Help with Being Holy: What is Holiness? Do I Need It?

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Leviticus 19:1-2
June 26, 2022

Leviticus 19:1-2: Now the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy."

Sermon Outline

1. God says, "I am holy."

• The meaning of "holy”

• First: God's holiness means he is separate from us

• Second: God's holiness means separate because he is superior to us

• Third: God's holiness means he is different from us

• Fourth: God's holiness means he has no evil in himself

2. God sometimes declares certain places and objects "holy"

• Moses and the burning bush

• Other objects, places, and times

• These things are not ethically holy

3. God sometimes sets certain people aside to be "holy"

• Levites

• Israelites

4. God not only declares Christian believers "holy" -- he commands us to be holy

• God's demand for holiness seems unattractive

• God's demand for holiness seems scary

• God's demand for holiness seems impossible

5. Three thoughts in response

• Regarding holiness as unattractive

• Regarding holiness as scary

• Regarding holiness as impossible

Benediction

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24: May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

The Readiness Is All

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Speaker: Tyler Estes
Scripture: Daniel 3:16-18
June 19, 2022

Daniel 3:16-18: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Sermon Outline

1. Their principled resolve.

• Note the timing of their resolve.

• The matter is already settled.

• They were resolved to worship only God long before the statue was built.

2. Their trust in God.

• First, they know the power of God.

• Second, they know the salvation of God.

• Third, they know their service to their true King

3. Their submission to God's sovereignty.

• Duties, not events

4. The outcome: God saved them.

• They still went into the flames.

• God went with them into the flames

5. "How do I become firm in my resolve?"

• Read the Bible frequently.

• Make church a priority.

• Do these things through faith in Christ

The Dark and Light Paths

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Proverbs 4:18-19
June 12, 2022

Proverbs 4:18-19: The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Sermon Outline

1. The Bible places everyone into just two categories

• This is odd to modern people

  • At best, "old-fashioned and overly simplistic"

  • At worst, "There those holier-than-thou Christians go again"

• Why does God use these terms?

  • Consider what God is like

  • All human beings are born resistant to God

  • In the Bible, God calls his people (worshipers, followers) "righteous"

2. For those who are not his, God describes their lives as a dark path

• A figure of speech

  • Main idea: danger

  • Further idea: a certain confusion/bewilderment

• What the dark path looks like

  • May be obvious

  • May not be obvious

  • On a national level

  • Person is not prepared for death

3. For those who are his, God describes their lives as a path of light

• Their path has light

• The light they have grows

Benediction

Proverbs 4:18: The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

Five Pearls for Pentecost

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Speaker: Steve Boyer
Scripture: Various passages
June 5, 2022

Let Us Die With Him

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 11:1-16
May 29, 2022

John 11:1-16: Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus. "Lord, the one you love is sick."

When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

"But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?"

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."

His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him"

Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Sermon Outline

1. At some point, Christian disciples -- especially leaders -- will be asked to "die" as they follow Christ.

• Dying can be literal

• Dying can be figurative

• What dying looked like for Paul

• What dying might look like for you

• Dying is unpleasant

2. When small group leaders die, they are dying "with Jesus."

• As you face frustrations, weariness, tensions... Christ is facing these things in you

• Christ feels your pain especially as you die in ministry

3. Small group leaders encourage each other to die.

• It's one reason we're in church today

4. When followers of Christ are willing to die with him, God uses them despite their weaknesses.

• Was Thomas strong?

• How did it end for Thomas?

