Sermon Summary: 

In Isaiah’s vision, he rightfully is terrified to be before God’s presence. He is sinful, God is perfect. That is not a situation that goes well for sinful people. But God takes away his sin and guilt, allowing him to be in his presence. Join Pastor Josh as he talks about how we are brought into the presence of God, but don’t have to fear.  

1. “Woe is me!” Isaiah understands his unworthiness, along with the danger of being in God’s presence. 

2. Sin cannot exist in the presence of (a perfect) God. 

3. The burning coal from the altar takes away Isaiah’s guilt.

4. God came into our presence (Immanuel) in love, we do not need to be afraid. 

5. I am not worthy, I am a sinner. But God has made me worthy through Jesus. 

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Sermon Summary: 

Our readings this week focus on God’s people in exile in the land of Babylon. In reality, God’s people have always been in exile. From the time of exile from the Garden of Eden, up to our current day, we are exiles in a strange land. We long to go home! As we live in exile, we have several different choices for how to live. We could compromise. Or we could revolt! Or, we could choose a third way, which is the way Daniel and his friends live in exile–they are loyal as far as they can be, but they are also subversive. This is also the way of Jesus in the Gospels. This is the way we are called to live today. And as we struggle as strangers in a strange world, Christ is with us. He is with us in the fire and in the lions’ den. And eventually He will lead us to our home in His eternal kingdom. 

• God’s people have always been in exile.

• When you are in exile, you have three ways you could go:

  • Compromise

  • Revolt

  • Loyalty and subversion

• Daniel and his friends demonstrated loyalty and subversion in Babylon.

• Jesus taught and demonstrated loyalty and subversion in His ministry.

• How will we live as exiles today?

• Jesus is with us in the fiery furnace and the lions’ den.

• Jesus is our way home.

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Sermon Summary: 

Throughout Israel’s history, most of the kings- even the good kings- failed to do one thing: completely remove idolatry from the nation. King Josiah was the one to do this. To live a God-pleasing life, not only must we recognize the idols in our hearts, but we also must do something to remove them. Join Pastor Josh as he discusses this important teaching for Christians.

1. King Josiah found God’s Law buried, and realized that they had not been following it.

2. Josiah, unlike the kings before him, got rid of everything related to idol worship.

3. Anything but the complete removal of idols is dangerous for God’s people.

4. God does not remove the idols, he gives his people the ability, through his Spirit,  to remove them.

5. My idol I need to clean move out is: _____________________

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Sermon Summary:

The more you read about Israel in the books of 1 & 2 Kings, the more troubled and disturbed you become. All around is corruption, conflict, and sin. The kings are supposed to be godly leaders, yet they give up the one true God for false gods. They give up truth for foolishness. They give up worshipping the Creator to worship created things. It seems to be hopeless. In this text, King Ahaziah is a troubled leader of a troubled nation. Yet, the prophet Elijah is still around, remaining faithful to the Lord. There are many similarities between ancient Israel and our modern world. Join Pastor Smith for this sermon as we see how dangerous it is to give up God. You may want to give up all hope when you see the extent of our troubled world. But there still is a God–keep holding onto Him in hope, and He will save you! 

1. Ancient Israel was very troubled, just like our own modern world is very troubled. 

2. Is it because there is no God?

3. The most foolish thing you can do is give up God. (Romans 1:22-25)

4. If you give up God, then God will give you up. “You will surely die.”

5. The Story of King Ahaziah and Elijah…

6. Our troubled world will continue to give up God and His Word. As for you–don’t give up!

7. Don’t give up hope. Don’t give up truth. Don’t give up God.

8. Our prayer for our troubled world is this: Lord, have mercy.

9. Our message for our troubled world is this: The Lord, He is God.

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Sermon Summary: 

The wisest man to ever live, King Solomon, was led astray to do what he knew with his mind he should not do. He was led astray by his feelings/desires. Pastor Josh explores the proper role of our feelings and our logic, and how God has made us to use each of those in their proper contexts. 

• Solomon desired discernment to benefit his people.

• Even with great wisdom, Solomon was led away from God because of his feelings.

• Two problems that we can run into with our feelings:

1. We put them in the driver’s seat.

2. We stuff them in the trunk.

• We need scripture to regulate us, not our feelings, not our logic.

