MCC Podcast

As we continue to look at MCC’s Core Values I want to remind you of why these are important.

When we think about our spiritual lives we often think about how personal our relationship with Jesus is. How we should independently be spending time in prayer, reading the word, and worship.

Yet, our relationship with Jesus is not just independent, but interdependent on others. To live the way of Jesus we need those who will rejoice, suffer, and endure this life with us.

This week Eric will be continuing our Core Values series looking at our Core Value of Community.

This week I get to continue our Core Values series. These are the values that sit at the core of who we are. They form a solid core of who we are, what we believe, and who we want to be going forward.

When you hear the word “value,” what comes to mind?

A value can simply be what an item is worth. Interestingly, that can rise and fall depending on the situation. The value of a bottle of water might be 35 cents in the grocery store. You put it in a refrigerator at Speedway and suddenly the value shoots up to a dollar-fifty. Put that same bottle of water at Disney, slap a sticker with ears on it and…

The word itself suggests different meanings depending on the context.

Sometimes you hear people talk positively about things like a moral value or a family value or a Christian value like integrity, patience, purity, kindness, or encouragement.

Here’s why it’s important to talk about values; we all have them and what we decide is important in shaping who we become.

Think about it. Who you are right now is determined by:

You are a product of your values, of what you deem valuable. And what is true of you and me individually, is true of us collectively as the church.

This week I get to kick off a series of messages that will talk about MCC’s Core Values, what the Bible says about them, and how they play out in real life.

We’ve been studying the life of King David and if we’ve learned anything about him so far, it’s that he was far from perfect, yet God was able to use him.

Now through relationships in his life we’ve looked at issues such as

-how to have a heart like God

-how to take on giants

-how to be a friend

-and how to affair proof your marriage.

Our last look at what we can learn from David covers chapters 13-18 of 2 Samuel. And rather than reading 6 chapters aloud, I’m going to try to summarize them and to tell you the story. I encourage you to read chapters 13-18 before Sunday (or at least afterwards). It’s quite a story of sex, murder, lies, and anguish. If it were a movie it would definitely be rated “R.”

This weekend, as we celebrate dads, we’re going to look at parenting through how he responded to a rebellious child. What we’ll see is no temper tantrum in the mall. This was no 3 day suspension from school. David’s son, Absolam, ignited a rebellion that led to battles, bloodshed, and death.

It will be a great lesson for all who have children in their lives, regardless of whose children they are.

What creature is most deadly to humans? Think about that for a moment. If you had one guess, what would it be? What creature has caused more deaths than any other? That is our one question quiz this weekend. I know you will be tempted to look up the answer, but I’m asking that you don’t. Come ready with your best, non-looked-up guess.

This weekend I get to share one of the top two stories that people associate with David. One of them we’ve already looked at: David and Goliath. The other is David and _____________. If you don’t know, I’ll fill that blank on Sunday.

This event in David’s life is not so far from the reality of people’s lives today. And from this event, we’ll see two general truths about temptation which apply to all of us and also three ways to affair-proof our marriages today.

This Sunday I’ll be preaching on friendship. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people in our church this past year who feel like they struggle with friendships.

As we look at the friendship between David and Jonathan, we will seek to understand what a Godly friendship is supposed to look like and learn how to overcome some barriers to forming meaningful relationships.

Abraham Lincoln said, “The greatest lessons I ever learned were at my mother’s knees.” And more often than not, moms, we learn a lot just by watching you live your life.

This has been true of great leaders throughout history and perhaps none more evident that King David. This Sunday as we continue our look at his life we will be reminded that his life was full of decisions. Some of those decisions were great and helped develop a nation. Other decisions, not so much.

This week Rich will help us understand how, where someone came from, helps connect the dots on their behavior. King David started from a pretty lowly background. We will take a look at what he learned about being a shepherd, how that ties into the importance of moms, and how David’s shepherd qualities helped to shape a Kingdom.