Sovereign Grace Community Church of the Yampa Valley

10/31/2024

"When The Righteous Increase"

Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.”

Next Wednesday morning we will hopefully know who our next President is going to be here in the United States. Most of you know that I have returned to the classroom and am teaching 8th grader Social Studies and English Language Arts. Yesterday in one of my social studies classes a student asked me who I was voting for. I told them that I was going to keep that to myself. But I did say that I believe that we have essentially two not so great choices.

Both Vice President Harris and Donald Trump are people who have demonstrated that they are immoral and unfit to lead to varying degrees. That being said we must to make a choice. As a Christian I must understand that God is sovereign. That whoever triumphs next week is who God has ordained to be our next President. Solomon writes here in Proverbs that “when the righteous increase, the people rejoice.” God rewards a people who are righteous. He also warns us that “when a wicked man rules, people groan.”
What we as Biblical Christians must do is decide – unfortunately - who is the less “wicked” of the two. Not a great option for sure. I for one am praying that God’s will is accomplished – as I know it will be – and that this once great nation will come to its knees in repentance.

10/30/2024

"Teach Me Your Statutes"

Psalm 119:124, “Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness and teach me Your statutes.”

I have been blessed for most of my life to attend churches that put a high premium on preaching and teaching the Word of God. God’s love for us is manifested in innumerable ways but one of the most profound and important ways is His love as demonstrated through the truth of His Word.

God’s love for us is first seen in His sovereign grace when He saves us. He takes us from the life of sin, a life completely separated from Him and brings us into the house of God, the family of God. But He doesn’t just leave us as is. He then begins the glorious process of sanctification by which we become more and more like Christ each day. This is accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit primarily through exposure and greater and greater understanding of His Word.

I thank God for His wonderfully powerful and transforming Word. The gift of His Word is given in love to me and every other Christian so that we can be taught His “statutes” and live to glorify Him day by day.

10/29/2024

A Lamp To My Feet (Take 2. Left the last paragraph off of the earlier version)

Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

This past Sunday I preached from 2 Peter 1:16-21 where we learn in that passage that the Word of God is The Sure Word. We know this because of two things: first, the supernatural experience of Peter, James, John and the other apostles in being witnesses to the supernatural power of Christ that was on display everyday they were with Him. Secondly, we learn about the supernatural revelation that they were given by the Holy Spirit and which they wrote down that is now the New Testament. In fact, verse 19 of that passage says that the Word of God is more sure than even the apostles experience: “So we have the prophetic word made more sure.” The Word of God is always more important than our personal experience.

The Word of God “is a lamp to my feet.” Just like we have a couple of night lights in our home so that we can get around the house in the middle of the night without stumbling over things. So is the Word of God. It illuminates our path through this world, but it is only temporary.

2 Peter 1:19 goes on to say that we would “do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” The “morning star” is Christ and until He returns, we have the light, the blessed light of His Word to guide us through the dark and murky world we live in.

10/28/2024

“Remove Every False Way”

Psalm 119:29, “Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.”

The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119 and it is one long hymn to the power and essential nature of the Word of God in the believer’s life. As Christians we should long to live our lives in such a way that reveals at all times the power and truth of God and His Word. Our prayer should not be for wealth, for health, for success, or even the success and happiness of our families. Our prayer should be this simple prayer found here in verse 29 of that glorious Psalm.

As a Biblical Christian I should always desire to live a true life. A life that is a reflection of the truth that is God and is revealed to us by His Word. I should never be living a life that is in anyway a lie or has any part of it that is “false.” Instead I should commit to study and immerse myself in God’s Word so that any “false way” will be removed. It is through the consistent exposure to God’s Word that God reveals to us those “false ways.” Sometimes it is painful removing those false ways, but it is necessary so that our lives glorify God and we are made more holy each day.

We pray that God “graciously” grants us His “law” so that the mirror of His Word is held up to the face of our life and we see where we have fallen short. Then God grants us His power to discard that “false way” and glorify and honor Him.

10/28/2024

Today's message at Sovereign Grace Community Church of the Yampa Valley

Join us as we conclude our study of 2 Peter 1 and we look at The Sure Word, the reliability and absolute truth of the Word of God.

10/26/2024

"A Charge to Keep I Have"

A Charge to Keep I Have
Words: Charles Wesley
Music: Lowell Mason

A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
Who gave His Son my soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.

To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!

Arm me with jealous care
As in Thy sight to live,
And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

Help me to watch and pray,
And still on Thee rely,
O let me not my trust betray,
But press to realms on high.