Insisting on Bondage

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Speaker: Darin Pesnell
Scripture: 1 Samuel 8
May 22, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. Living under the influence of other things is a threat to a relationship with God

• Addiction -- an ever-decreasing satisfaction that has an ever-increasing cost

• We are easily tempted into "contracts" with controlling things when there seems to be a good reason to do so

2. Living in fear is a threat to a relationship with God

• The Israelites feared their enemies; therefore, they wanted a king (not God) to fight their battles

• To counter fear, slow down and talk to God

3. God gave Israel a bad king so He could eventually give them (and us) a good King

• Saul grasped at power and was overcome by evil

• David, a king after God's own heart, was still a sinner, not the king we need

• Jesus Christ is the King that God was preparing for in this chapter

Washing Each Other's Feet

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 13:12-17, 34-35
May 15, 2022

John 13:12-17: When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Sermon Outline

1. Does Jesus want us to literally wash feet?

• I can't prove he doesn't, but I suspect not

  • Reason #1: Jesus often uses figurative language

  • Reason #2: The Bible is sensitive to people's culture

  • Reason #3: The literal meaning is easier than the figurative meaning

2. Christ teaches me to wash other's feet by becoming a slave

• John 13:34 = "Be a slave of other as I have been your slave."

  • "Slave" in this case is a Greco-Roman slave, who was treated almost like a member of the family, not like chattel, as in the Antebellum South

• I'm to be a slave even if I hold a high position

3. Jesus calls this a "new command."

• Not totally new (Leviticus 19:18), but a new importance was given to it

• A new reason was given for it

• A new degree of self-sacrifice is given in it.

4. As a slave, whose feet am I to wash?

• I'm to wash the feet of Christians I'm familiar with

• I'm to wash the feet of Christians who are different from me

5. 4 questions to ask myself:

• Where do I sit in church?

• Who do I talk with?

• Where, and for whom, do I pray?

• How do I use my home?

Caution: We don't serve in order to be washed. We are washed in order to serve.

The Vine of Life

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Speaker: Joshua Olson
Scripture: John 15:1-14
May 8, 2022

John 15:1-14: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Sermon Outline

1. Why is abiding in Christ important?

• It's a matter of life or death

• Apart from Christ, we can do nothing of eternal significance

• Abiding in Christ will result in full, sustaining, life-giving joy

2. What does it mean to abide in Christ?

• Abide in his love.

Christians as Washed

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 13:1-11
May 1, 2022

John 13:1-11, NIV: It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

Sermon Outline

1. Jesus and his disciples prepare for the Passover.
a. Jesus and "his own"
b. Jesus will leave "his own"

2. The threatening world the disciples will stay in versus the love of Jesus
a. The threat of Judas Iscariot
b. The threat of Satan
c. The calmness and love of Jesus

3. Jesus washes their feet.
a. The physical setting
b. 1st Century Jewish culture

4. The meaning of the washing
a. Humility and cleansing
b. The salvation that Christ has worked in Christians

Love and Power: Impossible Repentance

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Speaker: Chuck Garriott
Scripture: Mark 10:17-27
April 24, 2022

Mark 10:17-27: As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "God, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Main point: To understand and apply gospel repentance, three questions must be answered.

Sermon Outline

1. What do you believe about yourself?

• Rich man asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

• Self sufficient

2. How well do you see?

• Rich man does not see he's in the presence of God

• Rich man is blind to his need for a savior. at this time

3. What is the focus of your love?

• Rich man: "What must I do?"

• Jesus: "Sell everything you own, give the money to the poor, and follow Me." (A different I, the “I AM”)

• The rich man walks away sad, unchanged, but with much to think about.

Seeing Again the Glory of Resurrection

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: John 11
April 17, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. The surprise of Jesus' priority love and delay

• Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

• Jesus, when he heard Lazarus was ill, stayed where he was for two more days

• Jesus, knowing Lazarus' resurrection would deepen the disciples' faith, lovingly delayed going to Bethany

2. The Surprise of Jesus' Person

• He renews us inwardly

• He secures us eternally

• He sympathizes perfectly

• He confronts us kindly

3. The surprise of Jesus' plan

• No mention of Lazarus' response

• The tears of Bethany are a preview of the tears of Calvary

“Strength… to Know”

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21
April 10, 2022

Ephesians 3:14-21: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Sermon Outline

