As individual believers and collectively as a local church, we can never overestimate, and we must never underestimate what it means to be forgiven of our sins by God. That is the message of Psalm 32. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 32
TITLE: Better Than We Deserve
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Being forgiven is everything.

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Years ago, I heard someone respond to the question, How are you doing? in this way—’I’m doing better than I deserve.’ …I am doing better than I deserve. It’s more than a religious slogan. Understood rightly, it’s a declaration and celebration of God’s heart and the power of the gospel. At its core is this eternal truth—My sins are forgiven. I am doing better than I deserve because God has chosen to forgive my sins instead of holding them against me.”

“There is no higher blessing in this life than having your sin forgiven by God in Christ Jesus. If you are forgiven, regardless of anything else going on in your life—you are genuinely doing better than you deserve.”

“The first two verses are the centerpiece of the psalm. They are theology at its finest.”

“It’s easy to underestimate the moment in these verses. If you were with David as he wrote these words, you would perceive a substantive and deep joy pouring from his heart. David knows he is forgiven, and as he considers that reality, he is undone by joy. How do we know this? Look no further than 11. David begins Psalm 32 with a declaration that to be forgiven is to be blessed. And 11 is the exclamation point of what is going on in his heart as he considers that God has forgiven his sins.”

“Now, David uses three different words to refer to sin. In 1, he uses transgression (rebellion or crime) and sin (to fall short or miss the mark like an arrow misses the target). In 2, he chooses iniquity (twisted or crooked). The point of using multiple terms to describe sin is not to draw distinctions or create categories of sin. The comprehensive nature and utter sinfulness of our sin is revealed in these terms.”

“Sin is not simply some trivial wrongdoing or bad moral choice. Sin is a rebellious and perverted offense against God and His authority. David wants us to feel that. He wants us to be sobered by that, not to condemn us, but to compel us to be amazed by grace.”

“The first word to describe what God does with our sin is forgiven—(1) Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven. …The word forgiven literally means our sin has been lifted off. Sin and the guilt and shame that accompany it is a weight upon our souls. But when we confess our sin, God removes it. He takes it away. He lifts it off so that we no longer bear the effects of our sin.”

“Where does our sin go? The innocent shoulders of Jesus Christ, who stood in our place and paid the total debt of our sin on the cross. He is the reason we can be forgiven. God doesn’t overlook our sin. He can’t. He’s a holy God who hates sin and must punish all sin.”

“The second word that describes what God does with our sin is covered—(1) Blessed is the one whose sin is covered. The blood of Jesus covers our sin. He is the sacrificial lamb whose blood shed on the cross covers our sin, hiding it in the sense that it has been resolved and is no longer an issue keeping us alienated from and under the wrath of God. The New Testament word for this covering is propitiation. Jesus is our propitiation, his blood covering our sin so that God’s wrath would be turned away.” 

“Finally, David says in 2—Blessed is the man whom the LORD counts no iniquity. This is amazing! God is the divine bookkeeper. But the one whose sin has been forgiven, God no longer COUNTS it against them. He strikes it from the record book. It’s as if it never happened.”

“Your sin is forgiven, covered, and removed from the divine record book when you repent. There is no record of your sin. Even better, the only thing COUNTED to you, what the divine ledger reads next to your name is not your many sins but the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is what God counts toward you. That’s what we call justification.”

“Church, there is no greater blessedness than being forgiven by God. It's true that God’s blessings come in all shapes and sizes. I trust you are acutely aware of God’s blessings in your life. I hope you have been counting them one by one this past week. But here’s the truth: You can have everything—health, wealth, popularity, power, success, friendships, children and grandchildren—but if your sin is not forgiven, you have nothing.”

“I humbly submit that we must redeem our paradigm of what it means to be blessed. Too often, my understanding of a blessed life is too narrow and too earthly. It’s easy for me to connect a blessed life with my current circumstances.”

“Now, in 3-4, David recounts a time when instead of confessing his sin, he was silent and, as it says at the end of 2, his spirit was living in deception. He was unwilling to confess his sin. David describes the effects of his unrepentant heart in physical terms. (3) His bones wasting away reflects an internal conflict that left him (4) weak and parched as a hot summer day with no water or relief leaves one physically. In 4, David says he felt the unrelenting heavy hand of God’s discipline upon him. Not to punish him but as an expression of God’s love for David; divine discipline mercifully moved David toward repentance.”

“Many scholars believe Psalm 32 is a response to Psalm 51, where David repented of adultery with Bathsheba and the orchestrated murder of her husband Uriah. David was carrying the weight of adultery and murder, and it was killing him.”

“David ended his silence. He owned his guilt. He confessed his sin to the Lord. He repented. And the Lord forgave David. Look at the right margin at the end of 5. See the word Selah. It probably means pause and think about what you just read. In 5, Selah follows these words—and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. God’s forgiveness is worthy of our pause and consideration. We should not read and immediately move on. But Selah applies to us, not God. As soon as David confesses, we read the Lord forgives. God doesn’t pause to consider David’s confession—He immediately forgives. God doesn’t make David earn it. God doesn’t make David sweat. David confesses his sin from the heart, and God pardons him immediately!”

“Not because our sin isn’t serious but because God is merciful. God loves to forgive sinners. God is eager to forgive His children over and over again. You don’t have to perform. You don’t have to beg. You don’t have to persuade. You don’t have to prove your case. God doesn’t vet us. God loves to forgive the penitent!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 103:12
Psalm 103:10
1 John 1:9
Isaiah 55:6-7

QUOTES:
James Montgomery Boice - “God is ready and even yearning to forgive and restore us fully —if only we will confess our sin and come to him believing in Jesus Christ, who has made atonement for it. And he will do it right away.”

APPLICATION:
For application I want us to spend time in three passages this week: 

• Psalm 51 (Magna Carta of repentance)

• 1 John 1 (Ongoing repentance as fellowship with God)

• Psalm 103 (God’s heart toward those who repent)

Our text gives us clear and immediate application—

Verse 6 is a call to repentance—TODAY—while God can be found. No one is promised tomorrow, but God promises grace TODAY. Today is a day of grace because God is available to receive your repentance. No one is promised tomorrow.

Freely come to Jesus, believing that his life and death are sufficient for your forgiveness. What you will find is that the Lord will be merciful.

TODAY is the day to run to Jesus in repentance and faith. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, the Lord won’t turn you away. He will turn His forgiving eye on you.

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Come Praise And Glorify
It Was Finished Upon That Cross
O My Soul Arise
Judge Of The Secrets
Bless The Lord O My Soul (Psalm 103)

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Psalm 56

Prosperity in this world (wealth, health, family) is a gift from God. Prosperity is also a test. It's a test of the heart meant to prove and renew our trust in and love for God. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 30
TITLE: Our Prosperity and God’s Praise
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”King David knew the gift of prosperity, but he failed the test of prosperity. Psalm 30 was sung at the dedication of the Temple. David never saw that day, but his experience was the background. In the same way Moses exhorted the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6—When you live prosperously in the Promise Land, don’t forget it came from the hand of God—in the same way, Psalm 30 would remind God’s people that the Temple in all its wonder and glory, comes from the hands of God.”

“David’s experience is our instruction. Living in America, we all know prosperity. The question isn’t—Am I prosperous? The question is—How do I know if I’m failing the test of prosperity?  For this task, Psalm 30 is a gift to us. Today we will unpack David’s situation, then use his situation to draw three applications for our own praise of God in prosperity.”

“Like a bucket draws water up out of a well—imagery of verb drawn in 1—God drew David up out of the pit of death. And now David praises God from a heart overflowing with gratitude. He doesn’t forget what God did for him. He can’t forget. He won’t forget. So, he praises God.”

“David was a man who had received God’s favor in abundance. The LORD was good to David. The LORD prospered David. He provided richly for David—his kingdom, military might, and personal life. David knew God’s favor as few knew it—(7) By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain (metaphor for his kingdom and personal life) stand strong.”

“David knew God’s favor. But he forgot God’s favor—(6) As for me in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. This is David’s humble confession that he became proud in his prosperity. He allowed God’s favor to close his eyes to God. He grew numb to the reality that all he had was from God, and his pride swelled as he began to believe his own headlines. David began to think—I got this! I’ve done this!”

“David forgot that his prosperity was a gift from God, and in his forgetfulness, he failed the test of prosperity. And so, God disciplined him. God disciplines the ones He loves (Heb 12). God disciplined for his pride. At the end of 7, God hid His face from David, and David was dismayed. He felt it, and he knew it. David forgot God.”

“Let us beware, indeed. In the words of one Scottish preacher—We are never in greater danger than in the sunshine of prosperity.”

“I can find at least three ways David responds to God in Psalm 30  that three thousand years later compel us to sing God’s praises in our prosperity rather than swell our pride. [See below.]”

“Being merciful and gracious is not merely what God does; it’s who He is. It’s His nature. It’s according to his character or, as 4 says—His holy name. David is not simply observing life here in 4-5. You win some, you lose some. You have to take the bad with the good. Cheer up; things will get better. No, Anger for a moment, favor for a lifetime, weeping in the night, and joy in the morning are spiritual contrasts that communicate what God is like and how He loves to treat His people.”

“Be warned today—God will discipline you for your sin. Be sober-minded about your self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self-exaltation. Repent. Humble yourself before the Lord in prayer. Run to Jesus and receive forgiveness, knowing the disposition of God’s heart toward you is divine favor, and that outweighs His divine anger.”

“Know that whether it is God’s discipline or suffering in a fallen world, you will have times of weeping in your life, but God’s favor and the joy His favor brings are the final words in your life.”

“Whether it is education, career, health, wealth, or cherished relationships, our prosperity comes from God, and it is for His glory, not ours. Your prosperity is meant to serve God’s eternal designs of glorifying Himself in all things. It’s the reason we exist. Through our salvation in Christ, our lives would not be silent; instead, we would worship and testify to the glory of God.”

“The discipline of the Lord has humbled David. Now he sees he should have thanked God for what he had instead of allowing what he had to swell his pride. And gratitude is the key. It’s hard for pride to grow in a heart filled with gratitude.”

“Truth is, our gratefulness should exceed David’s because Jesus did the unthinkable—he gave up his life so we could be spared from the pit of eternal death. This is truth for all of us, but my heart today is that in particular, those of you who If don’t feel prosperous. God hid his face from His only Son on the cross so He could shine His face down upon you. Jesus died on the cross. For three days, he was dead. But on the third day, God drew him up, not merely from death but over death itself.”

“Are you looking for reasons to sing this morning? Do you need to be compelled to sing? Don’t look to your prosperity; look to what God is like. His anger is but for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry through the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 6:33
John 3:30

QUOTES:
Oswald Sanders - “Not every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all is to survive prosperity.”

Charles Spurgeon - “Prosperity had evidently turned the psalmist’s head, or he would not have been so self-confident. He stood by grace, and yet forgot himself, and so met with a fall. Reader, is there not much of the same proud stuff in all our hearts? Let us beware lest the fortunes of intoxicating success get into our brains and make fools of us also.”

James Montgomery Boice - “The point is this: God is indeed displeased with sin and can never be indifferent to it. He judges sin with a holy anger, even in Christians. But for His people God’s judgments and anger are short-lived. They pass quickly. What remains is His favor, which lasts for our lifetime and indeed forever.”

Eric Lane - “God’s anger is like an overnight visitor but His favor is like a permanent resident.”

APPLICATION:
So How do we know if we are failing the test of prosperity? 

• Is your daily communion (Prayer/Word) with Jesus diminishing?

• Is your first impulse I got this or I did this?

• Do forsake the things you know God has called you to (church, Christian fellowship, giving) to pursue the things the world holds out to you (leisure, work, lifestyle, family)?

• Have the unsaved become invisible because all that matters is what you have going on?

• Do you give less to your church's mission because you need more to sustain your lifestyle?

• Do you forget to give God glory in success?

• Are people more aware of your encouragement of them or your stories about you? 

• Are you amazed by God’s grace and power less and less because you are amazed at your abilities and accomplishments more and more?

In his prosperity, David forgot God. Have you forgotten God in your prosperity? Or maybe you haven’t forgotten God but have repositioned him in your life.

1. Remember God’s Heart

2. Embrace Your Purpose

3. Excel in Gratitude

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Sing
Jesus Your Mercy
The Lord Almighty Reigns (Psalm 93)
O Lord My Rock And My Redeemer
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Psalm 32

Listening to someone pray tells you a lot about them. In our text today, we learn a lot about Israel through their prayers. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 20
TITLE: Confidence In Our King
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Psalm 20 is a prayer for victory on the battlefield (Psalm 21 is thanksgiving for the victory). It can be divided into three parts:
1. The first five verses are Israel’s prayer for David’s victory. 
2. In 6-8, we witness the people’s unwavering confidence in God for victory. 
3. Finally, one more appeal for victory in 9.
Interestingly, it’s a prayer written by David to be prayed for David.”

“If you can picture with me the scene, David is about to lead Israel onto the battlefield. That is his day of trouble in 1. Israel’s army was assembled and ready for battle. But before they leave, David orders sacrifices and prayers to be offered. As he stands before the people, they offer blessings and prayers for him, which are laid out for us in the first five verses.”

“So 1-5 is a powerfully theological prayer that reveals the people’s confidence in the character, provision, promises, faithfulness, and blessings of God. They are an outpouring of their love for the LORD, fear of the LORD, and trust in the LORD.”

“As one commentator noted, the repetition of the word May (8x’s in all) communicates their complete confidence in the LORD. This is proved out in 6-8. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. These words are the heart of Psalm 20.”

