Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 25:1-27:21

The Tabernacle Complex
Pattern: Heb. 8:5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
One of the main things God wanted his people to see was that the tabernacle was a piece of Heaven on earth…Heaven is where God is; so when God came to live with his people, he brought Heaven down with him. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Tabernacle (tent)
The heart of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, where God reigned in glory. The tabernacle, in turn, was at the heart of Israel, with all twelve tribes surrounding it. And Israel was the heart of the world, the centerpiece in God’s plan for saving the nations. The tabernacle was the most important place in the world, a little bit of Heaven on earth. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Table

Altar of Incense

Ark

Bronze Altar
There it stood: ever smoking, ever blood-stained, ever open to any guilty Hebrew that might wish to approach it. The sinner, having forfeited his life by sin, another life—an innocent life—must be given in his stead. A.W. Pink

High priest
Heb. 9:8-9 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing. 9 (which is symbolic for the present age).

Jesus is a better priest because:

He entered the true tent.
Heb. 9:23-24 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Heb. 8:2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.
His priesthood is eternal

Heb 6:19-20 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever.

Heb. 7:22-24 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
He is without sin.

Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Heb. 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He offered a better sacrifice.

Heb. 9:12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Heb. 10:1-4 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Heb. 10:11-12 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.


Discipleship Questions:
Think of this as a blueprint for your sermon discussion time.

1. Consider all the components of the tent. What do they teach us about God? (Elaborate, embroidered curtains; Gold; the lamp stand; the table; the veil; the ark of the covenant)
2. How do these help us see that God is: majestic, holy, and near?
3. Where was the massive bronze altar for animal sacrifices that was always burning positioned? What do we learn from that?
4. Import your senses… What do you think it would have been like to see it from afar? What would it have been like to enter the courtyard?
5. How was Jesus similar to the high priest? How is he different?
6. How is our approach to God similar to theirs? How is it different?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 20:22-24:18

The Law is good

The Law is powerless to save us

Romans 3:20
[20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Law shows our need for a Savior

Romans 3:21-22
[21] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—[22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.


The Law was fulfilled in Christ

Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

The Law reveals the character and will of God

But there are many good reasons to study the Old Testament law. It teaches us what God expects. It guides us into godliness. It exposes our sin and thus shows us our need for the gospel. But the law does something else that is very exciting: It reveals God’s character. This makes the Old Testament law different from any law code or book of court decisions. The law reveals the Lawgiver. We do not study it to find out what we have to do, but to know our God. And as we study and apply his law, we are conformed to his character.
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

—the law reveals God’s holiness

—God’s will is for us to worship Him alone and be holy

—the law reveals God’s justice

—God’s will is for us to be responsible and seek to make things right

—the law reveals God’s compassion

—God’s will is for us to be compassionate towards all people

—the law reveals God’s wisdom

Deuteronomy 4:6
Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

—God’s will is for us to love Him and love others

“What is significant is that God mentions these sacrifices almost immediately after giving his law. God gave his people Ten Commandments for all of life, ordering them to obey. However, he also knew that they would disobey him. So he provided a way for them to atone for their sins and come back into fellowship with him. Both the burnt offering and the fellowship offering were for sinners in need of salvation.”
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

Discipleship Questions:

1. Describe some ways that the law is good.
2. How does the law point to Jesus and how is it fulfilled in Jesus?
3. What are some specific ways that God’s law helps us know God?
4. How does following Jesus and trusting Jesus help us live out His commandments?
5. What does it look like to worship God alone and pursue holiness in our daily lives?
6. What does it look like to be responsible and make things right?
7. What does it look like to show compassion for all peoples?
8. What does it look like to love God and love others daily?
9. How does Jesus’ fulfillment of the law give you hope as a lawbreaker?

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 20:12-21

There is nothing that will bring you closer to God more than time in His Word regularly
and time in prayer with Him regularly. But occasionally, you will have an experience in your life that also brings you closer to God. For our family, that occasion was adoption. Our desire to become licensed to foster and adopt had been informed by the Gospel. We see the grace of God reaching low for us, bringing us into His family. As former orphans, God gives us a heart for the orphans. For us, there was this moment, in a courtroom, with a 10-month old little girl, where we actually put our name on her... And not only that, but her birth certificate was actually changed to reflect our name. It was the Gospel on display in a courtroom where there was a sort of re-birth that took place.

There were 10 months when Haddie was not a Sutton.
Becoming a child of God is what allows you to walk as a child of God... to act like a child of
God. How bizarre would it have been to look at that little 10-month old and say, "If you want to become a Sutton, here is what you have to do!" God has drawn Israel out of Egypt, made them His chosen possession, and then explained to them how to live. It was grace first, and then instruction.

1.) Grace precedes instruction.
2.) The instruction of the Father reveals the heart of the Father.
- Last week we were in the 1st section that Jesus summarizes in Matthew 22:37-38, saying,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment."
- This week we are in the 2nd section that Jesus summarizes in Matthew 22:39, saying,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
As we aim to better understand the heart of the Father by heeding His instruction, I am reminded
about something we considered in our Advent series last year. As we considered that Jesus is a
better King, we saw that the earthly Kings were known for what they take. God's people were
rejecting God as their King. His warning is in reference to all that an earthly king will take. God
says, He will take your sons, daughters, fields, vineyards, servants, donkeys, flocks, and finally
freedom.
These 6 Commandments can be viewed in terms of what we should never take from another. One
commentator asks this pressing question: "How can you love God and love your neighbor if you
are depriving them of things that are rightfully theirs?" God intends for His people to have
certain things, so in order for that to happen, He also has to put a law in place to remind us not to
take those things from one another. Let's look at them one at a time...

12  “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the
Lord your God is giving you.13  “You shall not murder.
14  “You shall not commit adultery.
15  “You shall not steal.
16  “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
17  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
18  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19  and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20  Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.Discipleship Questions:

1. What happens if we forget that Grace precedes Instruction?
2. How do the 10 Commandments reveal the heart of the Father?
3. How can you love God and love your neighbor if you are depriving them of things that are rightfully theirs?
4. What are some ways that we deprive others of God-intended good things that may not seem so obvious as murder and stealing?
5. What are some ways that you can honor your mother and father as an adult? Even if they have passed away?
6. How does adultery misrepresent God?
7. Is there anything that you are coveting? If so, what are two things you can do this week to invite accountability?
   
