Spiritual Flourishing

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Titus 1:1-11
October 13, 2024

Titus 1:1-11: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who lever lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

To Titus, my true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you — if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

Sermon Outline

1. Elders are a source of discipleship

2. Elders are a display of the Spirit

• Character

• Conviction

• Competency

3. Elders are for soundness of doctrine

Risky Request

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Speaker: David Fogleboch
Scripture: Philemon 1-25
October 6, 2024

Philemon 1-25: Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker — also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier — and to the church that meets in your home:

Grace and peach to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul — an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus — that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him — who is my very heart — back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want you to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever — no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back — not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you’ll do even more than I ask.

And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Sermon Outline

1. The request

• Reconcile with a runaway slave

• The modern equivalent

2. The risks

• Paul’s friendship with Philemon

• Philemon’s reputation

• Onesimus’ life

3. Risking reconciliation

The Reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoash

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 13:1-25
September 29, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Jehoahaz

• “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD...”

• Result of this evil

• “Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD’s favor”

• How God did it

• Israel’s response

2. Jehoash

• Different king, same summary

• A significant episode

• A dead man lives again

3. Conclusion

Jehu Destroys Ahab's Family and Baal Worship

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 10:1-36
September 22, 2024

Sermon Outline

Destroying Ahab’s house

• Jehu’s challenge

• Heads roll in Samaria

• Jehu seeks support of citizens and soldiers in Jezreel

• Jehu slaughters Ahab’s house in Jezreel

2. Meeting relatives of Judah’s recently departed king

• Remember Ahaziah?

• The deadly meeting on the road to Samaria

3. Meeting a most unusual man

• Jehonadab the Recabite

• Jehonadab joins Jehu

• The principle of this part of the passage

4. Killing Baal worship

• A compulsory command

• Death and destruction

5. What are we to think of this chapter?

• Christian, don’t be naive about politics

• God uses scary unbelievers to achieve his holy purposes

• God often rewards unbelievers (in this life) for the good they do

• It won’t do to abandon the sins we don’t like, but cling to the sins we do like

The Heights of His Holiness

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Leviticus 14:33-56
September 15, 2024

Sermon Outline

The holiness of God in his sovereignty

• God’s promises are sure

• God’s providence is real

2. The holiness of God in his separation

• Uncleanness is contagious

• Uncleanness is deep-seated

• Uncleanness is persistent

• Uncleanness renders something fit for destruction

3. The holiness of God in his Son

• Provision for the cleansing of uncleanness

• A High Priest who is also a carpenter

4. Applications

• Do not despair over the shame you feel today

• There is great purpose in seemingly insignificant obedience to God

Jehu Kills Ahaziah, Joram, and Jezebel

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 9:1-37
September 8, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Previously on The Northern Kingdom...

• Elijah flees

• Jehovah replies

• God’s plan to topple Baal in Israel

2. Jehu anointed as king

• Elisha sends a young prophet on a mission

• Reaction of Jehu’s lieutenants

3. Jehu kills two Baal-worshiping kings

• Killing Joram of Israel

• Killing Ahaziah of Judah

4. Killing Jezebel

• Jezebel prepares to die in style

• Jehu has Jezebel thrown out the window

• Jehu feasts while Jezebel is feasted on

5. Lessons

• Rebellion against God is fanned into flame by those we associate with

• Rebels vs. God are gradually storing up wrath for themselves

• God avenges his suffering people

• Is God’s wrath so gory and terrible?

Joram's Last Chance for Grace Meeting the Shunammite's Son

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 8:1-6
September 1, 2024

2 Kings 8:1-6: Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and land. The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

Sermon Outline

1. Background to today’s text (2 Kings 4 for reference)

2. King Joram had already seen God’s divine kindness through Elisha

• Aramean ambushes foiled

• Aramean army delivered into Joram’s hands

• Northern kingdom’s capital relieved of starvation

3. King Joram asks to hear more about Elisha’s great works

• The widow in debt

• Death in the stew

• Feeding one hundred

• A borrowed ax

• The Shunammite woman’s son

4. Lessons

• See how God cares for His own people

• See how important our response to accounts of God’s mercies are

Background for next week’s sermon

• 2 Kings 8:7-14, NIV: Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

• 2 Kings 8:25-29, NIV: Ahaziah King of Judah

Who, Then, Is This?