“An armory filled with chariots produced a lot of confidence on the battlefield. But Israel didn’t look to the armory; they looked to the sanctuary in heaven for their help because they believed that their all-powerful, self-existent, unchanging, ever-present, always faithful God, Yahweh himself, would win the war for them.”

“By the way, their discerning eye of faith in an invisible God was not in vain. Psalm 20 is God’s people confidently praying for victory. Psalm 21 is God’s people passionately thanking God for the victory.”

“I believe it’s natural for all of us to find our confidence in ourselves. We all have our personal chariots and horses. Our strength, will, wisdom, money, experience. The more we possess, the more we accomplish, the more we achieve, the more we are confident in ourselves—I’ve been here before; I’ve got this. It’s a vicious cycle.”

“So, facing our misappropriated trust and confidence head-on is critical. Not only is it so often the source of our anxiety, discouragement, and disappointment, but it keeps us from and puts us in opposition to God.  When our minds are filled with self-confidence, we forget God’s sufficiency.”

“When we trust in human wisdom, we get what human wisdom can give. When we trust in institutions and organizations, we get what institutions and organizations can give. When we trust in money, we get what money can give. When we trust in created things instead of the Creator, we get what created things can give us instead of what only God can give us.”

“The writer [of Proverbs 3:5-8] seems pretty clear to me—To know God. To boast in the LORD. To trust in Jesus. That’s where we find healing and refreshment; joy and contentment; peace and satisfaction everlasting. Do you feel the weight of grief? Do you feel weak in faith? Redirect your confidence. Look to Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Oh Lord, in the words of Spurgeon—Let us adore your matchless name, and never dishonor it by distrust or creature-confidence.”

“In Jesus, we have an eternal king of an everlasting kingdom. From the temptations in the wilderness to Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed on his day of trouble, to the cross and the empty grave, Jesus won the ultimate battle for us. David made sacrifices before the battle, but Jesus was the sacrifice that won the battle for our souls.”

“As a believer, your life, purpose, hope, and confidence are tied up in the life of your King. Such is your union with Christ Jesus; therefore, such is your confidence in Christ.”

“Here's the point this morning—The closer we are to Jesus, the more confident we live for him. The more we know him and all he has done for us,  the more we love and trust him.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs 3:5-8
Romans 8:28-39

QUOTES:
Charles Spurgeon - “Chariots and horses make an imposing show, and with their rattling, and dust, and fine caparisons, make so great a figure that vain man is much taken with them; yet the discerning eye of faith sees more in an invisible God than in all these.”

John Calvin - “It’s impossible for him who promises himself victory by confiding in his own strength to have his eyes turned toward God.”

John Stott - “The cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough to it for its sparks to fall on us.”

APPLICATION:
Q. Where does your confidence come from?
Q. How do we position ourselves for Psalm 20 confidence in Christ? A. We have to stay close to Christ. If we don’t see him, we won’t remember him.

Four simple ways to stay in the cross's “spark zone”: 
1. Memorize and meditate on gospel verses in Scripture
God calls us to renew our minds and allow our perspective to be shaped by His Word. Start with the gospel. Nothing makes sense without it. Here are some specific verses:
2 Corinthians 5:21
Ephesians 1:3-10; 2:1-10
Romans 3:23-26; 5:6-11; 8:29-39
Isaiah 53:3-6
Titus 3:3-7

2. Study the multi-faceted nature of the gospel
Before you try to figure out what can’t be figured out, usually represented by words you can’t pronounce, do you know what propitiation, justification, and atonement are? Study the Bible and start with the gospel. The more you understand, the more you will cherish and trust. 

3. Rehearse often how the gospel changed and is changing your life
People like to say forget the past. Never forget the past. Reflect on your testimony. Remember how God saved you and continues His gospel work in you today. There is no greater way to grow your confidence in Christ.

4. Finally, Make the gospel part of every prayer you pray
Prayer is communion with God. Nothing is more central to our communion with God than what He has done for us in Christ.

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
We Give Thanks (Psalm 107)
My Soul Will Wait (Psalm 62)
All Things
Christ is Mine Forevermore

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Psalm 30

David gives us a compelling example on how we can move towards praise and proclamation in times of trouble. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 9
TITLE: Moving Towards Praise and Proclamation in Trouble
PREACHER: Tim Lambros
BIG IDEA: Gospel power moves us to praise and proclamation in times of trouble.

POINTS:
1. God As My Refuge
2. God As My Deliverer

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Four times in the first two verses the Psalmist says “I will.”  The Psalmist is attempting to will himself into a certain action. ‘I will give thanks’… do we only give thanks when things go our way?”

“‘I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.’ Think about how powerful this is – when trouble visits your space – your mind can only hold one thought at a time – the Psalmist fights the temptation to grumble, complain, and put on self-pity but fights it by recounting all God’s wonderful deeds. Praise and proclamation can only happen when God is remembered.”

“IMPORTANT In times of trouble remembering WHO God is and WHAT God has done shapes/influences HOW you will respond.  Otherwise, circumstances will dictate how you respond. So we see the Psalmist has a certain resolve in the midst of his circumstances.  We can all relate to this difficulty. When we face trouble every thought matters.”

“Is the Psalmist talking about his resolve following the challenge or in the midst of the trouble? Has the Psalmist been delivered from his troubles or is he in the midst of his troubles? I think we can make a case that the Psalmist is in the midst of trouble.  I think there are hints in our text that would indicate David is in the midst of trouble while he pens this Psalm. Look ahead to V. 9 & V. 13 – God is a stronghold for the oppressed.  He is the stronghold in times of trouble.  ‘See my affliction’. David is in the midst of trouble.  Yet he praises.  He proclaims truths about God.”

“3 things we see in the text that fill his resolve to fill His mind with praise to God AND proclaim truth about God in the midst of trouble:
1. Praise for God’s prior deliverance (v. 3-6)
2. Proclaiming truth about God’s righteousness (v. 7-8)
3. Proclaiming God as a refuge (v.9-10)”

“Notice what V. 9 says – a stronghold for the oppressed and those in times of trouble. I would imagine just about every one of you today is faced with some aspect of oppression or trouble. Sometimes it’s direct and obvious but other times oppression and trouble simply comes because we live in a fallen world. The Psalmist holds out that the LORD is your stronghold.  He is your protection in times of trouble.”

“He says THE LORD IS A STRONGHOLD… LISTEN CLOSELY – God brings trouble into our lives so we can learn to trust Him in the midst of our trouble.  Why? It’s one thing to know God IS A STRONGHOLD, it’s another thing to know God AS YOUR STRONGHOLD. Same as refuge and same as deliverer.”

“It’s easy to just hear “do you know the Lord” as Christianese yet this is the climax of this Psalm. V.10 “Those who know His name put their trust in Him”.  Those who know Him know He will not forsake you.  David is saying with credibility that I know the LORD – He has delivered me many times in the past and He can be trusted. I DON’T JUST FACTUALLY KNOW GOD IS A STRONGHOLD I KNOW HIM AS A STRONGHOLD.”

“CHURCH … to trust God in the midst of your trouble – to move towards praising and proclaiming in the midst of trouble – you must have times of trouble where you can trust God AS your stronghold.  Knowing and trusting God can’t be a set of facts – it’s so much more – praisers and proclaimers know God will not forsake them.”

“In the midst of [Jesus’] trouble – being unjustly crucified – He did not forsake us.  We have God sending His Son to be forsaken so we could know and trust God that He will not forsake you.  NT believers have the full revelation of God Himself in His Son.  God has chosen to reveal Himself to us and He does this by forsaking His Son that we could KNOW HIM AND TRUST HIM in the midst of our trouble and afflictions.”

“What about when God doesn’t answer our prayer?  What about when it feels like you have been forsaken? David knew what it was like for God TO NOT DELIVER HIS SON. Believers don’t just have a here and now understanding of God as deliverer.  We have a LONG view of God’s deliverance.  It’s one level of trust to move towards praise and proclamation while we are in the midst of trouble and affliction but sometimes God will call you to trust Him for eternal deliverance.  That place where there is no more tears, pain, trouble or affliction.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
2 Samuel 22:1-3
Colossians 3:1–4
Acts 16:25
James 1:3
Hebrews 4:14–16

APPLICATION:
- Have you noticed it’s easier to praise God’s goodness and proclaim truths about God after you have been delivered?  What about in the midst of trouble?  How do you do when you are facing trouble, tempted to doubt God maybe even believe untruths about God like he has left you.  

- Do you know the Lord?  Do you know Him in the middle of your trouble and afflictions?  Does that move you to be a praising and proclaiming, believer?

So how do we move towards praise and proclamation when we are afflicted this week or in the midst of trouble?
1. Recount His deeds! Start by preaching the gospel to yourself daily!  Then add to this all His wonderful deeds He’s done in your life.
2. Pursue grace as a practice  – Study Heb 5:11-14 Here’s a taste from V. 14 “powers of discernment trained by constant practice” You might ask “how do I do that? Pursue grace through God’s means of grace.  Don’t overlook the beauty and blessing of gathering with your Church every Sunday morning.

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Glorious Christ
Behold Our God
It's Your Grace
Rejoice
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Psalm 20

Jesus is the light of God’s face! Come all who put their faith in Him, and you will find that you, too, now live in the goodness of God! Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 4
TITLE: Joy That Comes in the Night
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: An unmatched joy is given by God that leads us to trust Him in our time of need.

POINTS:
1. A Joy that comes from God in the darkness of night
2. A Joy that is beyond compare
3. A Joy that leads to a peace-filled trust in God

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Not simply ‘a’ joy, but a joy that is beyond compare and unrivaled, can only come from our all-satisfying God who has shone the light of His face on us!”

“In the darkness of night, we find King David is in distress. His trouble is real, described in vs 1 - His distress is significant enough for him to cry to God for relief! Then in verse 2, we find that the trial that he is facing is suffering under shameful assaults on his honor and lies about his character - likely sowing seeds of dissension in the kingdom. This assault on his honor is coming from ‘men of rank,’ not some lightweight opposition - (not some troll with an internet connection). This is a legit enemy wreaking real havoc! Danger is imminent. War could break out! This distress is not only real and consistent, but non-stop, and lengthy, ‘how long.’”

“THIS is important - this distress/trouble does not go away. It appears to remain! But, amid David’s distress, David is granted the relief he has prayed for in Verse 1, and that relief comes from a JOY that God graciously puts in David’s heart (vs 7). In the midst of this distressing situation that will not relent, a surprising joy from God floods the heart of David, enabling him to peacefully go to bed and fall asleep and be assured that his life is safe!”

“Oh, how we need this! LET THIS SINK INTO YOUR SOUL! ON A VERY BAD DAY - GOD GIVES DAVID JOY! And David leads the Choirmaster, and with the stringed instruments, David sings for us… instructing us as it were… in his prayer!”

“We might be hoping and expecting that as soon as we get to the end Vs. 6, the very thing we should have next is ‘You have vanquished my enemy and removed the trial! The lies and dishonor are gone’ The LORD does the unexpected. Instead of the situation being taken away, the LORD does what we will see is better. In vs 7, The LORD gives Joy!”

“In vs 1-8 there are 7 specific REASONS, found in God’s goodness and favor, for our Joy:

• Vs. 1a Reason #1 for our Joy is found in God giving His righteousness to us.

• Vs. 1b Reason #2 for our Joy is found in God’s past faithness. 

• Vs. 1c Reason #3 for our Joy is found in God being gracious to us. 

• Vs. 3a Reason #4 for our Joy is found in God setting us apart for himself. 

• Vs. 3b Reason #5 for our Joy is found in God's hearing when we call to him.

• Vs. 8a Reason #6 for our Joy is found in God granting us peace. 

• Vs. 8b Reason #7 for our Joy is found in God granting us safety (He will not let you go nor be destroyed).”

“Reason after reason after reason for Joy, and every one of them pointed to the One who makes each possible. The believer in Christ cannot help but see that all of this is ultimately possible in the Cross of Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus, the light of the world, is the expression of the light of God’s face shining forth in salvation! Joy to the world! Jesus is the reason for that JOY!”

“Jesus is the light of God’s face! Come all who put their faith in Him, and you will find that you, too, now live in the goodness of God!”

“…in our time of need, we are tempted to look to this world for relief! Where do you go in the midst of suffering and trial? Where are we going to go to get the answers and relief? Where does David go in the midst of his distress? He goes to His God. There, David finds great relief in his trouble: God’s inexplicable favor in the light of God’s face!”

“Our Choirmaster has gone before us! He has graciously heard our prayer! He has graciously saved us and will keep us safe through the night!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Numbers 6:24-26
Romans 3 and 4
Romans 5:8
Hebrews 1:3

QUOTES:
Ligoneer - “To have the light of God’s face shine upon a person, then, is to have the glory of the Lord shine in a special way… indicating His approval of the person on whom He shines as one who is righteous in His sight. Scripture describes the experience of God’s light as the greatest blessing that any human being can ever enjoy.”

Charles Spurgeon -“He will not forsake you: He will bear you through. There is a promise prepared for your present emergencies; and if you will believe and plead it at the mercy-seat through Jesus Christ, you shall see the hand of the Lord stretched out to help you. Everything else will fail, but His word never will.”

APPLICATION:
CHURCH! Behold reason and after reason to rejoice in your Savior, Jesus!

• Jesus is the righteousness of God given to us (Rom. 3 and 4)

• Jesus’ past faithfulness at the cross is the very means of our salvation!

• Jesus receives the wrath we deserve, and we receive the undeserved grace of God! (Rom. 5:8)

• We are set apart IN Jesus!