   

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 19:1-20:11

God’s people are treasured
Dt. 7:7-8 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers

God’s people have a mission
They were not to be a people unto themselves, enjoying their special relationship with God and paying no attention to the rest of the world. Rather, they were to represent him to the rest of the world. -Douglas Stewart

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

God’s people live in a covenant
The thunder and the earthquake were signs of his power. The dark cloud was a sign of his mystery, showing that there are aspects of his being that we cannot penetrate. The fire was a sign of God’s holiness, his bright and burning purity. Fire both attracts and repels. We are drawn to its warmth and beauty, but at the same time we are kept away by the danger of its burning. So, too, we are attracted to the beauty of God’s holiness but at the same time repelled by its power to destroy us. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Mt. 22:36-40 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together in a desperate attempt to cover up their sin, and human beings have been trying to dress themselves up for God ever since. In one way or another, nearly every religion involves some form of self-purification. The world religions are all so many different ways to wash our own clothes as a way of getting ready for God. But we can never clean up well enough for God. He is perfect in holiness. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

God’s people need a mediator
John 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward
John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

One mountain was dark and stormy; the other is a city of bright and shining joy. One mountain was a place of fear and danger; the other is a place of peace and safety. On one mountain the angels blazed with fire and blasted with noise; on the other they form a welcoming party for a celebration. One mountain was designed to keep people away; the other was designed to draw them close. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Heb. 12:18–24 For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them… 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.

Discipleship Questions:

1. When God came to the mountain, people trembled and stood far off because of His holiness.
   1. How is our approach to God different than theirs?
   2. How is it similar?
2. God refers to His people as his treasured possession… Do you feel and believe you are treasured by God? Why or why not?
3. How are you engaging God’s mission?
4.  Is there anything you feel compelled or convicted to do in order to engage more?
5. Of the first 4 commandments, which one stands out to you and why?
6. Based on the second commandment, do you think it’s appropriate for pictures or movies to portray God or other heavenly beings? What about Jesus?
7. What are the the similarities between Jesus and Moses as mediators? How are they different?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, April 5, 2026.
Sermon text: 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

When we turn to Jesus, we see Him clearly

When we see Jesus clearly, we behold His glory

• Beholding is seeing Jesus
• Beholding is treasuring Jesus
• Beholding is reflecting Jesus

When we behold His glory, He transforms our lives

• He transforms our identity

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

We are...

• Forgiven
• Accepted
• Loved

• He transforms our purpose

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 - "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; [15] and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

• know God
• be known
• make Him known

Discipleship Questions:

1. What are some things that keep us from turning to and focusing on Jesus like we should?
2. How does turning to Jesus help you see Him clearly?
3. How can turning to Jesus help us behold Him by seeing, treasuring and reflecting?
4. In what ways has Jesus transformed your life?
5. In what ways is Jesus still transforming your life?
6. How has following Jesus given you a new purpose?

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 17:8-18

Dt 25:17-18 Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God.

Everything has a season
Ecc. 3:7-8 …a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Whether fighting or waiting, we do so in prayer
The neglect of prayer means the loss of spiritual warfare. Even if we fight like Joshua, we will not win the battle unless we pray like Moses. Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

We should have a teachable posture

We need plurality

Acts 6:1-5 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering
Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.



Discipleship Questions:

1. Moses needed friends to hold up his arms when pleading with God during the battle. Have there been times when you’ve called on others for prayer support and seen results of that?
2. The Israelites were taking action and doing real things, but the success depended on Moses’s arms being lifted in prayer. How can we apply that to our lives?
3. Sometimes we have to wait and watch God act for us (crossing the Red Sea). Other times, God calls us to fight (Amalek). How has this played out in your own life?
4. Moses was willing to listen to Jethro’s advice. Are you poised to listen to and learn from others? Why or why not?
5. When Moses appointed leaders to help him, it was better for him and everyone else. What fruits and benefits do you see of shared leadership in the church?
6. What part do you play in regards to serving the needs of the church? Have you been considering serving the church in ways that you’re currently not doing?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, March 22, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 15:22-17:7

God tests us in order to teach us to trust Him

"Our complaints really are never caused by our outward circumstances. Instead they reveal the inward condition of our hearts. The Scripture says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Our joy in the Lord should not be circumstantial but fundamental.”
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

“I have learned that in every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: I can whine or I can worship! And I can't worship without giving thanks. It just isn't possible. When we choose the pathway of worship and giving thanks, especially in the midst of difficult circumstances, there is a fragrance, a radiance, that issues forth out of our lives to bless the Lord and others.”
―Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude

God tests us in order to teach us to obey Him

Deuteronomy 8:2–3
[2] And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. [3] And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

John 6:31–35
[31] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” [32] Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [34] They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
[35] Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

God tests us in order to remind us of His presence

They failed the test by putting God to the test

Psalm 95:7b–9
[7b] Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, [9] when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

—demanded God’s provision
—denied God’s protection
—doubted God’s presence



1 Corinthians 10:1–4
[1] For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, [2] and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, [3] and all ate the same spiritual food, [4] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Let’s make every effort to remember what God has done for us


Discipleship Questions:

1. How has God used a time of testing in your life to teach you to trust Him?
2. How has God used a time of testing in your life to teach you to obey Him?
3. How has God used a time of testing in your life to remind you of His presence?
4. Why do you think we tend to be forgetful of God’s provision, protection, and presence?
5. What are some things we can do in order to remember how God has worked in our lives?
6. In what ways have you experienced Jesus as the bread of life?

Notes from Cole Edward's sermon on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 15:1-21

Corporate worship matters for several reasons:
• Scriptural Command and Obedience
• Unity and Community
• Theological Formation
• Emotional and Spiritual Expression
• Encouragement and Edification
• Glorifying God

The proper response to God's work is praise
• They praise God for all He has already done,
• for all He is currently doing,
• for all He will do,
• simply for who God is.

They praise God for all He has already done
• God has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider He has thrown into the sea.
• God fought for Israel, while they remained silent.
• The water piled up at the blast of God's nostrils, allowing the Israelites to walk on dry land.
• God blew with His wind, defeating the armies of Pharaoh.

They praise God for all He is doing
• God is actively making a way for the Israelites to go to the Promised Land.
◦ God is making Israel's adversaries afraid.
▪ Jericho is terrified.
• [Joshua 2: 9 & 10]
◦ and [Rahab] said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and
that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt
away before you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the
Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two

kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you
devoted to destruction

▪ The Canaanites have no courage. (Joshua 5:1)
▪ Moab is sore afraid. (Numbers 22:3)

They praise God for all He will do
• They are believing God will bring them to the Promised Land.
• We too should praise God, believing He will bring us to Himself.
◦ [John 14:1-3]
▪ 1 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's
house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place
for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to
myself, that where I am you may be also.”

They praise God for Who He is
• There is no one like God.
• God's character does not change.
• God is a Savior
◦ The greatest act of salvation in history did not happen at the Red Sea. It happened at the cross.

