Morningside Live

1. Discuss the things our founding fathers acknowledged about God and Government.2. Discuss how government is a divine institution and how rulers are God’s servants.3. How does the government restrain evil and promote good?4. Discuss what the Church is to do in their relationship to government. 5. How important is morality to the American government?

1. Waiting on Christ

Question: Where are you currently tempted to become impatient, and how would remembering Christ’s return change the way you respond?

2. Trusting God to Right Every Wrong

Question: What happens in our hearts when we feel that someone has wronged us and we believe God is not doing anything about it?

3. Faithful Labor, Total Dependence

Question: What is one area where you need to work faithfully while simultaneously trusting God with the results?

4. Trusting God’s Timing

Question: Where are you most tempted to become discouraged because God’s work seems to be taking longer than you expected?

5. The Harvest Is Worth the Wait

Question: How does an eternal perspective change the way you view a difficult season you are experiencing right now?

6. Strengthening Your Heart

Question: What does it practically look like for you to “stablish” or strengthen your heart when you are under pressure?

7. Groan Up, Not Out

Question: When you are stressed or suffering, who is most likely to receive the overflow of your frustration?

8. Guarding Your Tongue Under Pressure

Question: What do your words tend to reveal about your heart when you are tired, disappointed, inconvenienced, or mistreated?

9. The Lord Is Near

Question: How should the reality that Christ is near change the way you respond when you feel alone, mistreated, or overwhelmed?

10. Live Ready for His Return

Question: If you genuinely believed Jesus could return today, what would you change about the way you are living this week?

July 5, 2026

Preached July 19, 2026

Preached on Father's Day 2026

Key Themes & Outline

• The Illusion of Security (Wealth witnesses against hoarding, vv. 1–3): Wealth is a stewardship trust, not a security blanket. Hoarded possessions corrode the heart and witness against individuals on Judgment Day.
• The Illusion of Independence (Wealth cries against injustice, v. 4): Exploiting or withholding fair, timely wages from laborers cries out to the Lord of Angel Armies (Lord of Sabaoth).
• The Illusion of Indulgence (Wealth fattens for slaughter, vv. 5–6): Living self-indulgently numbs people to spiritual needs and fattens them for judgment. Loving money leads to forgetting Jesus, the Just One who was condemned and murdered without resisting.

Sermon Outline

1. The Arrogance of Our Assumptions (13, 16)

2. The Brevity of Our Breath (14)

3. The Comfort of God’s Control (15, 17)

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. Who Is on the Throne?

Question: What are some areas of your life where you are most tempted to act as though you are in control rather than God?

2. Planning Without Presumption

Proverbs 16:9

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”

Question: How can we make wise and responsible plans without becoming presumptuous about what God will allow?

3. The Idol of Control

Proverbs 3:5–6

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Question: How does the desire to control circumstances contribute to anxiety, anger, disappointment, or conflict with other people?

4. Remembering Our Ignorance

Proverbs 27:1

“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

Question: Why can remembering that we do not know the future actually strengthen our faith rather than weaken it?

5. Living as a Vapor

Psalm 90:12

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Question: If you genuinely believed that your life is a vapor, what would you do differently with the time God has given you?

6. The Comfort of God’s Control

Matthew 10:29–31

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father... Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

Question: How should God's sovereign control change the way you respond when something happens that you did not plan or cannot control?

7. Trusting God When We Don't Understand

Romans 8:28

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Question: Why is it possible to trust God's will even when we cannot understand why He has allowed something to happen?

8. “If the Lord Will”

James 4:15

“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

Question: What would it look like for “If the Lord will” to become an attitude of your heart, rather than merely a phrase you say?

9. Do It Today

James 4:17

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Question: Is there something God has already shown you that you need to obey, but you have been postponing?

10. Everything Is Grace

1 Corinthians 4:7

“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?”

Question: What changes in your attitude toward your life when you begin to see your family, possessions, opportunities, plans, and even your next breath as gifts of God's grace rather than things you have earned?

Judgmentalism Judged (James 4:11-12)

1. WHOSE SEAT ARE YOU SITTING IN?

James 4:12

“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Question: Where are you most tempted to “sit in the judge’s seat”—in your family, workplace, church, friendships, or online?

2. ASSUMING BEFORE KNOWING

1 Samuel 16:7

“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Question: When have you recently made an assumption about someone's motives or character without knowing the whole story?

3. WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVE?

Ephesians 4:15

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

Question: When you speak about another person’s failures or weaknesses, is your goal to build them up, help them, or tear them down?

4. ARE YOU A JUDGE OR A FRUIT INSPECTOR?

Matthew 7:20

“Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

Question: How can we distinguish biblical discernment from a judgmental spirit?