1. A Motivated Prayer (For this reason…)

• Because of chapters 1-3 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have enacted your adoption

2. A Petitioning Prayer (…so that…) (…that you…)

• Faith (in Christ) would be real

• Would know you are loved

• Contentment in God's purpose

3. A Doxological Prayer (Now to him who…) — Doxology = A Word that gives glory

Rightly Responding to Persecution

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Speaker: Richard Goswiller
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-17
April 3, 2022

1 Peter 3:13-17: Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

Sermon Outline

By God’s grace, and with his help:

• vv. 13-14a: We must have the right perspective

• vv. 14b-15a: We must do the right thing

• vv. 15b-16a: We must imitate Jesus' example

• vv. 16b-17: We must trust God's sovereignty

Faithful in Exile

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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: Daniel 1
March 27, 2022

Faith Over Doubt and Anxiety

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Speaker: Carroll G. Wynne
Scripture: Psalm 3
March 20, 2022

Psalm 3: “Oh Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah”

Sermon Outline

1. David's Difficult Place (vv. 1-2)

2. David's Four-Point Sermon (vv.3-4)

• "You, O Lord, are a shield about me."

• "You, O Lord, are my glory.”

• "You, O Lord, are the lifter of my head."

• "You, O Lord, are the hearer of my cries."

3. The King's Benediction (vv. 5-8)

Love and Loss

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Speaker: Craig Garriott
Scripture: Ruth 1:1-22
March 13, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. It was the worst of times

• A dark national time

• A dark economic time

• A dark family time

2. A love greater than the losses

• Elimelech's faithlessness didn't diminish God's faithfulness

• Naomi's loss drove her to God

• Ruth's love is God's response to Naomi's lament

3. Applications

• Sometimes God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves

Facing Down Calamity

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Speaker: Andrew Hageman
Scripture: Esther 4
March 6, 2022

Main Points

1. Mordecai's grief: Feeling responsible for the coming calamity
2. Esther's dilemma: Contemplating responsibility to avert calamity
3. Esther's response: Living out faith as a sacrifice for many

Sermon Outline

1. God's silence is not evidence of his absence.

• God's sovereignty is much bigger than us.

2. The Bible's response to grief and difficulty is to turn our eyes upon God.

• We can come boldly before the throne of God in our grief.

3. Esther's choice may be upon us.

• Ask God to prepare us to sacrifice for the sake of Christ.

4. Only by Christ's power can we ever follow in Esther's footsteps

• Christ is the true and better Esther, making atonement before the throne of God on behalf of all believers.

Israel Asks for a King

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Speaker: Joe Whalen
Scripture: 1 Samuel 8
February 27, 2022

Sermon Outline

• vv. 1-3: As the faithful judge Samuel becomes old, the Israelites don’t want his corrupt sons to succeed him.

• vv. 4-6a: The Israelites demand a king, like their neighbors had.

• vv. 6b-9: …and God tells him to give them a king, but with a warning.

• vv. 10-18: Samuel warns Israel what a king will do to them.

• vv. 19-20: Israel rejects the warning outright.

Two truths

1. We never just reject God; we replace him

2. Our biggest problem is the unbelieving heart inside ourselves, not outward circumstances

Good news

God gave us a King who paid for our sins and who adopts us into His family

Cancer in the Church

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Speaker: Mark Estes
Scripture: Joshua 7
February 20, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. Sometimes a great victory is followed by a great defeat

• Sin leads to defeat

• Dissatisfaction leads to coveting

• Decisive action is needed

• Sin is a cancer-like threat

2. Unrepentant sin cannot be tolerated in the Christian life

• Individually

• Corporately

• A word to the young

Saved... for His Glory

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Exodus 15:22-27
February 13, 2022

Exodus 15:22-27: Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Sermon Outline

1. The Danger of Grumbling amidst Grace

2. The Reality of Testing alongside triumph

3. The Hope of Balm after bitterness