Faith Presbyterian Church PCA (Clinton, LA)

1 Samuel 18:1-30; The true King has been made known and there are some decisions that need to be made. How will Saul and his family respond to this news? In this passage we see three responses from two individuals and are able to see how we should respond to our great King, Jesus.

1 Samuel 17:1-58; The classic underdog story is not about us but about our great Champion and King. Will we follow him or will we trust in ourself?

1 Samuel 16:1-23; Yahweh looks defeated. King Saul has been rejected and Israel is still following him. But its all part of the plan to bless Israel with the king they don't deserve but the one they need. And he is short.

Luke 10:25-37; Lawyers are always looking for loopholes, aren't they? All of us are moral lawyers looking for the loophole in God's law in order to justify ourselves...just like the lawyer in this passage. Our hope, however, is not found in being good, but in the one who is good for us.

2 Peter 1:3-11; The last fruit of the Spirit Paul lists in Galatians 5 is "self control". No one wants to have to practice self control, but even the world will tell you that the one who has self control is a good person. But, for christians self control isn't so much denying self but clinging tightly to christ.

1 Timothy 6:11-16; Paul commands Timothy to "pursue...Gentleness." Gentleness is hard for sinful humans because our natural inclination is to fight and scratch and claw for our will. But Christians are to fight for God's will and God's will is accomplished through the Fruit of Gentleness.

1 Timothy 1:12-17; What is faithfulness? It isn't being good enough to please God. But it is receiving, remember and resting in Christ.

Matthew 12:33-37; Christians are to have the fruit of the Spirit "Goodness" flowing from them. But how can a bad tree make good fruit? Jesus deals with men who thought that they were good but only produced bad fruit. Jesus' diagnosis then was that they were not good, but evil. What are you?

2 Samuel 9:1-13; David wants to show kindness. Kindness has many imitators, but true kindness flows from a heart that has been shown kindness. David had that kind of heart. Do you?

James 5:7-11; Waiting is the hardest part. If it was easy James wouldn't have to command it. But he does. Christians are to be patient because they know the Lord.

Ephesians 2:11-22; Everyone talks about peace and wants peace, but we don't typically think through how it is a peace is accomplished. The world offers a false and temporary peace, but Jesus offers us eternal peace beginning when we know him.

1 Peter 1:3-9; Joy is the second fruit of the spirit. We can know that we are Christians if we have the presence of Joy in our lives. But, are we joyful? We have to know what it is, how we can get it, and how we can express it.

1 John 3:11-24; What is Love? John tells us that Love is the natural outworking of the work of the Spirit. If one doesn't love, then the Spirit doesn't abide in him.

Galatians 5:16-26; the introduction to a new series called "the Fruitful Christian". We can know that the Spirit is at work inside of us if we bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. There is no such thing as a non-fruitful Christian.

Mark 16:1-8; Jesus' resurrection is the final proof that Mark gives that Jesus is the Son of God. But his resurrection wasn't met with joy at first, but fear. And today Mark instructs us that that is the appropriate response to King Jesus

Mark 15:42-47; The Death and Burial of the messiah are not just afterthoughts or part of the side show to get to the important stuff of Christianity. They are the important stuff of Christianity. The truthfulness of Christianity and our salvation hinges upon the death and burial of Jesus.

Mark 15:33-41; Jesus died, not in strength and dignity, but in weakness and agony. He was separated from his father, the curtain was torn, the centurion confessed that Jesus is the Son of God.

Mark 15:21-32; Jesus is crucified as a helpless and defeated man, and yet...various ones who see him crucified are transformed by his suffering. In order to know why Jesus came and why he went to the cross one must come to grips with the terrible reality of his sin.

Mark 15:15-20; Jesus was mocked and degraded through inhumane means only reserved for the worse of the worse criminals. But he wasn't a criminal and, indeed, deserved praise instead of insult. It is by his stripes that we are healed.

Mark 15:1-15; Jesus is surrounded by bad men. There are only ever bad men around Jesus.

Mark 14:66-72; Shame is a symptom of a much deeper problem. Our sin has left us exposed before the holy and righteous Judge of the the world. In this passage Peter is exposed and experience shame by his denial of Jesus. Is there a way out of shame for Peter and for us?

Mark 14:53-65; What happens when Jesus is put on Trial? A kangaroo court refuses to hear who he is and condemns him. But there is more to the story than an accident of History. This has been the plan all along.

Mark 14:43-52; There are three types of people running from Jesus. In this passage we see all three.

Mark 14:26-42; Jesus, second person of the trinity. Fully God and Fully Man. Beloved of his father. But was he heard when he prayed?

Mark 14:12-26; Jesus prepares the Passover meal to eat with his disciples but the celebration turns to sadness when Jesus tells them that one of the 12 will betray him. We are reminded in this passage the ones that are invited to eat with Jesus and be his friends are not the righteous.