Discipleship Questions:

1. Read Exodus 15:1-21. What did you just read? (Summarize it in your own words.)
2. What is the context of this passage (i.e. what events led up to it)?
3. What does this passage teach us about God?
4. What does this passage teach us about humanity?
5. How does this passage point us to the Gospel? First, take some time briefly explaining what the
gospel is.
6. What are you praising God for that He has done in the past, is doing now, and will do in the
future?
7. What is your favorite thing about God's character for which you praise Him?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 14

God often places us in difficult situations for His purposes

The Israelites were in a dangerous and desperate situation, trapped between Pharaoh and the deep blue sea. But instead of looking to God in all his grace and glory, they looked at their enemies and were afraid. What makes this so disappointing is that they had witnessed God’s wonders, the plagues—all ten of them.
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus, Saved for God’s Glory

Truth to remember in the difficult seasons:
—God brought me here
—God will help me while I’m here

Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

—God will teach me while I’m here

Romans 5:3–4
[3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope

—God will deliver me in His timing

“The same God who led you in will lead you out.”
—Robert Morgan, The Red Sea Rules

God always works to bring Himself glory

Psalm 106:7–12
[7] Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
[8] Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
[9] He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
[10] So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
[11] And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
[12] Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

Discipleship Questions:

1. In what ways have you experienced God placing you or allowing you to be in a difficult situation?
2. How have you experienced God helping you in the midst of difficult situations?
3. What are some things God has taught you (or how has He grown you) through difficult situations?
4. How have you found God’s timing to be different than yours? Was His timing better? Why?
5. In what ways have you seen God be glorified in your life from difficult situations?

As a church, we believe that our calling extends beyond the walls of our gathering and beyond our city. Scripture continually reminds us that God’s heart is for the nations and that His people are invited to participate in His work through prayer. In moments of uncertainty and conflict around the world, prayer becomes one of the most meaningful ways we stand with the global church and ask God to move.

With the current events unfolding across the Middle East, we want to be a body that responds not only with awareness, but with faithful, informed prayer. To help guide us, our church member Jack Cain has written several prayer points for our church family. Please join us in praying:

• God regularly uses times like these to draw people to himself and grow his church. May it be so in Iran and the greater region. May God be known among the people.

• We serve a God who is a rock, solid foundation, fortress, deliverer, shield, and salvation (Psalm 18). Pray that the church and missionaries would stand firm on Christ and that their faith would not waver.

• This is all happening during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. This conflict adds another layer of darkness to a world rampant with false teachings and pointless worship. Pray that these people who are trapped in darkness would hear and believe in the light in which darkness cannot overcome. (John 1:5)

• As we were reminded this Sunday, God will be exalted and named King over all the Earth (Psalm 46:10). May we all live our lives with boldness in light of this promise. Oh Lord Jesus, come.

Join us in praying.

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 12:33-13:22

As I spent time this week reading through and praying through the text, I couldn't help but be drawn to the vastly different Exodus experiences of Egyptian and Israelite children. To capture the significance of the Exodus, I'd like for us to walk through the story from two very difference perspectives; first, as that of the Egyptian Child and second, as that of the Israelite Child.

Egyptian Children...

• First, many of them died in an instant.
• If you didn't die, you had an older sibling who did.
• If your parents didn't die, you had an aunt and uncle who did.
• Every child had multiple cousins who died.
• Every child had multiple friends who died.
• All of the gods who were supposed to protect you were powerless.
• As the wailing softens, you begin to hear a grumbling among your parents and your friends' parents... "We must get these Israelites out of here! They must leave!"
• But before they leave, you watch these Israelite families come into your homes. And without any yelling or violence, you watch your mom and dad take your finest gold necklaces and put them around the necks of the Israelite children. You watch them do the same with their silver. You watch them do the same with nice, ornate clothing.
• And then you watch these Israelite families, with all of their firstborn family members still alive, walk out of your home, and out of your life.... accompanied by a pillar of cloud and fire.
• And likely, you then watch your family go back to mourning the most profound losses the nation has ever experienced.

Israelite Children...

• First, you have been enslaved your whole life. Your family has been forced to make bricks without straw.
• Perhaps you have heard that Pharaoh will not let your family go and worship the Lord
• But lately, there has been a shift. The Egyptians are experiencing plagues and strikes that your family is somehow being protected from.
• You notice your family preparing for something important.
• You either watched or helped your dad bring an unblemished lamb in its first year into
• the home
• You have watched your father slaughter the lamb and prepare it with herbs and spices
• You have watched your father gather hyssop and dip it in the blood of the lamb and slather it on the tops and sides of the doorposts of the house
• You have, with the rest of your family, fully consumed the lamb
• What you don't hear is what Scripture refers to as the Winged Destroyer flying from house to house, passing over only those homes with the blood of the lamb on the doorposts
• At some point in the night, you begin to hear cries of terror in the distance...Egyptians weeping.
• What you come to learn is that every single Egyptian and every single Israelite home had a corpse in it. It was either the corpse of a firstborn or the corpse of a lamb.

• Then, it is time to go. Quickly! Your parents walk you into the homes of the Egyptians. You, a child, are loaded up with silver and gold and clothing from the Egyptians
• You walk with perhaps 2 million fellow Israelites and much livestock out of Egypt. You have experienced zero fighting. Zero resistance. Zero violence.
• And you are well supplied! Perhaps carrying on yourself more wealth than your family has ever had.
• As you walk, carrying as much Egyptian spoil as you can, you look up and see that there is a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud leading you and your people out of slavery. Leading you to freedom.

You have learned something about your God. You have learned something about your
value and your worth in the eyes of God. Every year for the rest of your life, you would remember what the strong arm of the Lord has done, because every year your parents would gather the family for:

• A night of watching...
• A Passover feast...
• The feast of unleavened bread...
• As firstborns are born, a lamb is sacrificed to redeem the first born
• Every single time an animal births its first offspring, it is sacrificed to the Lord or it is redeemed with a sacrifice

And at some point as a child, you ask, "Why do we do this?" And God has directed your
parents to explain it to you, train you, and help you never to forget the strong arm of
the Lord that brought you out of slavery and into freedom. Eventually, you get married. And you have a child. And you sacrifice a lamb, redeeming
your firstborn, commemorating the strong arm of the Lord. And one day your child asks.
"Why do we do this?" And so the remembrance and celebration live on... generation after generation.

What does this generation learn from the Exodus?
1.) If you don't tell your children what is important, somebody else will.

• The Egyptian children experienced what they experienced, because of what their parents told them.
• For the Israelites, the goal wasn't that they had a list of do's and don'ts by the end of their childhood, but that when it came time to discern between right and wrong, they knew that they had access to God, whose ways are always right.

2.) God can change your life in a moment!

• "It's time to go." For some, He is saying that to you today! What does it mean to no longer be enslaved to sin?
• Some of us don't believe that our lives can change.
• Some of us don't believe that people can change.
• Some of us don't believe that our country and community can change.
• Your God can lead you to freedom!