1. Our heart/feelings can be deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9)

2. Our ways and thoughts are not God’s ways or thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9)

• God made humans with a body, soul, mind, with feelings. We consist of all of those aspects.

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Sermon Summary: 

As we continue to read about David’s life and reign as king over Israel, we start to see sin and failure, even from the man who is “after God’s own heart.” God warned Israel about how an earthly king would be far worse than Himself as their king. This was obvious when it came to King Saul, and now King David falls into some of the same sinful pitfalls. When you are successful and powerful, it is easy to hear people say “You are the man!” and agree, and think you are entitled to whatever you want. But sooner or later, God will reveal that “You are the man!”--a sinful, guilty man. When we, like David, realize we need someone else to really be “The Man” for us, then we behold The Man–our Lord Jesus. In this sermon, Pastor Smith directs us to The Man Jesus, who comes to save us from our sin.

1. Sometimes you feel like you are “The Man.”

2. King David thought he was “The Man”--in a positive way.

3. But Nathan revealed to him that he was “The Man”--in a negative way.

4. If David is not The Man, and you are not The Man, then who is???

5. “Behold The Man”--Jesus!

6. Jesus is “The Man” who gives up His power and gives up His own life so that we will be saved.

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Sermon Summary: 

Who you relate to in a story affects how you see the story, as well as yourself. Join Pastor Josh as he talks about one of the most well-known Bible stories there is, the “story of the underdog,” David and Goliath, and see how he puts us into the story. 

1. Goliath was 9 feet, 9 inches tall, and likely weighed around 500 pounds.

2. David, who was young and inexperienced, was an unlikely person to take on Goliath.

3. Goliath does not represent for us the difficulties we face, but rather, our end.

4. In this story, you are most like the Israelites. 

5. We can only observe as our hero wins the victory for us.

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Sermon Summary: 

No one likes being told “no.” We want to get the things we ask for, and it’s not fun to be told no. But as a parent tells their child no to things that will cause harm, God does that to his children. Join Pastor Josh as he discusses 1 Samuel 8 and how, when God tells us no, it’s often for our own benefit. 

1. The sons of Samuel, who were judges, were corrupt, and led the Israelites to demand a king.

2. The Israelites wanted to be like other nations around them who had kings.

3. Samuel gives clear warnings about the problems of having a kid, but they still demand one.

4. God sometimes answers with a “no” to protect me.

5. The Father telling Jesus “no” helped bring us salvation.  

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Sermon Summary: 

The book of Joshua shows the process by which the Lord gives the Promised Land to Israel. God’s people are entirely passive in this process. It is only by following God’s commands, fully believing and trusting in Him, that they receive the land. Whenever they try to act according to their own power or wisdom, the result is total failure. At this point in our “Growing Through the Bible” journey, we have enough information to see that God’s people are called to believe and do things that are completely different from the rest of the world. God strongly warns Israel against allowing themselves to be influenced by the nations. He knows they will start following their ways and they will fall away from His righteous way. Interestingly, there are many parallels between the situation in which God’s people found themselves in the book of Joshua, and the situation in which God’s people find themselves today. This sermon explores which way to choose–God’s way or the world’s way. We will discuss how baffling the actions of believers may seem to the world, but how these “baffling ways” are the ones that lead to life.

1. In the world’s eyes, believers have been doing baffling things throughout history.

2. Tensions and conflicts arise between believers and unbelievers because of the different ways we follow.

3. Joshua put it quite simply: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Today we have the same choice.

4. The world is baffled by the way believers depend on God for:

   1. Wisdom and righteousness

   2. Physical needs

   3. Salvation

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Sermon Summary: 

The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” seems like a pretty easy commandment to keep, right? After all, you probably don’t have idols in a shrine that you bow down to every night. But Pastor Josh takes us through the story of the Israelites with the golden calf to see how: a god is not just a physical object, it’s where we find our identity. And where we find our identity is a daily struggle for us to wrestle with. 

1. All gods demand sacrifices. 

2. The Israelites viewed YHWH as one of the gods they were to worship. 

3. God is jealous for his people, not wanting to share them with other gods.

4. An idol/god is where you find your main source of identity.

5. We cannot meet God’s demands. But God provided for us the sacrifice he demands: Jesus.

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