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Speaker: Wendell Stoltzfus
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
August 25, 2024

Mark 4:35-41: On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Sermon Outline

1. The fisherman and the sea

• Simon Peter

• Sea of Galilee

2. Jesus in the boat

• He had been teaching all day

• He still had a lesson to teach that night

3. The storm

• More than experienced fishermen could handle

• Eventually, the disciples ask Jesus to help

• Jesus rebukes the storm, then rebukes his disciples

4. The disciples’ reaction

• “Who then is this?”

• These sinful men realize they’re in the presence of the Holy One

• Jesus’ lesson for his disciples

5. The storms we encounter

• What makes us afraid?

• “Why are you so afraid?”

“Saints, When Absent from the Body, Are Present with the Lord” — A Sermon by Jonathan Edwards (1747)

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:8
August 18, 2024

2 Corinthians 5:8: We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Sermon Outline

1. Departed saints live in the same wonderful place as Christ

• Christ in Heaven still has a human nature

• Heaven is a place

• Angels are in heaven

• Departed saints are in heaven

• We who are saved will be in heaven

2. The souls of saints in Heaven have an unhindered sight of Jesus Christ

• When absent from friends, we can only think about them

• “But then we shall see him face to face”

• Those in Heaven see him “as he is”

3. Departed saints become perfectly like him by seeing him

4. Departed saints enjoy a glorious and immediate closeness with him

• Departed saints are present with the Lord

• But His glorious state won’t intimidate them

• Reasons with his majesty won’t intimidate them

Elisha's Fiery Horses and Chariots

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 6:8-23
August 11, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Intro: Secrets are sometimes hard to keep.

• Aramean king’s secrets are being leaked.

• The new prophet on the block

2. The Aramean king sends an army to capture Elisha.

3. God is with His people, even when they cannot see it.

• First of three prayers

• Picture the fiery beings.

• Think of their number.

• Think what the actual miracle was.

4. How God protected Elisha and his servant

• Who made the first move?

• Second of three prayers

• Last of three prayers

5. God protects His people so that unbelievers may find that same protection in him.

• How Israel treated the captured Arameans

• What do we learn about God from this?

6. Lessons

Elijah, Elisha, and Chariots of Fire

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-12
August 4, 2024

2 Kings 2:1-12: Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Sermon Outline

1. Vexation at Elijah’s departure

• Anxiety at coming change

• The prophets go to Bethel

• The prophets go to Jericho

2. The prophets go to the Jordan

• Elijah’s last miracle

• Elijah asks his protege what he can do for him

• God takes Elijah away in style

• Elisha’s reaction

3. God reveals Elijah’s successor

• Elisha mourns, then gets to work

• Elisha is recognized as Elijah’s successor

4. Three short episodes to start Elisha’s ministry

• Episode 1: Ordinary ministry with Jericho’s prophets

• Episode 2: Ministry of God’s grace at Jericho

• Episode 3: Ministry of God’s judgment at Bethel

Ahaziah's Deathbed and Jehovah’s Stubborn Holiness

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 22:51-53 & 2 Kings 1:18
July 28, 2024

1 Kings 22:51-53: Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.

2 Kings 1:18: As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Sermon Outline

1. Ahaziah’s disappointments

• Disappointments over money

• Disappointments over his country

• Disappointments over physical trauma

• Disappointments from a shortened life span

2. In his disappointments, Ahaziah sought relief in idols

• The Lord of the Flies

• The insanity of idolatry

• How people “consult idols” today

3. God refused to tolerate Ahaziah’s idols

• Elijah intercepts, Ahaziah responds

• The ethics of the fire from heaven

• Ahaziah’s final attempt to arrest Elijah

4. God gives grace to the humble

• Humility grows from proper fear

• The Lamb of God bore God’s wrath for those who would believe

The Death of Ahab

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 22:1-40
July 21, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. A meeting between Ahab and Jehoshaphat

• The significance of Gilead

• Ahab proposes to retake Ramoth Gilead

• Jehoshaphat’s request

2. Pressure on Micaiah

• The pressure in general

• One pressure in particular

3. Micaiah speaks the truth

• Micaiah’s sarcastic sycophantic answer

• Micaiah’s serious, truthful answer

• Micaiah recounts his vision

4. Micaiah is punished for speaking the truth

• Zedekiah slaps Micaiah

• Ahab incarcerates Micaiah

5. Ahab dies in battle

• The battle proper

• God’s sovereignty in the battle

• Ahab’s burial

• A summary of Ahab’s life

6. A final word

Naboth's Vineyard

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-29
July 14, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The exchange between Ahab and Naboth

• Ahab’s offer

• Naboth’s refusal

2. Back at the palace

• Ahab sulks in his room

• Jezebel promises a solution

3. Jezebel’s murderous scheme

• The letters

• Who was blasphemed: Jehovah or Baal?

• The trial and the verdict

• Ahab takes possession

4. The exchange between Elijah and Ahab

• Elijah confronts Ahab in the vineyard

• Jehovah’s verdict on Ahab and Jezebel

5. God’s amazing grace

• Ahab’s change

6. Lessons

• Naboth is a picture of the lot of God’s people

• Such injustice is often inflicted by the government

• God’s servants must be prepared to pay a price for standing for justice

• God will intervene to bring justice to His wronged people

• God delights to exercise mercy while imposing his justice

Ahab Versus Ben-Hadad

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 20:1-43
July 7, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The thread

• Ben Hadad’s invasion

• Israel’s desperate condition

• Ben Hadad’s intimidating demands

2. The first battle

• An unnamed prophet advises Ahab

• An Israelite victory stuns Ben Hadad

3. The second battle

• Both sides regroup

• Arameans march to Aphek the following year

• Why does Ahab pardon Ben Hadad?

4. A prophet condemns Ahab

• The story

• What was Ahab’s sin?

5. Getting clear about God

• Getting clear about God’s grace

• Getting clear about God’s power

• Getting clear about God’s judgment

What God Promises for Those Who Repent

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Speaker: Clint Estes
Scripture: Joel 2:18-27
June 30, 2024

Joel 2:18-27: Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.

Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

Sermon Outline

1. What God will remove

• Judgment

• Shame

• Application

2. What God will restore

• Land

• Prosperity for Judah

• Application

3. What the result will be

• Satisfaction

• Certainty and experience of God never before had

• Worship

Recruiting Elisha

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:19-21
June 23, 2024

1 Kings 19:19-21: So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

Sermon Outline

1. Elijah goes to Abel Meholah

• The journey

• The destination

• The family of farmers

2. Elijah recruits Elisha

• A hard-working heir

• A silent summons

3. Elisha’s response

• He chases after Elijah

• He asks to kiss his parents goodbye

• He breaks all ties with the past

4. What the day’s events meant for the people affected

• Elijah

• Elisha’s parents

• Elisha himself

Elijah Restored on Mount Horeb

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:9-18
June 16, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The Story

• The place

• God and Elijah address one another

• Three dramatic elements

• The voice in a low whisper

2. God’s twice-asked question

• Some suggest God’s question is a rebuke

• A better suggestion is God’s question is an invitation

3. The meaning of it all

• The meaning of the earthquake, wind, fire, and low whisper

• God encourages Elijah with a promise

Zion Secure

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Psalm 48:1-14
June 9, 2024

Psalm 48:1-14: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.

For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
    Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
   that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Sermon Outline

1. In the Bible, God actually praises Zion

• What is meant by “Zion?”

• Zion is praised for its beauty

• Zion is is the “far north”

2. Zion is wonderfully protected by God

3. God’s protection of Zion is meant to help its citizens experience him for themselves

• People need to go through hard times to experience God’s help

• God wants us to remember what he did

• We’re to rejoice in God’s judgments

4. To aid our recall, God urges us to ponder the church we are in

5. He will guide us even to death

Elijah, Depressed in the Desert

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18
June 2, 2024

1 Kings 19:1-18: Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Sermon Outline

1. Immediately after Carmel

• What Ahab said

• How Jezebel reacted

• What Elijah did

2. Elijah’s flight to the desert

• Leaves servant in Beersheba

• Weeps in a wadi

• Sleeps in the shade

3. Commentators’ criticism of Elijah’s despondency

4. How we should see Elijah under the broom tree

• What the text implies about Elijah’s heart

• What the text shows about God’s heart

5. What should we make of all this?

• God is tender toward discouraged servants

• God’s tenderness ultimately comes through Jesus