3.) God means what He says.
A.W. Pink - "The vast majority do not believe that God means what He says. Nevertheless,
though often times men's threats are mere idle words and empty bombast, not so is it with the
threatenings of Him who cannot lie."

• This includes plagues
• This includes promises

4.) God frees you for service.

• The same word for the slavery to Pharaoh is the same word used in the appeal to ask Pharaoh to let Israel go for a 3 days journey to worship God.
• You are freed to serve God.

Discipleship Questions:

1. What did you learn from the perspective of the Egyptian children?
2. What did you learn from the perspective of the Israelite children?
3. Who is trying to tell our children what is important? What are they hearing?
4. Do you believe that God can change your life? If so, what needs to change?
5. Do you believe that people can change? Identify hopelessness and replace it with truth.
6. Why do people not believe that God means what He says?
7. Since God has freed us to serve, what does a life of service look like? What are some healthy patterns that you can work on as an individual? How can you bring your children along with you in that journey?

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 11-12:32

Ex. 7:5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

Anyone with an ounce of sense among the Egyptians had long since realized that resistance to the Israelites’ God Yahweh was useless. -Douglas K. Stuart

Significance of the last strike (plague):
Enacted by God himself
Shaped Israel's calendar

Nissan: (March/April)
10th: Choose and set aside the lamb (plan ahead!)
14th: Kill, cook, eat
15th-21st: Feast of unleavened bread

We should do things in our calendar that cause our children to ask, “why?”

3. Theological
All have sinned.

It is striking that in Exodus 12 the death penalty is also pronounced on the firstborn Israelite males. This is especially noteworthy because with the first signs God distinguished clearly between the Egyptians and the Israelites… This suggests that the death of the firstborn is more than merely a punishment for what the Egyptians did to the Israelites. Something of greater significance is taking place. -T. Desmond Alexander

Deliverance

Christ and his redemption are the subject of the whole Word of God. - Jonathan Edwards.

Substitutionary Atonement

Heb. 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus of Nazareth was to be young at the time of his death, male of course, and perfect—free from defect before God. His sinlessness qualified him and him alone to be the lamb of God, a human lamb rather than an animal of the flock, and yet a lamb in the sense of one meeting the criteria for the Passover meal. -Doug Stuart

Jesus is a better passover lamb and feast
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.



Discipleship Questions:

1. What are some things that made the last plague (strike) unique?
2. The Israeli’s calendar was ordered around this event. What are some annual events you celebrate to commemorate what God has done?
3. Israelites would later eat this passover meal with shoes on and staffs in hand so that their kids would ask, “why.” Do you have any traditions that remind yourself and others of what God has done?
4. How does the passover feast and accompanying events foreshadow Jesus?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, February 15, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 8:20-10:29

“When it pleases God by his judgments to humble men, he is never at a loss for means: he can use lions or lice, famines or flies. In the armory of God there are weapons of every kind, from the stars in their courses down to caterpillars in their hosts.”
—Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The plagues reveal the greatness of God

—He is the True God
—He is the Creator
—He is is the Judge
—He is the Savior

Taken together, these purpose statements explain why God plagued Pharaoh’s Egypt. He did it to show his unique omnipotence, his universal praise, and his unlimited authority over all the earth. God accomplished the same purposes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By raising Jesus on the third day, God displayed his mighty power over sin and death. Now the good news of salvation in Christ is proclaimed around the world, so that God’s name is praised in all the earth.
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

The plagues reveal important truths

—the meaning for our salvation
—the purpose for our lives

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

—the foolishness of idolatry
—the necessity of faith

He sent a Redeemer to rescue them from their slavery to sin by paying their ransom with his very own blood. Now his cross rightly discriminates between those who are God’s people and those who are not. God’s people are the ones who put their trust in Christ and in his cross, but anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ remains outside the people of God.
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

—the consequences of rebellion

Hebrews 3:12
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.


Discipleship Questions:

1. In what ways does God reveal Himself as the True God, Creator, Judge, and Savior today?
2. What are some ways you have experienced God’s deliverance in your salvation?
3. What does it look like practically to give God your worship and your work?
4. In what ways have you experienced the foolishness of idolatry?
5. How do we experience the benefits of faith in Jesus both now and in the future?
6. How can the consequences of rebellion towards God motivate us as His followers?

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, February 8, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 7-8:19

It’s better to think of the plagues as:
“Signs and Wonders” (Exodus 7:3)
“Strikes” (more general translation)

God’s work begins with a heart change and obedience from His people.

Demonic power is real, but God is more powerful.

“Evil cannot make, it can only corrupt.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

Unbelief is a heart condition
Rom. 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

God sometimes hardens hearts for His glory

God’s will:
Will of decree: What God has ordained to come to pass.
Example: Eph. 1:11
Will of desire: What God wants to happen
Matt. 24:37 “How often would I have gathered your children together… and you were not willing!”

God not only knew that Pharaoh would refuse to let his people go, but he actually ordained it. This is the paradox of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, which is not a puzzle to be solved but a mystery to be adored. As human beings made in the image of God, we make a real choice to accept or reject God, but even the choice we make is governed by God’s sovereign and eternal will. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Our hope is not in the good will of man, but in the sovereign will of God.

The very river that Pharaoh used as an instrument of genocide was turned to blood, and the first goddess to be humiliated was the one who governed labor and delivery. There was a connection between Pharaoh’s crime and God’s punishment. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes,

We are in a battle
Eph. 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Lk 11:20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.


Discipleship Questions:

1. Would you rather…?:
   1. Have your drinking water turned to blood
   2. Be overrun by frogs
   3. Be swarmed by gnats
2. Why is it important to remember the plagues were actually “Strikes” and “Signs and Wonders”?
3. In chapter 7, Moses finally resigned to God’s will and obeys without delay or excuse. Is there anything God has burdened you to do that you’ve not resigned to yet?
4. Can people perform miracles through demonic power?
5. How does demonic power differ from God’s power?
6. Is the thought of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart difficult to process? Why or why not?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, February 1, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 4, 5, & 6

God gives us signs to confirm He is working through us

God promises to help us as when we join His work

Our unwillingness to obey God is rooted in a lack of trust

“The real issue was not that he lacked the stature to persuade Pharaoh, or that he was ignorant of God’s name, or that the Israelites would not believe him, or that he was a poor public speaker. God had answered all of those objections. The real issue was that Moses refused to trust and obey.”
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

God desires for us to obey Him in all things

Our obedience doesn’t guarantee the results we expect

“What Moses eventually learned, all believers have had to learn for themselves: God’s timing only sometimes coincides with our expectations, and his idea of the hardships we need to go through only sometimes coincides with our idea of how much we can take.”
—Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus

God is always in control

“If God is sovereign, then we may be sure that when trouble comes, he is still in control. Whether we understand it or not, he is working to accomplish some glorious purpose. Sometimes God allows our troubles to continue in order to prove that only he can save us. The story of the exodus is a perfect example. When Moses failed to change Pharaoh’s mind, it became more obvious than ever that only God could set his people free.”    
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

God always remembers and keeps His promises

Salvation belongs to the Lord

Discipleship Questions:

1. What are some ways God has given you signs to confirm He is working through you?
2. What are some ways you have seen God help you when you have joined His work?
3. How have you seen a lack of trust lead to disobedience to God in your life?
4. What are examples of small steps of obedience that we tend to ignore or dismiss as insignificant?
5. What is your typical response when things go wrong even though you tried to do what God wanted?
6. How can we respond better when things go wrong?
7. How can we continue to grow in trusting God by remembering He is always in control and He always remembers His promises?

