FORGIVEN ➞ GUIDANCE ➞ RESCUE
David’s stuck. He can’t Google‑map his way out, so he asks God for two things on repeat:

1️⃣ “Wipe my mess.” 
2️⃣ “Show me the path.”


Same for us—if we were wise enough, we’d already be free. 🤯
So when we need rescue, how do we learn the way to go? 
And when we learn the right way, what do we gain when we obey it? 
Before You Listen 🚪
There's a lot going on in this text so before gathering:
Slow‑Read Psalm 25. Circle every line about forgiveness or guidance.
Make note of the themes addressed in the passage.
Pray Before 🙏
Guidance for the Confused. “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (vv.4‑5).
Mercy Over Memory. “Remember Your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love … remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions …” (vv.6‑7).

In this sermon, we’re diving into Psalm 24 and the jaw-dropping reality of God’s kingly presence. 
Before you listen, we'd encourage you to carve out some quiet moments to prepare your heart for this sermon in the following ways:
1️⃣ Read Psalm 24 slowly, noting how the entire psalm reflect's God's holiness and glory.

2️⃣ Read 1 Chronicles 15-16 for some historical backdrop that will be mentioned in our sermon.
Then ask yourself honestly (Heart-Check): Do your desires, habits, and priorities actually show a longing for God’s presence, or just the appearance of it? Ask the Spirit to search and refine you.

God’s comforting presence never clocks out.
Whereas we are bound by time and space; while we close our eyes in sleep and can only be in one place at one time, we must remember that God is not like us.
No, He is always with us. 
Not only in the green fields and beside the calm waters; no, all the time - meaning that He is with us as we walk through the darkest of valleys, promising us comfort, vindication, and a future that is safe and secure as He promises to bring us safely to His home, where we will enjoy His presence forever. 
That’s what Psalm 23 teaches us to sing.
It reminds us that we never walk alone, for the God who found us and called us to Himself will be the One who walks with us throughout this life and into the next one.
Thus, Psalm 23 is this beautiful reminder that the God of all comfort never abandons His people. 
Before joining us tomorrow for our gathering, we’d encourage you to read Psalm 23 and reflect upon these things:
1) How have you experienced God’s comforting presence in your life? In the good times, as He has provided all that you’ve needed, but also in the dark valleys? How has God drawn near to you as the Good Shepherd and provided for you?
2) Are there fearful situations that you are currently walking through? Today, is it a fight to remember these words: “You are with me"? 
3) Are you practically resting in the awareness that your Good Shepherd is caring for you? In what area of your life do you need to be reminded of this? And are there those around you that need to be reminded of this truth? 
4) How does knowing that God’s presence never clocks out change your outlook for today? How about for tomorrow?
Pray As You Prepare:
🙏 Pray comfort for those hurting: Ask God to be the God of all comfort to those walking through dark valleys right now; that they might experience His nearness.

🙏 Awareness of His presence: Pray we might not forget Jesus’ presence with us individually and as a church.

🙏 Confidence in His care: Pray that we might have a growing confidence that God is always with us, protecting and providing for us as His people. Pray that we might rejoice that His eyes never close. 

In this sermon, we’ll be reflecting on Psalm 22 in a message titled “Forsaken by God.” 
We’ll walk through one of the most haunting cries in all of Scripture: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” words spoken both by David in anguish and by Jesus on the cross. 
This psalm helps us see that even in our deepest sorrow, God is at work. Christ was truly forsaken so that we, in Him, never will be. 
Come ready to explore how our suffering, rather than silencing our faith, can actually become the very means God uses to advance His kingdom.
How to Pray and Prepare:
    • Ask God to soften your heart and strengthen your faith amid trials.
    • Pray that those struggling with sorrow or silence from God would find hope in Christ’s forsakenness for us.
    •Read Psalm 22 in advance and meditate on how Christ fulfills it.
Key Verse:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Psalm 22:1

How do you respond when what you’ve been praying for finally comes to fruition?
Are you someone who naturally moves on and thinks about the next situation or problem? Or are you someone who pauses, reflects, and spends time praising God for how He solved the situation and came through? 
Most Christians would like to say that we respond with pausing and reflecting … but we’d also admit that there have been tons of times in our lives when we’ve just moved on, forgetting to pause and thank God for what He’s done.
Well, this week, we are studying Psalm 21 … which comes immediately after Psalm 20.
We wanted to point that out not just because 21 comes after 20, but because there is this tight connection between the two Psalms. 
In Psalm 20, there are these prayers for deliverance.
In Psalm 21, we see that God has provided.
God has saved His King. He has answered the prayers of the King and the prayers of the congregation of the righteous. God has shown Himself as strong and mighty to save. The righteous have this incredible victory.
Thus, in this week’s Psalm, we learn how David praised God for how he was delivered from the hands of his enemies and how his kingdom was established. However, we also know that this song is one that fits in the hymnbook of Israel long after David died. So, we might wonder, how did Israel sing this song after him, like in the exile when things looked bleak? And how does this Psalm point towards King Jesus? And how have Christians sung this song over the last 2,000 years?
We will be exploring these things together in our gathering this week.
So, here’s our ask: before coming to our gathering, spend some time reading Psalm 20 and Psalm 21. See how God answered the prayers of His King and His people. And spend some time reflecting upon the many ways that God has answered your prayers. Then, spend some time praying and thanking God for the ways He has provided in your life as He has responded to your prayers. Take delight in Him as you do so, recognizing His strength and provision.

As we prepared ourselves for our gathering (where we examined Psalm 20), we encouraged our church to spend some time reading over and trying to understand the main theme and rhythm of Psalm 18.
Why? 
Well, the reason for doing so is that David, in Psalm 18, reflects upon how God has delivered him from all of his enemies. 
Then, in Psalm 20, David builds upon what he has already said and turns to ask God to deliver King Jesus in similar ways. 
Thus, the themes of these two Psalms are tied together under the banner of deliverance for the King, with David asking God to do for King Jesus (Psalm 20) what God did for him (Psalm 18). 
As such, Psalm 20 is often referred to as a Royal Psalm; sung about the coming promised King who would fulfill the promise of God given to David in 2 Samuel 7. 
Therefore, it is a song of faith on the day of trouble, remembering how God saved David and pointing to how Jesus would be delivered on His day of greatest trouble. Through it all, we see how God never fails to do all that He has promised.

It’s getting warmer outside.
The flowers are bursting forth and filling our city with wonderful colours.
We hear the old familiar sound of lawn mowers on Saturday mornings.
And we have busy schedules around ballfields.
Which means … Summer has arrived … well, almost, we are in Canada, after all 😂
Around The Trails, this is the time of year when we dive back into our study of the Psalms, which is the hymnbook of the Bible. 
It’s here in this book of the Bible where we see how God’s people have responded to Him over the years as they examine creation, walk through suffering, experience great joys, and, through it all, pour over His Word and trust upon His promises.
And our study for this weekend, we kicked things off with one of the most famous songs in the Psalter, Psalm 19. 
As you are reading, meditating upon, singing and praying this Psalm this week, spend some time thinking about how creation preaches to us of who God is. Also, spend some time thinking about how God’s Word enlivens, brings wisdom, makes us glad, and produces fear of the Lord within us as His people. 

In this sermon, we will be finishing out our study of the book of Titus by looking at all of ch.3. There Paul once again focuses on the importance our good works being the fruit of the Christian life. Throughout Titus we have seen how sound doctrine is the root which produces good works. Just as fruit adorns or beautifies a tree, our good works should beautify the gospel we preach.

Before listening, consider how the relationship between our theology and obedience relate to one another. How do you understand the way in which your love and service to others is part of your witness to your transformation by Christ? Pray that God will give each of us the spiritual vitality needed to be vibrant fruit-bearing trees we ought to be. And in doing so, pray that many would see how these good works bear witness to the transformative power of sound doctrine.

Have you ever noticed, when teaching teens to drive, that what is instinctive for you … isn’t instinctive for them?
You want them to be aware what’s going on around the car at all times. 
One of the times when they don’t instinctively do this is when changing lanes. So, you have to remind them that, if they want to change lanes, they need to physically turn around and check their blind spots to avoid accidents.
They have to turn and look backward in order to go forward.
In our text this week, we see Paul reminding us to do the same thing.
He calls us to look backward and to remember the first time that God’s grace appeared, bringing salvation (the life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus). 
Then, he calls us to look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming in hope.
In this, we see a wonderful explanation of God’s grace available to any who would come to Jesus. We also see how that grace trains us to leave behind who we once were and to live out our new identities as Jesus’ people.
We are to be an expectant people, a hopeful people, looking forward to the day when our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will return in glory. On that day, everything sad becomes untrue. Every broken heart is mended. 
Until then, we wait … expectantly. 
And as we wait, we do so remembering our new identity in Jesus as those who have been redeemed from lawlessness and purified, washed clean, by Jesus. 
We really are a people of His own possession.
And we long for His coming when our faith will be turned to sight.

Making disciples.

These are words that we might see on a church website and it’s definitely ones that Pastors or Missionaries like.

But, if we are honest, most of us have no clue what it means to be apart of “making” someone a disciple of Jesus.

Well, this weekend, we are going to flesh out what this means as we study Titus 2:1-10.

And what we will discover is that, for a church to be healthy it must not only have Pastors committed to teaching sound doctrine and living out their faith; no, many unhealthy churches can have that.

A healthy church must have more.

It must have godly men and women committed to living out their identity as disciples and their calling to make disciples. 
But, again, what does this mean?  Is it a 10 step program?  A course offered at Millar College?  A seminar we attend?
This weekend, we want to explain how we practically live out this calling and explain what we mean when we use biblical phrases like this.

For, if we are to be faithful to Jesus’ commands, we have to know what a disciple is, and then, becoming convinced we have a role to play in helping other to follow Jesus, we need to know who to prioritize in discipleship and how to practically do this out. 

Honestly, our goal this weekend is to de-mystify disciplemaking and show you how you can get off the bleachers and into the game that God created you to be apart of so that we can be faithful to Jesus, who commanded us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).