Israel Needs a King: Saul's Final Chapter (1 Samuel 28 & 31)

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from the final narrative section in 1 Samuel, following Saul’s final act:

“The big takeaway from our text is that ignoring Gods word is perilous. It didn’t matter that Saul was mostly obedient, religiously passionate, and outwardly pious. Relationship with God is obedience. If you ignore the word of God you will not continue to receive it. If you reject the Word of God, he will not continue to bless you with it. Ignoring the word of God will cause us to look for direction through other mediums.”

1 Samuel 27, 29, and 30

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from the final narrative section in the 1 Samuel scroll, following David’s story:

“The main themes of the 1 Samuel scroll are driven home in this final act which culminates in the death of Saul. David obeys God in the details. Genuine faith is in evidence when one believes the words of God, not only that he has spoken, but that what he has spoken leads to life, and to therefore obey him. As a result, every situation in David’s life—especially the difficult circumstances, of which there are many—every situation, is guided and controlled by God, working all things for his good. Saul, on the other hand, mostly obeys… but not when he has a better idea. Not when he thinks that doing things his way might lead to more blessing or a better outcome than what God has commanded.”

1 Samuel 25-26

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from 1 Samuel 25 & 26 this morning:

“This is the regular means of God’s grace: one of the greatest blessings possible is the church! The people of God! In recent chapters David was rescued by God through the faithfulness of Jonathan, and now through the faithfulness of Abigail. In both the first and last chapters of this section (1 Samuel 24 and 26) David has his strong moments. His men are like ‘Let’s kill Saul now!’ and David is like ‘No, no, no. That would not be right. Let’s leave it to God. Leave vengeance to God.’ In both these chapters, David boldly confronts Saul with Saul’s sin. Humbles himself. Makes himself nothing before Saul. David is like ‘I’m a flea. I’m like a dead dog. But Saul, you should not incur the wrath of God on yourself this way.’ But in the middle section, David has weakness, as we all do. In my life, church, God has shown me that he is not going to allow me to have the strength on my own. That doesn’t serve His glory…this is the regular means of God’s grace: to use the church — one another — to humbly and gently confront…”

Solus Christus (John 14:1-6)

Leighton Hickman

Tune in as Pastor Leighton continues to preach through his series on Doctrine, today visiting the 4th Sola: Solus Christus:

“Friends, Christ Alone should be the easiest sola to speak on. Jesus is the only way. But the unbelieving world has to attack it, because of sin, it is the only option available to them. Sinners had to fight against God. And yet…however…notwithstanding…BUT: the greatest attack on the Christian church is never from the outside, but has always come from within. History bears this out, when the unbelieving world rages against the church, the church only gets stronger, but when the church stagnates, gets comfortable, ponders endless theories, looks for ways around tough verses, then false teachings and tiny little lies creep in and cause the unimaginable damage. Christ Alone should be the biggest no brainer to speak on. Christ Alone should be the shortest sermon in the series. Look! Jesus is the only way! There done. But church, Christ Alone is always, most under attack, from within the church.”

Israel Needs a Humble King (1 Samuel 24)

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from 1 Samuel 24 this morning:

“As the one who feared the Lord, David did not choose the way of self-realization by getting rid of his enemy by himself. In other words, David didn’t allow himself to disobey God’s commands by interpreting this occasion as a God-given opportunity to commit murder. Rather than to take things into his own hand, David was patient and willing to entrust the matter to God’s good judgement…And so once again, David swallows his pride for the sake of peace…Let us consider how David, in this chapter, points to Christ Jesus, the greater Son of David…Because of Christ’s obedience, even allowing himself to stand before unjust tribunals and kangaroo courts, and bearing the sentence of death on a cross, and because his Spirit now dwells in each of those who likewise lay down their lives to follow him…You and I can now also glorify God by humbling ourselves, even before the proud.”