• We have direct access in prayer to the throne of grace IN Jesus!

• Jesus speaks, “My peace I give you” 

Who will show us some good? Answer: The light of God’s face shines upon us!
Q. What was on your mind/heart when the sun went down yesterday?
Q. What was on your mind the night before?

The light of the world, Jesus, has come into the darkness of this world. HIS LIGHT WAS   NOT   SNUFFED OUT YESTERDAY AND NEVER WILL! In fact… JESUS WILL SHINE BRIGHTER AS THE DAYS GROW DARKER!

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Praise to the Lord
Only A Holy God
Before The Throne Of God Above
I Have A Shelter
Thy Mercy

Psalm 29 is a poetic retelling of a storm by David. It has one goal—Move us to worship. As one commentator said—Psalm 29 is Pure Praise. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Sermons in the Psalms, Vol 2
TEXT: Psalm 29
TITLE: Christmas in July
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. We Were Created for Glory
2. God is Worthy of All Glory

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”These verses call God’s people to give God the glory He is due. Three times, we are commanded to ascribe to God praise and worship due to His matchless name, infinite worth, and glorious character. And not just God’s people, but the angels as well—(1) Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings.”

“Of course, the angels ascribe glory to God naturally. So the thrice command to give praise to God is really for us. And we need it. But why? Why must we be repeatedly commanded to give God the glory due to His name? We are like the angels in that we are hardwired for glory. God created us for glory. But we have a problem the angels don’t—Sin. Sin has caused a glory war in our hearts. Heb 3 says sin is deceitful. One way sin deceives us is by blinding us to the glory of God.”

“But it’s not just that we are blinded to God’s glory; sin creates a craving in our hearts for personal glory. Instead of God’s glory, we pursue our glory. We live for our reputation. We praise our accomplishments. We worship our wisdom. We glory in our personal morals. We glory in our health. We glory in our respectability. We glory in our bank accounts. Our hearts are a theater of glory wars.”

“This is why we get discouraged and depressed. This is the source of our confusion and contentions. This is why some are anxious and angry. Self-glory can never satisfy a person hardwired to feast on God’s glory.”

“In the second stanza, 3-9, David shows us WHY we are to ascribe the LORD glory.”

“After repeatedly exhorting us to ascribe glory to God, in 3-9, David shows us WHY God is worthy of our continuous praise by describing a storm. Whether the storm was real or not, David's imagery and connections provide a powerful and unforgettable object lesson of God’s greatness.”

“LORD appears ten times in the description of the storm. Seven of those occurrences happen in the phrase the voice of the LORD.”

“All this is poetic imagery for the unmatched power and strength of God. His voice stands over all creation. Nothing is too strong for Him. Nothing is as majestic and awe-inspiring as the LORD. The power of the voice of God is found in other places in Scripture.”

“The imagery of a throne and king communicates sovereign power and complete control. The world may be shaken. Our country may be shaken. You may be shaken. But God is never shaken. He sits enthroned as king above it all. That applies to everything we see in the news and whatever trial you are going through today. We all try to make sense of life. We all seek comfort in difficulty. Psalm 29 is meant to help you do both by holding a God whose sovereign power is unmatched.”

“Did you notice David’s trials are nowhere to be found in Psalm 29? It doesn’t matter what he’s going through. It doesn’t matter what we are going through. God is God!”

“In these final verses, the storm has passed. The earth has been shaken, and the forests are destroyed. But God sits calmly above it all. He is in total control. As for His people, they are blessed with spiritual strength and peace.  This is where the voice of the LORD in Psalm 29 points us forward. It reminds us there is a storm of divine judgment coming one day.”

“Infinitely more terrifying is the eternal storm of Judgment Day. Every human being is a sinner under God’s judgment. Humanly speaking, we are powerless to escape God’s righteous and holy judgment that will be void of any peace and continue eternally. But God made a way in His Son Jesus. Psalm 29 is a bit of Christmas in July. It’s bookends of God’s glory, and our peace was sung by the angels in Luke 2—Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those whom he is pleased.”

“With that song, the angels announced the birth of the one who would bring us face-to-face with the merciful voice of the Lord, enduring the storm of all storms, the storm of God’s eternal justice and wrath for our wrongdoing. Jesus bowed his head into that storm for us, paying the price for all our sin, making a way for our forgiveness, and giving us true peace with God, knowing He will never hold our sins against us but only give us grace, mercy, and joy forever.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 46:10
Romans 1:16

QUOTES:
James Montgomery Boice - “Why does David call on the angels? It is because he thinks that his praise and that of other mere human beings is not adequate. David is overwhelmed with the majesty of God revealed in the storm that he has witnessed and is now going to describe. He feels that he needs help to praise God properly. To praise God adequately the entire created order must join in, and even then sufficient praise will be lacking.”

Mark Johnston - “Baal was regarded as the storm god in Canaanite religion, and his worshipers looked to him to bring them through life’s upheavals. But like every false deity, Baal had neither the ability to hear nor the ability to answer this cry for help, and his devotees were left to the mercy of life’s crises. Not so the God of Israel.”

APPLICATION:
- What glory is commanding your heart?

- What’s your modern-day Baal? Self-sufficiency? Protectionism? Psychological therapy? A twelve-step program? Where do you run? Where do you pursue hope? Smash your Baals and trust the voice of the LORD revealed in your Bible. Nothing can happen to you apart from the voice of the LORD. He is always in control of your life. His plans for you are sure.

In the kindness of God, it’s almost monsoon season. We will watch powerful storms roll through our city in the coming weeks. As they do, allow Psalm 29 to fill your mind and move you to praise God for who He is and what He has done for you in Jesus.  

Don’t wait for the monsoons. I began by sharing how we can never exhaust our understanding of the Psalms. Even more, we can never exhaust ascribing glory to our Lord and Savior, not today, tomorrow, not even in eternity. Right now, start with one area of your life where you need to be more intentional

• Conversations

• Priorities

• Thought life

• Perspective

• Eyes

• Accomplishments

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
This is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickam
Sing! (Live) - Sovereign Grace Music
Jesus Your Mercy - Sovereign Grace Music
Christ is Mine Forever More - CityAlight
How Great (Psalm 145) - Sovereign Grace Music

Judges concludes on a chilling and deeply sobering note. But even now, as we look closely, we see Christ in the Chaos. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 19-21
TITLE: We Have the King of All Kings
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”As dark and raunchy as this story is, the true horror of this story  is found in the opening words. …these words exhort us to look beyond the horrors we are about to encounter to see our true enemy. If we don’t, this story shows us how bad things can get, even for God’s people. ”

“Our story begins with a Levite who has marriage problems. His concubine (wife) is unfaithful to him, and she leaves him to live with her father. After four months of separation from his wife, 3-10 tells us he travels to Bethlehem to work it out. He hits it off with Dad, and after staying with them for almost a week, the Levite and his concubine head home.”

“In 12-21, they spend the night in the Israelite town of Gibeah. With no one willing to provide hospitality, the Levite and his wife set up camp in the town square. An older man sees this, invites them to stay the night at his house, and puts on a clinic in hospitality. But the unthinkable happens—read 22-26.”

“I’m not sure there is a passage in all Scripture containing as much wickedness as this. Everything is twisted here! A mob of perverts want to engage in homosexual rape. The wickedness and vileness of homosexuality were too much for the old man, so he refused—good for him. But then he does the unthinkable: he offers his virgin daughter and the Levite's wife to, notice the language in 24—Violate and do with them what seems good to you.”

“The perverted mob refuses his offer, and the Levite, to save himself, hastily hands over his wife to them. And the perverted monsters take turns brutally raping her all night long. Undoubtedly, the host and Levite could hear all that was happening outside their door—and did nothing. Only when the sun comes up do they stop. By then, this woman is emotionally dead and physically destroyed. Emptied of all dignity, it takes everything this young lady has to crawl to the doorstep of the very home she should have felt safe in and die. This is Sodom all over again, only worse!”

“This is hard to hear. For some, it's unbearable because it brings back memories of their own sexual abuse. If that’s you, I’m sorry you have experienced the fallenness of our world in such a horrific way. Even more, the Lord wants you to know—that He knows. He sees the pain you carry. He is aware of the emotional scars. The suffering that lingers is not unknown to Him. He bids you today to come to Him with your burden. Find your value and worth in His Son Jesus, your peace and comfort in His Spirit. Your confidence in the limitless transforming power of the gospel. Trust in his justice, if not executed today, on Judgement Day. Know, see, and taste that God is good. If you are in danger today, go to a safe place. Tell someone. Call the authorities. Call your pastors. If you are safe but still hurting, reach out to your pastors. We want to help you. Our hearts break for you. We will gladly help you carry your burden to the cross of Calvary and throne above.”

“The unthinkable nature of this story continues. The Levite knows what happened to his wife. Yet, he gets up in the morning, opens the front door, finds his wife lying there, and says—Get up, time to hit the road. When she doesn’t respond, he loads her lifeless body onto the donkey and goes home. Once home, he chops her body up and sends a bloody token to each tribe of Israel to arouse the nation to punish the perverts. His appalling tactics work, stirring up the indignation of Israel.”

“The horror continues in Ch 20. 1-17 recounts how the ten tribes of Israel meet to review what happened in Gibeah. As they listen to the Levite recount the horrific events of that night, there is immediate unity to attack Gibeah and execute the perverted monsters. But the Benjaminites will have none of it, and a bloodbath ensues.”

“To make matters worse, when they convened in Mizpah (20:1), they made an oath not to give their daughters in marriage to any Benjaminite, seemingly sealing the extinction of their brother's existence. Their solution: More bloodshed. They send 12,000 men to the unsuspecting town of Jabesh-gilead, where they slaughter men, women, and children. The only ones spared are 400 virgins who are seized and delivered to the Benjaminites. All that extreme violence and the math didn’t work. They were 200 virgins short.”

“Call it kidnapping. Call it human trafficking. Call it what you want. Anarchy has engulfed Israel. They have abandoned God’s standard for marriage, morals, and anything else you can think of. This is not the story of the Canaanites. This is Israel—God’s chosen people.”

“And after all the stories, all the judges, all the geography, and 400 years of history, it is all owed to this one great problem—read 25. Israel’s problem is our problem. So what do we do now?”

“In Judges, God’s people were broken. Rape, genocide, and kidnapping. Heinous sins. I’m pretty sure those heinous sins aren’t on your spiritual resume. But do you know what is on all our resumes? Idolatry. Specifically, an idolatrous desire for independence from God.”

“The good news and the ultimate point of Judges is that WE HAVE A KING! In Christ, we have the King of Kings who loves us, teaches, guides, and intercedes for us.”

“Believe that God is faithful and will be faithful to you and His church. Don’t presume on that, but live in the good of that. How? Live a life of repentance. Embrace divine forgiveness. Rejoice in who you are in Christ. Live like you believe God controls your life and this world. Persevere in holiness, come what may, with your eyes fixed on the return of your King. God’s grace was powerful enough to save you, and it will be powerful enough to keep you to the end, where we will see our king and worship him alone in all righteousness, joy, and peace.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 21:1-4

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis- “The problem is not so much with what each man was doing but with the standard that governed him. Hence, 21:25b expresses the ultimate perversity of every man, demanding the right to be his own lord, insisting on following the dictates of his own glands. The problem is not sins but sin, that declaration of independence—whether stated viciously or politely—which says, Yes I do want to be like God calling my own shots.”

Barry Webb - “Idolatry and immorality are bedfellows; where you have one, you also, sooner or later, have the other.”

APPLICATION:
There are three takeaways from this story and Judges I pray will be unforgettable for us:
1. Guard against underestimating the power of idolatry
You may not be able to identify with the horrors of Israel in Judges, but we can all identify with the root of their problem—We want to do what is right in our own eyes.

This is precisely what happened at the beginning when the Serpent tells Eve in Gen 3—You can be like God and Eve said Yes! Let me eat. As wicked as Israel was, we can’t separate ourselves from their problem. Our idolatry may seem respectable—personal morality, respect, achievement, acceptance—good things in themselves, but sinful idols when we want them more than we want God. That’s what idolatry is. The end of it is no different than Israel.

I believe one of the best ways, to guard against underestimating the power of idolatry—Community Group.

2. Remember who your King is
The effective refrain in Judges is found in its final verse—read 25. The idea of no king is that a king would have set things right. But there was no king to rule, lead, and exercise authority over the people. Instead, every man did what was right in their own eyes. This is important: Every man is a reference to the Israelite. Judges isn’t about Canaanites living like Canaanites. It’s about Israel living like Canaanites. The church's problem isn’t out there; it’s in here. You and I turning our backs on our King is the church’s greatest problem.

Have you forgotten who your King is? Turn back to him today in repentance and faith.

3. Celebrate the undeserved and unending grace of God toward you
The story ends with everyone returning home to their inheritance. To have an inheritance was to have a future. Israel, despite her sin, has a future. The time of the Judges was not the end of their story. And for only one reason—God’s faithfulness to pour out mercy and grace.

God will discipline you—but He will never abandon you! Our sin and idolatry are great, but God’s grace is greater.

DIY—Do It Yourself—has become very popular today. It has even crept into the church - DIY God, DIY religion. A DIY approach to God has been Israel’s problem throughout Judges, which is what our text is about today. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 17-18
TITLE: The Dangers of DIY Religion
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Our story begins with a man named Micah. In the opening verses of Ch. 17, we learn that Micah steals money from his mother. After hearing his mother pronounce a curse on the thief, Micah gets nervous and confesses, then returns the 1100 pieces of silver to her. …Mom consecrates the money to the LORD by telling her son to make an idol. Her son has quite a collection of idols. He has a shrine called the House of Micah filled with idols.”