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, January 18, 2025.
Sermon text: Exodus 3

Intro: Henry and I driving home and seeing a fire... "Let's go check it out!" Fire has a tendency to draw people to itself.

Setting: Moses is about 80 years old, been a shepherd for his father-in-law for about 40 of those years. Born an Israelite, raised an Egyptian, now a Midianite by way of marriage.

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
The bush was on fire. But the bush was not burning.
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The bush talks. (Whoever's voice that is is the one who has the power to sustain something that should have been consumed.)

How would you fill in the blank? God is ____________.

1.) God is holy.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

2.) God cares.

10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

3.) God has a plan.
To save His people through Moses... Moses' response? "Who am I?"
We often have objections to God's plan
Many of those objections have to do with our history
Many of those objections have to do with our perceived shortcomings
God's response? "I am with you."
God's presence with us makes us effective for the work He calls us to. Consider what God is calling us to in 2026...

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

4.) God is self-defining.
I AM WHO I AM
Where does your view of God come from?
Are there different versions of God?
Your view of God should come from God.

So the big question remains: "Will they believe Moses?"

18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

5.) God knows the future.
Consider all of this detail! Details about the future being given to an 80 year old shepherd in a desert, referring to what is certain to happen in the future, in reference to a people who are still enslaved in Israel and have been for about 400 years!
Envision the moment when Moses says, "So, let me get this straight... The Israelites are going to plunder the Egyptians... verbally....got it.... "

Application:
Trust
Obey

Discipleship Questions:

1. Where does your view of God come from?
2. Where should your view of God come from?
3. What are some ways we wrongly view God that need to be corrected?
4. Of the 5 realities we considered today about God, which one impacts you the most? Why?
5. What are some problem areas in your life where God may plan for you to be a part of the solution?
6. What happens when we believe the lie that we are self-defining?
7. What challenge are you currently facing where you need to remember "God is with us"? And how does that reality help you?
   
   

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, January 14, 2025.
Sermon text: Exodus 2

God perfectly prepares us to fulfill His purpose for our lives

Acts 7:20–22
[20] At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, [21] and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. [22] And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

God often calls us out of our comfort zones to fulfill His purpose

Hebrews 11:23–27
[23] By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. [24] By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, [25] choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. [27] By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

“In this story, however, Moses did not become the hero, the legitimate agent of God, until he burned all the bridges between himself and the wealth and power of the Egyptian court.” He gave up position, pleasure, and prosperity, and by doing so he rejected three of the world’s biggest temptations: narcissism, hedonism, and materialism.”
—Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

God does the work through us; we can’t do it alone

Acts 7:25
He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

God doesn’t give up on us even when we fail

“He was a failure as a deliverer of his people, a failure as a citizen of Egypt, unwelcome among either of the nations he might have called his own, a wanted man, a now-permanent resident of an obscure place, alone and far from his origins, and among people of a different religion.”
—Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, The New American Commentary

Discipleship Questions:

1. What are some specific ways that God prepared you to fulfill His purposes in your life?
2. Describe a time in your life when leaving your comfort zone enabled you to fulfill God’s purpose?
3. What areas of comfort might God be calling you out of this year in order to fulfill His purpose?
4. What are some examples of things not working because you tried to do it without God?
5. How has God used mistakes and failures in your life to help you grow?
6. What does it look like to trust God and embrace our role in His story?

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, January 4, 2025.
Sermon text: Exodus 1

Epic: A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.

Author: Moses
Date: 1200 - 1450 BC

Exodus is an adventure story par excellence. It features a cruel villain (Pharaoh), an unlikely hero (Moses), overwhelming disasters (the plagues), a spectacular deliverance (crossing the Red Sea), a long journey (through the wilderness), a mountaintop experience (where Moses received the Ten Commandments), and a grand finale (the presence of God coming down to the ark of the covenant, filling the tabernacle with glory). The story features unexpected setbacks and unpredictable delays, magic tricks (from Pharaoh’s sorcerers) and miracles, feasts and festivals, music and dancing, and many close encounters with the living God. -ESV Study Bible

When we read Exodus, we see:
The history of God’s people.
“The more we know about this family, the more amazed we are that God would have anything to do with them at all… Their family history was a sordid tale of treachery, philandering, and violence…Joseph and his brothers really had just one thing going for them, and that was their God. And what a God they had! - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

The God who saves.
The construction of the tabernacle is merely a first stage toward God’s glory filling the whole earth, when heaven and earth will merge into one. T. Desmond Alexander

God’s sovereignty.
Genesis 15:13–14 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Exodus 9:16 But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name throughout the earth. Jesus.

Matt. 2:14-15 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Luke 9:30-31 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem
He would pass through the deep waters of death to deliver his people from their bondage to sin and take them to the glory-land. This explains why Jesus was crucified at Passover. He was the Passover lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

Ourselves
Once heard, the story is never forgotten….We return to the exodus again and again, sensing that somehow it holds significance for the entire human race. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes

As we trace their spiritual journey, we discover that we need exactly what the Israelites needed. We need a liberator, a God to save us from slavery and destroy our enemies. We need a provider, a God to feed us bread from Heaven and water from the rock. We need a lawgiver, a God to command us how to love and serve him. And we need a friend, a God to stay with us day and night, forever. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes


Discipleship Questions:

1. How significant is the book of Exodus as a history of God’s people?
2. Where do we see God’s sovereignty in Exodus?
3. How does Exodus set a pattern for the life of Jesus?
4. How is our story and situation similar to that of God’s people in Exodus?
5. How can we be inspired by the two midwives (Shiphrah and Puah)?

Notes from Jack Cain's sermon on Sunday, Decmeber 28, 2025.
Sermon text: Lamentations 3:21–24

What Do We Hope In?
1. God’s Love is Steadfast
Verse 22 says: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases…”

That word—steadfast love—is covenant love. It is a love that binds God to His people – not
because they deserve it, but because he has promised it.
It is a love that is rooted in promise, not performance. A love that survives Isarel’s betrayal and
walking away from God. It’s a love that disciplines, but never abandons.
This love isn’t moody or circumstantial. It is covenantal and sure. It means God’s love doesn’t
quit when circumstances fall apart.

