Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Focus on Faithfulness, and let God build your legacy

Text: James 1:18-22

Notes:

Our goal is not to leave a legacy–our goal is to be faithful.
A legacy is the result of faithfulness.

1. Conviction
   • Our source of truth
     • “receive with meekness the implanted word”
     • We are convinced that God’s way is the only way to live life
     • We hear God’s truth
     • Truth demands action
       • Right beliefs are not enough
       • “be doers of the word and not hearers only”
   • Our methods of handling problems
     • “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”

2. Consistency
   • Doing the right thing–over and over
   • Consistency = faithfulness
   • Faithfulness over time results in maturity
   • Faithfulness <> perfection
   • There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity
3. Compassion
   • “speaking the truth in love”
   • Loving God will always involve loving your neighbor
4. Courage
   • Galatians 2–Paul refers to James as a pillar
   • James was faithful to the end
   • “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point,
     which means at the point of highest reality. ”  –C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Understanding the Paradox of Jesus Christ

Text: Hebrews 9:11-15

Notes:

Jesus Christ:

• Almighty God, yet born a man
• Eternally existent, yet born in flesh
• High priest, and yet also sacrifice
• Christ is described both as a lamb and as a lion
• Christ was a priest like no other
• Christ was a lamb like no other

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: The Apostle James

Text: John 7:1-9

Notes:

The Apostle James

• aka James the Just
• son of Mary and Joseph
• half-brother of Christ
• head of the Jerusalem church after Peter
• martyred 62 AD

God uses unlikely people to do His will

• God can use who you were–and who you still are–to do His will
• Don’t skip the skeptics when sharing the gospel
  • Even two years into Jesus’s ministry James is still a skeptic
  • CS Lewis was an avowed atheist into his 30s
  • “the hardness of God is softer than the kindness of men”

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Road Trip: Prayer

Thesis: Prayer is a journey with God
where He chooses the route and the destination
and along the way we get to know Him better

Text: Luke 11:1-13

Notes:

1. Prayer’s Perspective
   • “Our Father”, We are praying to a Father who cares for us
   • “in Heaven”, We are praying to a Father who is control of all things
2. Prayer’s Priorities
   • “Hallowed be your name”, pursue God’s glory and rejoice in God
     •  A person’s name represents their character and who they are
   • “Your kingdom come”
   • “Your will be done”, Christ will empower you to do God’s will
     • God is good, and His will is good
     • Psalm 84, “no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly”
3. Prayer’s Petition
   • “Give us our daily bread”,
     • Supplication – intense prayer / request
     • Intercession – supplication on behalf of others
   • “Forgive us our sins”,
     • God desires to show mercy through forgiveness
     • Those who desire to be like Christ will show mercy through forgiveness
4. Prayer’s Protection
   • “Do not lead us into temptation”, pray God will empower you to resist temptation
5. Prayer’s Patient Persistence
   • God may wait to provide an answer to prayer in order to train your heart through persistence
6. Prayer’s Proof
   • God’s provision for your needs reminds you how much God cares for you in particular

Christ taught this prayer to His disciples while He was in prayer.

Christ’s prayers for us are much greater than our own prayers for ourselves.

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Why Study Your Bible

Text: Psalm 1

Notes:

1. Reasons why people don’t study the Bible
   • Lack of time
     • We will always carve out time for what we think will bring us joy
     • “You don’t have a busyness problem–you have a belief problem” –Melissa Kruger
   • “I don’t understand what I’m reading”
     • The Bible was written in other times, other places, other languages, and other cultures
     • It will take time to understand
     • Even Peter acknowledged that some things that Paul taught were difficult–and they shared time, language, and culture
2. Hindrances to Bible study
   • Wrong goal
     • The goal isn’t just to read
     • The goal is to spend time with God
   • Distractions
     • There are things that can be multitasked–but some things are so important they require our undivided attention
     • Real fellowship requires focus
   • Disobedience
     • If you are running toward sin, it’s going to be hard to want to run toward God
     • “Choose today whom you will serve” –Joshua 24
     • James 1:8, double-mindedness
     • “Sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin.”
3. Prepare
   • Set a time
   • Set a place
   • Remove distractions
4. Pray
   • Before reading ask God to prepare you to hear His word
     • Is there any sin I am clinging to?
     • Is there any selfishness I am clinging to?
     • Is there anything senseless I am clinging to?
   • Pray for understanding
5. Portion Correctly
   • Don’t read verses in isolation
   • Don’t jump around
   • Read for
     • comprehension
     • application
6. Ponder with Pen and Paper
   • Don’t skip meditation
   • Meditation will help you to understand and apply what you have read
   • It would be better to read and apply a smaller passage than to read a larger passage and not apply it
7. Partner
   • Find a friend to walk this road with you
8. Practical Application
   • Don’t set unrealistic goals
     • If you don’t currently have daily time in the Bible, don’t plan to spend an hour each day
   • Build a good habit
     • Start small and be consistent

