The church of Christ on McDermott Road

People can be mean and cruel. If we are not prepared to suffer insult and injury, then we might forfeit our inheritance for a moment of vengeance. We must prepare our families to persevere meekly through insult and injury, trusting God to vindicate us. (Scripture: Psalm 43)

When Jesus was on the cross, he quoted Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus voluntarily experienced the pain and disappointment of feeling abandoned by God. If we live a life of faith, our family will also experience that feeling. Will they have the words and perspective to persevere through that experience? (Scripture: Psalm 22:1-18)

Our culture's definition of the word "blessed" and Jesus' definition are related but different. How should we change our focus to better love and serve others? (Scripture: John 13:12-17)

Guilt can be overwhelming. Psalm 32 describes it as feeling like your bones are wasting away or all your strength is dried up. When we feel guilty, we often feel like giving up. We must teach our family how to persevere through guilt to confession and forgiveness.

At some point in our spiritual journey, we will likely hear the taunting words, “Where is your God?” This may come from outside voices or even from our own thoughts. We must prepare our family to persevere through the painful feelings of doubt that accompany these words.

Temptation is inevitable. Are we helping prepare our family to persevere through temptation and not surrender to it? Psalm 119 gives us the ABCs of keeping our way pure, teaching us how to persevere in obedience. (Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16)

Christian families must help one another expect trials. So that when trials come, no one will be surprised and everyone will persevere by taking refuge in the Lord. When God inevitably proves his faithfulness through the trials, Christian families must teach one another to sing his praises. (Scripture: Psalm 57)

Mission Sunday 2022

(Scripture: Romans 10:11-15)

Luke describes the church as, “walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31). This is rather paradoxical. How can someone experience both “fear” and “comfort” simultaneously? Oswald Chambers said, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” When we fear the Lord, we experience the comfort of the Spirit. However, if we refuse to fear the Lord, we live in constant fear and anxiety of everything else. (Scripture: Acts 9:26-31)

The resurrection of Jesus means Jesus is alive today and actively reigning in his church. He is intimately connected with everything that happens to his people. When Saul was persecuting the church, he was also persecuting the Messiah. The resurrected Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and recruited him to be a follower. It’s one thing to acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus, but are you allowing the resurrected Jesus to recruit you to his mission? Are you realigning your life with his will? (Scripture: Acts 9:1-6)