Proverbs 3: 5 - 6
Assistant pastor John shares his story about how he’s been learning how to trust in the Lord in light of his diagnoses of muscular dystrophy and stage IV cancer.
Proverbs: Don't Hold Back
Proverbs 24:24-26
The message on this proverb spotlights the importance of speaking the truth to those who are “wicked.” It is a massive temptation for us, as Christians, to avoid speaking truthfully to people around us practicing wicked things. If we confront people about their sin, in most cases, it will not go well. And yet the passage offers a tremendous promise to us if we are faithful in the call to rebuke the wicked. Telling someone the truth about their sin is an act of tender love. Pray for courage to speak plainly. Ask God for a heart of compassion. Don’t hold back.
Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord
Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning…” As believers in Jesus many of us love to sing and talk about the love and grace and mercy of God. But how often do we really think about the ”fear” of the Lord? In this message, John doesn’t try to define this term but looks at the truly awesome and sometimes terrifying stories in Scripture where people encounter the real presence of God in His glory and holiness and how they reacted. By peering at these we recognize the significance of truly knowing God through understanding of the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs: Rescue the Perishing
Proverbs 24:11
Every Christian should be a rescue worker. I’m not sure that’s what comes to mind when people think about Christians, even good Christians. If someone were to describe a devoted Christian they might say he or she believes in God, loves the Bible, attends church, is kind and generous, and does not participate in many sinful things society freely indulges in.
This little verse in Proverbs, however, along with many other passages in the Bible, calls us to rescue people. But when we look at the people around us, we don’t see anyone drowning. No one we walk by on the way to work is sinking in quicksand or stuck underneath the rubble of a collapsed building. If we did happen to see someone in situations like this we probably wouldn’t personally try to rescue them but would contact trained rescue workers. This message asks, what is God exactly calling us to do?
Proverbs: Humility
Continuing the Proverbs sermon series, Assistant Pastor John focuses on the value of godly humility frequently mentioned in the text. Proverbs displays a sharp contrast between humility and pride and promises clear end-results for each. The sermon closes with practical tips from scripture of how to avoid the pitfalls of pride— and how to stay humble.
Proverbs: Church Relationships
What ingredients make for a healthy church community? How can we be the kind of church that people don’t want to ever leave? How can we be a loving family and not merely a religious organization? These are questions I’m asking and the Book of Proverbs answers.
Proverbs: Laziness
It is a constant daily inner battle to combat our own slothfulness. It’s natural for us to want to sleep too much, relax too much, waste too much time, spend precious time and energy on lesser things, and so on. It’s not that we want to do this — but the impulses of the body are powerful! Jesus said, “the flesh is weak.” But if we allow bodily impulses to control us, we will suffer consequences. What is needed is a clear vision of the kind of life we are called to live and a deep conviction that it is of greater worth to suffer for God’s will than enjoy the fleeting pleasure of bodily indulgence. We are called to work hard in all the areas of life God has entrusted us to steward, namely, our jobs, our houses, our families, our finances, our bodies, our time and energy, our talents, our church. The Lord places man in the garden (Gen 2) and calls him “to work it and keep it.” Being a sluggard means to be habitually lazy. Laziness is not only sin but it will negatively affect every single area of our lives.
Proverbs: God's Wisdom is a Fountain of Life
It has become typical today to consider God's wisdom as optional for a wise, good and prudent life. But we proceed without God at our own peril, and we are witnessing all around us the wreckage of our declaration of independence from God. This message exhorts us to hold to God's wisdom as essential for life and peace and human flourishing, and to trust Him as our loving and wise Father.
Proverbs: Fatherly Discipline
It is easy to misunderstand the discipline of God. He bears down on us and deals with anything in us that needs to change. He sends forth His Word to convict us. He uses pastors, friends, family members, to speak truth to us. He engineers difficult circumstances to reveal deficiencies and to stretch us further into a life of holiness. The process can be unpleasant at times, but we should never be discouraged. The Lord is at work preparing us for eternity.
Proverbs: Wisdom
This is another introductory type message and the theme will be wisdom. Wisdom isn’t merely what we know but what we do. It’s how we live. The call from God is to pursue wisdom with earnestness and not casually. We are constantly pressured by the world we live in to live foolishly. The world gives us persuasive reasons to love money, to indulge in sexual desires, to lie and cheat, to live for ourselves. But Proverbs gives reasons to live wisely that far outweigh the reasoning of this world. The good news is that we don’t need to become wise on our own. Wisdom comes from God, and He generously gives wisdom to those who seek after it.