Blog: August 2019

King Solomon loved God. He received wisdom from the Lord and was dedicated to building His temple. But early on, we see hints that Solomon’s heart was not completely devoted to God. He married foreign wives who turned Solomon’s heart away from God. (1 Kings 11:4) Solomon gradually abandoned what he had believed. Israel had a history of turning away from God, and Solomon was no exception. God was angry with Solomon. He had warned him twice not to turn to false gods. God planned to discipline Solomon by taking the kingdom away from his ...

As we get ready to turn the corner into September, let me jump the gun by a few days and introduce our fall Bible Memory Challenge. On Sunday, September 8, I’ll begin a sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians.  It’s an urgent letter about wonder of the Gospel and about how catastrophic it would be to distort or dismiss the Gospel. I’m praying that the Lord will use our immersion in Galatians in the coming months to grow our gospel roots deeper and our gospel vision stronger—that we’ll see with new eyes the beauty of God’s saving ...

When David was king, he wanted to build a temple for God, but God did not allow him to. “When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant … and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:12-13). God said King David’s son would build the temple. King Solomon began to gather materials to build the temple. He ordered cedar and cypress timbers from Lebanon. He gathered 30,000 men from all of Israel as laborers to excavate stone and prepare the timbers for the temple’s ...

As we wrap up our series in the Letter of James, let’s ask, “What have we heard, where is Jesus leading us, what is our charge?” James points out all kinds of messes in the church.  This implies:  1) Christian life gets messy—expect it; 2) Messy believers are not rejected, they’re lovingly confronted.  3) We can grow into greater spiritual maturity, both individually and corporately—yet we need to be content this side of heaven to be souls under construction. James would warn:  Don’t go with your gut; don’t follow your heart.  Our natural ...

Fall 2019 - Sermon Series Paul’s great passion in his Letter to the Galatians is to honor Jesus Christ by safeguarding the gospel and protecting the church.  His message is an emergency intervention to prevent believers from turning away to a false gospel.  God longs to see believers stand firm and secure in Christ, anchored to the life-saving truths of his gospel.  A study of Galatians can help us all recognize many of today’s counterfeits of God’s timeless gospel truth.  Let’s dive in! Sept. 8 “Grace and Peace” (Acts 13-14; Galatians ...

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs are three books spanning more than 50 chapters of the Bible. This week’s study follows the story of Solomon, the primary writer of these books. While three books of the Bible are certainly a lot to cover in one session, this brief overview will reveal the wisdom of God for His people as He works out His wise plan for our salvation. True wisdom comes from God. (See Prov. 2:6.) God made Solomon the wisest man who had ever lived, and people came from all over to listen to his wisdom. (See 1 Kings ...

Jesus says the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).  Let’s think about loving God with all your mind. There’s a mental reflex that’s especially prevalent in todays’ anxious, polarized society, and it causes all kinds of personal and public harm.  It’s the impulse to pigeon-hole and demonize people who say any­thing that leans the least little bit in the direction of one’s political, philosophical or theological adversaries.  “Heard it from a ...

The downfall of David’s kingdom was propelled by David’s sin with Bathsheba. Amid the pain of losing their firstborn son, God showed David and Bathsheba that He still loved them. Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon. God chose Solomon to be Israel’s next king. (See 2 Sam. 12:24-25; 1 Chron. 22:9-13.) David spoke to his son from his deathbed, giving specific instructions: “Keep your obligation to the LORD your God to walk in his ways” (1 Kings 2:3a). After 40 years of reigning over Israel, David died and Solomon became Israel’s king. Early in ...