We see this to be true in other areas of the Bible like Romans 8:38-39 where Paul is talking about God’s everlasting love and he says this, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything elsein all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jerusalem fell.
The people sinned and failed.
But God’s steadfast love never fails.

2. God Is Merciful
And then Jeremiah says something staggering in verse 22:
“His mercies never come to an end.”
We see here that God is merciful. His mercies never come to an end!
Not “they pause when life gets hard.”
Not “they thin out over time.”
They never end.

He also says that God’s mercies “are new every morning.”
Now don’t misunderstand that. This does not mean every morning feels good.
But, it does mean that no morning arrives without mercy attached to it.

Some mornings come with tears.
Some mornings come with grief.
Some mornings come with unanswered prayers from the night.

But every single morning comes with mercy that is sufficient for that day. It’s not a promise to
remove the trial from you and make things easy. It is a promise that God will meet you and walk with you through it.

Go back to the Exodus and God providing for His people. He didn’t give them a mountain of
meat for them to tote around and survive on. No, every day in the wilderness, the Israelites woke up hungry and they had to trust that God was going to put that manna on the ground again and provide just what they needed. God didn’t just transport them to the Promise Land immediately – he walked with them and provided for them every step of the way. God wasn’t holding back from them, He gave them exactly what they needed for their good - their daily mercy to get through the day.

So here Jeremiah has been making some theological statements about who God is. He is faithful in his love and merciful towards his people. And after he says this, it’s like he can’t help but respond to these truths in a worshipful praise. He turns to God in the middle of ash and ruins and says, “Great is your faithfulness.”

Here, Jeremiah makes a hope-filled proclamation and says that God, is, faithful. He keeps his
promises – right? We just saw that over the las several weeks how God fulfilled his promises
through Jesus! God has stayed true to all of His promises, and He is not stopping now – and the prophet Jeremiah knows this is true.

God’s faithfulness is not proven by your comfort.
It is proven by His consistency.
And ultimately, it is proven in Christ.
Because when God’s people deserved judgment,God sent His Son.
Jesus stepped into suffering deeper than ours.
He carried grief heavier than ours.
He endured judgment so mercy could be ours.
If you ever wonder whether God is faithful—look at Jesus on the cross, look to our savior.
But Jeremiah doesn’t stop with God’s mercy.
He goes even deeper. The next thing we will see is how we can have hope because God is
enough.

3. God is Enough
In verse 24 Jeremiah says, “’The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, therefore I will hope in
him.”

Now that, is radical.
Jeremiah doesn’t say,
 “Ah, The Lord will fix this real quick.”
 “The Lord will restore everything immediately.”
 Or “Let me just regroup and I’ll figure it out.”

No, He says,
“The Lord is enough and that is who my hope is in.”
In other words: Even if everything else is taken, even if we have nothing left - God remains.
Church, this is not shallow optimism. And it’s not “speaking good vibes” into existence.
This is faith. This is a deep and anchored faith in God that gives hope. And it’s what prepares us for the coming year. Because, none of us knows what this year holds. But, we know the One who holds us.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness
There is a famous hymn that was born out of this passage that I’m sure almost all of us know. It is called Great Is Thy Faithfulness and it was written by a man named Thomas Chisholm.
And I don’t know about you, but I remember thinking hymns were just written by the sweet old
piano player in the Baptist church I grew up in. Or maybe it was some old rich musician who just got a bunch of money-making music. But in reality, so many of our hymns today have powerful backstories.

Tomas was born in Kentucky, right after the civil war in America and had a very unstable
upbringing. But despite this, he worked very hard and became a successful educator. Later, He became a Christian after attending a revival and then soon left everything and devoted himself to ministry. And just a few years after starting ministry, Thomas got sick – like really sick. Chronic illness would follow him most of his adult life. He had to step down from pastoral ministry after giving up everything to serve. Medical bills began stacking up and his family would go on to have prolonged serve finical issues. There were seasons when he could barely provide for his family.

This is not a man who wrote from the comfort of stability but lived a life of suffering.
And yet, in the middle of that life—not after the pain was resolved or after he got paychecks—
he sat down with Lamentations 3 open in front of him and wrote these words:

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.”

Do you hear Lamentations in that?
“There is no shadow of turning with Thee.”
That’s “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”
“Thy compassions, they fail not.”
That’s “His mercies never come to an end.”
And then he writes:
“Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.”
That is not poetic exaggeration.
That is a man saying,
“I didn’t get the life I planned—but I got the God who keeps His promises.” enough
And listen to how he ends it:
“Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow—
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.”

Church, that is not the song of someone whose circumstances worked out.
That is the song of someone who could say with Jeremiah:
“The Lord is my portion.”
Thomas had the same hope as the prophet Jeremiah.

Not hope that suffering will disappear or that things would get better. No, a hope that God is
faithful and unchanging.

As Thou hast been, thou forever will be.
Yesterday, today, and forever.
Application/Close
And so this morning, as we stand on the edge of a new year, this text reminds us:
Our hope is not in resolutions.
Our hope is not in circumstances.

Our hope is not in control.
Our hope is in a faithful God.

I want to leave us this morning with some application points to walk away with. First, answer
this question.

1. Consider Whether You Have This Hope
When life hits hard, where do you run to? Where does your hope lie? Are you consumed by youranxiety or stress? Are you running away from God and to something else to fix your
circumstances today? My plea to you this morning is to stop running. Jesus stepped down from his throne in heaven and took on flesh. Hebrews 4:15-16 says this about Jesus: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence (Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross) draw near to the throne of grace, that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.”

Have you received this mercy? If not, come talk to me or someone around you because this hope is here waiting for you today.

2. Preach the Gospel to Yourself
Jeremiah didn’t wait until he felt hopeful. He calls truth to mind.
You see, hope is not a bootstrap effort. We don’t white-knuckle our way into peace. Rather,
because we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit enables us to talk to ourselves instead of just
listening to ourselves. We preach the Gospel to our souls because the Gospel is the only truth big enough to silence and conquer our fears.

The Gospel doesn’t just tell us how to be saved, it daily reminds us that God didn’t abandon
when we were dead in our sin and he’s not going to abandon us now.

Some of us are walking into this new year with anxious thoughts already running the show.
Decide now what voice you are going to trust and listen to. When suffering comes – and it will – remember that God’s steadfast love that never ceases.

3. Anchor Your Hope in God
Health will fail. Jobs and disappear. Plans can completely fall apart. But if the Lord is your portion, there is still hope. You might lose everything this year, but you will not lose Him.

We will end with this: As we face trials and suffering, Crosspoint family, I pray it is this truth
that we will call to mind.

