And the Word Became Flesh

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:1-3, 14
December 25, 2022

John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Sermon Outline

1. Background

• In the beginning was the Word (logos)

  • Pagan understanding of the Word

  • Jewish understanding of the Word

• John personalizes the Word

2. Surprisingly, the Word came to earth in a lowly, humble fashion

• The Word became "flesh"

• How John describes the Word living among us

3. The Word came to earth with splendor and magnificence

• We see this from the idea of "tent”

• "We have seen his glory"

• How was glory seen in the Word?

John the Baptist Introduces the Word

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:6-8, 15
December 18, 2022

John 1:6-8, 15: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light

(John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")

Sermon Outline:

1. The idea of a "witness"

2. John the Baptist's witness

• Manner

• Role

• Message

3. Lesson #1: Don't over-value God's witnesses

• John the Apostle disabuses the notion that John the Baptist was the pinnacle

• Application

4. Lesson #2: Don't under-value God's witnesses

• Don't under-value God's witnesses in general

• In particular, don't under-value witness of the two Johns

5. Lesson #3: It's not enough to merely hear the gospel; you must do something with it

Remembering God's Kindnesses: Samuel Raises a Memorial Stone

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Samuel 7:2-13
December 11, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. The background

• Israelites sin, are routed by the Philistines

• Ark of the Covenant taken to Philistia, God makes Philistines' lives miserable

• Philistines send Ark back to Israel, Israelites rejoice

2. The story

• Israelites' idolatry

• Divine discipline

• Real repentance

• Samuel sacrifices

• Philistines flee

• Ebenezer erected

3. The Ebenezer Stone

• What is Ebenezer?

• What does Ebenezer mean?

4. The Lessons

• God's people experience his help only when they have a mediator

• God is honored by special occasions of remembering his kindness

• God will continue to remember with us only as we continue to remember him

The Word as Light and Life

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:4-5
December 4, 2022

John 1:4-5: In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Sermon Outline

1. In him was life

• The Word is the reason any life existed

• The Word is the reason any joy in life existed

• The Word is the reason any spiritual life existed

2. That life was the light of men

• Makes things possible

• Brings joy

• Shows things as they really are

  • Better than we think

  • Worse than we think

3. The light shines in the darkness

4. The darkness has not overcome it

• Definition of "overcome"

• The point

Spiritual Blindness and the Glory of Jesus

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Luke 4:14-30
November 27, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. The significance of Jesus' coming

2. The seriousness of the human condition

• Their minds are too familiar

• Their hearts are pre-committed

• Their lives are inconsistent

3. The shadow of a coming cross

The Word in the Beginning

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:1-3
November 20, 2022

John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Sermon Outline

1. In the beginning...

• The Word existed
  B. The Word was with God
  C. The Word was God

2. The "Logos" (Word)

• Pagan understanding of "The Logos"

  • John: "Let me tell you about this Word"

• Jewish understanding of "The Logos"

  • John: "Through the Word all things were made"

3. Summary

4. Applications

• God smiles on creativity in presenting the gospel to non-Christians

• You cannot reach God except through Jesus

• Your savior is mysterious

• To stand before him...

  • In judgment: indescribably awful

  • Accepted: thrilling beyond words

Help with Being Holy: When My Sanctification Is Stuck

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Psalm 130:1-8
November 13, 2022

Psalm 130:1-8: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
     O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.

Sermon Outline

1. Psalmist's situation: "Out of the depths..."

• Description of depths

• Result of depths

2. Psalmist "cries out"

3. Psalmist waits for the Lord

4. What waiting looks like

• Psalmist waits intensely

• Psalmist reminds himself of what he knows of God

  • Forgiveness

  • Unfailing love

• Psalmist helps others before he gets relief

Closing song: "Tired" by Linda Rich

Benediction

Now to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,... to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. — paraphrased from Revelation 1:5-6

Son of David, Have Mercy on Me!

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Speaker: Wendell Stoltzfus
Scripture: Mark 10:46-52
November 6, 2022

Mark 10:46-52: And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Sermon Outline

1. Previously in Mark...

• Jesus predicts his betrayal, humiliation, death, and resurrection

• James and John request the most honorable spots

2. Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus

• Not given his own name

  • Bar means "son"

• Begged for a living because of his blindness

• Invisible to society

3. Jesus, Son of David

• Came to serve

• Bartimaeus knew he had nothing to offer Jesus

• James and John thought they had something to offer Jesus

• Bartimaeus calls, Jesus hears. Jesus calls, Bartimaeus runs to him

4. Conclusion

• When God calls, he creates in us what he's looking for

• When people around us overhear our conversations, do they hear about Jesus?

• If you are unsaved, run to Jesus, for he is calling

Sheep and Goats

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46
October 30, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. Scene of the last day of the world

• A great bringing together of all nations

• Angels

• The Son of Man (Jesus Christ)

• All will sense what's happening

2. Purpose of the gathering

• Two groups

• Gathered as nations, divided as individuals

• All will sense the purpose and the results of the event

3. Sheep are addressed first

• The King speaks directly to them

• "You who are blessed by my Father"

• Element of surprise

• Destiny of the sheep

4. Goats are addressed next

• The King speaks directly to them

• "You who are cursed"

• Element of surprise

• Destiny of the goats

5. Applications

Benediction

Revelation 1:7 : Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.

