Proceed With Caution

September 13, 2023

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, September 10, 2023.

Sermon text: Ecclesiastes 5:1-6:12


We should check our approach to worship


—be ready to worship


—be ready to listen


“God is in heaven and I am on earth, and I’m unlikely to understand this mess any more than you do. But in our confusion we have words to read that tell us who God is and what he has done and what he will one day do. There are always words from him to listen to, whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in.”  —David Gibson, Living Life Backward


—be ready to follow through


Deuteronomy 6:4–5

[4] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [5] You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 


We should check the object of our worship


—worshiping the wrong things will never satisfy us


—worshiping the wrong things could ruin us


Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 


—worshiping God alone brings joy and satisfaction


“If you want your kids to have a reason to sing on Sunday, give them a glorious God. If you want your kids to have a reason not to sin on Monday, give them a glorious God. If you want them to think of nobler things than the latest, mind-numbing video fantasy game, give them a glorious God. If you want them to dream grander dreams than illicit sex or more money or more stuff, give them a glorious God. If you want them to have a reason for confidence when life seems to spin out of control, give them a glorious God.”

---Tedd Tripp, Instructing Your Child’s Heart




Discipleship Questions:

  1. What are some caution areas for you when it comes to your approach to worship?
  2. What are some things we can do to better prepare ourselves for worship gatherings? 
  3. What can help us be better listeners when it comes to God and His Word? 
  4. Are there any vows you have made that you need to make good on? 
  5. Describe a time when worshiping the wrong thing left you unsatisfied or led you to harm. 
  6. How can we keep God’s greatness central in our lives, and how can that help us? 



Harmony Amidst Diverse Convictions

January 8, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, January 5, 2024. Sermon text: Romans 14:1-12 Disagreement Categories: Essentials 1 Corinthians 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” Galatians 1:9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Preferences Non-essential convictions Dietary Restrictions Keeping the Sabbath Alcohol consumption “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.” -Augustine “Paul was a reed in nonessentials, an iron pillar in essentials.” -John Newton How should we deal with disagreements over non-essential convictions? Follow your convictions. Refrain from judgment. “The frown of the legalist is just as inappropriate for the realm of Christ as the disdainful smile of the liberated.” -R. Jewett How do we get there? Remember your position. Trust others’ intentions. Recognize your need for grace. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Remember that God has welcomed them. If you either despise or condemn him, you reject him whom God has embraced.” - John Calvin How dare we reject a person whom God has accepted -John Stott Discipleship Questions: Part of handling disagreements well is knowing the difference in essentials and non-essentials. List some things in each of these three categories: Essentials Preferences Non-essential convictions How can something (like eating meat) be wrong for some but okay for others? Is there room for different beliefs within the same faith? Why or why not? In this passage, do you identify with those who are told not to judge people who are less morally conservative or those who are told not to disdain those who are more morally conservative? How do we not just tolerate but welcome those whose convictions differ from our own?

Truly Blessed

January 2, 2025
Notes from Ryan Lewis's sermon on Sunday, December 29, 2024. Sermon text: Psalm 1 True Blessing comes from Knowing God. True Blessing comes in Christian Community. He walks not in the counsel of the wicked. “We live in a world of counsel. Every day, somehow, some way, we are being counseled. Everything we encounter originates from some kind of worldview. Everything we experience comes from somebody with a certain perspective on life.” -Paul Tripp He Stands not in the Way of Sinners. He Sits not in the Seat of Scoffers. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" -Isaiah 5:20-21 True Blessing Comes from Knowing God’s Word Delighting in God’s Word Meditating on God’s Word True Blessing is a picture of prosperity “The tree is not a dry, sapless, pole. His life is such that unregenerate men are strangers to it. He has been begotten again unto a living hope. The sap of God’s grace is in him- he is united to Christ his root, and because He lives and lives in him, he lives also. He has the blessing of favored position. Planted by God Himself- not self-sown.” -Charles Spurgeon “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” -Jeremiah 17:7-8 True Blessing comes from Making Him Known. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." -Matthew 5:3 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy [a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." -Matthew 7:13-14 Discipleship Questions: Do you consider yourself blessed? Why? How are you appropriating or experiencing the blessings of God? How are you delighting in God’s Word? What is your plan for spiritual growth in the coming year? How are you meditating on the Word? What is your plan for scripture memory in the coming year?  What is your plan to Make Him Known this coming year?

O Come O Come Emmanuel

December 17, 2024
Notes from Nick Gainey's sermon on Sunday, December 15, 2024. Sermon text: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-23 Worship song principles - Is it true? - Is it substantive? - Is it sing-able? - Does this song minister to us and anchor us with hope when we reflect on the truth that we are singing? O come, O come, true prophet of the Lord And turn the key to heaven's door Be Thou our comforter and guide And lead us to the Father's side Jesus is the true and better prophet. Jesus came to be the mediator between God and man. Deut. 18:15, 18 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, it is to him you shall listen. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” O come, our great High Priest, and intercede Thy sacrifice, our only plea The judgment we no longer fear Thy precious blood has brought us near Jesus is the true and better High Priest. Jesus intercedes to the Father on our behalf. Jesus made a sacrifice for since once and for all. Jesus’ blood satisfies God’s judgment and removes our sin guilt. Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 10:12 But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. Eph 2:12-13 “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” O Come, Thou King of nations bring An end to all our suffering Bid every pain and sorrow cease And reign now as our Prince of Peace Jesus is the King of the Nations Mark 1:14 - 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” The Kingdom of God is the place where God rules and reigns. The Kingdom has come, but it is still coming. Revelation 21 tells us what the consummation or completion of the Kingdom of God will look like. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” REJOICE!!! Rejoice and remember that God is faithful to keep his promises. Rejoice and remember that God is sovereignly in control of all things. Rejoice and remember that Emmanuel, God with us has come and is coming again. Discipleship Questions: What Advent songs have resonated with you the most this year and why? Which worship song principles were most helpful for you to consider? Have you already always valued these principles or did 1 or 2 stand out to you to consider in a new way? How can focusing on the “offices of Christ” (prophet, priest and king) deepen your worship? What are you “waiting on God” to do in your life and circumstances? What promises of God can you remember as you wait? This song commands us to rejoice as we wait for God to fulfill his promises. Spend some time rejoicing among your group and recounting the Lord’s faithfulness. What are some practical ways you can rejoice this Advent season?
Show More
Share by: