Shelbyville Community Church

How many of you have ever taken a really hard test? There was a college student at Purdue that took an ornithology class as an elective. As an engineering major, he figured it would be an easy “A”. For those of you who don’t know, ornithology is the study of birds. So he gets to the final. His preparation for the final was exemplary. He worked hard, having taken careful notes in class and using th...

Content or Discontent? Which “Tent” do you live in? I remember a person talking about Christian camping experiences, and that campers choose which tent they sleep in. The choices were “content” or “discontent.” He said that my choice of “tent” would totally impact my life’s experiences. This analogy stuck in my mind and regularly influences my choice to rejoice. The apostle Paul said that he had “...

In Philippians chapter 4, we find this incredible command: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” If someone were to ask you: What is or has been the greatest day of your life? What would you say? There have been some amazing days in your life. There was the day that you were born—when you took you first breath and the whole miracle of your existence began. That was an amazing...

There is a standard of righteousness that Jesus declared and modeled that absolutely shuts the door on any hope for our own goodness to make us acceptable to God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus is the only One who ever lived in an earth suit that met that standard! He is 100% righteous. Boy, if only His righteousness could somehow be counted as m...

Last week Paul said, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” What makes complaining so toxic is that complaining about my circumstances ignores that fact that a Good God is doing a Good Work in me for a Good Purpose through those very same circumstances. We also said that we argue with others to get our own way or to assert our opinion as the ultimate one, which is the opposite of “conside...

One of the primary causes of conflict in marriage are arguments over what might be called “Division of Labor” issues. In other words, who is responsible for what in a marriage? Which tasks belong to which person? Who is going to take out the garbage, who is going to do the dishes or the laundry, who is going to dust, who is going to cut the grass, who is going to feed the dog and the kids? If the...

Paul said that we should maintain an attitude of humility and the right actions of encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tender-heartedness, and compassion would follow that foundational attitude. Right actions naturally flow out of us when we choose to allow Jesus Christ to be Lord in our lives and choose an attitude of humility. He produces the right actions people need from us. We are not just to...

Courageous Joy can be found at any time because it is a choice. Have you ever gone through a tough moment in life and just wanted it to be over? Have you ever hit a point in life you’d rather Jesus just come, or for Him to call you to be with Him? Know that you are not alone! Paul shares with us that He wants to be with Christ so bad, but He knows that there are benefits to still being here, on ea...

Joy and hardship often must co-exist together. They are not mutually exclusive. If you wait until there is no hardship in your life to have joy, you will go your whole life without it. In the book of Philippians, Paul exhorts us to joy while he is in prison, chained to a Roman guard. His future is uncertain. His circumstances unfair. To make matters worse, others are using his imprisonment to take...

Baptism is a picture of a new life! This weekend we have the amazing opportunity to celebrate what God is doing here at SCC through the ancient practice of baptism. We’re used to thinking that baptism day is about us or the other people who made their declaration of faith alongside of us, but nothing could be further from the truth. Baptism is a celebration and picture of Christ’s loving work of s...

The North American Porcupine is a member of the rodent family that has around 30,000 quills on its body. Each of these quills can be driven into an enemies’ body, inflicting tremendous pain. Sometimes the wounds can fester, occasionally even to the point of being fatal. The porcupine is not regarded as a loving animal. The latin name for porcupine means “the irritable back.” Porcupines seems to ha...

A few years ago, our church sent a missions team to Houston Texas to help rebuild homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. On our final night in Houston, the team was debriefing the week in a small upstairs room in St. Andrews Presbyterian church. Team members were talking about the high points of their week and the low points of their week. I asked "who here is tired?" Everyone ra...

This weekend we will be talking about Christian Atheism, which is an oxymoron. An oxymoron is two words that are used together that don’t seem to belong together. So for example, we may eat “jumbo shrimp” at a restaurant, take note of a “small Crowd” at said restaurant, and have the waiter or waitress give us an “exact estimate” of what the meal will cost. In history class we may talk about the “C...

The story of Samson and Delilah is a well-known guy meets girl story. But what is less known is what Delilah is meant to represent. While the story of Samson and Delilah as it is found in Judges 16 is certainly a historical one, there is much more to this story than meets the eye. The name “Delilah” means “diminished” (possibly “one who diminishes”) or “delicate.” Interestingly, the Hebrew name fo...

In old Roman ruins archaeologists have discovered lots of prayers, ancient prayers, that people would actually pay to have written down and stored. They are called curse tablets because the most common kind of prayer recorded on them, by far, are curses. People would address a god or goddess and say, "This person hurt me, and here's how they hurt me, and I want payback. I want you to hur...

For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be looking at the battles that men fight. I’m going to be talking to men, so if you are a woman reading this, I have a couple of thoughts. First, chances are you know some men. Maybe you live with one. Maybe you married one, or have been raising one, or maybe you grew up with some. Maybe you would like to marry one someday or you have some male friends. Since yo...

Pride and self-righteousness are incredibly damaging to our relationships with one another and our relationship with God. Unfortunately, you can be filled with either one and not even know it. In the story of Jephthah, we see how damaging his self-righteousness was to his own daughter and how his pride and need for self-preservation led to the slaughter of 42,000 of his own countrymen. Jephthah wa...

The period of the Judges lasted for about 400 years. That is about the same length of time since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock’s settlements were established and 150 years longer than the thirteen original colonies declared independence from Great Britain. God is so merciful and patient with all of us. Have you been like me before and threatened you kids with a “You do that one more time and I’m goi...

Our study in the book of Judges this summer has given us some unseemly glimpses into the lives of God’s people and even His heroes. All of these stories are written for our instruction, examples to follow or avoid, warning, and encouragement. Gideon is still our character of emphasis this Sunday. Our main take away from Gideon is that he did things while he was still afraid. Gideon has a lot going...

The Lord’s rule trumps man’s rule. Do you have any siblings? Have you ever wanted to hurt them, or even kill them? That is where our story is heading this Sunday. One brother wants to be the only one standing so he can rule. He does the unthinkable, kills all his brothers. We’ll see how our striving for power and authority can affect those around us. If not blessed by God, it can cause serious pro...

Our series continues this Sunday morning in the book of Judges as we look at another broken hero. Our main character this week is a guy named Gideon. The circumstances were the same as the people were being provoked and trodden down by an enemy nation. They again cried out to God and God in His mercy raised up a deliverer. We probably will be able to identify with Gideon very easily since he was d...

We’re heading into week three in our study of the book of Judges. And just like the previous weeks, we’re going to see the sin cycle continue. As miraculous as Ehud’s defeat of King Eglon was, the victory didn’t last forever. There was 80 years of peace before a new generation grew up who didn’t know God. This week we’re going to see God deliver his people again, this time through an incredibly wi...

This Sunday we're going to continue our study in the book of Judges. Last week we setup the backdrop of the book and the call for Israel to place their complete faith in God for every aspect of their life. But, they fail to trust completely instead leaning into their own weakness, and in turn falling away from God. This Sunday we're going to look at the first major story in Judges, Ehud&...

The book of Judges begins a new chapter in the history of Israel. Unfortunately it reveals a dark period in Israel's history and serves as a warning for us today. After the death of Joshua, the nation triumphed in taking the Promised Land before descending into a destructive sin cycle. God repeatedly raised up judges to deliver His people even as their disobedience continued. The book of Judg...

Obeying Jesus trumps listening to Jesus Let’s dream together. Have you ever thought about a “dream home”? If so, where would you build it? What would it look like? Isn’t it fun to dream? My house would be ridiculous if I could have everything I’ve ever wanted in a house. I don’t even want to know how much it would cost me, haha. Did you know Jesus has a dream for you? He has a dream that you would...