Bluffton Community

Primary Scripture: Colossians 3:23BIG IDEA: Work is a way to worship God. Message Focus: Even though it may feel like it, work is not punishment from God. Quite the opposite! Workis a gift! Work became more difficult and a key source of identity after sin entered into the world. Praise Godthat even work has been redeemed through the work of the gospel! There is no separation between “spiritual”and...

BIG IDEA: Worship with the church family can begin at home. Message Focus: When the gospel of Jesus Christ moves into a person’s life, God affects every aspect, especially their home. In the place where we let our guards down, where people see one of our truest selves, home is where the Spirit should have the greatest reign in our lives. Home is where forgiveness, hope, truth, prayer – worship – c...

Primary Scripture: Job 1:20-21BIG IDEA: Christians can worship God in the midst of their suffering. Message Focus: Often, when people face seasons of suffering of challenge, they respond in one of two ways (and sometimes vacillate between): fighting against it or focusing on it. What if there was a third way? Worshiping God through it. The gospel does not ignore the reality of suffering, nor does...

BIG IDEA: Worship is my genuine love response to God: His character and will. Message Focus: Worship begins with an understanding of who God is and who I am in relation to God. Worship finds its fulfillment in my obedient response of love to God. This message will provide a baseline for what worship is and what it isn’t. It may be helpful to look at one or more “case studies” of worship from the S...

BIG IDEA: Genuine faith in Christ leads to real righteousness – legal and practicalMessage Focus: Paul made a dad joke: There is a “law” required for salvation – the “law of faith.” It is ushers in unity among very different people. Genuine faith leads to a desire to uphold God’s law (ie. God’s character).Cross References: John 19:30, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, Deuteronomy 6:4, Zechariah 14:9, John 15...

BIG IDEA: Christians are made righteous as a gift by God’s generosity through Christ. Message Focus: The righteousness Paul described is “apart from the law.” The only way a person can have it is through faith in Jesus Christ - no matter their background or lineage. These few verses are some of the clearest expressions of salvation by grace through faith. Cross References: Jonah, Romans 6:23, Roma...

BIG IDEA: The default position of every person is unrighteous. Message Focus: This may not be the feel good message of the year! But… this is an opportunity to clearly define and expose sin/unrighteousness as well as discuss the gift of being able to see and understand our sin. If God opens our eyes to our greatest problem, He can lead us to our greatest solution: salvation in Christ alone. Cross...

BIG IDEA: God’s righteousness gives sight to the spiritually blind. Message Focus: Our unfaithfulness does not affect God’s faithfulness. Our unrighteousness does not change God’s righteousness. We are blind to our sin but God's righteousness restores our sight so that we may see our sinfulness and repent! When we rationalize our own sin does not diminish God’s wrath against sin. This also mea...

Primary Scripture: Romans 2:1-29 BIG IDEA: Obeying God’s law will not save you from sin. Message Focus: Paul was talking about Gentiles and pagans, but in these passages, he addressed Jews. His point? Putting faith in the law to save you is as effective as what the Gentiles were doing. Paul pointed to an inner heart change stemming from repentance that was prompted by God’s kindness. Cross Referen...

Primary Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 BIG IDEA: God imparts Christ’s righteousness to us by faith. Message Focus: Righteousness is a healthy relationship with God based on His standards. Jesus is righteous by His nature as God (so is the Father and the Spirit). No matter what we do in and of ourselves, we can’t be righteous. The only way we can receive righteousness is through trusting God’s plan for...

BIG IDEA: Grace comes to all through Jesus’ resurrectionMessage Focus: Throughout the Old Testament, God promised and foreshadowed Jesus’ victory over sinand death. The Old Testament prophecies met the fulfillment of Jesus and His resurrection confirmed Hisidentity and work. Because of Jesus, we can receive salvation as a gift from God. Cross References: John 20, Revelation 1:18, 1 Corinthians 15:...

Primary Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5BIG IDEA: Evangelism is sharing with another person who Jesus is and what He has done. Message Focus: Paul reminded that he didn’t rely on articulate messaging or even lengthy theological arguments to help them come to faith in Jesus. In fact, he felt weak and afraid. All he had to offer was the truth of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death. Many believers t...