“This is crazy. These are Israelites. Mom refers to God by the holy name Yahweh (all caps LORD in 2&3). She dedicates her blessing to the LORD. The name Micah means who is like Yahweh. Micah and his mom aren’t ignorant of God. Yet, they are carrying on—blessing the LORD by making an idol and self-appointing a priest over the shrine of idols—as if they are doing nothing wrong.”

“It gets crazier. In 7-8, we meet a real-life priest, a Levite looking for a job. …There is a lot wrong with this Levite. First, Levites don’t sojourn. As priests, they lived and served where and how they were appointed (Joshua 21:2). But this Levite is doing his own thing with no clear goal. He is a DIY priest. He allows Micah to do what Micah has no authority to do—ordain him. Now, the Levite is serving not in the house of God but in the house of Micah, a pagan shrine filled with idols.”

“This is DIY religion to the core. Make your own gods. Build your own shrine. Hire your own priest. Be the kind of priest you want to be. Worship how, when, and where you want according to your preferences and advantages. All in the name of Yahweh.”

“How does this happen? We don’t have to guess. The opening words of Ch. 18—In those days there was no king in Israel— remind us that DIY religion wasn’t an isolated situation in the hill country of Ephraim. Remember the tribe of Dan? The tribe that gave us Samson? They enter the story as nomads.”

“After not doing things God’s way—driving out Canaanites—Ch 18:1-11 shows us how Dan took a DIY approach to securing land. Wouldn’t you know it? They ended up at Micah’s place and recognized the accent of his freelancing Levite. Knowing he is a man of the cloth, they ask him to ask God if their mission will be successful.”

“In 7-13, the men went north with the blessing of the Levite, where they found Laish, a prosperous town that is unsuspecting and isolated, making it easy to conquer. They report back to home base. They get the go-ahead to attack. They grab 600 soldiers and head back to Laish. On the way, they stop off at Micah’s again.”

“Micah recognizes they have taken his idols and priest. He chases the Danite army down to get his idols and priest back. When Micah catches up to them, he complains that they took everything from him.”

“The identity of the rogue priest is finally revealed: Jonathan, Son of Gershom, grandson of Moses. Even the house of Moses, the man through whom God said—You will serve and worship me this way, has been corrupted with DIY religion.”

“There is the beginning of Judges, then the cycle of Judges in 3-16, the last being Samson. The third section, 17-21, serves as snapshots of Israel’s spiritual demise. Dan serves as the poster child of the DIY religion of Israel. They went out and got their own land, worshiped their own idols, established a rival worship center to Shiloh, and appointed their own fake priests. This went on for centuries until, as 29 says, Assyria captured them in 720 BC.”

“The DIY revolution began long before our time. Micah and his mother, Jonathan the rogue priest and the tribe of Dan, all God’s people, serving themselves by serving Yahweh their own way.”

“God is not a buffet offering Himself up for our preferences and ambitions. That’s the Do It Yourself religion. That’s what Micah, his mother, Jonathan, the tribe of Dan, and all of Israel were are guilty of. They aren’t atheists. They use the name Yahweh. They have a priest. They have a place to worship. But all that is just a veneer. In reality, they are living for themselves. They worship God according to their circumstances and their preferences.”

“Here are the questions we must ask ourselves: Who determines my beliefs? Who shapes my decisions? Who establishes my priorities? Who fuels my passions? Who decides when and how you participate in corporate worship? We just did a seven-week series from the Bible on The Sunday Gathering. Has anything changed in your worship, or are you still worshipping God in your own way?”

“God doesn’t give us that freedom in His kingdom. It’s His kingdom, not ours. In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples to pray this way—Father, your kingdom come, MY will be done. He didn’t say that, did he? He said—Your kingdom come, YOUR will be done. [emphasis added].”

“Micah’s idols are gone, and his response is—Now I have nothing. Let that be a sober warning against idolatry in our own lives. Idolatry always leaves us empty-handed. Like Jeremiah 2:13 says—They are like broken cisterns that cannot hold water. In all their shininess and promise, the things of this world can’t give us what we need. They always fail us. They always leave us saying—I have nothing!”

“Jesus says there are only two ways to build your life: On the sinking sand of self or the solid rock of Christ. You either believe in Jesus, or you reject Jesus. You are either in the light or you are in the dark. You are either with God, or you are against God. You are either justified in a crucified and risen Christ, or you are condemned in your sin. If you build your way, verse 24 is what you get. Here is where Micah’s response in 24 is exceedingly hopeful. If you build God’s way, no matter what happens in this life, you could lose all you have but still have everything because Jesus is everything.”

“This is where the Book of Judges points us. We do have a king. He is sufficient. He is superior. He is all-satisfying. Of all the things we can do ourselves, Jesus did what we could never do ourselves. He did exactly what his Father asked him to do for our sake, even giving up his own life.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 2:5-8

QUOTES:
Barry Webb - “Judges 17 is full of religious words, objects, activities, and persons, but none of it is governed by respect for God’s Law or to honor him as an end in itself. Rather this has all been about people using religion to serve their own interests—a mother to indulge her son, a Levite to secure a better life for himself, and Micah to achieve prosperity by adding a veneer of orthodoxy to his idolatrous shrine.”

APPLICATION:
- Who do you serve? Who is running your life? Who determines how you live? 

The Christian confession can be reduced to three words—Jesus is Lord. He has brought his kingdom, of which he is the king. If you profess to be part of his kingdom, is he your King? Is Jesus your Lord? Or are you your own Lord cherry-picking the things Jesus taught and commanded? 

Where have you become a DIY Christian? Where is your life being led by your personal preferences, circumstances, convenience, and ambitions instead of Jesus? How are you writing your own script? That’s the challenge for us—we want to write our own script instead of submitting our lives to God’s script (Bible).

Let today be the day we all come to our King on bended knee, repenting of our idols, embracing our blood-bought forgiveness, and holding fast to the grace and promises of our great Lord and King Jesus until he returns for us.

Samson’s story is the story of God’s people, which means his story is our story. As foreign and different as Samson’s world seems from ours, his life is a mirror for our own lives. In so many ways, we are Samson. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 16:1-31
TITLE: We Are Samson, But God Is God
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: We have nothing without God, but with God, we have everything.

POINTS:
1. The Faithfulness of God In Our Unfaithfulness
2. The Power of God in Our Weakness

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Samson’s story is the story of God’s people, which means his story is our story. As foreign and different as Samson’s world seems from ours, his life is a mirror for our own lives. In so many ways, we are Samson. But god is God. As tragic as Samson’s story ends today, we are provided one more opportunity to see our absolute need for God and His absolute sufficiency for us.”

“We know who Delilah is. We are familiar with the most famous haircut in the world. We have the children’s ministry images of a muscle-bound Samson bringing the house down etched into our minds. But all that has a greater purpose, and that is to help us see: We have nothing without God, but with God, we have everything.”

“The first three verses seem out of place with the chapter. But they do serve a purpose. They are a snapshot of what Samson gave his life to. Between the end of Ch 15, where God revived and refreshed Samson, and 16:4, nothing has changed with Samson. Samson keeps living for himself instead of serving the Lord and His people.”

“In 1, we learn that Samson is deep in enemy territory. Gaza is one of five capital cities in the Philistine empire. He has no business being there, and now he is trapped. But in 3, Samson outsmarts the Philistines by escaping town in the dark of night. On his way out, he rips the city gate off its hinges and carries it off, leaving Gaza unprotected. The point: Even in Samson’s foolishness, the Philistines are no match for him.”

“This is Samson, a man who possesses such incredible strength in the Lord (tearing out the gates) but who is incredibly weak in himself (fornicating with prostitutes). It is the same old story with Samson.”

“‘O mirror of our fickle state.’ Like Samson, we all struggle with besetting sin and weakness. 

• We willingly wander into that sin—AGAIN. 

• We choose our understanding over His wisdom—AGAIN. 

• We pursue our passions instead of His purposes—AGAIN.  

• We turn the gifts He gives us for His glory into instruments for our glory—AGAIN.”

“We are Samson, but God is God. Despite our unfaithfulness, in Christ, God convicts us instead of condemning us. He continues to discipline us instead of destroying us. God continues to use us instead of tossing us aside. We are unfaithful, but God is faithful in pouring out grace upon grace in Christ Jesus, even though we don’t deserve it. This is the ultimate blessing of the gospel that is anyone’s who believes in Jesus.”

“Of course, Samson is with another woman. Delilah proves to be a worthy opponent for Samson’s follies. She can get rich at Samson’s expense and runs with it. In turn, Samson teases and toys with Delilah. They were meant for each other.”

“Despite Samson’s pride and unfaithfulness to God, God continued to move Samson toward his destiny as an instrument of His faithfulness to His people. But now, for the first time, we read that the Lord had left Samson.”

“The visible symbol of Samson’s calling and relationship with God was his hair. His hair was not his strength; God was. What made him different than any other man was not his hair but his relationship with God.”

“In his pride, Samson ran his mouth. He thought his strength was his own. But when his hair was gone, God left him. And when God left him, he was powerless. The man who was not like any other man is now just like every other man. Now, shackled, bound, and blind, a prisoner of the enemy, the mighty Samson has been reduced to one of the tasks reserved for the lowest members of society: grinding grain into flour. The thud of Samson’s life couldn’t be louder. ‘O mirror of our fickle state’—Pride is always the source of the spiritual thuds in our lives.”  

“The man of faithlessness desperately cries out to God in faith one more time and God is faithful to provide His servant what he needs to accomplish His purposes. With the strength that only Yahweh could provide, Samson brings down the house of Dagon, bringing judgment on thousands of Philistines by taking them to the grave with him. ’O mirror of our fickle state.’ In his weakness and desperation, God was God making Samson strong. So it is with us.”

“God will leave us weak so we can remember He is strong. For this reason, we can boast in our weakness because, in our weakness, God manifests his power in ways our strengths could never do. We are Samson, but God is God.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 103:10
Proverbs 16:18
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

QUOTES:
Jon Bloom - “In sin, we turn from God to idols, which profanes God, destroys faith, and obscures God in the eyes of others. But weakness has the tendency to increase our conscious dependence on God, which glorifies him, strengthens our faith, and manifests his power in ways our strengths never do.”

APPLICATION:
Where are you weak today? 

• Faith in God for your future

• Contentment in Christ amid chronic pain and a persisting trial

• Courage in the Spirit to make a decision or confront someone

Wherever you feel your weakness today, don’t bury it. Don’t hide it from others. Don’t shield it from your fellowship with others. Ultimately, it is from God meant to drive you to the One who fulfilled his calling by becoming a freakshow for you on a cross. 

Samson’s death brought the walls of a pagan temple crumbling down. It wasn’t enough for Israel or us. A thousand years later, our Father in heaven, the eternal and perfect Father, sent the better Samson, His only Son Jesus, whose life and death brought the power of Satan, sin, and death crumbling down for good.

The good news of the gospel is this: As much as you identify with Samson, you identify with your perfect Savior, Jesus more. That means, Everyone who has faith in Jesus, no matter how weak you’ve been or how weak you are, you can never be defeated by the enemy—You always win in Christ Jesus! He is your unfailing hope in life and death.

The Lord mocks anyone who attempts to defeat Him, hinder His purposes, or squelch His people. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 15:1-20
TITLE:  Walking With God
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
Lesson 1: Living in opposition to God never goes well
Lesson 2: Holy Hatred guards our walk with God
Lesson 3: God is faithful to hear our prayers and provide what we need

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Three I Spy moments in our text are critical to walking with God individually and corporately.”

“This story is an odd mix of humor and tragedy. Tragically, Samson’s wife and father-in-law are murdered. At the same time, the relationship between Samson and the Philistines is humorous. Every time the Philistines think they have Samson, he blisters them. You can’t help but laugh a little at all this back-and-forth foolishness.”

“God uses humor in the Bible to make a sobering point. Here, the sobering point is about the Philistines. Samson repeatedly makes them look like bungling idiots. In a few verses, he will kill 1,000 Philistines with nothing but the jawbone of a donkey. From foxes to jawbones, the Philistines are on the wrong side of God, and that is not a good place to be.”

“The Philistines are enemies of God’s people. They are cruelly oppressing Israel. They do not fear God; they mock God. But they are no match for God.”

“Derision is mockery. The Lord mocks anyone who attempts to defeat Him, hinder His purposes, or squelch His people. Psalm 2 and Judges 15 warn that opposing God and His people is perilous. It’s always been this way. From Egypt to Canaan to Babylon to Rome, it never goes well for those who oppose God and persecute His people.”

“It isn’t going well for our nation today or any other nation that denies and defies God. God’s kingdom will come. His Church will be built. The gospel will go forth. Whether from sheer terror of the pits of hell or the absolute bliss from the heights of heaven, Phi 2:10-11 is clear—every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the praise and glory of God!”

“No matter how well life is going for you if you oppose God, it will not go well, if not in this life, in the eternal life quickly approaching.”

“Israel is in self-preservation mode. Their desire for peace has moved them to be content in bondage. They can’t imagine being free. They will forsake Yahweh to serve pagan gods. They will serve Yahweh’s enemies as their lord. They will turn on the Lord’s chosen deliverer. They won’t kill Samson, but they will turn him over to be killed by God’s enemies.”

“The irony is rich: Israel delivers their God-given deliverer FROM the Philistines TO the Philistines. This is a dark day in the history of God’s people.”

