1 Corinthians

Passage: Jude 17-25

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on Jude 17-25. In this second part of Jude, Jude lays out how we are to contend for the faith when faced with the threat of false teachers. The threat of false teachers can tempt us to be filled with fear, anxiety, and worry. That fear can drive us to look for unbiblical responses to the dangers we see and fix our hope on worldly solutions. Instead, Jude gives us surprisingly simple answers as we face these destructive threats from false teachers.

So, what exactly are we supposed to do when faced with such serious and destructive threats to our faith? Jude lays out 4 clear responses we are to take when faced with such threats to the faith of the church.

Remember the predictions (17-19)

Keep yourselves in the love of God (20-21)

Keep others in the love of God (22-23)

Give Jesus all the glory (24-25)

Passage: Jude 1-16

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on Jude 1-16.  Jude wrote this letter to teach the church the danger of false teachers, the nature of the false teachers, and how we can remain faithful and resist their influence.

He spends a lot of time seeking to help us understand exactly who these false teachers are and why they’re so dangerous in order to motivate us to do the hard work of contending for the faith. That’s what we spend our time on in verses 1-16. Then in the following sermon, in verses 17-25 we’ll find the details of exactly how Jude calls on us to contend for the faith.

But, even in this first section, I want to be sure we’re seeking to answer this question: what does Jude call on the church to do about the these threats to the faith of the church?

Contend for the faith.

Consider the consequences.

Consider their character.

Passage: 3 John

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 3 John.  This is a very personal letter written by the apostle John to Gaius, a leader in a local church. While Gaius was leading by example with a kingdom-first mindset, another man in the same church, Diotrephes, was leading with a self-serving attitude that refused to be driven by kingdom-minded ministry.

So, 3 John helps us learn what a kingdom-minded ministry looks like. How can the church learn to be a kingdom first church and lead with kingdom minded ministry? So, let’s look at four characteristics John gives us of Kingdom-minded Ministry:

Desires the Well-Being of Faithful Leaders (1-4)

Sacrificially Supports Missions Work (5-8)

Guards Against Pride and Jealousy (9-12)

Commits to Personal Ministry (13-15)

 

Passage: 2 John

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 2 John.

Jesus warned us that false teachers would be wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church. So, John gives us 4 ways we are to guard against these threats. The first reason is foundation and it leads up to verse 7. The final 3 are more practical and flow out in response to verse 7.

We must be committed to truth and love (1-7)

We must be watchful (8)

We must abide in the teachings of Christ (9)

We must be wise in our partnerships (10-11)

Passage: 1 Corinthians 16

This Sunday, July 28th as part of our weekly fellowship and worship service, we sent Ben and Hannah Moore as missionaries through the International Mission Board (IMB) to the nation of North Macedonia. Join us as Dwayne Milioni, lead pastor of Open Door Church in Raleigh, teaches on 1 Corinthians 16.

Christ commands us to fill the earth with churches that will bring glory to His Son's name. In this passage, we will be learning what true biblical fellowship and cooperation look like amongst the autonomous individualistic nature of our churches and while living in a secular age. It is within the imperative of cooperation that we fulfill the Great Commission.

Here are the keys to cooperation that we see in 1 Corinthians 16:

Financial support (1-4)

Service (5-11)

Encouragement (12-21)

Passage: 1 Samuel 31

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 1 Samuel 31. As we come to the end of Saul’s life, we see the fruit of a faithless life. This is the outcome of a life filled with unrepentant sin and a life that took obedience to the Lord lightly. This is the judgment of God against a man who made his rule all about himself instead of the glory of God and the good of his people.

Therefore, the narrative of Saul’s death - the fruit of a faithless life - serves two purposes: It definitively proves that God had removed his favor from Saul; he was no longer the man God desired to be on the throne. And, second, the end of Saul’s life serves as a warning to us. It serves as a warning against how we ought to shape our own lives, but also a warning about in whom we ought to put our trust. What kind of man should we look to?

So, let’s work our way through chapter 31 and see the fruit of a faithless leader of God’s people. And, we should let these three tragic outcomes serve as a warning to us for how we conduct our own lives and in whom we are willing to place our trust and confidence. In the end, these are the three outcomes of a faithless leader of God’s people:

Driven by Fear of Man (1-5)

Downfall Destroys Others (6-7)

Degrades God’s Name (8-10)

Passage: 1 Samuel 30

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 1 Samuel 30. God was not done rescuing David in chapter 29. He still needed to be rescued from his self-reliance. Most often, the greatest rescue we need is not the physical one - it’s the spiritual rescue. Yet, it’s spiritual rescue we often long for and pray for the least.

In chapter 30 we’re going to see God rescue David in a different way - a deeper and more profound way. And, we will see David’s humble response to God’s grace as an example we are to follow. This chapter is all about RESCUE AND RESPONSE. So, there are 4 divisions we’ll work through as we see David’s rescue and response.

Strange Gift of Suffering

Redeeming Response to Suffering

God’s Gracious Provision

Righteous Response to Gracious Provision.

Passage: 1 Samuel 29

Join us as our pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 1 Samuel 29. We will see how God’s providence is with David, even at one of the low points of his life. We will focus on 4 aspects of God’s providence on display in this chapter that we need to learn to look for in our own lives as well. Each of these aspects is seen throughout chapter 29. So, for each one, we’ll be looking at the entire chapter.

Chapter 29 allows us to pick up the jewel of God’s providence and see it from numerous angles - each beautiful in its own way:

Quiet Providence

Surprising Providence

Merciful Providence

Complex Providence

Passage: 1 Samuel 28

Join us as our associate pastor, Nathaniel Miller, teaches on 1 Samuel 28. Disobedience to the LORD will lead to destruction through God’s rejection and judgment. We need to listen to the word of the LORD.

Passage: 1 Samuel 27

Join us as our lead pastor, Jonathan Brooks, teaches on 1 Samuel 27. This chapter is intended to be an encouragement for you to keep on trusting, to keep on enduring faithfully, to keep on fixing your eyes above, where Christ is.

It seems that David had reached a point of exhaustion and weariness on the run from Saul. And, he allowed that exhaustion to crowd out the truth of God’s promises. So, Chapter 27 shows us the devastating consequences of forgetting God’s faithfulness in our weariness. We’re able to see 4 dangers of forgetting God’s faithfulness:

Listen to our own doubts.

Trust in our own wisdom.

Fall further into sin.

Find ourselves in compromising situations.