Courage Church

series: Letters of Love

title: #9 My Brother’s Keeper

date: June 3, 2018

scriptures: 1 John 3:11-18, Genesis 4, Matthew 5:21-26, Matthew 25:31-46

To live our lives as if "we are not our brother's keeper" is the way of Cain, and we can not allow our minds to buy into that lie. The church exists not just for itself, but in order that it can be a flesh and blood example in our modern world of what the love of Jesus Christ actually looks like. 

It is a scary place to be when the non-religious world begins sounding more like Jesus than the church does, and yet in some ways that is exactly what has happened over the last few years.

We need to be transforming more and more into the image of Christ every day, not sacrificing it on the altar of self preservation. 

Especially in a sermon as loaded as this one, you may have questions. If so, please submit them by clicking the "ask questions" image and we will try our best to respond to them to the best of our ability. 

The below book is one of many recordings of the ways the Christians responded to the plagues mentioned in the sermon. 

Here is the PEW RESEARCH ARTICLE that was referenced during the sermon. 

When Pastor Jacob said "No group agrees less with the idea that the U.S. has a responsibility to help refugees than Christians do" he was quoting this article in the Washington Post, which cited the pew research article. 

series: Letters of Love

title: #8 Grace or Guilt?

date: May 27, 2018 (Memorial Day)

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 2:28-29, 1 John 3:1-10, Romans 6:1-2, Luke 15:11-32

How is it that some people can read a passage, and it be guilt and condemnation and tragedy… and someone else can read the same passage, and it be life, and love, and hope and grace?

God is working on all of our hearts in different ways, but how we read His scriptures ultimately says more about us than it does about God. The scriptures were not written to guilt us into living a certain kind of life, thinking that it will save us from something that we are trying to avoid. The Bible teaches us that we are CHILDREN of the LIVING GOD. 

It is a question of identity... 

of "what family are you from?" 

How can a person who is the seed of God make a practice of sinning? 

They can't. 

But its not about guilt. Its about identity.

Who are you? 

Whose are you? 

series: Letters of Love

title: #7 antichrists

date: May 20, 2018 (Pentecost Sunday)

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 2:18-27, 1 John 4:3, John 16:7-11, Revelation 13:17, John 14:26, John 14:18

series: Letters of Love

title: The World is Passing Away (part two)

date: May 13, 2018 (Mother's Day)

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 2:15-17, John 3:16, Genesis 4, Matthew 9. 

Often, as young parents, it feels like the chaos is never going to stop, the crying will never stop… the temper tantrums will never stop. But anyone on the other side of that season will tell you that you will blink and it will be over… and you will be wondering:

“where did the time go?” 

“when did you grow up?” 

and truthfully, that is okay! its unavoidable. life moves fast... you have kids, you blink, and they are 18, then married.

you get a new job, and you blink, and you have been there 15 years. That is life, and that is ok. 

But the scary reality is that it moves so fast, that if we let it, it will go right on without us. 

and I know for me, I don’t mind mind asking where the time went but what I don’t want to ever have to ask is:

“Where was I while my children grew up?
“Where was I while my friend was struggling with depression?”

“Where was I when that couple was struggling in their marriage, and they just needed someone to come alongside of them and let them know that the struggle is real… but that they can do it?

Where was I when my wife wanted to quit… and just needed to be reminded… you can do it. We are going to make it. 

Was I writing a sermon? studying the Bible? Was I drinking coffee somewhere?

Was I at the kids sports games, and at home for dinner with them? Was I available for them? 

and that applies across the board - kids, no kids, it doesn’t matter… 

life is going to go quickly. But where and how you choose to spend your attention and your energy will have a profound impact on other people’s eternities. 

series: Letters of Love

title: #5 The World is Passing Away

date: May 6, 2018

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 2:15-17, Matthew 4:1-11, Hebrews 4:15, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Until this week, I had never been in one, at least one involving other cars, and I left this particular scene extremely shook up and really sad about the whole thing, honestly I am still processing some things about it, about what I did wrong, about what I could have done differently, about the other people who were involved who were injured… 

All four of my daughters were in the van with me, and I was crossing Vernor from the street we live on going straight… and the traffic going one way was totally stopped, and going the other way was flowing and so the traffic that was stopped had created a space for cars to go through because traffic was so backed up… and I looked both ways and I saw a car coming but I guess I thought it was farther away than it was, and did not realize how fast they were going so I pulled out to go straight through and they just smashed right into the side of the van right where Milly and Fiona were sitting. I mean, RIGHT where they were sitting. That car hit the side of our van head on at pretty high speeds. 