5. WHAT UNWRITTEN LAWS HAVE YOU CREATED?

James 2:8

“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”

Question: What personal or “unwritten” standards do you sometimes expect other people to follow—and become irritated when they don't?

6. ARE YOU ALLOWING CHRISTIAN LIBERTY?

Romans 14:4

“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.”

Question: Are there areas of Christian liberty where you tend to treat your personal convictions as though they were biblical commands?

7. HOW BIG IS YOUR LOG?

Matthew 7:3

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

Question: What faults in other people tend to bother you most—and could those frustrations reveal something you need to examine in yourself?

8. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE GOSPEL?

Romans 2:1

“For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”

Question: How does remembering your own need for grace change the way you respond when someone else sins?

9. CAN YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITHOUT SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Colossians 4:6

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Question: Is there someone you need to speak truth to, but you need to examine your attitude and motive before you do it?

10. HOW CAN YOU BE MORE GRACIOUS THIS WEEK?

Ephesians 4:32

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Question: Who is one person toward whom you can intentionally show more grace, patience, mercy, or kindness this week?

“If you really want to be like God, don’t be judgmental—be gracious.”

Grace to the Humble (James 4:7-10)

1. Getting Under God’s Authority

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Question: What does actively submitting yourself to God look like in your everyday life, and what is one area where you are currently resisting His authority?

2. Resisting the Enemy

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Question: Where are you most vulnerable to the devil’s temptation, accusation, or division, and what would it look like to actively resist him this week?

3. Do You Really Want God?

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

Question: Do you primarily seek God Himself, or do you tend to seek God mainly for what He can do for you? What reveals the difference?

4. Returning to God

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Question: Is there an area of your spiritual life where you have gradually pulled away from God? What would “drawing near” look like in that area?

5. An Undivided Heart

“He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Question: Where are you most tempted to live with “one foot in the church and one foot in the world”? What competing love or desire is pulling your heart away from Christ?

6. Repentance That Goes Deeper

“Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Question: When you become aware of sin, do you tend toward genuine repentance, excuses, minimizing, or merely feeling bad about the consequences? What is the difference?

7. Living in God’s Sight

“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips.”

Question: How does comparing yourself with other people affect your humility? How might regularly remembering God’s holiness change the way you see yourself?

8. Trusting God’s Timing

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”

Question: What situation in your life is hardest for you to entrust to God’s timing, and what would humble trust look like there?

9. Choosing the Way Down

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Question: Where does your culture encourage you to “climb the escalator”—to become more impressive, successful, powerful, or recognized—and how does Jesus call you to choose a different way?

10. Grace for the Humble

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

Question: Where do you most need God’s grace right now, and how might humility position you to receive and depend upon that grace?

1. WHAT HAS YOUR HEART?

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” — Matthew 6:21

Question: What people, possessions, accomplishments, or experiences are most likely to compete with God for your heart?

2. FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” — James 4:4

Question: What is the difference between loving the people of the world and becoming a friend of the world system?

3. WHERE DO YOU SEEK APPROVAL?

“For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” — John 12:43

Question: In what areas are you most tempted to measure your worth by other people's approval rather than God's approval?

4. WHAT DOES GOD'S JEALOUSY MEAN?

“For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.” — Exodus 20:5

Question: How does understanding God's jealousy as covenant love—not insecurity or selfishness—change the way you view His commands and correction?

5. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO GET FROM THE WORLD?

“Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” — Matthew 6:24

Question: What does your use of time, money, entertainment, or possessions reveal about where you look for comfort, pleasure, identity, or security?

6. DO YOU BELIEVE GOD'S GRACE IS GREATER?

“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” — Romans 5:20

Question: When you become aware of your sin and failure, do you tend to run toward God for grace or away from Him in shame? Why?

7. WHERE DO YOU NEED MORE GRACE?

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9

Question: What weakness, temptation, relationship, failure, or circumstance in your life is currently reminding you of your need for God's grace?

8. WHERE IS PRIDE KEEPING YOU FROM GRACE?

“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” — James 4:6

Question: What does pride look like in your life right now—excuses, defensiveness, comparison, self-reliance, unwillingness to confess, or something else?

9. ARE YOU LIVING WITH ONE FOOT IN EACH KINGDOM?

“No man can serve two masters.” — Matthew 6:24

Question: Where are you experiencing the tension of wanting both Christ and the world's values, pleasures, or approval?

10. WILL YOU COME HOME TO GRACE?

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.” — Luke 15:18

Question: What would it look like for you this week to acknowledge your sin, surrender your pride, and actively receive God's greater grace?