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Developing Intentional Integrity

Text: Psalm 101

Notes:

We are called to be salt and light

• Matthew 5:13-16
• 1 Peter 2:9-10

By developing intentional integrity
and intentional influence
we can have incredible impact.

1. Delight in what is right
   • Righteousness and goodness have a source–God
   • Psalm 34, “taste and see that the LORD is good”
   • To delight in God, spend time with God
     • In prayer
     • In His word
     • In meditation on His word
   • Drinking more deeply from God’s word should make you more balanced, not more extreme
2. Do what is right
   • Be dedicated to be in private what I claim to be in public
     • “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching” – John Wooden
   • Be careful what we put in front of our eyes
     • What we put in front of our eyes will make its way to our heart
     • What lodges in our heart will become part of our character
       • Proverbs 4:23-27
       • Philippians 4:8
       • Job 31:1
   • Choose ahead of time what you will do
     • Not in the moment
       • What places will I go?
       • What media will I consume?
3. Defend what is right
   • While we do not have the same civic role that David had, we have a measure of civic responsibility delegated to us
   • We ought to vote for and support for those public officials who will support honesty and truth and goodness
     • We ought to denounce evil–but we must also offer the truth and goodness of God’s word
       • This includes denouncing wicked acts by officials we largely support
     • How will people know God’s mercy if they don’t know His justice?
   • Divide when necessary

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: How Jesus’s Birth Changed Everything

Text: Galatians 4:4-6

Notes:

Cling to Christ because He is the only hope for each of us and for the whole world.

1. Perfect Timing
   • “…when the fullness of time had come….”
   • Context of Galatians
     • Paul planted churches in Galatia, Acts 13, 16
     • He hears that the Galatian believers have succumbed to the false teaching of Judaizers, who had added Law to grace, perverting the gospel
   • The Law was never meant to provide salvation–it revealed our sin and pointed us to Christ alone for salvation
   • Micah 5:2, Bethlehem
   • God created time and space but is bound by neither
   • Application
     • Is God–the God of time, and whose timing is perfect–getting the timing “wrong” in your life?
     • What do your calendar and schedule–the “budgets” of your time–say about the time God has given you?
     • 2 Corinthians 6:2
     • 2 Timothy 2:
2. Perfect Person
3. Perfect Plan
4. Perfect Result

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Gather, Grow, and Go

Text: John 4:1-26

Notes:

Jesus is a real Savior for real people–and that is good news worth talking about.

Book of John

• An evangelistic book
  • God is an evangelistic God
  • Jesus is an evangelistic Savior
• Worship
  • Worship is about sharing  with those who do not deserve it the very best that He has–Himself
• An apologetic book
• Key words in the book of John:
  • signs
  • belief
  • life

John 4: The Woman At The Well

• Christ takes real time to talk to real people
• Christ moves toward needy people
• Christ cares about people on the fringe
• Christ isn’t afraid of the “wrong” kind of people
  • Samaritans
  • Publicans
  • Those medically disabled or unclean
  • “Jesus was a magnet for messed-up people”
  • Christ still meets with messed-up people today
  • 1 Peter 2:5-6
  • Christ is not afraid to call us brothers
• Christ meets us where we are
  • …and He takes us where we need to go

How Ought We To Apply This Passage?

1. If Christ cares about messed-up people, He cares about you
2. He loves you where you are
3. He loves you too much to leave you there
4. He always transforms those whom He calls

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme:

Text:

• John 1:14, 16
• Colossians 1:19, 2:9-10
• Ephesians 3:14-19
• 2 Corinthians 3:18

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Theme: Gospel-Rooted Joy and Change

Text: Romans15:13