“This story is a mirror for us. This will sound weird, but enmity is a gift from God. As Christians, we should experience holy hatred for the right things.”

“We should hate ungodliness. We should hate unrighteousness. We should hate injustice. We should hate opposition to God. We should hate any philosophy or ideology that denies God or prefers and exalts man over God. We should hate sin.”

“Jesus’ point couldn’t be more straightforward: Hate sin more than you love your life. It’s better to be physically crippled than comfortable with sin. Why? Because sin is opposition to God.”

“One man with one bloody jawbone exacts God’s holy and just judgment on 1,000 Philistine soldiers. The Book of Judges repeatedly reminds us we can never predict what God will do or who He will use.”

“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant. For the first time, we see why Samson is listed among the people of great faith in Hebrews 11. Samson was thirsty, and he cried out to God in his need. Samson recognized that even though his hand destroyed Israel’s enemy, it was God’s doing—salvation belongs to the Lord alone.”

“He gave Samson what Samson could not give himself and what he desperately needed most; notice in 19—he brought forth water from a rock (wilderness—Exodus 17), and Samson drank it, and his spirit was refreshed and revived in the grace of the Lord.”

“This moment is a giant flashing neon arrow pointing us to the gospel. The true and better Samson, the one every judge in Judges and the entire book of Judges points to, Jesus, came a thousand years later to bring great salvation to sinners like us. We once opposed God and loved sin and evil. At one time, we were at enmity with God. But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ. He did not negotiate with Satan. He did not entertain temptation. Jesus did not fool around with sin. Jesus guarded the divine enmity and destroyed the enemy at the cross so that we would not die but be refreshed and revived, walking with Him today and forever.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 2:1-2, 4
Philippians 2:10-11
Psalm 97:10
Matthew 18:7-9

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “The Philistines are the enemies of Yahweh’s people. Here their stupidity is held up for ridicule; here, they are made the laughing stock. Why? To show us the peril of being an enemy of Yahweh’s people (even his sinful people), for Yahweh makes fools of those who seek to ruin and crush his people. His enemies—and theirs—are kid’s stuff for him; he toys with them and makes his people able to laugh at them. It is a ghastly thing to make oneself the object of divine laughter.”

Dale Ralph Davis - “Whether it is the evil or sin within us or some form of it outside us God does not call us to negotiate with sin and evil but to wage war on them, to nurse a holy hatred toward them in all their multicolored forms.”

APPLICATION:
- Are there certain sins you have become comfortable with? Are there sinful thoughts you are at peace entertaining? Where has the pursuit of personal comfort trumped the pursuit of personal holiness? Do you hate what God hates and love what God loves? These questions are critical because, to the degree we answer yes, we live as opposed to God. Not walking with God never goes well. 

- This story ends with God hearing Samson’s cry and providing for his needs. Today, God remains accessible and available to all who cry out to Him, regardless of their background or situation. 

• Do you need fresh gratitude for your salvation

• Do you need a humble and holy hatred for evil restored in your soul

• Do you need to repent of your friendship with a specific sin

Whatever you need to walk with God, God stands ready to provide. He wants to grow you. He wants to encourage you. He wants to use you. Cry out to God. He will hear your prayer because in Jesus, you are his precious child, and His ear is yours.

God’s purposes are bigger than us. God can use whatever and whomever he wants to bring about His purpose. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 14
TITLE:  The God Who Is There
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. God Always Has A Purpose In Our Chaos
2. God’s Strength Is Sufficient In Our Weakness

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”From his conception, Samson was being prepared to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Yet, Samson was a disaster. Our text is the first window into his life, and we see an arrogant and insolent hot-headed young man who does life big, bold, and exactly how he pleases. Yet, God is there, working behind the scenes using Samson in all his imperfections.”

“This is a terrible sign for Israel. Instead of following the word of the Lord, Samson follows his heart. He is his own god. The hope of Israel is acting just like Israel—Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

“In many ways, Samson’s life is an illustration of Israel’s own spiritual demise. Like Samson, Israel was supposed to be set apart as holy for God and His purposes. Like Israel pursuing foreign gods, Samson pursues foreign women. Both turned their back on their calling and their God and did what was right in their own eyes.”

“In the chaos, we are reminded—God is in control. There is nothing righteous that Samson is doing. Samson’s lust for a good time with a good-looking girl controls him. But God is in control of it all, working His unstoppable will. The Lord’s intentions for Samson revealed in chapter 13 still stand in chapter 14.” 

“God is bigger than any one person. God’s purposes are bigger than us. That’s hard for us to swallow, but it’s true. God can use whatever and whomever he wants to bring about His purpose. He’s the potter, we are the clay (Romans 9). Samson’s life illustrates this truth. Hebrews 11:32 says that Samson was a man of faith. He was, but he certainly wasn’t a faithful man. He wasn’t faithful to his parents’ teaching, his Nazirite vow, or the laws of the Lord. We will learn that it didn’t take long for Samson to lose almost everything the Lord had given him, except his great strength, and he finally lost that as well.” 

“God was using Samson’s lust for this Philistine girl to set the stage for the Israelite's liberation from the Philistines. He is in control, even of Samson’s chaos. This doesn’t mean God approves of Samson’s sinfulness.  Samson is exchanging God’s will for Him for what is right in his own eyes. That is idolatry and God hates idolatry. The point of verse 4 is this: Keep your eyes on God not on Samson.”

“Samson is on his way to marry a Philistine, something God has explicitly forbidden. Yet, God is with Samson, showing him—You can trust me. In my strength you can do what you could never do in your own strength. One would think this would get Samson’s attention. You would think he would have built a stone altar to Yahweh on the side of the road. He doesn’t.”

“Samson is weak in so many ways. He can’t say no to a drink. He can’t say no to a hustle. He can’t say no to a seductive girl. He can’t control his anger. He even loses the girl. He is self-absorbed, self-centered, and void of self-control. Samson is weak. But again, in his weakness (19) The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, empowering him to do what he could never do in his own strength. This savage act by Samson was more than a personal revenge tour—It was the power of God.”

“We are just like Samson. Through the gospel, not through a Nazarite vow, but through the Nazarene, Jesus, God has called us, saved us, and set us apart for His eternal and glorious purposes. But, like Samson, we get distracted and misdirected. The grass always seems greener on the other side. We don’t want to miss out on the world’s pleasures. We become enamored with the ways of our culture. Like Samson, we start heading in the wrong direction, away from God doing what is right in our own eyes.”

“This riddle draws us to the gospel. That’s you and me. We think we are strong in ourselves, but we are not. The truth is we are weak, hopeless, and spiritually dead. But in God’s love and mercy, His Spirit rushed upon us, bringing us salvation and making us the object of God’s divine attention.”

“Now, every day, He is forming us into something sweet and desirable in His eyes (sanctification). One day in heaven that work will be complete (glorification). But until that day, you have the promise that you can rise to any occasion God puts you in. You can resist the temptation that presents itself. You can accomplish what God calls you to. You can fight the sin that wars in your heart. Your life can bear spiritual fruit in keeping with your calling as my beloved. Not in your own strength but in the unmatchable and all-sufficient strength and power of the Spirit God provides.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Ephesians 1:11
Hebrews 11:32
John 15
Ephesians 3:20
1 Corinthians 10:13

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “Yahweh can and will use the sinfulness or stupidity of his servants as the camouflage for bringing his secret will to pass.”

George Schwab - “The riddle of the world is this: What is life about? What is the meaning of life? Samson gives the cosmic answer: it is about God forming something sweet and desirable from something that seemed strong, but is spiritually dead.”

APPLICATION:
- We must never view God’s providence as permission for our disobedience. We must never assume that just because God uses me, I am right with Him.

- Parents of spiritually wayward Children: When your child’s sin and chaos and your disappointment and heartache dominate the scene—don’t lose hope. Keep your eye on God, who has a purpose, even if you don’t know what it is. Your child is still breathing, and that means God isn’t done with them yet.

- Do you need a spiritual redirecting today? What part of your life is at odds with your calling as a Christian? You’re a Christian called to live for Jesus, but you look more like a Philistine living for yourself. Where have you exchanged God’s will for you for what is right in your own eyes?

Following our Easter Service and 7-week Series on the Sunday Gathering (check out Tim’s recent blog post regarding the Gathering series), today we have returned to the book of Judges. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 12:8-13:1-25
TITLE:  The Faithfulness of God on Display
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: The Gospel opens our eyes to behold the faithfulness of God.

POINTS:
1. God’s faithfulness on display
2. Our sin that blinds

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The people did what was right in their own eyes as we witness the cycle of them returning to grievous sin. This is the way of the world. YET, through this book of Judges, we can marvel at the shocking Grace of God as we witness His mercy that meets His people’s sinfulness, immorality, rebellion, idolatry, and loss of innocence.”

“In the face of all of the CHAOS, the LORD mercifully raises up judge after judge… deliverer after deliverer… savior after savior… each chosen and sent by God. We witness the repeat cycle: the people turn away from their God and run after idols and sin. Yet, all of this has been pointing to their (our) need for THE Deliverer… THE Savior… the book of Judges has been revealing CHRIST in the Chaos!”

“Chapter 12:8-15 reveals three Judges that ruled over a combined 25-year period - Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, and Abdon of Pirathon. This stretch of 25 years can be summarized as one of peace. Following the death of Abdon in Verse 15, we find in Chapter 13:1 that the people of Israel return to their sin. The peace that they were enjoying had come to end. They were at it again! This time they are lower than ever before. They were suffering dearly for their sin and this time the oppression lasted longer than ever before (40 years)… under the hand of the Philistines (13:1). Forty years and no one cried out to the LORD!”

“Manoah’s wife was barren (vs 2). This would have been of double concern for them, being both Hebrew and intertwined with the Canaanite culture and gods. For the Israelites, to be barren was to be in a sense bearing under God’s curse. She and Manoah would have believed themselves to be suffering under God’s reproach. Others would have believed the same. AND to make matters worse, they had become one with their pagan Canaanite worldview. Being barren would carry with it the stigma and self-judgment that somehow you had offended one of the gods that ruled over reproduction and were now bearing under their punishment. In both worldviews, their hope of their family continuing on would die with them. This was judgment on judgment!”

“How the husband and wife must have felt regarding this personal matter is not recorded here. But we can imagine how difficult this must have been. They likely ached privately and likely over time their hearts could have given up. BUT what we do know from the text is that like the people of Israel who were so lost, they had not cried out to the LORD for help.”

“Their child was to “be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death”: A Nazirite vow (literally - “oneself in dedication/consecration”) was voluntarily made by the individual to God for a season of time. During this time, the individual would “separate” themself apart to God (consecrate themselves to God). During this brief period of time, they were to abstain from three things: no wine/alcoholic beverages, no cutting of the hair, and no contact with a corpse. (Numbers 6:1-21) If you failed at this… if you became defiled during this vow (read Numbers - if some guy “dies very suddenly beside” you) - your vow time clock starts all over again - your previous time is voided!”

“The point of the Nazirite vow was to call God’s people to wholehearted dedication to God!”

“There is a beautiful truth in God’s calling of Samson’s whole life to this “wholehearted dedication to God!” Yes, Samson was to exemplify this for the people as God called them back to himself (Samson will fail miserably at this), But God's faithfulness to his people, even in the face of their terrible sin, is on display because of God’s own “wholehearted covenantal dedication” to his people!”

“Enter the woman’s husband…We find in the unfolding verses Manoah clamoring for center stage, seeking to manipulate the messenger of God - struggling for control.”

“Manoah requests to have the ‘man of God’ return. He is blinded by unbelief that this man is divine (certainly refusing to acknowledge it). This is the first step in trying to gain control of the situation - I want to hear this for myself and understand what is happening. (vs 8) This is way outside his wheelhouse of understanding so he is now going to get to the bottom of this and get on top of what is happening. Hold this man to account…”

“The husband declares what is truth for us all - In the presence of the holiness of God, we see clearly that we deserve the fires of hell! …YET… God who is faithful to His promise gives them GRACE and MERCY.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:1
Ephesians 4:1
2 Peter 1:3-11

QUOTES:
”Christ Our Wisdom” by Sovereign Grace Music -
Christ our wisdom, we will follow
Though the way ahead is veiled
As we journey through the shadows
Grant us faith where sight has failed
Help us cling to Your commandments
Strengthened by Your faithful Word
We will never be abandoned
You are God and we are Yours

APPLICATION:
- Marvel at the grace of God. God comes to us when we have not come to him, for He is Faithful!! While our eyes were on ourselves, His looked upon us, because He is faithful! Christian - are you at a new low? God will meet you there! He has not and will abandon you! He is faithful to you. 

- Marvel at the Cross of Christ 
The LORD has wholeheartedly dedicated Himself to His people - to the point that His son, Jesus, would die in our place to save us!

- God’s faithfulness toward us now calls for our faithfulness to Him
In a sense, we have been called by God into a “Nazirite Vow.” He has called us out / “separated” us from death into life and calls us to respond by “separating” / consecrating ourselves unto Him… to wholehearted dedication to Him!

We both play an active part because preaching is a partnership. The Bible has more to say about the hearers' part of the partnership than about the preachers'. Hearing and heeding the preached Word is essential for our relationship with God. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: James 1:21-25
TITLE:  Partnering with the Preacher
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. Prepare Your Heart
2. Listen with Humility
3. Apply with Confidence

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”What is James doing here? He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word. Preparation isn’t a foreign concept to us. Think about how many things you prepare for every day. James knows preparation is paramount when receiving God’s Word, privately or publicly. He understands this because he understands the heart.”