10/25/2024

"According To Your Word"

Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.”

The world today is full of temptation. In fact, it is nearly impossible to keep ones thoughts and eyes “pure” in the culture we live in. So, the question for the Christian man and woman, for the “young man” as David says here, how to “keep his way pure?” We can come up with a lot of strategies to avoid temptation but they all must start with a solid grounding in the Word of God.

I remember years ago talking to a man who worked with Christian youth, and he told me that any time a youth had an issue of sin he would also ask them, “Have you been in God’s Word?” He said the reply was almost always “no.” You see in order for us to successfully combat the world system that we are surrounded by we must immerse ourselves in God’s Word. When we do this, we replace the world’s philosophies, the world’s thinking, the world’s ways with God’s thoughts. That is the only sure way to combat temptation and keep ourselves pure. We must as Christians have the daily discipline to study God’s Word so that we can “keep it according to [His] word.”

Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Our mind as Christians is renewed and “transformed” by the discipline of reading and studying the Word of God. Let us never forget this basic Christian discipline.

10/24/2024

"Not Forsaking"

Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

One of the things that constantly surprises me is the number of people who call themselves Christians who never or hardly ever darken the church door. One of the true marks of genuine salvation is the need and the desire to be with God’s people in God’s house. Whenever someone stops attending church, I know that there is a serious spiritual issue perhaps even a lack of salvation.

We should be together for many reasons, but the writer of Hebrews touches on two here in Hebrew 10:35. First, we should be in God’s house with God’s people so that we can gain encouragement from one another, from worshiping together, and from the right preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Second, we should desire to be with God’s people in His house because we know that the day of Christ’s return is “drawing near.” Being in fellowship with other believers helps prepare us for the Day of the Lord. Being in fellowship helps us in the process of becoming more like Christ each day and that is vitally important as His return becomes more imminent.

If you are truly saved you will not forsake the “assembling together” with other believers. That is one of the primary pieces of evidence that a person is genuinely saved. Let us gather with one another to encourage and challenge one another to live lives that glorify and honor the King.

10/22/2024

"Let Us Hold Fast"

Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful…”

Sunday evening we watched the livestream of Pastor John MacArthur’s Q&A at Grace Community Church. Pastor John has not been in the pulpit for a little over three months because of some health issues. It was good to see him up and about. He is a treasure not only to his church but to the larger church.

One of the questions he was asked was about the recent fall of Steven Lawson because of an adulterous relationship. Lawson was a frequent guest preacher at Grace Community and a professor at The Masters Seminary. MacArthur replied with this: “The first thing you have to understand is, God is blessing this church in many, many ways, and that is one of the ways He is blessing us: to expose someone who is in a position they have not right to be in, to purify the church.”

We “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” in a variety of ways. We “hold fast” with sound doctrine and Biblical teaching which Steve Lawson provided for many years. But we also “hold fast” - and maybe more importantly - through personal behavior that glorifies and honors God. MacArthur went on to say that this kind of behavior “in leadership”… “is fatal to a church.”

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” in a variety of ways, but most especially through personal holiness

10/21/2024

"Let Us Draw Near"

Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

One of the characteristics of someone who is genuinely saved is a deep desire to “draw near” to God. This desire takes several forms: the longing for the Word of God on a daily almost constant basis, the need to be in fellowship with God’s people, and a desire to please God, to be obedient to Him and His commands. Tragically so much of the professing church today exhibits none of these qualities.

If we have truly been saved by God in His gracious sovereignty, then we will want to “draw near” to Him because we have a deep and abiding “assurance of faith.” Because we have been saved and because we have been purified by the blood of the Lamb this means that our “conscience” is no longer evil, and we have been “washed with pure water.” We are completely cleansed from our sins. The result, or rather one of the results, is then a desire to do what pleases God.

Ask yourself this today: Do I have a “sincere heart in full assurance of faith?” Has my “heart been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience?” Have I been “washed” clean from my sins with “pure water?” If these things are true then we cannot but help desire to study the Word of God, be with God’s people, and obey God.

10/20/2024

Today's message at Sovereign Grace Community Church of the Yampa Valley

Join us as we start a two part series on the reliability of Scripture from 2 Peter 1:16-21. How do we know the Word of God is true and reliable?

10/19/2024

"May the Mind of Christ, My Savior"

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior
Words: Kate B. Wilkinson
Music: A. Cyril Barham-Gould

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow’r controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His pow’r.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in ev’rything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win;
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.