“PARTICIPATION” IN THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Communion is one of only two sacraments that God has given His Church until Jesus returns. Not only has He given them, but He’s commanded them for all who believe. But why? Why are they so important? Many Christians who have been baptized willingly participate in communion, but have little understanding of what benefit is experienced while doing so. Listen to the two-part homily from this past Sunday’s communion service to deepen your understanding of the benefit of communion and grow an eagerness for the next time we take it together.

LISTEN TO THE HOMILY HERE

GOD HAS MADE US GLAD

Last Sunday, pastor Dustin Smetona from Sovereign Grace Church in Orange visited us and served us well with a sermon from Psalm 122, teaching and reminding us that when we gather as a local church, it’s a marvelous thing. Why? Because God is present among us in a unique way. Because God designed our gatherings. And because God has a role and a plan for each of us to play in our life together as a local church. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon and be encouraged to pray for the peace of and continue to invest in the precious thing that is our shared life together in the local church.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

HE WILL STRENGTHEN OUR HAND IN HIM

The wilderness is a place that nearly every major biblical character found themselves in at one time or another. And usually it’s because God explicitly led them there. Literal wisdom experiences map onto the spiritual wilderness experiences of God’s people (Ps. 63:1). This past Sunday, we went with David back into the wilderness - in 1 Samuel 23-24 - to learn and relearn two essential lessons of wilderness wanderings as God’s people, namely that the wilderness is a good place to be and there are no shortcuts through the wilderness. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

GOD WILL NOT LOSE HIS PEOPLE

1 Samuel 22 presents a startlingly tragic event: Saul, the one charged with leading and protecting God’s people, slaughters God’s people. What he failed to do to Israel’s enemies, the Amalekites, he does to the people of Israel. By all appearances, it looks like God has left—like He’s not in this anymore. Until we discover that a man named Abiathar has escaped. What we learn from this passage is that God has historically preserved a remnant among His people throughout history and that He’s done so unfailingly. Furthermore, He’s preserved His guidance among His people. And the sure guarantee of both is His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you feel like you’re “losing” a sense of God’s guidance or presence? Listen to this week’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

THE INTENSITY OF OUR TRIALS IS NEVER AN EXCUSE FOR SIN

David, unlike Saul, gives us a taste of the King Who is. But though he is a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), he is not the King. He’s not God’s coming King. Why? Because he’s still an imperfect, sinful human being in need of the coming Savior King. 1 Samuel 21 bears this out. After David finds solace in covenant love in 1 Samuel 20, he quickly turns and resorts to worldly solutions and deceptive tactics to solve his problems. But in this and similar situations, you and many of us might say, “well, when your back is up against the wall, sometimes, you have to blur the lines of morality a bit”. But as David teaches us, this conclusion is borne out of a functional belief that God’s grace has reached its limit in your situation and further, it leads to disastrous consequences. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to hear more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

WHERE CAN YOU FIND SECURITY IN CHAOS? IN A COVENANT FRIEND

In 1 Samuel 20, David finds himself on the run for his life and in confused desperation as to why his enemy wants him dead. Where he turns is instructive for us. He turns to the son of his enemy, Jonathan. Why does he do such a thing? Because he and Jonathan had struck a covenant of loyalty and steadfast love toward one another. The Christian has a covenant friend greater than Jonathan, who has pledged His steadfast love toward us through His cross. His name? Jesus. Listen to this week’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

GOD WON’T ALWAYS PROTECT YOU FROM, BUT WILL ALWAYS PRESERVE YOU THROUGH YOUR TRIALS

In 1 Samuel 18, David just kept on winning. Saul was trying to kill him, but David was blissfully unaware. As his life progresses, though, Saul’s intentions, driven by jealousy, become painfully clear to David. Cross of Grace Intern, Jason Roenicke showed us from this passage that God was no less present with David in chapter 19 than chapter 18. The difference, however, is that God’s grace was present to preserve him - not necessarily to shield him entirely - from his trial. This preservation is a particular grace that God uses to teach and form His disciples. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BUT GOD’S GRACE IS GREATER THAN YOU COULD FATHOM

After he slew Goliath, David experienced a meteoric rise of influence and popularity in Israel. What he didn’t know, though, was that Saul was threatened by and jealous of his success, leading Saul to make multiple purposeful attempts at his life. But those attempts strangely resulted in even greater success for David. Why? Because God’s favor rested with David. Through 1 Samuel 18, we learned that this kind of protection and favor is the heritage of everyone who has placed their faith in David’s descendent - Jesus Christ. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

IN THE STORY OF DAVID AND GOLIATH, WE ARE MORE LIKE THE COWERING ISRAELITES THAN DAVID

The story of David and Goliath - one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. The commonly understood moral of the story is “Be a David. Courageously go up against ‘your Goliaths’ because the heroically courageous come out on top”. But if we listen to the text itself and not our preconceived notions, we find that Davidic God-centeredness and Davidic courage is not common at all - either among the Israelites or among us. Someone else is reflected in David and His name is Jesus. We, like the Israelites, need a Savior who is fully committed to God’s glory and who will courageously take up God’s cause to save us from our own fear and unbelief. The story of David and Goliath teaches us about the Gospel and makes us wonder at our Savior who faced down sin and defeated it. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

DAVID GIVES US A TASTE OF THE GOODNESS OF THE KING WE NEED

In 1 Samuel 16, we’re introduced to David. After 16 chapters following the life and ascension of Saul, we discovered that Saul makes us long for a better king by contrast. He’s like a gulp of saltwater to our thirsty souls, heightening our longing for a better king by furthering our dissatisfaction. Now as David arrives, we discover he makes us long for God’s coming king by similarity. Though still a sinner, an imperfect king as we’ll see in the remainder of 1 Samuel, he bears the characteristics of the king we need. David is like a sip of cool, fresh water, heightening our longing for the true king by giving us a taste of the real thing. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to meet this shepherd/servant king in 1 Samuel 16.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE