Shelbyville Community Church

We are so careful what we put into the things that matter to us. If you’re a guy and you like muscle cars, you would never think of filling yours up with inferior or low octane gas. If you’re an athlete and training for a marathon, you would never do that while living on a diet of twinkies. We understand very well that the fuel we put into our bodies contributes to their overall well-being and per...

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 salvation on the cross. It points us to His grace and power in our lives. For this reason, baptism is a reminder to keep our spiritual appetites sharp. It reminds us...

Have you ever wondered why God allows some people to become super wealthy and others with similar character qualities struggle to keep their economic “heads above water?” Naomi and her daughter-in-law were definitely the latter, and another character in our passage tomorrow was definitely the former. God chooses to allow both conditions and works in us and through us in both conditions. Do you thi...

Pastor Daniel Stahl teaches on the Tabernacle of David in this week's sermon.

The book of Ruth is unlike any other book in the Bible. There is nothing overtly supernatural or miraculous in its pages. There are no big fish or burning bushes. There are no dreams, no healings, no revelations. There are no explicit, overt interventions from God. There are no dramatic answers to prayer. What you find there is a group of people who are trying to get by and survive. You find a gro...

“May I put it quite simply? If you understand these two words—‘but God’—they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.” - James Montgomery Boice It is no surprise, then, that the human authors of the Bible use this phrase repeatedly to highlight God’s grace in every aspect of salvation. From Moses to Paul and just about everywhere in...

You were made for worship. It is who you are. Worship is part of your DNA and one of the primary motivations of your life. Every single one of us worships someone or something, even if you don’t consider yourself religious or spiritual. Worship happens anytime we take a good thing God has given us and make it the ultimate thing. It could be a relationship, romance, sex, money, power, control, a ch...

When it comes to the Christmas story, the rhythm of being in the Word is powerful. So powerful, that today’s statistics show us the “Power of 4.” The Power of 4 comes down to how many times we are in our Bible and how that impacts our life. When we are in the Bible 4 to 7 days a week, we’ll see huge changes in our lives. The Power of 4 is even shown to be more impactful, on a person today, than at...

For most of us, when we think about the Christmas Story, chickens aren’t the first thing we think about. But what if chickens provide a powerful illustration of how NOT to behave? Take any ten chickens. Any ten. Put them in a pen together and spread out a little feed. In a matter of minutes, those chickens will have established something called a pecking order. If you are higher on the pecking ord...

When it comes to the Christmas story, the rhythm of prayer is foundational, just as it is foundational to the story you are telling with your own life. Not only was the birth of Christ an answer to thousands of years of prayer, it is also a call to prayer every single day. Each of the characters in the Christmas story had a vital prayer life, which is precisely why they became a part of that story...

In Ecclesiastes 12, the teacher will say something very profound. He begins, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, NIV) Solomon is an old man at this point. He is saying, “Don’t forget about your Creator in this small window of your life called “youth.” Join us t...

I have a book in my office called the “Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook.” It details how to survive many terrible and unexpected circumstances, like: - How to fend off a mountain lion. - How to survive a poisonous snake attack. - How to escape from killer bees. - How to disarm a bomb. - How to land a plane. (No, I’m not making that up) The premise of the book is simple: You just never know. Y...

Woody Allen said, “It’s not that I’m afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” Aristotle said that death is the thing that is to be feared most because it represents the end of life. Jean-Paul Sartre asserted that death removes all meaning from life and represents the worst moment of anyone’s life. Join us this weekend as the teacher in Ecclesiastes laments the great enemy o...

In Ecclesiates 7, the teacher wants us to understand the value of wisdom. He will talk to us as one who has done more and gone farther than any of us, much like a grandparent might try to impart wisdom to their grandchild. And he asks a very important question: “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13, ESV) He’s talking about the brokenness of...

In Ecclesiastes 5, the teacher is going to begin a conversation about wealth that no one in our culture is having. He is going to argue that pursuing worth and satisfaction in money is ultimately fleeting and worthless. He will say that no matter how much we accumulate, it will never seem like enough. He will tell us that the road to wealth is paved with things like sleepless nights, unscrupulous...

I was reading some people’s comments this week about their “no need to go church” attitudes and beliefs. Some were saying that they do not have to go to a church to be a Christian. True! One person said that he could worship God in places other than at a church. True! Another said that it was the same old same old every week. Unfortunately too true! There were many but the saddest was the person w...

It was God who said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” He said that on the day that He created mankind. The truth in that statement has not changed. He created the institution of marriage, the nuclear family, extended families, and communities. We all need a personal relationship with God and we all need good relationships with other people in our lives.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 was made famous by what rock band? If you’re 40 or younger, you probably think it is the Backstreet Boys, which is incorrect. But if you’re over 50, you probably know the answer. While Solomon seems to say that seasons come and go randomly into our lives, he is actually arguing the opposite. In fact, he is going to tell us every season of our lives is appointed by God. He se...

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of God’s gifts to help us live well in the real world. In chapter 2, the teacher will try to bring happiness and meaning to his life through things like possessions, progress, and pleasure. His life becomes the stuff of bumper stickers and fridge magnets: Live for today. Be happy. Laugh well. Forget your cares. Enjoy yourself. Find your passion. Yet in spite of it a...

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of God’s gifts to help us live well in the real world. In it, the teacher will note that life in this world is no fairy tale. He will argue that we live in a world where bad things happen, a world where injustice occurs, and where everybody dies. And yet, he will say it is still possible to live a beautiful life! A recognition of the brevity of life becomes the foun...

This Sunday we finish our study in the book of James. What a study it has been! God has spoken to each teaching pastor and used them to speak to the SCC family. As we finish the book, James shares the reality that some may wander in the midst of what is happening in their lives. Yet, there are those in the community that have the chance to help bring them back from wandering. The hard part is life...

James 5 is a call to a relationship of deep intimacy and trust in the Almighty in every season of life. It is a call to approach God no matter what you are going through, whether it be good or bad, physical or spiritual. He begins: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.” That phrase “in trouble” literally means “distressed.” Are you troubled? You should take your trouble to God. Prayer is,...

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. Baptism is a reminder to keep our spiritual appetites sharp. It reminds us to never stop pursuing Christ, seeking to know Him, and letting Him fill us with His grace and mercy. Scripture reminds us: “For God saved us and called us to l...

Life in a broken world is sometimes hard. This is why James tells us in chapter 5 that we must endure suffering with patience. Join us this weekend as we discuss what it looks like to endure hardship patiently. Our God will encourage hundreds this weekend, and you could be one of them.

Pride is the doorway to all the places in life we don’t want to end up. And yet, so often, it's pride that we think is the sin we don't struggle with, or we brush it off because we don't realize just how big a pitfall it is. But the goal is not humility. Humility is the by-product of the real antidote to pride, and that's intimacy with Jesus. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we stan...