HOW THE GOSPEL SHAPES OUR VIEW OF WEALTH

The false teachers in Ephesus were motivated by a love of money. “Imagining that godliness is a means of gain” they pursued leadership in the church and made Christ a means to their selfish ends. We can also treat Christ like a means to an end and live our lives in the pursuit of wealth. Coveting what we don’t have. Grumbling or complaining for more. Fearfully and anxiously trying to get more. But God’s word teaches us that treasuring Christ is the best way to spend our lives. That this life is not about getting more money, but about giving as much as we can to spreading the glory of Christ. Investing our temporary treasure in things that will matter forever. And being content - whatever we do or don’t have - because we have Christ. Jesus himself is the greatest treasure we could ever possess. The One who keeps us more secure than all the wealth in the world. Who won’t fail to give us all we need to serve him now and then celebrate the immeasurable riches of his grace for days without end.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

MALACHI, TRUETT, & CHRISTIAN SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES

From July 11th - 14th, 10 students and 5 chaperones joined our sister churches in the West for the 2025 Youth Camp. They gathered together in the mountains of AZ for a time of worship, teaching, games, and lip-sync battles, all to the glory of God!

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

Our youth came back with stories of God’s goodness. This past Sunday, students, Malachi Early and Truett Houlton, and youth leader, Christian Davis, shared with us. Read Malachi and Christian’s testimonies and be encouraged that God is at work among the next generation.

Malachi:

Before going to camp, I expected God to move—I just didn’t know when or how. I’ve been to camp before, and every time, God has met me where I was. But this time felt different. I came in feeling discouraged and carrying a lot of shame. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but deep down, I still hoped God would speak to me. At first, I was frustrated that my dad didn’t let me bring my phone. But once I got there, I realized how much I’d been using my phone and music to distract myself from things I didn’t want to face. Without it, I was able to focus more on God and actually connect with people around me.

God showed me two big themes during the weekend: acceptance and sacrifice. First, acceptance. I’ve always felt like I had to act a certain way to be accepted—at school or even at church. I was afraid that if I was just myself, I’d be judged or left out. So I stayed quiet. But at camp, God reminded me that I don’t need to earn anyone’s approval. He already accepts me and loves me exactly as I am.

Second, sacrifice. Giving up my phone ended up being one of the best parts of camp. Without all the distractions, I felt more connected to God and more present with everyone around me. One devotional talked about how music shapes the way we think and view the world, and it really convicted me. I realized that a lot of the music I was listening to was pulling me away from God. That’s when it hit me—music had become a stumbling block. So for me, the real sacrifice wasn’t just giving up my phone—it was giving up music. But I know I’m letting go of it for something better: a closer, stronger relationship with God.

Camp reminded me that even in hard seasons, God still shows up. He reminded me that I don’t have to prove myself to anyone. He already accepts me, loves me, and wants me near Him. I left camp feeling more focused, encouraged, and ready to grow.

Christian:

If you had told me 5 years ago that I was going to be a counselor at a youth camp, I probably would have laughed in your face. I never thought I’d feel my feet burning in my shoes under the Arizona sun, I never thought I’d listen to screaming goats for 5 straight minutes, and I certainly never thought I’d be hearing our very own Truman Severson give a eulogy for a dead bird. Beautiful, by the way. Well, sometimes God likes to play jokes on us...and they’re way better and way more satisfying than any we could come up with ourselves.

Because what I saw, and experienced, was life changing. God gathered dedicated parents, young adults, organizers, planners, chefs, talented game makers, pastors, musicians, all with one focused goal... to show your growing teens what a life lived in service to Christ can be. They met like- minded peers and leaders who were playing games, singing, pouring their hearts out, and comforting one another in the midst of life’s darkness. This youth camp solidified what I had already begun to see in the teen book club here at Cross of Grace. Your teens are putting off their childhood... and they are becoming brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise God.

When I was their age, I was watching TV and pretending to be doing school whenever my mom walked into the room. I would NEVER have walked into a lecture to hear how to be careful that the music I listen to glorify the Lord...or why being part of a local church is important...or what a healthy dating life looks like for young Christian men and women. Your children did these very things, and not just that, they asked incredible questions, made friends, and gave glory to God for it all. Can you imagine? Thank you, every single one of you in this room, for raising such caring and God-fearing teenagers. I went to this camp praying to God that I could affect these young people in some profound way...but as we stood there during the worship session, and the Spirit of God came upon us, and all of us as a youth group prayed for one another, laid hands on one another...it was God that affected me through them...and my prayers became “Lord…get me out of the way.”

Teens. Thank you. Thank you for digging in, for showing great friendship to one another, for letting me be a part of your life. It’s a privilege and an honor to walk away from this experience knowing that the torch of the gospel is being placed into your hands. It may seem dumb...coming to a book club about every other week...going to a 4 day camp in the hottest mountain you’ve ever been on...but it’s not. This is what life is truly about. And I can’t wait for next year.”

Praise the Lord!

