fifth fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 is goodness.
Goodness is a state of moral being, a sense of moral excellence, if you will. God alone is good in a sense of supreme moral excellence (Mark 10:18). James described this goodness, saying, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
God is good and everything he gives to us, his children through Jesus, is good.
To be good is to display qualities of moral excellence that flow from God. To use the horizontal elements of the Ten Commandments as examples (those six commands that describe how we are to relate to our fellow humans), to be good would involve things such as: Honoring others, promoting life over death, seeking faithfulness and purity, respecting property, being honest, and living with contentment.
Sin corrupts us and keeps us from being good. We rebel against God and his definitions. We seek to redefine good as something less than the moral excellence of God. And the only way this changes in our lives is through an act of God.
When we trust in Jesus, we get his goodness applied to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then the Spirit develops these qualities in us with greater depth.
So, let us pray that the Spirit continues to grow in our lives the moral excellence of God’s goodness.
Next time we’ll consider the fruit of faithfulness.
Scripture references taken from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
The fifth fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 is kindness.
When we speak of kindness, we speak of treating others well. It’s the attitude that is expressed in the “golden rule”, do to others as you wish they would do to you (Matthew 7:12). It is also the same attitude we find in 1 Peter 2:17, “Honor everyone.”
Kindness goes out of the way to treat people with respect, it seeks to brighten someone’s day.
The reason this is a fruit of the Spirit is that unconditional kindness is not natural to us. We hear people say, “If you want respect then you must show respect.” We tend to base our kindness toward others on how people treat us.
The Spirit leads us beyond ourselves in this. So that even if others disrespect us, we still seek to show them kindness.
Kindness can come in many forms. You can hold the door open for someone. You can let someone merge during rush hour. You can write an encouraging note. You can compliment someone. You can smile and sincerely ask how a person’s day is going. You can buy a person an unexpected gift. You can speak well of someone behind their back (the opposite of gossip). And the list goes on and on.
So, let us pray that God would grow more kindness in our hearts through his Spirit and let us seek ways that we can show kindness to others, no matter their attitude toward us.
Next time, we’ll consider the fruit of goodness.
All scripture references taken from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
Today, we’ll continue our journey through Exodus and take a look at the Tabernacle/Sanctuary in 25:1-27:21 and see how the different parts point us to Jesus, our true way to God. We also want to wish all the dads and grandads among us a Happy Father’s Day! We hope to see you there!
Schedule
@945 Small Groups / Sunday School for all ages
@1045 Worship Gathering
**No Evening Study, Happy Father’s Day!
Sermon Notes The Tabernacle ~ Exodus 25:1-27:21
The sermon in one sentence: The Tabernacle was the place in the Old Testament where God made his dwelling among his people; Jesus provides a better way of bringing us into God’s presence.
Jesus and the Ark–he brings God’s New Covenant to us
Jesus and the Mercy Seat-he is our atonement, dealing with our sin, and brings us God’s instruction
Jesus and the Bread of Presence-he is our bread of life, God’s sustaining presence with us
Jesus and the Lamp and Oil-he is the light of life and the giver of God’s anointing, the Holy Spirit
Jesus and the Tent and Courts-he is the new temple, the one who opens our way to God
Jesus and the Altar-he is the true and final sacrifice
Songs for Worship Sacrifice of Praise Nothing But the Blood Break Thou the Bread of Life In Christ Alone I Am Thine, O Lord
What if there is hope? What if the sun will rise again tomorrow on a new day with new mercies? What if God’s promises are really worth trusting in and holding to? These are the questions we must ask while living patiently. (pg. 56)
When we think of patience, we often think of waiting without complaining. But from the Biblical view, as Piper’s questions point to, patience is more about waiting with hope. Romans 12:12 tells us to “be patient in affliction.” But how can we wait with hope when things seem to be going bad?
We look forward to the return of Jesus.
This is why James wrote in his letter: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James 5:7-8)
James uses a practical illustration to make his point: The harvest is the good thing longed for by the farmer, but he can’t force it. He has to work the ground, plant the seed, wait for rain, and wait for it to grow. But he waits with hope and expectation, knowing that the crop will come.
In the same way, life has its ups and downs. We experiences gains and losses, joys and sorrows, pleasures and pains–in the good, we wait for the even better to come with Jesus, and in the bad, we wait for the perfect joys to come with Jesus.
But patience isn’t simply directed at our longing for Jesus’ return. We’re also to be patient with others, just as God is patient with us (1 Corinthians 13:4, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Peter 3:9). Patience realizes that we are all works in progress in this life and that God isn’t finished shaping us until we breathe our last breath.
So, we strive to be patient with ourselves as God works in us, and we strive to be patient with others as God works in them. And it is the Spirit that helps shape patience in our lives. The Spirit reminds us of the hope we have in Christ and keeps it as a light in our heart during times of struggle. The Spirit also changes our perception of others, helping us to see them through Jesus as either our brothers and sisters or potential brothers and sisters. This, also, helps us to grow patient hearts.
So let us pray for greater patience–waiting in hope as God works his plan in the world and in the lives of others.
Next time, we’ll consider the fruit of kindness.
All scripture references from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
The third fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 is peace.
For followers of Jesus, there is a vertical element to peace and a horizontal. The vertical involves our peace with God. In Romans 5:1, Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul went on to remind us that without Jesus, we stand as enemies of God, or “children of wrath” as he would say in Ephesians 2.
Enemies and wrath are two words that denote the opposite of peace. But by bringing about forgiveness of our sins, we move from being enemies against God to children of God–a movement to peace. And this a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, using the good news of Jesus to bring our hearts to spiritual life.
The horizontal element of peace is with others. In Matthew 5:9, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Then, in Romans 12:16-18, Paul wrote, “Live in harmony with one another… If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Our natural inclinations lead us away from this. We get hurt and we want to hurt others. We get offended and we want to lash out. But the commands still stand to seek peace. This requires an act of the Spirit, helping us to see other people in a new way.
If we meet someone and they also are a follower of Jesus, then they are our brother or sister–a part of the same, big, eternal family. If we meet someone and they are not a follower of Jesus, then they are fellow human beings in need of Jesus. It may very well be through our witness that they come to know Jesus, but that witness is greatly hindered if we act like their enemies.
Being peacemakers and seeking peace with others won’t mean they’ll always want peace with us. But with the Spirit’s work in our hearts, we can still strive to be at peace with others because we are at peace with God. So, let us pray for a greater reality of peace in our lives.
Next time we’ll take a look at the fruit of patience.
All scripture quotes taken from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