Discipleship Questions:

1. What stood out to you about the idea that hope is not automatic, but something we
   actively remember and rehearse? Where do you see this playing out in your own life?
2. Can you think of a season or time when your feelings and faith were not aligned? What
   could have helped you anchor yourself in truth during that time?
3. Why might it be difficult to believe God’s love is unchanging when circumstance fall
   apart? How does understanding God’s covenantal love shape the way we should think
   about suffering?
4. What does it look like for us to depend on daily mercy rather than hoping for instant
   deliverance from trials? What are other outlets that you run to for strength, instead of
   God, when life feels overwhelming?
5. In what ways does the gospel speak directly to your current fears or uncertainties?
6. What are some practical ways that you can “call truth to mind” this year? How can you
   help one another, as a community, remember God’s faithfulness when hope feels thin?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, Decmeber 21, 2025.
Sermon text: Isaiah 9:1-7

God promised that light would come to those in darkness

Darkness

• Sin
• Evil
• Death
• Ignorance
• Lost

Light

• Righteousness
• Good
• Life
• Knowledge
• Found

Jesus is the the promised light of the world

John 1:1–5
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus calls us to walk in the light

Matthew 4:12–16
[12] Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. [13] And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, [14] so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
[15] “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
[16] the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

Isaiah 49:6
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Jesus commissions us to be the light

Matthew 5:14–16
[14] “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.




Discipleship Questions:

1. In what ways would you describe your life with Jesus as being moved from darkness to light?
2. What are practical ways we can walk in the light in our daily lives?
3. How does God’s Word help us walk in the light?
4. What plans do you have to read/study God’s Word in 2026?
5. What are some ways you can be the light of the world like Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:14-16?
6. How can our CG be the light of the world next year?

Notes from Nick Gainey's sermon on Sunday, Decmeber 14, 2025.
Sermon text: Luke 2:1-11

A Savior – someone who saves someone or something from danger or death. In other words,
someone who is a rescuer, liberator, deliverer. This would be a picture of a Savior.

God progressively revealed Himself to mankind by making promises and keeping them

- God’s promise with Abram
- God’s promise to deliver Israel from captivity
- God’s promise to forgive sins through the law and sacrificial system
- God’s promise for a Savior

What has Jesus saved us from?
The power and bondage of sin and death
Guilt and shame
Separation from God both now and for eternity.

Romans 5:10-11 “ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

What has Jesus saved us for?

A life of holiness.
Freedom in Christ
Purpose
To join the mission
To worship and enjoy Him forever


Discipleship Questions:

1. In what areas of your life are you most tempted to look for a savior somewhere other than in Christ?
2. Jesus has saved us from the power and bondage of sin and death, as well as from guilt and shame. Which of these areas do you tend to forget and slip back into? How does that most often surface in your choices, relationships, daily life, etc.?
3. Jesus has saved us for a life of holiness. In what areas of your life do you tend to slip into worldly patterns rather than being set apart as a follower of Christ?
4. Jesus has saved us to walk in freedom in Christ. What are some practical ways this can look in your life?
5. Jesus has saved us for a life of purpose. Identify where you may struggle with understanding and living with purpose, and then discuss how an understanding and application of 2 Peter 1:3-11 could help with this.
6. How does our understanding of Jesus as our Savior affect our desire to join him at work in his mission for all to know and worship him?
7. Jesus saved us to worship and enjoy Him forever. In John 10, Jesus said he came that we would have life and have it abundantly. What gifts can you identify this Advent season that he has already given you that can stir your heart to worship him? Recount these blessings with your group.

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, Decmeber 7, 2025.
Sermon text: 2 Samuel 7:12-16

Why do we gather every year at Christmas time and express our desire for a King?

1.) It's pretty much the least American thing we can do.

• In 1776, the 13 colonies of "British America" declared independence from the monarchy.
• In that declaration of independence, the republic listed 27 grievances against King George III... including, but not limited to... manipulating laws to give himself too much power... corrupting elections... obstruction of justice... harassment... excessive use of force and intimidation... cutting off our trade with all parts of the world... imposing taxes on us without our consent...
• Grievance 24 really gets to the heart of it... "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people."
• And what did many of you do every morning at the start of school?
• But our country is only 250 years old, so maybe if we go further back in history, we can find a good argument for wanting a King...

2.) Are kings a good idea biblically?

• After the flood, the world began to colonize. Monarchies and Kings became the norm.
• For most of that time, God's people were not a monarchy, but a theocracy... meaning that God leads His people through a priesthood. But one day, God's people decided that they wanted a King! Why???
• Before Israel had any kings, they had judges. And the last great judge was Samuel. Israel was a mess. They had forsaken God in many ways, even to the point of worshipping foreign idols!
•  In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel has gotten older, and his sons did not walk in his ways, but used their power for selfish gain... v.5 "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." Was this a good plan???? Samuel prays and God responds...
• v. 7 "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them."
• Then God says to solemnly warn Israel, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you."
  • HE WILL TAKE your sons
  • HE WILL TAKE your daughters
  • HE WILL TAKE the best of your fields and vineyards
  • HE WILL TAKE the tenth of your grain and your vineyards
  • HE WILL TAKE your male servants and your female servants
  • HE WILL TAKE your donkeys
  • HE WILL TAKE the tenth of your flocks
  • HE WILL TAKE your freedom... you shall be his slaves
•  v.18 closes with an ominous warning... "And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day."
•  Israel's response? "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
• To which God responds, "Obey their voice and make them a king."

So again... Why do we gather every year at Christmas time and express our desire for a king?

If you take everything that we have learned so far, you can boil the problem with kings down to 3 things:

1. Their kingdoms are weakened by death
2. Their kingdoms are plagued by sin
3. Their kingdoms are exhausted by time

So again... Why do we gather every year at Christmas time and express our desire for a king?
Our actions are always fueled by our expectations. So it is important for God's people to considerwhat or who is shaping our expectations?

Who was Israel allowing to shape their expectations? Foreign rulers. Foreign armies. Foreign idols. In short, the world. Forsaking God, they lost sight of all that God had done for them, how
He had delivered them, how He had made them a people for His own possession. And this is the root of all idolatry, trading the truth about God for a lie.

Who is shaping your expectations? Our expectations are shaped by God's promises. Our act of gathering every year at Christmas time and expressing our desire for a king comes directly from God's promise of a King. 2 Samuel 7... Davidic Covenant...

12  "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."

1.) Their kingdoms are weakened by death. The Kingdom of Jesus cannot be weakened by death!

14  "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will
discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15  but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you."

2.) Their kingdoms are plagued by sin. The Kingdom of Jesus cannot be plagued by sin!

16 " And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ "

3.) Their kingdoms are exhausted by time. The Kingdom of Jesus cannot be exhausted by time.

Advent is about anticipating the King that God has promised. Jesus!
While earthly kings take, our heavenly King gives!