Israel Needs a King Who Is On God's Side (1 Samuel 23)

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from 1 Samuel 23 this morning:

“God is not on your side, but you can be on God’s side. We know if we are on God’s side if we are dedicated to fulfill his purposes, his agenda, and for his glory…God was not on David’s side, per se, but David was on God’s side. He was not expecting God to achieve his goals, but had committed himself to God’s goals, this is why he prays (Psalm 57:2) ‘I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.’ And he states with confidence (Psalm 138:8) ‘The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me…’…We think that Saul is insane for thinking that God is blessing his endeavors and helping him to catch David; that God is blessing those who help him get what he wants. But how many professing Christians believe and act the same way?  Confidently pursuing our own agenda, our own desires, our own purposes, and then expecting that God will come alongside and help us out? The church is full of Sauls’. Church, you only have God on your side if you have taken God’s side. You can only expect the protection and faithfulness of God—as David did—if you have given up living for yourself and now live for God…”

Israel Needs a King Who Honors God (1 Samuel 22 and Psalm 57)

Joshua Handford

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from 1 Samuel 22 and Psalm 57 this morning:

“You see, church, that faith towards God is not merely believing that he exists, or even believing that he can help us in every situation, but faithfully acting on that belief. Living as though what we say we believe is true! ‘I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me,’ (Ps 57:2) even if that purpose does not bring about immediate relief from my discomfort. We exist for the glory of God, so let our prayer continuously go forth: Be exalted in me, O God, above the heavens!  Let your glory be revealed in your church over all the earth! God did exalt himself greatly in David, who was not alone in the cave, and his physical solitude was soon relieved…The warning to us church, is that, as with Saul, the judgment of God does not always wait until we breathe our final breath, but if we are disobedient to his word, and do not live for his glory, he may give us over to the terrible results of our rebellion. According to Romans 1, this is the ‘wrath of God… revealed.’ When people fail to honor God rightfully, and fail to give him the thanksgiving he deserves, they are often given over to the foolishness of their hearts…”

Sola Gratia (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Leighton Hickman

Tune in as Pastor Leighton preaches from Ephesians 2 this morning, teaching us about one more of the core doctrines of our faith: namely, that of salvation by grace alone:

“God’s grace is the root of salvation, Christ’s work is the means, and Human Faith is the path by which a person receives it…Sola Gratia: God’s grace is the root of salvation, the grace of God is the start and source of salvation. Which means God’s decision to save is entirely unearned. It is an entirely free gift, given out of His mercy, and not based on any human attractiveness, merit or good works…”

Justification by Faith Alone (Genesis 22:1-14)

Joshua Handford

Following last weeks message on Sola Fide, Pastor Josh takes us to Abraham in Genesis 22 to teach us more about the doctrine of justification by faith alone:

“Abraham has been brought to faith by a faithful God. His deepest trust and belief was in the One who had promised, and not in this son whom God had provided. God’s faithfulness is evident throughout Abraham’s life—even when Abraham is the villain of the story—even when Abraham makes the dumbest move available. Abraham, a primary biblical example of faith, is also our example of the obedience brought by faith. God’s test required him to give up everything that had come together so far in the fulfillment of God’s promises; everything that had worked out so far for Abraham to get what he was hoping for, trusting God for. And Abraham can let everything good in his life go; every provision; every advance in the achievement of his hope, and ultimately his salvation, because his trust is in the giver and not in the gift…”

Sola Fide (Galatians 1)

Leighton Hickman

Tune in as Pastor Leighton continues his series on Doctrine, today looking at the second Sola of the reformation: Sola Fide, the doctrine that states we are saved by Faith Alone:

“…(R)ather than relaxing his command for humans to be perfect, Jesus reiterates the commands of Deuteronomy 18:13 and Leviticus 19:2 in Matthew 5:48  calling us to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And instead of relieving this righteous demand, God makes the greatest provision for purification ever, in Christ. In order to approach the all Holy God, sinners needed to be made sinless. Which is the impossible thing. So before time began, it was decided that the ultimate and only worthy sacrifice of God’s own Son, would be the necessary and perfect substitute and target of God’s good wrath, and Christ Jesus would die in the place of sinners, in order to cleanse sin fully, once for all…”