The Family

Follow Me

One of our new elders, Steve Harden, is preaching on Mark 1:16-20. Looking at what a 1st-century Jewish reader of Mark's Gospel would have understood by Jesus' call to "follow me," and the 21st-century implications of our own call to follow.

The Family

Relationships are inescapable. A famous philosopher once said, "No man is an island." As Christians, we know this is true because God created us in his image. He is one God in three persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To be human is to be born into relationships. And to be human is to be called to build relationships. God commands us to be fruitful and multiply. In other words, we display the image of God by building relationships in the context of families, cultures, and communities. To live out this calling and command, we need wisdom. Thankfully, God gives us this wisdom in his word, especially in the book of Proverbs. Join us over the next several weeks as we seek to gain the wisdom we need to build wise relationships from the book of Proverbs. Because everyone lives in a relationship, this is a great time to invite friends and family.

The Foundation of True Wisdom

he sermon explored how our hunger for wisdom in relationships can only be truly satisfied when we build on the right foundation—a thriving relationship with God. Drawing from Proverbs 1 and 3, we examined why God must be our foundation for all relationships and how we can make Him that foundation in practical ways. Just as a house without a proper foundation will inevitably collapse, our relationships—no matter how well-intentioned—will struggle and fail without being rooted in our relationship with the Creator who designed them. The good news is that in Jesus, we have something greater than Solomon's wisdom: the very wisdom of God made flesh, who gave Himself fully for us so we can trust God completely.

Citizens of Heaven, Living on Earth

Sunday's sermon from Titus 2:15-3:8. As we continue our series on God's blueprint for churches on mission, we explored how Christians navigate the tension of dual citizenship—belonging to God's kingdom while living as citizens in this world. Summary: The sermon explored how the doctrines of grace create Christians of heaven who devote themselves to good works while citizens on Earth. We examined three key aspects of Christian citizenship: the guides God provides through church teachers who declare, exhort, rebuke, and remind us of our duties; our specific responsibilities to both governing authorities and our neighbors; and the doctrines of grace that prevent us from both self-righteousness and cultural assimilation. This passage challenges us to engage meaningfully in society—submitting to authorities, pursuing good works, speaking life instead of death, and treating all people with gentleness and courtesy—all while remembering that we have been saved by grace alone, not by our works.

Grace That Trains

The sermon centers on the transformative power of God's grace and the hope of Christ's return, calling believers to live self-controlled, godly lives in the present age as a response to their salvation and future inheritance. Drawing from Titus 2:11–14, it emphasizes that grace has appeared in Christ's first coming, redeeming believers from sin and purifying them as God's own possession, not for self-achievement but for zealous service. This salvation is grounded in the certainty of Christ's second coming—the blessed hope that secures believers amid a broken world, freeing them from the short-sightedness of worldly passions and the idolatry of temporal pleasures. The preacher underscores that Christian living is not about earning salvation but about joyful obedience and service, shaped by the reality that believers are being trained now for eternal work, where labor will be restored as worship. Ultimately, the Christian life is a vocation of witness, marked by self-denial, gratitude, and eager devotion to good works, all rooted in the unshakable hope of Christ's return and the eternal inheritance he secures.