And yet miraculously all four of my kids and myself walked away from there almost without a scratch…. well, Eloise can’t walk yet but she wasn’t hurt at all… Milly literally had ONE scratch on her, and everyone else was totally fine. Not even phased by it. 

I am still waiting to hear about the van. We hope that it is not totaled… but even if it is, do you know what everyone keeps telling me? The exact SAME THING… everyone says: as long as no-one was hurt. 

And if you are ever in an accident, especially if there are other people in your car, you know the instant thought… the first thing in your mind the moment it happens: 

whatever it is… then you get out… 

and when I got out, a crowd had already gathered and the people in the car were all crying… and so of course you feel like crying too because of the pain that someone else feels, and its especially difficult knowing you were involved in that. 

so after you make sure that your own family is okay, you go and see if anyone from the other car is injured. And the ambulance comes just to be safe and they check all of the people… the police listen to what happened… 

AND THEN THE VERY LAST THING THAT HAPPENS after the ambulance leaves and you have made sure that everyone is okay (and if anyone is not okay then they leave on that ambulance) and then, finally, you call a tow truck and evaluate the damage to your vehicle… and you call the insurance company.  But its the very last priority.  Because cars are cool and helpful and convenient for our lives… but they don’t matter. In the scheme of life and all that is significant, the things that DO matter ALWAYS are our priority in the darkest, scariest moments. 

The police do not run to the car and make sure you aren’t going to have to go buy a new one. They run to people. Our instincts always begin with people because something innately tells us that only in people is a value found that you can not put a number on…

But in the day when we are NOT facing something urgent or catastrophic or dangerous or scary… its not always like that. 

one of the most common traps that people fall into in this life is the trap of stuff… the trap of a life that says “I have to work more so that I can have more - ” and what we don’t realize is that often in our ambitions and aspirations to take care of our families and leave our legacies, we are building at the expense of the things that we ultimately are convinced that we are doing it for. 

THIS IS the worlds system. THIS IS the way of the world. and John has to warn us “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” BECAUSE THE THINGS OF THE WORLD ARE ENTICING. they are desirable. But they are also distracting. 

series: Letters of Love

title: #4 Creating Worlds

date: April 29, 2018

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 John 2:7-14, John 13:34-35, Proverbs 29:11, Proverbs 17:9

article used in sermon:

I couldn't believe these were my father's final words to me

Words matter… they pave paths, they create worlds, and Jesus says that every careless word you say will be held against you. He says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks… so the mouth is a reflection of what is going on inside of you. (Matthew 12:34-37)

Proverbs (29:11) says that “only a fool speaks whatever comes to his mind, where as a wise man quietly holds back” 

the ESV puts it like this: a fool GIVES FULL VENT to his spirit…

and I think that is something we all need to remember. The things that we say…,the way that we react, THE WAY THAT WE VENT… it all creates worlds! And what John says is that it sets traps… it sets people up to SIN. Your words can cause people to hold grudges against OTHER people, and pick up YOUR OFFENSE.

This is why it is so important that you don’t HATE your neighbor. That you don’t hate your brother… this is why it is so important that we forgive every time: 

Because what doesn’t get sent away, will eventually come out… and if it comes out to someone else… then what happens? you tell someone   “so and so slept with this person… or so and so used me in this way and BE CAREFUL OF SO AND SO” then the moment THEY meet “so and so” or the next time they see them… WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST THING THAT THEY THINK OF THEM? THEY ARE A CHEATER. THEY ARE A THEIF. THEY LIE ABOUT PEOPLE. THEY USE PEOPLE. THEY ARE FAKE. THEY ARE GOING TO LET YOU DOWN!

whatever it is. Its the first thing they will think of… all critical, sinful thoughts toward forgiven children of God whom He loves with all of his heart. 

Proverbs 17:9 says “whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.” You are setting traps for people when you talk to them about others who you are holding something against. and if you are the HEARER in that conversation: you will have to actually work to create a different image of them than the one that was painted by someone else… and now suddenly people are on proving ground with us and they don’t even know it.  

when we should look at broken people, and if we are honest with ourselves, realize that what we are seeing is a reflection of ourselves…

A PERSON WHO IS BROKEN… BUT WHO HAS AN ADVOCATE.