The Grace That Trains Us

From Honesty to Intimacy

Join us as we continue in our Summer in Psalms series as we consider Psalm 13. Psalm 13 is a Psalm of lament. Lament psalms make up one third of the 150 Psalms. Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. We walk through David's very honest emotions and feelings as he shares them with the Lord. We see it is ok to bring our complaints to God, to ask God directly what we want, and to eventually come to a place of trusting God. The psalm ends with David trusting in God's steadfast love, rejoicing in his salvation and singing to the Lord for how he has dealt bountifully with him. The psalm shows us that greater honesty with God cultivates greater intimacy with God.

Who May Ascend?

This sermon on Psalm 24 explores the glorious reality of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. We see that Christ is the worthy One who may ascend the hill of the Lord, and that He alone is worthy to stand in the Lord's holy place - because He is the one with clean hands and a pure heart. As a result of His righteousness and holy obedience to the Father, He is granted the blessing of entering heaven's gates, for He is truly the King of Glory. The great truths of this text grant those who are Christ's by faith real assurance of their entrance into heaven. For because He died in their stead, and rose as their Head, they too might share in the story of this king of glory. So we trust in Christ, and His righteousness alone, for in that righteousness we will be able to stand faultless before the thrown.

The Shepherd

Join us as we take a closer look at a very familiar Psalm. Psalm 23 is known by most people, believers and non-believers alike. The difference comes in knowing the Psalm vs knowing the Shepherd. We will look at the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep, and how dependent the sheep are on their shepherd. We will also see how Jesus is the shepherd to those who have put their faith in Him. In the New Testament, we see Jesus referred to as the good shepherd (John 10:11), the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), and the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). The only question is, is He your Shepherd?

Psalm 1 - True Blessedness

Today we look at what true blessedness looks like by studying Psalm 1. The blessed man or woman does not align themselves with the values of this world, but instead meditates on and delights in God's instruction found in Scripture. They soak up the Word of the Lord and yield good fruit, and that makes them spiritually healthy and whole, fully known and loved by God. We see that the only one who fully meets the criteria of a blessed man is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and we receive this blessing by being united with Christ in faith.

Praise the Lord!

This morning we start our Summer in Psalms series with an introduction to the Psalms followed by a study in Psalms 150. Psalm 150 is a psalm of praise. We [http://praise.we] will answer the questions where, why, how and who should worship the Lord. Let us lift our voices in praise to the one who is worthy of all praise.