Sermon References Exodus 20:17 Romans 7:7-12 Philippians 4:11-12

This sermon was preached on July 12, 2026 at Antioch Presbyterian Church, a congregation of Calvary Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Woodruff, South Carolina. Pastor Zachary Groff preached this sermon entitled "The Tenth Commandment" on Exodus 20:17. For more information about Antioch Presbyterian Church, please visit ⁠antiochpca.com⁠ or contact us at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected].

According to popular legend, the frontiersman Daniel Boone first laid eyes on the bluegrass region of central Kentucky on June 7, 1769. To gain this initial sight, Boone and his companions scaled a 700-foot sandstone outcrop called Pilot Knob, which gives a commanding view over the surrounding dense forest. After weeks of traveling over forbidding mountains, fording raging rivers, and narrowly escaping imprisonment by hostile Shawnee warriors, their ascent of this tower-like hill must have given the haggard frontiersmen a sense of relief. The expansive view of what he called "ample plains [and] beauteous tracts below" must have been mingled with hopes for future blessing and security in what would be his new home in subsequent years. Pilot Knob is now a Kentucky state nature preserve, and the summit still provides stunning views of this rugged region, with the addition of (on clear days) the skyline of the city of Lexington 40 miles in the distance. I had this spot, which I had the pleasure of hiking earlier this year, in mind as I was setting the text of Psalm 46 for congregational worship. The language of a "refuge," a "help in trouble," a fortress amid mountains, rivers, and hostile enemies paired in my mind with this lonely outpost where American settlers first found a refuge in the land the natives called a "dark and bloody ground." While not as venerable a setting of Psalm 46 as Luther's EIN FESTE BURG, I hope that the bluegrass inspired PILOT KNOB has helped you engage with this beautiful text from the Scriptures over these past few weeks. —Henry C. Haffner

How are we to love one another? Listen as Pastor Steve shares this command for all believers.

6/7/26 Equipping Hour Join us Sundays at 10:15am and 5:00pm for sound biblical teaching, fellowship, and worship!

Who made God? Exodus 3:14; Ps. 90:2; Isaiah 57:15 Rev. 1:8 KJV Many people ask, "Who made God?" It is a fair question because everything around us has a beginning. Buildings have builders. Paintings have painters. Children have parents. But God is different from everything else.The Bible teaches that God was not created. He is the Creator. Everything else has a cause, but God is the uncaused Cause. He is the One who started it all. The most amazing truth is that this eternal God loves us. The God who never had a beginning entered human history through Jesus Christ so that sinners could be saved. The One who created time stepped into time to rescue us from sin and give us eternal life. So the question is not really, "Who made God?" The greater question is, "What will I do with the God who made me?" God had no beginning, has no ending, and needs no creator. He is the great I AM, the eternal God who created us, loves us, sent Jesus for us, died for us, rose again for us, and now calls us to trust Him.

God's Commandments versus Man's Traditions: Matthew 15:1-12: 15 Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3 And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.' 5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God," 6 he need not [c]honor his father.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.'" 10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. 11 It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." 12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were [d]offended when they heard this statement?" 13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." The Catholic rite of Holy Communion parallels pre-Christian Greco-Roman and Egyptian rituals that involved eating the body and blood of a god. A number of Catholic holidays and myths, such as Christmas, Easter, and Mardi

The sermon centres on the vital necessity of collective, persistent prayer as modeled by the early church in Acts 1:14, emphasising that prayer is not optional but a commanded response to Christ's promise of the Holy Spirit. Drawing from Jonathan Edwards' call to extraordinary prayer and the prophetic vision of Zechariah 8:20–21, it underscores that God's people are to seek Him together, trusting in His promises for revival, spiritual renewal, and global mission. The message highlights the power of unified prayer—marked by humility, unity across differences, and the absence of judgment—as the foundation for spiritual vitality, warning that neglecting prayer leads to spiritual decline and a life of mediocrity. It affirms that while the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, the Spirit's empowering infilling and outpouring are sought through persistent, corporate intercession, which renews the church and fuels lasting revival. Ultimately, the sermon calls the church to embrace prayer not as a secondary activity but as the lifeblood of faith, the source of true power, and the pathway to God's promised transformation of individuals, communities, and nations.