AND WITNESS THROUGH YOUR WORK

1 Timothy 6:1-2, is about the conduct of slaves within the Ephesian Church. While the system of slavery that existed back then is no longer around today, the principles for how believers respond to those in authority over them remain. All of us must "honor" those in authority over us, those we work for, and those we volunteer with. Christians must honor their boss - whether their boss is a Christian or not. We must work hard wherever we are. Because, for most of us, your job is the primary arena in which the world is watching your Christian life. We should see it as our sacred duty to work with excellence, integrity, and respect for our bosses so that a watching world would see the worthiness of Christ.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

EVERY SUNDAY IS “SEND-OFF SUNDAY”

Every week, God gathers us to himself in order to bless us with his presence, equip us for ministry, and fuel us with fresh faith to be sent out into the mission field. 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 prepares the gathered church to scatter well. Because these verses make us confident that the mission we've been given will move forward, no matter what. King Jesus will lead us through the setbacks, disappointments, and difficulties we'll no doubt face. He'll use the weak and ordinary people we are to share a message that's a matter of life and death. And he'll cause us to be a band of happy captives, walking down the road that leads to life, marching along wherever he takes us, and inviting our neighbors to come and join his victorious parade. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

AND WE ALL NEED JESUS

Pastoral ministry is serious business. Refuting error. Promoting and protecting the truth of the gospel. Shepherding God’s redeemed people and keeping watch over their very souls. The letter of 1 Timothy has made it clear that people need pastors to perform this serious and weighty work. But Paul’s instructions in 1 Tim 5:17-25 reveal that while people need pastors, pastors need people too. The leaders of the church are weak, ordinary, and imperfect men. Beggars telling other beggars where to find bread! For this reason, Jesus - the true Senior Pastor of any church - has positioned his people to serve as instruments of grace in the lives of those who lead her. Calling them to support the work of pastors by honoring them (5:17-18) and holding them accountable (5:19-25).

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR NATURAL & SUPERNATURAL HOUSEHOLD

1 Timothy 5:3-16 concerns the proper care of widows in the church. Out of everything we've encountered in this letter, this passage might seem like the most irrelevant or unfamiliar instruction to the church today. But, it's a word that strikes at the very heart of who God is and at the very center of who we're called to be. Because, a healthy church that stands strong and lasts long will be a church marked by compassion for most vulnerable among us. As believers, we ought to feel a godly responsibility to give ourselves to those in need just as Christ has given himself to us. To the parents, children, grandparents, and relatives in our natural families. To the brothers and sisters we’ve been set side by side with in the family of Christ. To the neighbors we’re praying would soon join us in the household of God.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

DISCIPLES WHO MAKE DISCIPLES

1 Timothy 5:1 begins a section of the letter concerned with how the pastor should relate to different groups within the church. Paul provides instructions for how Timothy should minister to: those of different ages and genders (5:1-2), widows (5:3-16), other elders (5:17-25), and slaves (6:1-2). All of this is important not just for Timothy but for each one of us. Because, “as go the pastors, so go the people.” There's something for the entire church to learn from the way the pastor relates to every group within the church. First and foremost, 5:1-2 makes it beautifully clear that Pastor Timothy needs to relate to the different groups within the church as he would to family. We, along with him, live in this same family and are called by God to live together as brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. Encouraging one another. Mentoring one another. Engaging in discipleship together. Striving together so that each of us would increasingly take on the shape of the Savior. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

1 Timothy is a letter from one pastor to another written for the good of the entire church. If we could sum up all of Paul’s instructions for Timothy, back then, and for every pastor since, 1 Timothy 4:16 would provide us with the essence of what a faithful pastor must do: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Watch your life and watch your doctrine because it’s a matter of life and death. Pastors in the church must watch their life and doctrine so that the people of the church would watch theirs as well. This is significant, because we’re all being watched! People watch pastors. Children watch parents. Co-workers watch fellow employees. Our neighbors watch us all. What do they see when they see us? What should they see when they see us? Lives marked by godliness and gospel truth. The church ought to be a gathering of people who look like, love like, and live like Jesus Christ. But, the church cannot grow in Christ, be like Christ, or reflect the beauty of Christ to the watching world apart from the gospel which makes us who we are. Apart from this truth, the church ceases to be the church. Apart from this truth, we have no message of life to offer our neighbors. But according to this truth, we “have our hope set on the living God” and live lives now that increasingly take the shape of the lives we’ll be living in “the life to come” (1 Tim 4:8, 10).

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BY EMBRACING GOD’S GOOD GIFTS

The church is God's home. The place where he dwells with his people. Those who delight in, declare, and defend the goodness of life with him in a world full of competing claims. In this way, the church serves as a pillar and buttress of the truth. Holding it up for all to see and resisting the external forces that press up against it. But is resisting the pressures of the world the only way the church relates to the world? What about the many pleasures of the world? 1 Timothy 4:1-5 comes to us to say that while our life together is certainly marked by resisting bad beliefs, it's also meant to be about receiving God’s good gifts. Relieving us from the uneccessary tension between loving God and enjoying life. Because, the joy that’s found in Jesus is a joy that includes and is even intensified by glorifying God through enjoying what he’s made.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

GOD’S OWN HOUSEHOLD

We come to the beating heart of Paul's letter. A passage which brings us to his primary purpose for writing as well as the main idea he wants Timothy - and us - to lay ahold of. Above all else, 1 Timothy has been written so that we’d know how to act at church. Just why is it so important how we act at church? Because of what the church is! The very household of God, a pillar and buttress of the capital "T" truth. But what makes the church what it is? What is the essence of the truth we're called to promote and protect? What creates the house, gives it life, and brings us home to God? It's the gospel we're founded upon. The "mystery of godliness" and grand story of the Savior's work. Any home is only as good as its foundation is strong. Therefore, to be a church that builds today and lasts long we must be a church that remains firmly fixed on the gospel of Christ. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE