Chestnut Mountain Church

Who were your childhood heroes? Why would they be considered your heroes? It wasn't just what they did but it was why they did it. In 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12, Paul is reminding the Thessalonians what they have done so that they would walk in a manner worthy of God. Everything Paul is doing in Thessalonica is so that the Thessalonians would walk in a manner worthy of God. Paul is saying he is co...

In 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, we see Paul is speaking as a defendant. He is defending himself and their ministry because the people are questioning his motives. Paul points to his suffering to bring validity to his message. As we look back on Acts 16 and 17, we that these men turned the world upside down by sharing the gospel. Can the same be said of us as Christians? It starts here in your world. Cha...

In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul continues to thank the Thessalonians for be imitators of him and, ultimately, of Christ. The Thessalonians are now living out the faith and sharing the gospel. The Thessalonians were reproducing the gospel cycle. Paul was reproducing the gospel cycle himself. Look at the example of Paul who used to be Saul. Like Saul, you may have no desire to change but God has differen...

1 Thessalonians is about a man ministering to a young group of believers who are starting to face persecution. Paul is telling this young group of believers, “Quit looking at your circumstances and be reminded that Jesus is coming.” Our hope is not in this world. Our hope and joy that keeps us moving forward is found in Jesus. God has chosen you. He wants to use you. The Creator of the Universe ha...

When we see a construction job site, everything that's on the job site is going to be used, has a role, and has been purchased by the owner. This is similar to us as Christians. God has purchased you through the blood of His Son, Jesus, and He has placed you on the job site to be used. You have a position, a job, and a responsibility as a follower of Christ. God came and rescued you out of the...

In Exodus, we see Moses having to grow smaller by him leading a group of people to pray and him having Joshua lead an army to fight. Both Moses and Joshua were needed to lead smaller groups and to claim victory. As a follower of Christ, we are all leading something. In leading, there will be days that we are exhausted. We see that even Moses became exhausted. However, we see that Moses was not alo...

At CMC, you hear us say, "You belong," and talking about belonging. As we biblically unpack this statement and why it's important to us, we see that this statement is more than a marketing tool but that it's a burden and prayer that we have for you. God designed each of us to have a desire to belong to something. Although belongingness in the world we live in has many boundaries an...

There are now less than 6% of churches in America that are growing. People have become stagnant and disengaged in the church. At this church, we are going to fight for the Church. In looking at the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus told, we see the parallel between sheep and us. There’s a reason a sheep ends up leaving a flock and a lot of times it is because they are internally sick. The churc...

There’s things that just go together. We can't talk about peanut butter without jelly. We can't talk about salt without pepper. We can’t talk about the church and not talk about being together. The church is a gathering of believers. The church is a gathering of God’s people. God didn’t design the church for you to do this Christian life alone. God designed the church for us to be together...

Much like things we have anticipated this year in 2021, there was much anticipation to the Messiah being born as the arrival of the Savior had been prophesied for years. What does Jesus’ arrival mean to the world? Jesus says that He is the Light of the World. If you believe in Jesus, you will also live in that light. We are commanded by the Savior of the World to be the very light that He is. We a...

There is always meanings that go with names in the Bible. The definition of people’s names defined who they were and how they were going to be used. The name of Jesus: Rescuer and Deliverer. We celebrate Christmas because the Rescuer and Deliverer was sent as a baby to seek and save the lost. We don't have to straighten up because Christ sought us out, came to us, and draw us into Himself. We...

As we continue to celebrate the why of Christmas, we took time to gather alongside two other local churches in worship together and then to go out to serve the community on what we call Send Sunday. On this special day and in this bilingual service, we celebrate that Jesus Jesus came to be the very presence of God. We should not overlook Emmanuel, God is with us. Jesus came to us. The Savior of th...

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells His disciples that He, the Son of Man, did not come to be served but to serve. He knew that His purpose was ultimately die for our sins on the cross and He still came and lived. Jesus was absolutely determined to serve people. Even though He has already died on the cross and paid our sin debt, He still wants to serve us. The Savior is still in our midst today and...

As we enter into the Christmas season, we take time to celebrate the why of Christmas. As we look to the why of Christmas, we ask: Why did Jesus come? He came to take away (remove) our sin. Jesus knew no sin and was still not a sinner but placed the object sin on Himself for us. He did that on our behalf. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He robed Himself with our mess. He received...

In Luke 17, we see the story of the ten lepers. We see Jesus is walking between God’s Chosen People (the Jews) and the very the Jews rejected (the Samaritans), and we see a Savior who is willing to meet people where they are. Through the story of the ten lepers, we see Jesus not only as healer but we also see how Jesus uses our obedience. It is so easy for us to take for granted how the Lord bless...

At the conclusion of the Old Testament in Malachi 4, God reminds the children of Israel to remember what He has commanded and He reminds them to remain ready for His return. God always provides a path of deliverance for His people to be delivered from sin. Jesus Himself affirms the prophecy of Malachi to be true and He points to the parallel of John the Baptist. The Gospel has made it possible to...

In Malachi 4, we see the warning and the promise that God speaks to the children of Israel through Malachi. While we should feel this warning, we also see that our God is still in control and He has called us to share the light. We have been called into a Kingdom that has not been shaken. We serve a God who will not fall apart. Malachi is wanting us to feel the beauty of Jesus coming. This is a pr...

In Malachi 3, we see that the children of Israel are still oblivious to their disobedience. God desires something from His children. God desires that His children give their best. God wants us to serve and live for Him not because we have to but because we want to in response to what He has already done. The children of Israel are questioning why they should do and give more to God when they see t...

In Malachi 3, God tells the children of Israel to return to Him and He will return to them. Through Malachi, God tells the children of Israel that they have robbed Him. The children of Israel withholding their offerings from God was showing what was worth more than their deliverance. They were saying that their comfort was worth more than their thank you to God. Their worth was found in their comf...

In Malachi 3, we see the children of Israel asking and wondering where God is yet they know they are not living fully for Him, but God tells them through Malachi that He wants their best. God has called us to holiness and He doesn't bless disobedience. Through Jesus, we are refined and then then we will be presented to God as holy and pure on Judgment Day. However, we are either in Christ or n...

In Malachi 2, we see that the priests began giving less than their best to God so the children of Israel did too. It all started with leadership. One crack of compromise that led to disaster. If you have washed by the blood of the Lamb and trusted Jesus as your Savior, we all have the same responsibility as the priests. It is our responsibility to usher people into the presence of an Almighty God...

In Malachi 1, we see that the children of Israel are focused on the performance and event of following God instead of being focus on the condition of their heart. One of the devil's biggest distractions for a Christian is to make you busy even if it is for church things. The devil loves to make you busy in the Kingdom so that you will be more busy and focused on the what instead of the why. Do...

In this episode of Let's Go, Pastor Jared looks back on Sunday's message as began our Genuine Worship series walking through the book of Malachi. Despite your sin, God has loved you, does love you, and will continue to love you. The Father is full of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. No matter how bad the world gets, we win. That’s our hope. That’s our promise. Don’t forget that. God loves yo...

God has given the children of Israel everything they need to thrive and continue the mission of God. Because of the circumstances of life, all of that excitement had begun to wear off among the children of Israel and have now started going back to some of the same sinful ruts and routines. Malachi’s job is to call them out on what they are doing. The first thing God tells the children of Israel th...

In this episode of Let's Go, Pastor Jared looks back on Sunday's message as Pastor Brian shared the vision for this next year that's all about adoption and families. As the church, we are called to hear the cry, have compassion, and provide. Our vision exists in three layers: (1) churches adopting churches, (2) groups adopting communities, and (3) families adopting families. We want to...