My favorite line of all the Christmas songs we sing this time of year is "a thrill of hope, a weary
world rejoices"... Isaiah 11:1 says, "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit."

If you are weary, entrust yourself to King Jesus.
If you are plagued by sin, go to King Jesus for forgiveness and help.
If are exhausted from trying to figure out life in this fallen world, invite King Jesus to reign and
rule in your life now.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace."

Discipleship Questions:

1. What are the 3 things that plagued every earthly kingdom?
2. Why don't those things plague the Kingdom of Jesus?
3. Do you have any expectations that are not shaped by God's promises?
4. What are some ways that we can practically lead our children to anticipate the King that God has promised?
5. How is God reigning and ruling in your life now? Are there any areas where you are resisting His reign and rule?
6. How does the promise of King Jesus help us with our weariness right now?
7. Discuss what it will be like when the Kingdom of Jesus is finally and fully established in the new heavens and new earth. Look for details! Make it personal! What will He give to your sons and daughters? What is something that you have to deal with now, that you will never have to deal with again? Praise God for that now!

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, November 30, 2025.
Sermon text: Matthew 1:18-25

Promises Fulfilled
There is a difference in a promise and prediction. A prediction says, “This thing is going to happen”. A promise says, “I care enough about you to ensure that you are provided for in such and such way.” Both are good. But a prediction is, we might say procedural or professional. Where a promise is  personal.

Before Jesus took on flesh, and dwelt among us, God gave His people a litany of not just predictions, but promises. That He himself would come and rescue them from the problems that were too big for them to solve on their own.

Over the next four weeks, we’ll be considering those promises.
Advent means the arrival or coming of something important or awaited.
Anticipation. Son, King, Savior, Light. Christmas Eve service.

Promises are prompted by problems
Provide something good
Remove something that is negative
“I see the need, the want, the curse, the suffering… It will not always be so.”
Isaiah said, “For unto us a child us born. Unto us, a son is given.”
In order to understand this promise, we need to start with understanding the problem that prompted it.

The Problem of Man
Genesis 1 tells the story of God speaking all things into existence.
1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Three things: Image, dominion, responsibility.

Gen 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Adam = Mankind
Authority over Eve
One way this plays out…
Eve created after the command
God comes to Adam first
We speak of the problem of evil or pain… The problem is man himself. He has fallen short. The evil was done by him or let loose under his watch. Mankind was broken.
Gospel in the air.
The ground is cursed. Thorns grow. The fabric of creation order was torn.

The magnitude of man’s sin is also the measure of his need of salvation. -Sinclair Ferguson

At the Fall, man’s natural gifts were corrupted through sin, while his supernatural gifts were entirely lost. -St. Augustine

The Promised Son of Man
Genesis 3:15 (ESV) 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Protoevangelium: Prototype — first form.
Notice that the savior is a son. A son of eve. Son of mankind.

So we are told, right from the beginning, that our hope is that a Son would rescue us from the power of sin and death, redeeming us from God’s curse.
Not a beast. New creature. Not a trinket, a relic, a special object or place or act of God seen only in the heavens, but by a man. One of us. He would undo the curse.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

“Since man sinned, it was necessary that the penalty should be borne by man." - Louis Berkhof

“For The Word [Jesus], realizing that in no other way would the corruption of human beings be undone except…by dying, yet being immortal and the Son of the Father…was not able to die, for this reason he takes to himself a body capable of death. - Athanasius

The Promised Son of God
No son of man was fit to solve the problem man created. You got yourself in.
“How did you get down?” Same way you got up.

Our situation is that we have fallen. Can’t climb or fly back to where we were.
Can’t put the genie back in the bottle
Putting an air mattress back in the box it came in.

No man could solve the problem, and yet a man had to solve it.
Enter Jesus. Son of man, and also the Son of God.

This is poetry on the highest level, that The Son of Man who fulfilled this promise was also the second person of The Trinity, the Son of God.

He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human. - Athanasian Creed

“For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.” - John Stott

Application:
Remember the Promise
Choose devotion over distraction
A season of devotion
Resources
Booklet
Music

Discipleship Questions:

1. Promises are prompted by problems… What was the problem that prompted God’s promised Son?
2. Read Genesis 2:17. Why is this passage called the “proto-evangelium”?
3. Why was it necessary for a son of man to come?
4. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be the Son of God and Son of Man?
5. How will you devote yourself to rejoicing in the promised Son this advent season?

Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Sermon text: Psalm 24

He is the King of all creation

We steward His resources faithfully

If you believe in God, you don’t live with an ownership mentality, as if your life and your things belong to you, and you can use them however you want. No, you have to live with a stewardship mentality, this belongs to God, and how does God intend for me to use what he’s made? Everything belongs to God. Human ownership is a delusion.”
—Paul Tripp

He is the King and He is holy

We seek Him and receive His blessing

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He is the King of glory

We rejoice and we worship our King

“Our Warrior-King, the Lord’s anointed Son, has engaged the forces of evil and destroyed death by his death. Having finished the enemy off on the field of battle, he took a brief repose in a throne room of a tomb before bursting forth in glorious resurrection.”
—J. Josh Smith and Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50


Discipleship Questions:

1. Why is it so hard for us to embrace the truth that God owns everything?
2. What would change about your life if you truly embraced being a steward in all things?
3. What areas do you struggle with the most when it comes to stewardship?
4. What do you think it looks like to live with clean hands and a pure heart?
5. What does it look like to seek Him with your whole heart?
6. Where have you seen God bring a victory into your life recently?
7. Where have you seen God bring a victory to our church recently?
8. How can we live expecting God to continue to do great things for us?

Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
Sermon text: Psalm 127

We are completely dependent on God
God created everything (Genesis 1:1, Rom. 4:17, Psalm 90:2)
God upholds everything (Hebrews 1:3, Acts 17:25-28, Job 34:14-15)

A miracle is a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself. -Wayne Grudem

God preserves water in such a way that it continues to act like water. He causes grass to continue to act like grass, with all its distinctive characteristics. -Wayne Grudem

God rules everything (Matt. 10:29, Prov. 21:1, Deut. 8:17-18).

Nothing happens prosperously to us except in so far as God blesses our proceedings. -John Calvin

We toil while trusting
The faithful…though they lead a laborious life, yet follow their vocations with composed and tranquil minds. Thus their hands are not idle, but their minds repose in the stillness of faith, as if they were asleep. -John Calvin

Get married and have babies.

Discipleship Questions:

1. List some things that you are dependent on God for.
2. Is God always “intervening" in the world? Or is He sometimes passive? (See Hebrews 1:3 and Job 34:14-15)
3. If all things are under God’s control, does that mean we aren’t responsible for our actions?
4. Verse 2 says God gives his beloved sleep. Does your trust in God allow you to sleep with a clear conscious? Why or why not?
5. How does this Psalm describe the benefits of having children? Have you seen that in your own life?