LIVING OUT GOD’S GOOD DESIGN

In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, we come to what's arguably the most-controversial topic in all the letter as far as our contemporary culture is concerned. In the ordering of God's household, Paul has particular instructions for how men and women should act at church. According to God's word, our sexuality is significant. Our gender matters. It's not a social construct, but a creational one. Because of this, we must reject the bad beliefs that men and women are basically interchangeable, that biblical gender roles are ancient norms we were always meant to move on from, and that our growth in Christ is gender-neutral. In order to build up God's house, we must be who he created and redeemed us to be. We must embrace the masculine and feminine strengths bound up in God's good design. We must seek God's grace for the particular masculine and feminine temptations we face.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BECAUSE PRAYER ENTRUSTS THE SHAPE OF THE CHURCH & THE WORLD TO GOD HIMSELF

Is there anyone you don’t want to pray for? Anyone you believe is beyond the bounds of God’s reach? Or, maybe, any areas in the world or segments of society you believe God just won’t work in? 1 Tim 2:1-7 confronts our bad beliefs, cynical outlook, and hard hardheartedness by calling us to pray for all kinds of people - no matter how different they are from us. In order for the household of God that is Cross of Grace to be a healthy one, we must not only pray for those “inside the house,” but “outside” as well. For every kind of neighbor. Every kind of sinner. Every sort of person - from the homeless neighbor, to the difficult co-worker, all the way to the president of the United States. We can and should pray for all kinds of people because God desires to save all kinds of people through the person of Jesus Christ.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

GET READY TO CELEBRATE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

This Sunday, we have the privilege of witnessing 2 individuals mark the beginning of their lives in Christ. We’ll gather around as they profess their faith in Jesus’ sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, signify their union with Christ’s own dying and rising, and enter into a new life in a new family which starts now and carries on forever. Christ is advancing his Kingdom, and baptism is proof. Come join us as we celebrate his saving grace, fellowship together, and enjoy lunch as a church.

BAPTISM IMMEDIATELY AFTER SERVICE THIS SUNDAY AT THE LEE HOME

If you’re interested in being baptized or have questions about baptism, please contact one of our pastors.

CHALLENGING ONE ANOTHER WITH THE TRUTH

Every house has house rules. God's house is no exception. There are some actions, attitudes, and beliefs that just don't belong. Because of this, there comes a point when certain members become so disruptive to the life in the house that they need to be removed from the house. This was the case with Hymanaeus and Alexander. Two members of Timothy's church who had devoted themselves to "different doctrine," "made shipwreck of their faith," and were beginning to upset the faith of others as well. In order to protect those who remained inside, prevent the name of Christ from being put to shame, and, as counter-intuitive as it might seem, to promote the restoration of these men, Paul put them out of the church and "handed them over to Satan" (1:20). To our modern ears, this might seem harsh, extreme, or unloving. But God's word recalibrates our thinking and makes it clear that it's not loving to allow someone to continue in error. It's not kind, compassionate, or Christlike to never challenge one another with the truth. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

WHO REIGNS FOR OUR GOOD

Last Sunday, we heard that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim 1:15). This week, we saw what he endured for those sinners to be saved. Guest preacher, Jackson Tran, from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange, opened up the Gospel of John and took us into the last leg of Jesus' journey to the cross. Though he was, and is, and shall forever be the King of kings, he was rejected by lesser authorities, passed over by the crowds, and condemned to bear a criminal's cross. And he did it all for us. He came to die. He revealed the true way back to the God we'd rebelled against. He wields his unrivaled authority for the unparalleled good of his people. He is the King who reigns from the cross. And this might not always be the kind of king we want, but it’s the King we need. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

WE’RE SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE

If the Apostle Paul had a “daily affirmation,” it wouldn’t be, “I deserve to be loved,” “I am worthy,” or “I am enough.” It would be “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim 1:15). His testimony in 1 Tim 1:12-17, shouts “I am unworthy” from start to finish. While this might seem harsh, offensive, discouraging, or downright unpleasant, it’s true. And not only is it true, but it’s good. Because the extent to which we recognize ourselves to be sinners is the extent to which we’ll rejoice in Christ our Savior.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

GET READY TO CELEBRATE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

On Sunday, May 18th, we have the privilege of witnessing men and women publicly identify with Jesus Christ as they profess their faith in his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. They’ll do this through their baptism. That sacrament through which we confess with our mouths what we’ve believed in our hearts. Demonstrating outwardly what was true of us inwardly from the moment we believed. Signifying our union with Jesus in his dying and rising. Marking the end of our old life in sin and commemorating our entrance into a new life with Christ and his people - which carries on forever.

BAPTISM IMMEDIATELY AFTER SERVICE on 5/18 AT THE LEE HOME

If you’re interested in being baptized or have questions about baptism, please contact one of our pastors.

THE DYING AND RISING JESUS IS WHO WE NEED TO SEE

Easter is the good news of the new life made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we must remember that he couldn’t be raised unless he was first crucified. Though it seems so obvious, we can’t miss this. Because everyone wants life. One way or another, we’re all seeking resurrection, but no one wants to die. Yet according to the Easter story, life is given through death. Jesus died so that we may live and he invites us to come and die to that which is not life in order that we may truly live.

LISTEN TO THE EASTER HOMILY HERE

LIFE CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM DOCTRINE

Does it really matter what you believe as long as you're a good person? According to the Bible, apart from believing what is true it's impossible to be a good person. While our culture today strives to separate beliefs and morality, the Bible won’t allow us to make this move. This is because religious beliefs don’t stay in our heads or hearts. They always make their way out through our hands, our mouths, and the way we live our lives. 1 Timothy 1:3-11 demonstrates the inevitable connection between what we worship, trust in, and believe to be true and the moral fruit that is borne in our lives. For this reason, Paul charges Timothy to put a stop to "certain persons" in the Ephesian Church who are teaching a "different doctrine.” Their roots are planted in error, they’re devoted to “myths,” all caught up in theological “speculations,” and their lives are marked by rotten fruit. On the other hand, those who have roots sunk deeply into "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God" will yield the fruit of "love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

THE SHAPE OF THE CHURCH

We began a series in 1 Timothy, an ancient letter from one pastor to another, penned for the good of the entire church. While privately addressed to Paul's protege, Timothy, it is publicly intended to shape the life of the Church in Ephesus - as well as the Church down through the ages. As we seek to live well in God's world (like we learned in the book of James) and avail ourselves of all the grace God has to give (as our study of the ordinary means has taught us) we don't do these things alone. This is because God has saved us into a community, the body of Christ, the Church. So how then should we live out our lives in the church? Or, to put it another way, what should shape our lives together as a church? More than anything else, the truth we'll encounter again and again in the pages of 1 Timothy is that nothing shapes how the church lives more than what the church believes. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE