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We have a problem that’s not just hurting us; it’s killing us. That problem is sin. Sin is destroying us and the world. However, God loves us so much that he does whatever it takes to save us, no matter the cost.
My big question today is: How does God defeat sin? We find our answer in our Bible passage this week.
We start a new series examining the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.
Constant busyness can be really bad for our relationship with God. Jesus talked about it in the Parable of the Sower. He talks about people who hear the message of God’s kingdom, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth distract the person, so that their life is not fruitful. This is really typical for Christians.
I think most Christians don’t reach anywhere near the potential that God made us to have. It’s not because we hate Jesus or we have bad theology. And it’s not like we decided to leave the faith and worship Satan or anything. But a lot of Christians are just too distracted to follow Jesus properly.
So my big question today is: how can we stay on track with Jesus despite all the pressures and temptations of life?
My answer is: we need to see how worthy Jesus is – of all our time and devotion.
More specifically, we need to see that:
Today’s Bible story helps equip us for those moments when God doesn’t make sense. Our passage today comes from 2 Kings 23: 24-27; it’s the story of one of Israel’s greatest kings, King Josiah.
Our Bible story equips us for those times when God doesn’t make sense. We won’t always get answers, but we must remember that God honors the people who love and stay faithful to him. We must remember that it’s always worth it to become more like Jesus.
This doesn’t mean that we ignore our questions or doubts. There will be times when we are genuinely confused with God. BUT this is a reminder that God has a different sense of timing than we do. We won’t always be rewarded right away for our godliness.
So, we hold onto his promise that God will someday make all things right again. And in the end, we’ll see that God’s plan was better than ours.
I think most of life’s regrets, mistakes and even stress comes down to this: What we see and what we fail to see.
In Proverbs 14:12, it claims that “There is a way that seems right to a man (they see it as good), but its end is the way to death.”
This passage is talking about a spiritual blindness that keeps us from living well. Living right with God and others.
So how do we avoid the way of regret, destruction and emotional chaos?In other words, how do we live right?
Answer: We must see right, because…
Today I want to tell the story of King Jeroboam. Last week we learned about a different king named Rehoboam and he was not a good king.
He was so hostile to his own people that it split the kingdom. There are 12 tribes in Israel- two tribes stayed with King Rehoboam, but the other 10 chose Jeroboam to be their king. So, this was good for Jeroboam! Most of the Israelites chose him to be their king. God even promised Jeroboam that he would have a dynasty as great as King David’s, but only if Jeroboam would follow God (that’s the caveat again) So, Jeroboam should feel secure! He has most of the Israelites but most of all he has a promise from God.
But his trust in God is about to be tested. Jeroboam encounters a problem, and it has to do with the location of worship. The law of Moses said that the worship of Yahweh was to be centered on Jerusalem. All the Israelites were required to go to Jerusalem every year to offer sacrifices and celebrate the goodness of God together.
But Jerusalem was the capital city of the other king! That’s where Rehoboam lived! And that made Jeroboam feel insecure. He thought, what if, when the Israelites go back to Jerusalem, they defect back to Rehoboam?! OR! What if, Rehoboam convinces the Israelites to secretly plot against me?! Not on my watch! You can feel his anxiety! So, Jeroboam comes up with a plan and it’s not very good.
My question is: what makes a leader worth following?
Today I want to show you that great leaders have two commitments. They have a commitment to wisdom, and a commitment to service. And I believe all of us can make these two commitments, and we can become the kinds of leaders that God made us to be. ‘
That’s what our Bible story is about. Today I want to tell you the story of King Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the fourth king of Israel, after King Saul and King David and King Solomon. And Rehoboam is famous for doing everything wrong. He’s famous for failing in the most spectacular way. And his story was put in the Bible to teach us how NOT to lead.
(The following summary was generated by AI, with edits and review performed by a human being)
In this sermon, Pastor David Cay takes us into a biblical exploration of Solomon’s prayer for wisdom in 1 Kings 3:5-14, highlighting two key principles that please God in prayer: remembering God’s past faithfulness and aligning oneself fully with God’s purposes.
Solomon’s prayer serves as a model for believers – to pray with genuine remembrance and dependence on God while seeking wisdom for godly leadership. Pastor David reflects on the importance of spiritual habits such as quiet time, corporate worship, and communion as tools for remembering God’s faithfulness amid life’s hardships. Solomon’s story also carries a cautionary note: despite his wise request, he failed to fully surrender to God, which eventually led to his downfall.
Pastor David challenges us to examine what areas of their lives we have not fully surrendered to God, urging full commitment rather than part-time faithfulness.
(The following summary was generated by AI, with edits from a human being)
In this sermon, Pastor Tim conveys a message on the importance of returning to a childlike, dependent faith in Jesus, characterized by truly abiding in Him. Using John 15’s metaphor of Jesus as the “true vine” and believers as the branches, Pastor Tim explores what it means to live a Jesus-abiding life through an intimate connection with Christ. This includes a willingness to accept pruning — the painful process of God removing unhealthy parts of our lives to foster spiritual growth and fruitfulness.
This week’s message also emphasizes that a genuine Christian life must be rooted in abiding (or permanently residing) in Jesus, which is core to producing spiritual fruit reflecting Christ’s character. Prayer is highlighted as a primary activity to foster this connection.
We are called to examine our habits, to cultivate those that stir affection for Jesus and cut off those that drain love or joy, embracing the ongoing process of spiritual transformation through love, pruning, fruitfulness, and intimate relationship with God.
(The following summary was generated by AI, with edits from a human being)
Many start their spiritual journeys with passion but struggle to maintain consistent commitment due to discomfort, inconvenience, or lack of drive. The core question raised is: How can one follow Jesus for a lifetime, not just after fleeting emotional experiences but in a sustainable way?
Using scripture from John 15:18-27 and John 16:1, Pastor David Cay emphasizes the need to expect trouble, opposition, and even hatred for followers of Christ. Jesus himself warned his disciples that persecution and rejection were inevitable because Christians do not belong to the world but are chosen out of it. The speaker stresses that having the right mentality—expecting difficulties and understanding their inevitability—is vital to prevent believers from falling away from faith.
This message offers Christians both encouragement and realism, merging scriptural teaching with practical, personal experiences to explain how to sustain faith long-term amid inevitable hardships. It challenges believers to shift their paradigms around Christian living—from expecting ease to embracing endurance and community—ultimately pointing toward the promise of God’s abiding presence and goodness along the way.
What if there is a bigger world out there that is more real than anything we know? What if someone came to us from the world outside, and told us the truth about our world? What if that person couldn’t stay in our world, but they had to leave. But before they left, they told us how to get to the place where they lived?
As Christians, these are not just hypothetical questions – this is actually our story. The story of Jesus is that he came from outside of our world. He told us the truth about our world. He couldn’t stay with us, but he had to leave. Before he left, however, he told us how to get to the place where he lives. Jesus gave us a way to be close to him, even before we get to his world.