Matthew 24:42: Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

Grace to all who love his appearing. Amen.

A Gift to Groaning and Growing Christians

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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: Romans 7:14-25
October 23, 2022

Romans 7:14-25: For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Sermon Outline

1. Paul discusses the biggest barrier to our Christian growth

• We believe God's standards are very good

• We grieve as we recognize how far short we fall of those standards

2. Paul is talking about himself as a Christian in this passage

• How Paul describes his pre-Christian life is different from how he describes himself here

• Paul expresses genuine delight in God's law throughout this passage

• Paul uses the present tense when describing his conflict with sin

3. The gift in the passage

• Every Christian experiences conviction over their sin

4. The struggle with our sinful nature

• We delight in the nourishment we get from scripture

• As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we begin rejecting what he despises

• As scripture reveals the depths of our sin, we grieve our revealed predicament

• Christ's sacrifice on the cross is enough to atone for all our sins, not just the sins we're currently aware of

• Through Christ's sacrifice, we are made righteous. Our sinful nature is now foreign to us

Benediction

And now, may the love of God the Father who sent his Son so that you could be made perfect in him. May the love of Jesus Christ, who's cross is sufficient to cover every failure: past, present, and future. And may the sweep presence of the Holy Spirit who takes these things and makes them fully yours be with you all. Amen

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — Parents

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
October 16, 2022

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Sermon Outline

1. General Principle: Major way God blesses kids spiritually is through parents

• We hear most conversions are by age 12

• Proverbs 22:6: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old(comma) he will not turn from it."

2. Kids thrive spiritually only as parents take their own spiritual lives seriously

• God addresses parents instead of their kids

3. For parents to take spiritual life seriously, they must grow in their understanding of God

• Gained through the Bible

  • Parents grow to understand the Bible as they gather in church

  • Parents grow to understand the Bible as they study it at home

4. For parents to take spiritual life seriously, they must actually love and fear God

• Parents must have a fear of God

• Parents must have a love for God

5. If kids are to thrive spiritually, parents must make their spiritual training at the core of their family life

• Deeply stamp God's Word on the minds of your children

• God gets personal about this

• What "impressing" looks like

A Life Transformed by Repentance

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Speaker: Andrew Hageman
Scripture: Luke 7:36-50
October 9, 2022

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — Other Christians

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Hebrews 10:23-25
October 2, 2022

Hebrews 10:23-25: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Sermon Outline

1. Great danger in Hebrews: Leaving the Christian faith

• Falling away

• Objection: I could never drift

• Objection: True Christians can't lose salvation

2. Great need: Perseverance in the Christian faith

3. How Christians persevere in the faith

• Encouraging one another

• Spurring one another

• Meeting together

4. Why Christians neglect meeting together

• Persecution

• Attraction to the world

• Dissatisfaction with their church

• Weariness, laziness

• Prefers private study of scripture

• Family and/or friends

5. Meeting together grows more urgent as Jesus' return draws nearer

Benediction

Hebrews 10:35-36: So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he was promised.

Drawing Near to God

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Speaker: T.J. Waldy
Scripture: Exodus 19:9-20, 22
September 25, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. God gave the Ten Commandments to reveal his character

• God's holiness

• God's goodness

• God's humble immanence

2. God gave the Ten Commandments to expose human nature

• We are unholy

• We are presumptuous

• We don't want to be made holy by God

3. God gave the Ten Commandments to exalt his mediator

• Moses at Mount Sinai

• Christ at Calvary

Closing Contemplation

“And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left His Father's throne above, so free, so infinite His grace; Emptied Himself of all but love, and bleed for Adam's helpless race; 'Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!

No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own.” — Charles Wesley (1738)

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — Financial Giving

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Acts 20:33-35
September 18, 2022

Acts 20:33-35: “I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Sermon Outline

1. The Old Testament background

• The "regular tithe"

• The poor tithe

• Leaving gleanings for the poor

2. Is the tithe for today?

• How important is giving?

• What is necessary in order to be able to give? Work

3. How giving helps with sanctification

• Giving gives joy... and joy helps with holiness

• Giving weans you from this world and gives you focus on the next

4. Two final thoughts

• Earning money is not wrong

• The least likely people should give

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — Prayer

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Isaiah 64:7
September 11, 2022

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — The Bible

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 17:17
September 4, 2022

John 17:17, NIV: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

John 17:17, NLT: "Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth."

Sermon Outline

1. The "means of grace"

• The meaning of grace

• The paradox of grace

• An illustration of the paradox

• The means of grace

2. Who, exactly, needs to be sanctified by the Bible?

• The twelve apostles

• Jesus (while he was on earth)

• Your holiness is linked with your familiarity with the Bible

3. What did Jesus mean by "your word"?

4. How the Bible helps you with holiness

• Most basic: information about what really counts

• God breathes life into that information

5. Challenges to reading the Bible

• "I already know what's in the Bible."

• "I don't understand it."

• "I'm a poor reader."

• "The Bible doesn't seem to help."

6. Closing Appeal

Benediction

Acts 20:32: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Wisdom From Above

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Speaker: Greg Hobaugh
Scripture: James 3:13-18
August 28, 2022

Help with Being Holy: Holiness as Negative and Positive (Part B)

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Various Passages
August 21, 2022

Help with Being Holy: Holiness as Negative and Positive (Part A)

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Various Passages
August 14, 2022