Author: David Cay

The Book of 1st Peter: Resilience – November 14, 2021

1 Peter 2:11-17

Pastor David Cay

How does God want us to represent him? This is a very important question because God has put us on Earth to represent him. This is what it means to be made in the image of God: we represent and mirror God to this world.

So if we take this role seriously, it’s the greatest thing we can do for other people – showing God’s love for them and also great for ourselves. But like almost everything it doesn’t come easily, which is why the Bible keeps encouraging us to keep going.

Our Bible passage today was written to people who were a lot like us – they were a minority in a culture that didn’t believe the same things as them. So Peter’s instructions to them also applies to us as well.

According to our passage, the first key to representing God well is to:

  1. Excel in doing good
  2. Honour everyone

The Book of 1st Peter: Resilience – October 31, 2021

1 Peter 1:1-2

Pastor David Cay

A race, or a marathon, can be a metaphor to describe the Christian life. It can be hard and painful sometimes. Our walk with God will have struggles like we have to give up our comfort to follow him. There are times when we struggle with sin and temptation. It can be really frustrating that a lot of us just want to quit.

This week we are starting a new sermon series in 1st Peter. This book was written to people who were going through hard times. The surrounding culture was mistreating them because they were Christians. They were wrestling with the personal cost of following Jesus and they wanted to quit.

Peter writes this letter to encourage the church and implores them to keep going despite the trials they are facing.

My question today is: Why should we pay the price to follow Jesus? Our Bible passage tells us that it worth it because:

  1. God’s plan is better than our plan
  2. The only way to follow God’s plan is to pay the price

Genesis: Chosen to Be a Blessing – October 17, 2021

Genesis 44 & 45

Pastor David Cay

Today, I want to talk about personal conflicts, the conflicts that we face every single day: some are big, some are small, some have lasted for years. The way we handle conflict can shape our lives for better or for worse. Conflicts can have a happy ending. It’s what we should strive for but sometimes it’s not possible.

So my question today is: What is the best way to overcome a personal conflict?

The answer we get comes from our Bible story. We find two keys:

  1. We should seek friendship
  2. We should forgive with God.

Genesis: Chosen to Be a Blessing – October 3, 2021

Genesis 39:1-12

Pastor David Cay

Today I want to talk about the story of Joseph. Joseph was one of twelve brothers but he was the favorite son of his Father, Jacob. This caused an intense sibling rivalry- so intense that the brothers wanted to kill Joseph.

However, at the last minute they decided to sell Joseph as a slave instead. The slave traders took Joseph down to Egypt to be sold and there he worked and served a man named Potiphar.

In our passage, Joseph worked in a really difficult work environment, and he eventually overcame the challenges that he faced. Joseph teaches us how to engage the challenges of a difficult work environment. Work is a huge part of life and it’s part of God’s plan for every Christian to do good work (Eph 2:10; Eph 4:16).

Some work is paid, like if you have a career job. And other work is unpaid, like raising kids. But, we all need to work and we all need to overcome the challenges of our work. And our Bible story shows us how we can thrive at work and use our work to bless others and be blessed ourselves.

So my big question today is: What is the best way to approach our work? Our answer from our Bible story is:

  1. We should work with EFFORT
  2. We should work with INTEGRITY

Genesis: Chosen to Be a Blessing – September 5, 2021

Genesis 28:10-22

Pastor David Cay

Today, we begin a new series on the book of Genesis – specifically, the lives of Jacob and Joseph.

For some of us, we feel we are one big mistake and we feel like God can’t love us. We look at our mistakes, our failures and we don’t feel worthy to have a relationship with God. And no matter what we do, it feels like God is distant and doesn’t care about us.

Some of us don’t want a relationship with God because we have this view that God is like the moral police, that He’s like a bad boss or some dictator. Some view him as this needy person who always needs compliments to function. So it makes sense to ask why would anyone want a relationship with a God like that?

But the Bible tells us about a different God, a God that loves you and wants a relationship with you. He invites us into this life giving relationship. The only problem is we don’t just drift into a good relationship with God. We need to be intentional about it!

This leads me to my big question today: How do we get a right relationship with God?

Titus: Building Community – August 22, 2021

Titus 3:1-2

Pastor David Cay

When you have a vibrant relationship with Jesus, it can be such an amazing thing. However, it’s going to be very demanding. Anything that’s worth it will demand something great from you. It will demand certain changes in your life.

Our Bible passage teaches us about the kind of change that we need to do in our lives as we respond to the Gospel.

My big question today is: what kind of lifestyle does the gospel demand?

It’s an important question because some Christians think the Christian life is just about reading our Bibles and praying. There is so much more that the Gospel demands.

Our passage tells us that the Gospel demands a life of discipline, specifically:

  1. Discipline as citizens
  2. Discipline as neighbors.

Titus: Building Community – August 8, 2021

Titus 1:10-12

Pastor David Cay
NOTE OF CORRECTION: In the sermon, at the 15:26 mark, Pastor David incorrectly referenced a person in his story about “Silver Solution”. The person that Pastor David meant to refer to was “Jim Bakker”. Pastor David apologizes for the error.

My question today is: In the Christian life, in what ways do Christians get it wrong?

Today I want to talk about two common errors that happen when we live the Christian life. They have serious ramifications and can lead you into a lot of trouble.

These two errors are legalism, and the so called “prosperity gospel”. Legalism is a rule based religion that easily takes away our joy and the “prosperity gospel” is a religion based on consumption; the main goal is getting worldly goods. Our Bible passage today will help us to understand both errors.

Ecclesiastes: Our Culture’s Wisdom – July 25, 2021

Ecclesiastes 9:9-10

Pastor David Cay

My question today is: how do we respond to the brevity of life? How do we make the most of the life that God has given us?

As we have said in previous sermons, the teacher in our passage is not a Christian. He is more of an agnostic, and he speaks with our culture’s wisdom. Ironically, this is where cultural wisdom is totally right, and it matches with the Biblical wisdom we find in other parts of the Bible.

Here’s the message of the Bible, to deal with brevity of life, we need to:

  1. Seize the day for joy, and
  2. Seize the day for work.