“James knows that in our pride, we can be slow to hear, figuratively speaking, living with our Bibles closed—because we know what we know what we know—instead of living with our Bibles open, eager to hear and apply God’s Word.”

“James knows we can be quick to speak the truth of God’s Word to others, criticize the preacher, or preach excuses and justifications to ourselves when the preaching hits home.”

“James knows how quickly idolatry can choke out our appetite for the truth of God’s word. He understands how self-righteousness and doctrinal pride cloud our understanding of God’s word. James is aware of how unchecked sin stunts us spiritually.”

“So, James's words are a gift from God! Repentance and faith in Christ’s forgiveness and the Spirit’s power to prepare our hearts to receive the preached Word on Sunday morning.”

“James says believers are to put away pride and receive the word with meekness. The word for receive means to welcome or accept. That’s what authentic listening is—Accepting God’s word, not only in my head but in my heart.”

“James says the key to listening is putting off our sin and putting on meekness, which is humility. Meekness is expressed in a submissive spirit. It’s the opposite of a defensive posture, a self-righteousness attitude, or an apathetic spirit, all of which slam the door of our hearts shut to the preached word.“

 “That’s the opposite of receiving the word with humility. Christians should be E.A.T., eager and teachable, so we EAT up the Word of God. Why? Because there’s so much for us to learn about our Lord and Savior!”

“What hinders humble listening on Sunday? Give it to the Lord. He is merciful. He is full of grace. He is mighty to change your heart. He loves and delights in you. He wants you to gain and grow all you can from the preaching of His Word.”

“Listening continues long after the message concludes, not with your ears, with your feet. James has just instructed the believers to receive the word with humility. Now, he puts the proverbial bow on the package with a powerful and unforgettable picture—read verses 22-25.”

“Now, the phrase looks intently means to observe carefully and contemplate what you see. This is not a glance. This man is studying his face in the mirror, and the more he looks into the mirror, the more the mirror reveals, blackheads and all. But then, in verse 24, he goes away, forgetting what he saw. Forgetting is not forgetfulness (growing old). Forgetting is disregarding. This man sees his face but ignores what he sees. He fails to make the needed adjustments before he gets on with his day. It’s an absurd metaphor. But that’s the point.” 

“We come every Sunday and get a good look at ourselves. James says if we sit here for 45-50 minutes but do nothing with what the mirror of God’s Word has shown us, we are a HEARER of the Word but not a DOER of the Word—spiritually, we are this guy. We can enthusiastically nod in agreement and shout out a hearty amen to the preacher, but we are this guy if we fail to make the required adjustments in our lives. I can preach my heart out, but if I’m not practicing what I preach—I’m this guy. If you are here every Sunday, listening intently to the sermon, but leave everything you hear in these four walls—You’re this person.”

“Assuming the mirror imagery, the second man looks intently at the Word and perseveres in it. The word for perseveres means it stays with him.”

“Persevering is the opposite of forgetting, and instead of being under deception, this person experiences God’s blessing. Not because he earned it but because the fruit of hearing and doing God’s Word is experiencing the freedom to be who God created you to be.”

“James's view of God’s Word went far beyond the law of Moses and the prophets. It was the whole of God’s redeeming revelation interpreted and fulfilled by Jesus—for us, that’s the Bible. James believed it could do what the law couldn’t and was never intended to do—liberate us.”

“As a mirror, Scripture liberates us by revealing our Great Liberator Jesus Christ. That’s what preaching is about: the gospel of Jesus and the glory of God connected to and weighing in on every aspect for our lives according to the Bible.”

“This is the blessing James speaks of at the end of verse 25, a life that began with the implanted word bringing new life, that new life being expressed through freeing obedience to God that will be consummated at His return! Sunday morning preaching is a God-ordained means of grace to this end.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Mark 4
Psalm 1
2 Timothy 3

QUOTES:
Charles Spurgeon - “We are told men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. Which, do you think, needs the most preparation, the sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean hands, but I would have the ground well plowed and harrowed, well turned over, and the clods broken before the seed comes in. It seems to me that there is more preparation needed by the ground than by the sower, more by the hearer than by the preacher.”

Jay Adams - “Christian, do you listen to preaching with a heart wide open to truth, a heart unprotected from thrusts of the Spirit’s sword? Or is your heart hard, resistant to certain teaching? Have you so rationalized your sin that your conscience rarely, if ever, accuses you of certain sins anymore?...It is time to crack open those compartments of the heart that you have so successfully barred. Instead, bare them to the preaching of the Word. Listen with a willingness to hear, apply, and obey. Until you do, preaching will be virtually valueless.”

J.I. Packer - “Congregations never honor God more than by reverently listening to His Word with full purpose of praising and obeying Him once they see what He has done…and what they are called to do.”

Charles Spurgeon - “Oh, with what ears ought men to listen to a word which can save their souls! With what open mouths ought they to drink in this living water! How wisely might we wish to be like sponges, to suck it all up....How we ought to wish to be like the ploughed ground which is broken up and pulverized, so that every drop that falls may soak into it! This is how to behave at sermon.”

APPLICATION:
- Join me, praying for your own heart as the preacher steps into this pulpit every Sunday.

- For the unbeliever, believe the gospel word by faith TODAY. For the believer, true freedom is the ability to give expression to who we truly are—not according to our fickle and fleeting feelings—but as people created in the image of God, rescued by and redeemed to Christ so that we can experience the highest call of our humanity—glorify and enjoy God in this life and forever. We walk in our blood-bought liberty when we live by God’s purposes, which are revealed in Scripture.

• Spend time in the Word during the week—The more you are in it the more you hunger for it

• Book Reccommendation:

Expository Listening: A Practical Handbook for Hearing and Doing God's Word

By Ramey, Ken

Buy on Amazon

• Don’t miss the obvious: Pre-service prayer, the Call to Worship, Singing, the Pastoral Prayer, each one is a unique expression of worship that, if we allow them, is used by God to soften and prepare our hearts to receive the preached Word. Get to your seat just a little early to prepare your heart for the preaching with a prayer.

This is the pastor’s charge at SGC. Sound, Christ-centered preaching is the centerpiece of our gathering. If we do anything on Sunday, we preach. God has the mic at SGC. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: 2 Timothy 4:1-5
TITLE: The Priority of Preaching
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA:

POINTS:
1. The Awesome Charge to Preach
2. The Urgent Need for Preaching

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The charge could not be more serious—(1) I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. This was not a private talk between friends. This was not a casual conversation between pastors. This is a divine charge given, received, and to be carried out in the very presence of God and Christ. Paul says, Timothy, I charge you to preach the Word and remember—God is watching!”

“The solemnity of the charge is rooted in three Christological realities Paul abbreviates.”

“Jesus will appear again. He is coming back, and when he does, he will judge the living and the dead as he fully establishes his kingdom. These eschatological certainties motivate Timothy to wake up every morning and say—I must preach, I must proclaim God’s Word, I must herald the gospel because Jesus…”

“Whatever the season, whatever the situation, whether it is convenient or not, whether it is safe or not, keep preaching the Word. Stand by it. Stick to it. Whether you feel like it or not, as a pastor called to preach, preach your heart out, and don’t stop preaching.”

“When you preach:

• reprove—Preaching is meant to correct people where they are wrong

• rebuke—Preaching is meant to warn people who don’t heed correction

• and exhort—Preaching is meant to urge and encourage you in Christ. Pointing and pushing you upward and inward to Jesus with complete patience and teaching—Don’t be consumed with fruit. Preacher, be patient because you know God alone can change hearts. So trust Him and keep preaching because His Word will not return void.”

“This divine charge has two profound implications: First, when your pastors step behind this pulpit, we are not entirely free men. We have been given a divine and holy charge to preach the Word. Second, Timothy’s charge has profound implications for the Sunday gathering.”

“As a preacher, I am not free to invent a message. I’m not at liberty to pedal my lifestyle tips. I don’t have a license to give you psychological pep talks. My calling is not to entertain you. It’s not to affirm you. God has determined my message and I am called to commit myself to passionately proclaiming and confidently commending His message to all He gathers to hear it. Your pastors are called to preached God’s Word—the easy and the hard parts…”

“We do a lot on Sunday. We sing, serve, give, pray, and operate in the gifts. All of it is built on and a demonstration of God’s Word, making it glorious. But none of it is more essential and central to our corporate worship than the preaching. This isn’t our idea—it’s God’s.”

“You can read and study your Bible alone and with others. You can read and listen to sermons online. But when God’s people gather together in the name of Jesus, in humble obedience and with faith-filled expectation, believing the Spirit is powerfully with us and eager to work in us, there is a unique outpouring of God’s grace through faithful, Christ-centered preaching. That’s a promise!”

“Paul says, Timothy, your congregation naturally drifts AWAY from the truth. They get bored. They get itchy ears, i.e., they get curious and restless. They don’t want something true; they want something new. They want a message that complements their preferences and affirms their perspectives. They idolize and are captive to their personal preferences so much that they become intolerant of the message of truth. They find a messenger with a message telling them what they want to hear.”

“When we turn from the sure foundation of God’s Word and the gospel, we become dangerously vulnerable to intellectual novelty, harmful speculation, and worthless sensationalism. When we turn away from God’s Word, we always turn to something inadequate and inferior in every way.”

“HB Charles said to preachers—How you preach is what you think about the Scriptures. I take that to heart. And I want you to take this to heart—Your presence, or lack thereof, reveals what you think about God’s preached Word.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
1 Peter 4:11
Hebrews 4:11-13
Ephesians 4:14
Jeremiah 5:31

QUOTES:
John Stott- “They do not first listen and decide whether or not what they heard is true; they first decide what they want to hear and then select teachers who will oblige by towing their line.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones - “The evangelical always gives primacy to preaching. When people cease to be interested in preaching, they cease to be evangelical. If you put discussions before preaching you are beginning to deny your evangelicalism. The church starts with preaching. Revivals, reformations, have always been great restorations of preaching. To the evangelical, nothing compares with preaching. Even reading is very secondary to preaching – “truth medicated through personality,” the impact of a man filled with the Spirit proclaiming the message of God!”

A Pastor’s Prayer:
”My Master God,
I am expected to preach today,
but go weak and needy to my task;
Yet I long that people will be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony will be given for you;
Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and passion.
Present to my view things pertainate to my subject,
with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a deep emotion to accompany the words I speak,
and grace to apply them to people’s consciences.
Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,
and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.
Help me to offer a testimony for yourself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting your mercy.
Give me freedom to open the sorrows of your people,
and to set before them comforting consolations.
Give Your power to the truth preached,
and awaken the attention of my slothful audience.
May Your people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help me to use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ’s incarnation and sufferings,
that people might be made holy.
I myself need Your support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that I might be a pure channel of Your grace,
and be able to do something for You;
Give me then refreshment among Your people,
and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer,
or be harsh in treating Christ’s death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.
And keep me in tune with You as I do this work.”

APPLICATION:
This is a pastor's charge. It belongs to Tom, Tim, and me. But its implications are enormous for you as well. So BE HERE next week when we talk about sitting under the preached Word. Today, here’s our two-fold application:
1. Receive your Pastor's gratitude—You love the preached Word!
2. Heed your Pastor’s plea—Pray for us!

We are spending time defining and celebrating the different aspects of our Sunday gathering so that we will grow in seeing how glorious and important Sunday is to God. Lord willing, the fruit being a deeper joy in God and a greater commitment to our gathering. Today, we look at Worship. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: John 4:21-24
TITLE: Worshiping God, God’s Way
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: True Worship is Worshiping God, God’s Way

POINTS:
1. The Biblical Fundamentals of Our Worship
2. The Biblical Expressions of Our Worship

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Romans 12:1 exhorts us to offer our body and soul as a living sacrifice to God as worship. For the Christian, all of life is worship. Today, we look at a narrow expression of Romans 12 worship—the 20-25 of our gathering when we sing together.”

“The woman at the well was a Samaritan. The Samaritans were Israelites who intermarried with non-Israelites. By the time Jesus came on the scene, the Samaritans had their own theological system, including Mt. Gerizim, not Jerusalem, as the place where God was to be worshipped.”

“When Jesus says You worship what you do not know— he is calling the woman and her religion out. She does not worship God in truth because she does not worship Him according to His self-revelation but according to their man-made revelation. It’s not that she was worshipping a false God; she was worshipping the true God falsely.”

“Jesus points the woman to his sacrifice that will transform where and how God’s people will worship Him. Since Jesus is the way, the life, the TRUTH (Hebrews 1:3), his words in verse 24—those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth—become the new order and formula he will create for all Christian worship under the new covenant.”

“To worship God in truth is to worship Him according to who He is and how He has prescribed we worship Him in Scripture. To worship God in truth is to worship Him according to and for His eternal character, sacrificial love, and gospel promises. It’s not that we can only sing God’s Word (Regulative Principle), but God’s Word must be the basis of our singing. Our theology informs, permeates, and fuels our Sunday morning worship. This is why the songs we sing are so important.”

“Simply put, to worship God in Spirit is to worship Him from a heart of faith in Christ. We are God’s people, not because of ethnicity, geography, or outward work. We belong to God because, by His grace, we have an inward faith in Jesus.”

“When we worship in faith, not concerned with pleasing or impressing others, but believing from hearts of gratitude that God is good and the pinnacle of His goodness is providing Jesus as our Savior, no matter where you are, who you are with, or how off tune you sing, God is magnified because you are worshipping him in spirit, from a heart of gratitude and in truth, according to who He is.”

