Author: David Cay

Arguing with Jesus – May 26, 2024

Mark 12:18-27

Everyone has a different story when it comes to their journey toward faith or away from faith. We all know people who are like James Wallace who come from a skeptical background. So, it naturally creates some tension in our conversations because our skeptic friends don’t want to believe.

Yet, as Christians we really want to help our friends find Jesus. So, my big question today is: How do we talk to skeptics?

Fortunately, the Bible is no stranger to skeptics. Our Bible story is about some skeptics who have a conversation with Jesus, and when we study this conversation, we see a good way to talk to a skeptic.

My big question today is: How can we answer skeptics? Our story teaches us two things we need to expect in those conversations:

  1. Expect apparent contradictions
  2. Expect brilliant resolutions

Barnabas: Moral Excellence – May 12, 2024

1 Corintihians 9:3-14

Moms are the best! So, I want to reflect on how much mother’s or mother figures are a gift from God. Now, I understand that some of us have great relationships with our moms but for others, Mother’s Day can be a painful experience.

Some of us have a broken relationship with our mothers or maybe you’ve lost a mother, so we want to acknowledge that, and we are here for you. But for many of us, some of the most excellent people we know are moms or the maternal figures that God brings into our lives.

And it’s worth thinking about what makes them so excellent because it will make us more grateful, and it will give us ideas for how to be excellent ourselves. So, my big question today is what does personal excellence look like?

That’s what our Bible passage is about. Our Bible passage is part of a letter written by Paul to a church in the city of Corinth. Paul wasn’t their mom, but you might hear some of that motherly tone in our passage.

Barnabas: Moral Excellence – April 28, 2024

Acts 9:19b-28

A few years back, social psychologist, Jean Twenge published a detailed study on the mental state of today’s teenagers and college students in a book called iGen. She found a rapid rise in depression and anxiety in young people. Twenge believes that the biggest reason for this problem is the rise of smart phones and social media.

People are connected by the internet, yet they feel alone. People are constantly comparing how they look and what they have. They see people doing fun activities without them and they feel left out.

Twenge writes, “By 2016, roughly one out of every five girls reported symptoms that met the criteria for having experienced a major depressive episode in the previous year. The rate for boys went up, too, but more slowly (from 4.5% in 2011 to 6.4% in 2016).” Very sad news!

However, one interesting part of her research is that she found five activities that are linked to lower rates of depression: sports and other forms of exercise, attending religious services, reading books, in-person social interactions, and doing homework.

Her research implies that churches like ours can make a significant difference in the lives of young people. So, my main question today is: how can we help people who feel alone? Our passage today is from Acts 9:26-28.

Our new sermon series is on Barnabas, who was a difference maker, and we can learn two things from him:

  1. We discern what God is doing
  2. We nurture what God is doing

The Life and Times of Samuel – April 14, 2024

“Samuel Anoints David as the Next King”

Samuel 16:1-13

Everyone has a celebrity that they love- who is your favorite celebrity? Why do you love them? Is it because they’re pretty and attractive? Is it because they’re successful and rich? Is it their talent? It matters what we admire, because we are becoming like the things we admire.

My big question today: what is the most important thing about a person? Our Bible passage today tell us that the most important thing is character. Talent is secondary but it’s the heart that is most important.

The Life and Times of Samuel – March 24, 2024

“Spirit-filled Saul”

1 Samuel 11:1-15

Maybe we see something a type of injusticec on the news, and it infuriates you. But sometimes you don’t act on it because you feel like you don’t have power. But as Christians, we too have something powerful inside of us- a source of power called the Holy Spirit, God himself living in us.

Our Bible story today is about what happens when the Holy Spirit moves a person and takes control of their heart. We see that the Holy Spirit makes us angry at evil and dedicated to God’s glory.

The Life and Times of Samuel – March 10, 2024

“The Calling of Samuel”

1 Samuel 3

For some of us, we don’t know what it means to “hear God” because God doesn’t normally speak audibly, yet the Bible tells us we are meant to know and recognize his voice.

John 10:27 tells us, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

So, we know that it should be normal for followers of Jesus to listen to his voice. But how does this happen? How does this work? So, my big question today is: How do we listen to God’s voice? 

The Life and Times of Samuel – February 25, 2024

“The Birth of Samuel (The Story of Hannah)”

1 Samuel 1:1-20

This week, we begin our series on the life and times of the prophet Samuel.

Today, I want to start off with a question: What is the most mysterious part of prayer? Is it the lack of answers or the deafening silence? Or maybe it seems like God says yes to some people but then he says no to others?

We find prayer to be really mysterious. So my big question today is: What is the kind of prayer that God honors?

That’s what our Bible story is about today. Our Bible passage comes from 1 Samuel 1:1-20. It’s a longer story, but it’s a good one.

Our passage today tells us that God honors us when we:

  1. Bring ourselves as we are
  2. When we trust what He has said

Revelation: Seeing the Invisible – February 11, 2024

“Fire and Brimstone”

Revelation 18:1-5

The bible talks about a time when Jesus comes back and gets rid of evil forever. When the Bible talks about the final judgment it sounds pretty scary, and it should cause all of us to pause because all of us have done things that are wrong. There are no perfect people – including myself – nor perfect societies.

But, there is a just and righteous God who will one day overthrow everything that is evil and sinful, including us and whatever empires we have built without Him. The good news, however, is that the Bible tells us that God, out of His great love, has made a way for us to escape the judgment to come.

So, my big question today is: how can we be ready for God’s judgment?

We find our answer in our Bible passage this week. There are two keys for being ready for God’s judgement:

  1. Expect justice
  2. Escape early

Revelation: Seeing the Invisible – January 28, 2024

“To the Church in Smyrna”

Revelation 2:8-11

I think all of us need assurance sometimes. Maybe not specifically a nightmare you had last night, but maybe you’re going through a breakup or maybe dealing with the loss of a loved one. And life feels like a nightmare right now.

Maybe it feels like we are being tested to our absolute limits and it feels like this season will never end. So, my question today is: What assurance do we have when everything goes wrong? 

Our big idea today is Jesus is with us through times of trouble. Today I want to talk about how great it is that we are not alone in the storms of life. Jesus never promises a problem-free life but he does promise to be with us in the trouble.