NO MURDER

At first glance, this seems like the easiest command to keep. More than halfway down the scenic route through the 10 Commandments we could be saying, "Finally here's one I haven't broken!" But each one of these words strikes beneath the surface. Because, far before this word is about what we do with our hands, it’s about what’s happening in our hearts. The bad fruit of murder, violence, neglect, and harm to another image-bearer grows out of the soil of sinful anger in our hearts. Jesus took this hatred head on as his body was beaten, bloodied, and torn up upon the cross in order to tear down the wall of hostility that divides us.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

IMMEDIATELY AFTER SERVICE AT THE LEE HOME

Join us at the Lee home after church this Sunday, 6/14 to celebrate the baptism of new believers and have a hotdog lunch.

If you are interested in being baptized, have questions about baptism, or want to place your faith in Jesus, talk to a member of the pastoral team. They’d be happy to help you take the first step of the Christian life.

HONOR YOUR FATHER & MOTHER

The 5th Commandment kicks off what's been called the Second Table of the Law. The first 4 commandments lay out what it means to love God with everything we've got. The remaining 6 teach us what it looks like to love our neighbor as ourselves. As we move into what God has to say about loving our neighbors, we consider the very first neighbors we ever have in life: our parents. Parents are God’s first and foremost representatives in our lives. Humanly speaking, we owe everything to them. They give us all we have. They teach us how to live in this world. They shape us like no one else can. Because of this, we should honor them for all their lives - and all our lives too. Not because they're perfect, but because our Father in heaven is perfect and he's attached his blessing honoring the God-appointed authorities in our lives.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

HONOR THE SABBATH

The 4th Commandment could be the best "no" God has ever given. But…it just might be the hardest one for us to say "yes" to. The command that 1 day in every 7 “you shall not do any work,” but keep a day of holy rest. It’s meant to be a blessing, but it can seem like a burden. Like something that frustrates our freedom. Like something highly impractical in a world that never seems to stop. We might even think that something about what Jesus has done lessens the need or removes the obligation to keep to this 1 in 7 pattern of work and rest. But, the Bible teaches us that Jesus does not do away with the Sabbath, but deepens our experience of it. Because of what he's done, we should Sabbath even harder. We should eagerly, intentionally, and joyfully spend each Sunday resting our bodies and souls in God.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BAPTISM SUNDAY, JUNE 14

Join us at the Lee home immediately after church on Sunday, 6/14 to celebrate the baptism of new believers and enjoy a hotdog lunch.

WHAT IS BAPTISM?

Baptism marks the beginning of the Christian life. It’s that moment in which we confess with our mouth what we’ve believed in our hearts. Standing in the presence of God and his people to profess our faith in the sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of Jesus. Signifying our personal share in his dying and rising as we’re immersed into the water and buried with Christ and then raised up with him to walk in newness of life.

If you are interested in being baptized, have questions about baptism, or want to place your faith in Jesus, talk to a member of the pastoral team. They’d be happy to help you take the first step of the Christian life.

EXODUS 20:7

God’s name is the most valuable thing there is. It’s the revelation of who he is, the story of what he’s done, and the means by which we personally relate to him. There’s nothing more precious, but each and every one of us has treated it like it’s worthless. We’ve taken the name of the Lord in vain and made light of the most glorious and weighty thing in the world. The 3rd Commandment calls us to take God seriously. Teaching us we must not mar his good name through our bad actions. Forbidding us not to misuse his holy name through careless or empty words. But instead, calling us to treat his name with reverence.T o bear his mark as faithful representatives. And be ambassadors for the “name above all names” - the name of King Jesus.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

NO IMAGES OR IDOLS

The first commandment requires us to worship the right God. The second is all about worshiping the right God the right way. When we bow down in worship, we must not bow down to idols. We must not remake God in our image. We must realize that we are God's imagers. We must have that image restored in us through Jesus Christ - the One True Image of the Invisible God (Col 1:15). 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

NO OTHER GODS

We’ve just begun a mini-series in the 10 Commandments. We’ll be taking each one and asking, “What does it forbid?’” “What does it require?” And “How is it fully realized in Jesus?” The very first of the 10 Words is a word about worship. But it's not a command telling us to worship. It's a command assuming we will worship. The heart of the matter is not whether we will worship, but what we will worship. It's for this reason that God says, "You shall have no other gods before me" (20:3). Meaning: 1) Don't place anything else on the throne of your heart. 2) Do glorify God with everything you've got. And, 3) to see what this looks like on full display and draw near to the God you've so often dethroned, look to Jesus Christ. The One who gave his all to God, and then gave his all for us. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

LUKE 7:36-50

Luke 7:36-50 is the story of a dinner party thrown by a lazy host that gets interrupted by an uninvited guest. One man and one woman who respond to the presence of Jesus in two very different ways. One is a religious leader who gives him a lackluster welcome. The other a sinful woman of the city who offers him extravagant honor. Two people in the presence of the same Jesus who couldn't respond more differently. Why is this? One realizes the greatness of their sin while the other does not. And when we come to terms with the depths of the debt we’re in, we truly grasp the greatness of God’s grace. When we recognize that Jesus has forgiven us of everything we've done, we can’t help but love him with everything we are.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BAPTISM SUNDAY, MAY 31

Join us at the Lee home immediately after church on Sunday, 5/31 to celebrate the baptism of new believers and enjoy a hotdog lunch.

WHAT IS BAPTISM?

Baptism is one of the sweetest moments in the life of the church. It’s a visible portrayal of the effects of the gospel in a person. A means of grace given to us in order to participate in God’s promise of new life in Christ.

All those who believe in Christ are called to publicly identify with him and profess their faith in his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection through baptism. This is the moment where we confess with our mouth what we've believed in our heart (Rom 10:9-10). Signify our union with Jesus Christ in his dying and rising. Mark the end of our old way of life. And demonstrate our entrance into a new way of life lived out together in a new people, as we’re added to his body - the Church.

Want to be baptized? Have questions about baptism? Talk to a member of the pastoral team. They’d be happy to tell you more about this sacrament and celebrate the saving work of God in your life.