“This isn’t optional. You can’t have one without the other. They go together. To worship only in truth can be hard and cold. To worship God only in Spirit can lead to fleeting and shallow emotionalism. But to worship God with the head and the heart, that is true worship.”

“Is true worship about the heart? Absolutely! From beginning to the end of Scripture it’s clear—above all things, God is concerned with the heart. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that means what I do with my body when I worship is unimportant and irrelevant. It is very important and relevant.”

“The Bible says much about physical expression when we worship God. What do we mean by physical expression? Expressive worship is using appropriate physical motions that manifest the attitude and reflect the proper response to what we are singing about God.”

“Ultimately, the exhortation in 1 Corinthians 14:40, when we gather things should be done decently and in order, is our guiding principle. Our priority in corporate worship is not our individual expressiveness; it’s encouraging and serving one another in Christ. This is why pastors should teach, encourage, and model God-honoring expressive worship.”

“This shouting isn’t a rock concert—Hey SGC! We’re in the house. Are you ready for this? Connect the content to the shouting. These are shouts of praise fueled by the theology of God that is on fire in the hearts of His people in a way that cannot be contained.”

“Clapping in Scripture is a God-ordained response of appreciation, honor, and exaltation to the Lord for who He is and what He has done for us.”

“The point of Psalm 47 is that God is the King who reigns over all. He has defeated the enemy and delivered His people. So His people clap—Thank you God! How much more on this side of the cross do we have to clap as a worshipful response to the God of our salvation? He is worthy, isn’t He?”

“In the Bible, raised hands are associated with blessing. To bless the Lord is to exalt and celebrate Him. David expresses his hunger and need for the Lord, who is powerful and glorious and whose unfailing love is better than life itself. So he doesn’t just sing; David also raises his hands to express gratitude for who God is and how He loves him.”

“As a desperate child runs to their father with outstretched arms—Help me!—David raises his hands as an expression of need and surrender to God.”

“Again, connect the content with the expression. This is not— Raise your hands in the air like you just don’t care. This is theology that grips the heart so much that it overcomes our personalities and fears and pours forth through physical expression because it is too marvelous to be contained.”

“Bowing down is a posture of humility and submission. It reflects an inward attitude of reverence and respect before the Lord. As the people consider and praise God as the Rock of their salvation, their Holy Creator and sovereign Lord over all things, they bow down in awe and wonder. Isn’t He worthy of our bended knee?”

“Important distinction: No physical expression is worship itself. No expression makes our worship more genuine. No expression makes the individual holier than the next. Someone can raise their hands in exuberance on Sunday and be committing adultery or stealing from the boss on Monday. But when these physical expressions are fueled by theology and flow from a heart of gratitude, adoration, wonder, and awe, they are God-honoring responses to true worship taking place in our hearts.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:1
1 Corinthians 14:40

There are numerous physical expressions in Scripture that God has commanded and commended to us:
Voices
- Sing: Psalm 96:1-2, Psalm 47:6:7
- Shout: Psalm 33:1-3, Psalm 100:1
Hands
- Clapping: Psalm 47:1-2
- Raising Hands: Psalm 63:1-4, Psalm 134:1-3, Psalm 143:6
Legs
- Bow Down: Psalm 95:1-7

QUOTES:
Martin Luther - “A person who gives this [singing] some thought and yet does not regard it as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of [donkeys] and the grunting of hogs.”

D.A. Carson - “Christian worship is new covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship; it is cross-focused worship.”

Bob Kauflin - “God wants our worship to be intelligent and informed. He wants to stretch our minds to the limits as we consider the greatness of his being and the wonder of his works….Obviously, intellect can become an end in itself. We can become more impressed with our doctrinal formulations than we are with Jesus. We can end up leading a theologically orthodox but emotionally dead church. God receives no glory from that combination….God intends for us to remember that neither biblical truth nor deep emotion is out of place when we worship God; they’re meant to go together.”

Matt Boswell - “The Scriptures resound with singing. There are over fifty direct commands for us to sing, and singing is mentioned over 400 times in the Bible. Singing doesn’t merely play a one-dimensional function in the life of the church; it plays a multi-faceted, invaluable role as we worship God. We sing as an act of worship. We sing to disciple one another. We sing as a declaration to the world.”

APPLICATION:
Q) Are there any physical expressions of worship God has given in Scripture that I refuse or have never displayed?

• Not my personality to raise my hands

• Not respectable to shout (shouting in my heart)

• What will others think if I bow down? (fear of man)

• Expressions are cultural (their not)

• Didn’t grow up clapping 

What hinders you on Sundays? Fear of man? Personality? Warped sense of being reverent or respectable? Tradition?

The Bible doesn’t command we do every expression every time we worship. But if God has commanded and commended certain physical expressions, and I refuse some because I want to worship God my way, at my comfort level, well, I need to revisit my theology of worship. Because worship is not about me; it’s about Him.

In heaven, one thing we will do is sing. We will see our Savior, and with the angels, we will sing. We will sing loud, free of pride, fear, and ignorance. We will sing with clear minds and genuine hearts that can take in the glory of God unhindered by sin. We will sing with the strength to keep singing forever. It will be glorious! Until then, Be here on Sunday so we can sing together. How God made you will be reflected in your worship. But he gave us all a voice, hands, and legs to worship Him.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and Paul’s apostolic authority over this [Corinthian] Church, what arises from this highly corrective letter, helps us understand what matters to God about His local Churches. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
TITLE: Communion: A Holy Celebration
PREACHER: Tim Lambros
BIG IDEA: The Sunday Gathering Matters to God because gospel proclamation matters to God.

POINTS:
1. The Sunday Gathering Matters
2. The Communion Celebration Matters
3. The Communion Posture Matters

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Paul is bringing a rebuke, a correction concerning when they gather on Sundays. He doesn’t waste time and is very clear. Your  Sunday gatherings are not for the better but for the worse. …[These are] God’s people gathering as Christians, saved by grace, saved by the power of the gospel – yet their Sunday gathering is not commendable. …It’s not even neutral. It’s for the worse. When you gather it’s not good, it’s not healthy, it’s not productive. In fact, Corinth, it’s for the worse.”

“God is using the Apostle Paul to speak into a messy situation in the Corinthian Church on numerous fronts – earlier in this letter Paul dealt with sexual sin, later he will deal with the pride of exalting of a spiritual gift like tongues – here God is concerned with the Sunday gathering. Are you getting the idea that the Sunday gathering  matters to God?”  

“Paul will move on to instruction concerning the Lord’s Supper next but clearly the Corinthian Church and all local Churches would know from this rebuke that the Sunday Gathering Matters to God.”

“The early Church met in rich people’s homes. The unity the gospel brought was still  being worked out in the Churches – Jew/Greek, rich/poor, master/slave, male/female.  The tradition and institution of the Lord’s Supper was getting lost as the rich people  were more concerned about their meal while drinking their wine while others were not  eating anything. Societal discrimination was being cultivated when they met and the  sacred observance of the Lord’s Supper was getting lost.”

“Paul directs their attention to the communion celebration. One of two sacraments. A  sign. A particularly important celebration commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ to be  done regularly because it’s one of the richest pictures and reminders of the gospel of  Jesus Christ.”

“Paul draws their attention to the tradition of this institution. This is too rich and too meaningful a tradition to confuse it with mealtime or to come hoping to get your stomach satisfied or to drink wine. The Church is to come together for a communion  celebration that reminds them of the significance of what Christ had done.”

“During the Lord’s Supper, we preach the death of Christ that paid the cost for discriminating one another, paid the price for selfishness and self-centeredness in the Church. Can you see why Paul brings correction and in fact is  saying “this is important to get right, the communion celebration matters!” this rich  and meaningful and important celebration means something – look at v. 26 – you are  proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.”

“Bottom line, if you participate in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner you will be guilty concerning the body and blood of Christ. In other words, if you are self-centered when the Church gathers for this sacrament and sin against your brothers and sisters  you disrespect Jesus Himself.”

APPLICATION:
- Does the Sunday gathering of this local Church matter to you?
- In what ways can you fight our heart getting cold about the Sunday Gathering?

Our section of text today can easily be described as one of the most clear and instructional portions of scripture that frames the Christian heart of giving and we will see that at the bottom of it all is the Gospel. This text is a GIFT to the church for clarity on giving. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
TITLE: Gospel Generosity
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: The Gospel Forges Generous Givers

POINTS:
1.   Gospel Freedom
a. Purposeful Giving
b. Cheerful Giving
c. Faith-filled Giving
2.   Gospel Mission
a. God Funds the Gospel Mission
b. God Secures the Gospel Mission success
c. God is Generous toward us so we will be generous in the Gospel Mission
3.   Gospel Glory

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Giving, for the believer in Jesus, must not be disconnected from the Center of our faith – The Gospel of Christ.”

“God’s people give. A simple survey of our Bible reveals this is the case. Verse 7 may be misunderstood as allowing giving as an option as one “has decided” BUT don’t miss the clear imperative to “give.” The text is not instructing us on whether or not we can or should give but, rather, giving is assumed and it begins to instruct us on HOW and WHY we are to give.”

“These words in the original carry the meaning that can be described as the Purpose of the Heart. Not simply moved by the whims of the heart or the mind and certainly not from whatever we feel like in the moment.

“This ‘decision in his heart’ carries with it intentionality that is motivated by a deep sense of conviction – the fountainhead and morality of the mind/the will.’”

“Purposeful, intentional giving is what the Spirit of God in verse 7 teaches us. Packed in the meaning of this is thoughtful planning, and consideration. NOTE: giving did not begin with the budget, the ledger, the spreadsheet, the pen and napkin. The Purpose of giving begins in the heart.”

“In addition to the purpose, there is the disposition of the heart… one of cheer and joy! Without joy, we find that our giving can be pragmatic and mechanical. How strange it would be for the believer in Christ to be filled with joy in his salvation and yet not his giving!”

“In verse 6, the Cheerful Giver is illustrated in the sower who sows bountifully. Imagine the hopeful, happy farmer with a sunbaked smile sowing happily into the field.”

“‘God is able!’ - these are trust-anchoring words. They move our faint hearts from our circumstances and uncertainty places us upon the very promises of God, His power. He promises to provide, and He will provide EVERYTHING that we need at ALL TIMES, enabling us to do what we originally thought was impossible.”

“This grace of giving comes from the fountainhead of the heart that is purposeful and joyful BECAUSE its faith is grounded on God himself.”

“Our sinful nature wrestles deeply with the “desire of having.” If we have much, we desire to hold on to it selfishly. If we have little, we desire to hold on to it selfishly… And in both cases, with much and with little, we selfishly do not want to let it go.”

“Loosed from the shackles of selfish reluctance, dread, and mechanical compulsion the GOSPEL CHANGES THE SOWER: FREEDOM flows from our hearts with purpose, joy, and faith.”

“This sower sows bountifully, burying his hand into the supply he casts GENEROUSLY with an open hand. Yes, with wisdom and intentionality but nothing is holding him back. The sense of the text likely imagines the unwilling white-knuckled grip on the gift being now WILLINGLY and FREELY opened and the gift being hurled into the field.”

“One act of God’s grace for the giver in Gospel mission is that God Himself is the one who funds the Mission! ‘He supplies the seed to the sower.’”

“HE IS NOT RELUCTANT! He freely gives to us GENEROUSLY! But, he does so so that we would turn and be ‘generous in every way.’"

“In Mattew 6, Jesus instructs us not to give in such a way that we draw attention to ourselves (and easy temptation). Without contradicting Jesus, the Apostle in the original language of Vs 12, along with what he writes in 8:1-7, reveals that this act of giving was corporate. Humble Gospel giving at the Gathering is an act of corporate worship. It is witnessed BY the church because it was done AT church.”

“Generosity is not about dollar amounts nor about percentages. It’s about the Grace of God at work in their hearts that empowered them even in the face of severe affliction in such a way that Gospel joy met their extreme poverty and the result was an overflowing ‘wealth of generosity’ that measured beyond their normal means! Their generosity was measured by sacrifice, not dollars!”

“God has given dearly to us! Romans 8:32 ‘He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’ There was nothing more valuable to the Father than His only begotten Son, Jesus, and HE GAVE HIM for us.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 12:34
2 Corinthians 8:7

QUOTES:
John Calvin- “...for nothing is more famished and starved than the distrustful, who are tormented with an anxious desire of having.”

Randy Alcorn - “Another benefit of giving is freedom. It’s a matter of basic physics. The greater the mass, the greater the hold that mass exerts. The more things we own – the greater their total mass – the more they grip us, setting us in orbit around them. Finally, like a black hole, they suck us in… We think we own our possessions, but too often they own us…”

APPLICATION:
- Survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died
- Study the Gospel and probe the depths of our Generous God and Savior.

Let the Gospel in your right hand preach to your tightly closed left hand until it loosens its grip and let that seed fly!

A man made happy and grateful by the Gospel will give generously and freely.

Sundays Matter because Sundays are for serving. But pastor, I thought Sundays were for worship? Exactly. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: 1 Peter 4:10-11
TITLE: The Glory of Serving on Sundays
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: When we serve on Sunday, God’s power and grace are displayed, and His glory is revealed.

POINTS:
1. Your Gifts Are From God
2. Your Gifts Are For God’s People
3. Your Gifts Are Used To God’s Glory

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Today is not about discovering your gift. There will be no job fair or personality testing will be in the lobby following the service. Today is about The Glory of Serving on Sundays. WHY serving on Sunday matters? Here it is: In a word—Worship! When we serve on Sunday, it is an outward display of an inward reality meant to draw attention to upward glory.”

“Peter begins with an assumption in 10—As each has received a gift. Every Christian has a spiritual gift or gifts. You may not know what your gifts are. You may not currently be using your gifts. You may not know how to use your gifts. …’ungifted Christian’ is an oxymoron. There’s no such thing—If you’ve been saved, you’ve been gifted.”

“Peter makes a stunning statement about your gift. No matter how public or private or how dazzling or dull your gift is, your gift is a MANIFESTATION of God’s GRACE.”

“When the gospel came into your heart, Christ took your sin away. He imputed His righteousness to you. He gave you hope in life and death. AND—He gave you gifts.”

“Your spiritual gifts are not simply about what you can do FOR Christ; they are an expression of the GREATEST gift you’ve ever received—Christ IN you.”

“And our Master’s desire for the gifts He’s entrusted to us (10)—to serve one another. Your gifts are for your church, not EXCLUSIVELY, but PRIMARILY. Is it ok to serve outside your local church—ABSOLUTELY! But just as Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 12:7—the gifts are for the common good of the local church, and that’s what Peter has in mind here—serving begins IN your church because your gifts are primarily FOR your church.”

“Paul uses the imagery of a human body and all its parts to make this point: In the local church—Everyone is needed, and everyone matters.”

“Your gifts are outwardly focused, but they have an upward purpose—the glory of God. We are not kings building personal kingdoms. We are stewards in the kingdom of God.”

“God desires and requires us to serve humbly, aware of our dependence on Him to get anything done, bear any fruit, or do any good.”

“Our Sunday gathering is meant to display God’s extraordinary power through ordinary people serving one another for one ultimate purpose—make much of our Savior to the praise of God’s glory.”

“This is why Sunday Matters: This makes a gathering of ordinary people extraordinary. The gathering is a unique and powerful act of worship that celebrates and displays God’s grace and glory to one another.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Ephesians 2:10
1 Corinthians 10:31
1 Corinthians 12:7
1 Corinthians 12:14-26
Isaiah 48:9-11

QUOTES:
Paul Tripp - “God has designed corporate worship not just to expose my need of help, but to remind me over and over again, that I have been called to be one of God’s helpers. We need to be reminded that we are not just the recipients of God’s amazing grace, but have been drafted by him to be instruments of that grace in the lives of others.”

Donald Whitney - “At the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit comes to live within you, He brings a gift with Him.”

Jerry Bridges - “We all know people, even unbelievers, who seem to be natural servants. They are always serving others one way or another. But God does not get the glory; they do. It is their reputation that is enhanced. But when we, natural servants or not, serve in dependence upon the grace of God with the strength He supplies, God is glorified.”

John Piper - “The most passionate heart for the glorification of God is God’s heart.”

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Sunday Matters: 52 Devotionals to Prepare Your Heart for Church

By Tripp, Paul David

Buy on Amazon

APPLICATION:
- Study 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 this week!

- Now, Peter’s exhortation demands some self-evaluation:

1. Are you aware of your gifts?  

2. Are you connected to your church with your gifts? 

3. Are you encouraging others in their gifts?

Here’s our application: Be here on Sundays. Be here serving your Savior by serving one another with the gifts God has graciously given you to use for His glory!

Sunday is not a day of religious rules; it’s a day of purposeful praise. On Sundays, we change our pattern to have our eyes filled with the glory of Jesus, who has given us true rest! Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  The Gathering: Why Sunday Matters
TEXT: Exodus 20:8-11
TITLE: Sunday: Holy Day? Or Holiday?
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Sunday matters.

POINTS:
1. The Sabbath Commanded
2. The Sabbath Transformed
3. The Sabbath Practiced

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The demise of the Sunday gathering is a modern-day expression of the idolatry in Judges that created a society defined by—everyone did what was right in their own eyes. For this reason, convictions about Sunday are critical.”

“If you don’t have convictions that define your Sunday, other things will define your Sundays. Work emails will define your Sundays. The culture will. Youth sports will. Leisure will. Your emotions will. A long, exhausting week will define your Sundays.” 

“Sadly, Sunday doesn’t matter enough. Here’s what your pastors are convinced of: We need a bigger vision of our Sunday gathering. We need to recapture the glory and privilege of gathering as people saved by grace, empowered by the Spirit, and waiting for our final home in heaven. How everything we do when we gather accomplishes this is what The Gathering series is about.”

“The fourth commandment was simple—Remember the Sabbath. What does that mean? It was more than mere mental exercise. If I say to Donna—It’s our anniversary, and that’s the extent of it, I’m in trouble. Israel was to remember the Sabbath by—(8) keeping it holy or setting it apart.”

“After 400 years of living under the tyrannical slave masters in Egypt who brutally worked them endlessly, taking a day off would have been welcomed. But taking a day off was not an end in itself. There was a much deeper significance than just physical rest—read verse 11.”

“God rested, not because He needed rest, but to take pleasure in the goodness of His creation, especially the goodness of the fellowship He had with Adam and Eve. God is delighting in them. He is caring for them. God is talking with them. He is shining His face down upon them. In other words, God is reveling in His presence with His people. Just as God rested to revel in His presence with His people, Israel is to rest to revel in God’s presence with them.”

“Simply put, it was a day of unique worship. That’s what the Fourth Commandment was about.”

“By the time of Jesus, what was a gift to God’s people, what was supposed to be a day of worship and delighting in God for their deliverance from Egypt, the Sabbath had become unrecognizable due to the crushing legalism of the Pharisees.”

“Jesus came to obey and fulfill the law perfectly because we could not. Now, IN CHRIST, we can rest from the impossible laboring of pleasing God through works. We can rest from the futile laboring of earning God’s saving love. We can rest from our useless laboring at securing forgiveness through our goodness. We can rest from the crushing weight of performance. The reality is that we can’t make ourselves right with God. We enter God’s Sabbath rest by believing in the atoning and all-sufficient life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ by which we are justified and forgiven.” 

“The OT Sabbath was rooted in the pattern of God’s creation work then rest. But Christ coming to do the work of salvation changes that pattern. Jesus did the work necessary for our forgiveness on the cross—It is finished. His resurrection on Sunday ushered in the New Covenant. Now, in Christ, we don’t work then rest; we begin with spiritual rest provided for us in the gospel, and then we work out of that rest by living and worshipping to the praise of God’s glory. The gospel transforms the 6-1 into 1-6.”

“There are differences between the Old Covenant and New Covenant Sabbath. But continuity is there: 1) We physically come together to worship 2) We intentionally rest from our usual activities in some way.”

“Sunday is not a day of religious rules; it’s a day of purposeful praise. On Sundays, we change our pattern to have our eyes filled with the glory of Jesus, who has given us true rest!”

“What are your convictions about the Lord’s Day? Is it just another day? What are your children learning about the priority of Sunday as they grow up in your home? Are they being taught there is no other day like the day we go to the house of the Lord to worship God? Or is it that church fits in if nothing else is pressing in? Over the next six weeks, we will unpack Why Sunday Matters. Be here. Don’t miss it. The Lord has something for all of us as we take back Sundays for our good, the testimony of our church, and God’s glory!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 2:2-3
Psalm 121:4
Deuteronomy 5:15
Matthew 11:28-30
Revelation 1:10
Acts 20:7
1 Corinthians 16:1-2

QUOTES:
C.J. Mahaney - “Sunday is the best day of the week because we celebrate the risen Christ of the cross in the local church, the dearest place on earth.”

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

What If I Don't Feel Like Going to Church? (Church Questions)

By Gundersen, David

Buy on Amazon

APPLICATION:
Five ways to prepare for this series:
1. Be Here on Sundays
You won’t grow if you don’t go. Do whatever you need to do to be here. Orient the rest of your week to ensure you can be here on Sunday. And come even if you don’t want to come.
2. Take this series to heart
Humbly allow God’s Word to function as a mirror in your life. See the next few weeks as a time to evaluate your Sunday convictions and habits.
3. Think Corporately
The Christian life is you, God, and His people. We aren’t just saved from something; we are saved to something—the Church. That has implications for us, beginning with Sundays.
4. Hold your personal preferences graciously
Romans 14 and Colossians 2 warn us about self-righteously judging others because, among other things, their practice of the Lord’s Day doesn’t look just like ours. Beyond the NT pattern of setting Sunday apart to gather in worship and taking time to rest in some way—those should be non-negotiable for every believer—there is gospel freedom for personal preference.
5. Consider attending the SGU class in May: “Doctrine of the Church”

For all of us, here’s the bad news: You can’t avoid death. Everyone eventually dies, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But Easter changes everything. Easter is the remedy for death. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

EASTER 2024
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26
TITLE: The Ultimate Hope of Easter
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Because death is our greatest enemy, Easter is our greatest hope.

POINTS:
1. The Resurrection of Jesus Guarantees Our Resurrection
2. The Resurrection of Jesus Guarantees the Renewal of All Things

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”I read a study titled—What We Fear More Than Death. Does anyone think they know the answer? 75% of people polled answered public speaking. That means most of you would rather die than get up here and speak. If that’s you, here’s the good news: You can avoid public speaking. For all of us, here’s the bad news: You can’t avoid death. Everyone eventually dies, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But Easter changes everything. Easter is the remedy for death.”

“Easter is our greatest hope because the resurrection of Jesus guarantees our resurrection and the renewal of all things.”

“Paul is correcting bad theology in 1 Corinthians. But in that, he is giving the Corinthians hope. There is safety and hope in sound doctrine.”

“In Corinth, there were some in the church rejecting a bodily resurrection. There is no hope in that perspective. If there is no resurrection, then not even Jesus is resurrected. And if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, if the tomb is not empty on Sunday, then all that happened on Good Friday doesn’t matter. We are still in our sins. The Christian faith is meaningless, even blasphemous. This life is all we have, so we are to be pitied above all. Why? Because if the tomb is not empty, the gospel unravels.”

“What are first fruits? The first fruits were the first crops the farmer gathered from their harvest. They would take the first fruits of their crops and give them to the Lord as an offering of gratitude for His provision. The first fruits also gave the farmer hope because they acted as a promise for a good harvest. The first fruits were a sign of good things to come. In the analogy, Paul says Jesus’ resurrection was the first fruit, the first spiritual harvest that will lead to many resurrections. Christ’s empty tomb guarantees a bountiful crop of resurrections to follow.”

“Paul says you have believed the gospel, which is of first importance. You believe that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and after three days in the grave, he was raised from the dead and was seen alive by over 500 people, including ME. Now, if Jesus is the first fruit, the necessary implication of your faith is that his resurrection, which you believe in, guarantees your resurrection. Be hopeful!”

“Because Adam was the first man, he was the representative of mankind. The way he goes, we all go. Adam’s sin affected and infected us all. Because Adam sinned, we are sinners. We are sinners because we inherited Adam’s sinful nature. This is called Original Sin. You can read more about it in Romans 5. In Adam, we have all sinned, making physical and spiritual death the inescapable reality for us all.”

“We know sin—Anger, lust, greed, gossip, dishonesty, bitterness. We know pride, selfishness, judgementalism, coarse talk, sexual sin. We have been freshly reminded by the Book of Judges just how well we know idolatry, which is simply finding our purpose and joy in anything other than God. Why? We were born on Team Adam. But our text tells us there is another team.”

“This text tells us there is another representative whose actions affect us. In Adam, all die, but those IN CHRIST live! Isn’t God merciful and gracious? We deserve death—He gives us life.”

“The Hope of Easter is not that if you clean up your life, God will accept you. The Hope of Easter is not a personal commitment to diversity, equity, or inclusion. The Hope of Easter is not a disciplined approach to tradition or ceremony. The Hope of Easter is not found in politicians. The Hope of Easter is that all who believe in Jesus will live forever in his glorious presence. To be IN CHRIST is to have CHRIST IN YOU, and CHRIST IN YOU is the hope of glory! Such is the profound nature of the gospel and the guarantee of the resurrection.”

“In the resurrection of Jesus, God has the final word over sin and death. Jesus paid the price for our sins at the cross, crying—It is finished. Through the empty tomb, God makes the cosmic proclamation—It is sufficient! And on that glorious day when the trumpet will sound, and Jesus returns in all his glory, we will finally, fully, and forever realize our Easter Hope.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Colossians 1:27

QUOTES:
David Garland - “Graveyards remind us of the brevity of life. Jesus’ resurrection reminds us of the brevity of death.”

APPLICATION:
If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, you are still on Team Adam. Eternal death and judgment await you. But today, you can believe in Jesus and live. You may say—Pastor, I am living. I’m good. You’re not living. The Bible says because of your sin, you are a dead person walking. You may be alive physically, but you are dead spiritually, and that’s what matters eternally. But Jesus is not dead—He has risen! That means if you believe in him today, you lean all your trust on him for salvation, you will be raised to life and truly live, not only today but forever. Will you come to Jesus this morning?

For the believer, Paul tells us exactly how we should respond to our Easter Hope—read 58. Our Easter hope is that one day, we will rise from the dead and reign with Jesus. But that resurrection promise, in a sense, is ours now. It’s in part, but we live the resurrection life today. 

In this topsy-turvy world, what is testing your faith today? The resurrection spurs you on to gospel steadfastness, knowing the best is yet to come. Are you becoming fearful of trying to live the Christian life in your country? You can stand immovable in the face of increasing hostility because what can man do to us—IN CHRIST, death is the door to life!

Are you growing weary of doing gospel good in an unresponsive community? You can throw ourselves into our gospel mission because Jesus is not dead; he is alive and advancing His kingdom purposes through us from the throne of God. As Christians, we aren’t living our best lives now, but we live now knowing that our best lives are yet to come.