Primary Scripture: John 15:1-17BIG IDEA: The supernatural outcome of remaining in Christ is joy! Message Focus: Remaining in Christ is not meant to be a chore or burdensome. Rather, walking with God is marked by joy! It’s Jesus’ intention that His joy would be in every truly born again believer. This message has the opportunity to call people up from obligation into the joy of knowing Jesus! Promp...

Primary Scripture: John 15:1-17 BIG IDEA: Keeping Jesus’ commands is a way to remain in Jesus’ love. Message Focus: The language is clear: if you keep my commands, you will remain in my love. Jesus said that He had done the same thing in relation to the Father. It will be important to help people avoid falling into legalism. As equally important is over-correcting into the other ditch that it does...

Primary Scripture: John 15:1-17BIG IDEA: “Bearing fruit” is character change that leads to life change… and it brings glory to God. Message Focus: In these seventeen verses, Jesus talked about fruit and producing fruit nine times. Clearly, this is important. Bearing fruit is so critical that branches that produce none are cut off. Bearing fruit glorifies God. The only way to bear fruit is to remai...

Primary Scripture: John 15:1-17BIG IDEA: Remaining in Christ is a close, ongoing relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Message Focus: Jesus said that He is the vine and His disciples are branches. The branches rely on the vine for everything. Followers of Jesus are absolutely dependent on Him for everything, too: life, forgiveness, spiritual life, direction, and more. This message...

Primary Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 BIG IDEA: Generosity with resources is the norm for Christians. Message Focus: Paul invited the Corinthian Christians to participate in giving financially to support the work of sharing the gospel. “I am not commanding you…” (v8). This is generosity that is motivated by God’s generosity to us through Jesus. This is an opportunity to contrast legalistic givin...

Primary Scripture: Luke 11:28 BIG IDEA: God intends the truth of Scripture to change the way we think and live. Message Focus: Jesus said that those who hear the word of God and put it into practice are happy and have God’s favor upon them. “Hear and obey” is a consistent message throughout the Bible. Whether it’s the good news of Jesus or the new way of living that stems from a life that’s been m...

Primary Scripture: Matthew 4:4 (or Deuteronomy 8:3) BIG IDEA: Reading the Bible has the power to change a person’s life. Message Focus: Jesus placed reading and understanding the Bible on the same level as eating food to live and thrive. Reading the Bible is critical and, yet, too many people spend very little time reading the Bible. This message is a great moment to teach people how to read the B...

Primary Scripture: Acts 8:32-35 BIG IDEA: When a person rightly interprets Scripture, they enjoy walking with God Message Focus: The account of the Ethiopian and Philip may be a great case study on the experiences most people have when they read the Bible. It doesn’t have to be that way. This message can help people learn how to understand and interpret what they are reading in the Bible. Promptin...

Primary Scripture: Hebrews 4:12 (in context) BIG IDEA: The Bible is God’s message revealing how to have a friendship with Him. Message Focus: The Bible has the ability to discern the thoughts and intentions of a person. How can a document do that? The Bible is living, active, and full of power. This is an opportunity to expose the supernatural nature of the Bible, how we got it, and why we need it...

Primary Scripture: Exodus 33:12-23 BIG IDEA: God is glorious – overwhelming by His nature and character. Message Focus: More than anything, it seems the Moses simply wanted to be with God. in Exodus 33 was: “Show me Your glory.” God promised to have His goodness and His glory pass by. Moses would be allowed to look at God’s “back” but not His face. God’s glory is central. In fact, all of time and...

Primary Scripture: Exodus 33:7-11 BIG IDEA: God is approachable Message Focus: Exodus 33 described a tent outside the camp where God met with Moses. God spoke with Moses, “as one speaks to a friend.” What a powerful description of Moses’ relationship with God. What was unique for Moses is now common for every genuinely born-again believer. Not only does God speak to His people, but through the Hol...

Primary Scripture: Exodus 33:1-6 BIG IDEA: God is holy – set apart from everything and without sin. Message Focus: God told Moses that the nation of Israel could enter the Promised Land, but He would not go with them. Why? Because of Israel’s stubborn sinfulness. God warned Moses that if He were to go with them, He might destroy them. * An interesting moment: Moses would rather have God and no Pro...

Primary Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20 BIG IDEA: Jesus promised to build His Church using believers like Peter. Message Focus: Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus said the He would be the one to build the Church and Satan would not be able to overcome it. This message is an opportunity to expose the values and strategies Bluffton Community uses to share the good news about salvation in C...