Gove Community Bible Church

09/07/2026

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Our Children’s Policy at Gove Community Bible Church…

We wanted to make sure everyone is aware of our policy regarding children in church:
If your kids are loud, please still come to church.
If you’re running late because getting everyone out the door was a battle, please still come to church.
If your toddler won’t sit still, please still come to church.
If your baby needs to eat, please still come to church.
If your child asks questions at the least convenient time, please still come to church.
If someone cries, drops a toy, needs a snack, or has to make their third trip to the bathroom, please still come to church.
If your child doesn’t know all the words, all the prayers, or exactly when to sit and stand, please still come to church.
If you feel like you spent the entire service managing your children and heard approximately 12% of the sermon, please still come to church.
If Sunday morning feels messy instead of peaceful, please still come to church.
If you’re worried your children are distracting the people around you, please still come to church.

Because children do not learn how to be part of the Church by staying home until they can sit quietly.

They learn by being here.
They learn the songs by hearing us sing them.
They learn the prayers by hearing us pray them.
They learn to worship by watching us worship.
They learn that church is home because we make room for them here.

The wiggles, whispers, dropped crayons, crying babies, and little voices are not interruptions to the life of the Church.

They are evidence that the Church is alive.

So bring the babies. Bring the toddlers. Bring the big kids. Come late. Sit in the back. Sit in the front. Step out when you need to and come right back in.

Just come.
Children are not simply the future of the Church. They are part of the Church right now.
At Gove Community Bible Church there is a place for them here.

09/06/2026

https://govecommunitybiblechurch.subspla.sh/jpjff67
Tap Link To View Full Service 9-6-26

09/06/2026

Proverbs 21- When God Directs the Heart

We like to think we are in control. We make plans, set goals, make decisions, and try to determine where life will take us. There is nothing wrong with planning, but Proverbs 21 reminds us of something we easily forget: we are not ultimately in control—God is.

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” If God can direct the heart of a king, He certainly can direct the circumstances of our lives. That does not mean everything will happen according to our preferred plan. It means that even when life feels uncertain, God has not surrendered His authority.

That truth should change the way we approach our decisions. We can make our plans, but we should make them with open hands before God.

Proverbs also confronts our tendency to measure ourselves by outward appearances. Verse 2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.” We are remarkably good at justifying ourselves. We can explain our motives, defend our choices, and convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing. But God sees deeper than our actions. He sees why we do what we do.

That is why Proverbs 21:3 is so important: “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Religious activity cannot substitute for obedience. We can attend church, sing songs, give offerings, serve others, and still have a heart that is far from God. God is not merely interested in what we do for Him; He cares about who we are becoming before Him.

This chapter repeatedly points us toward the importance of wisdom, diligence, humility, and righteousness. Verse 5 reminds us that “the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,” while verse 23 says, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Wisdom is not merely knowing what is right. Wisdom is allowing what we know to shape how we live.

Perhaps one of the most challenging statements comes in verse 13: “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” God cares about how we treat people who have little ability to give anything back to us. Genuine righteousness produces compassion. A heart that belongs to God cannot remain completely indifferent to the needs of others.

And then there is the powerful reminder of verse 31: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.”

Preparation matters. Planning matters. Hard work matters. But ultimately, the outcome belongs to God.

That is a good word for us because sometimes we carry burdens that were never ours to carry. We think everything depends upon our ability, our decisions, our strength, or our success. Proverbs 21 calls us to prepare faithfully while trusting God completely.

Do your part. Make the plan. Work diligently. Speak carefully. Treat people justly. Give generously. Pursue righteousness. But when you have done what God has called you to do, leave the outcome in His hands.

The question is not simply, “What do I want to accomplish?” The better question is, “What does God want to accomplish through me?”

Because God is not simply interested in directing our circumstances. He is interested in directing our hearts.

09/05/2026

Proverbs 20 - Living With Wisdom

Proverbs 20 reminds us that wisdom is not simply knowing what is right—it is learning to live rightly when nobody is watching, when our emotions are strong, and when we have something to gain by doing otherwise. This chapter touches nearly every area of life: our choices, our words, our work, our relationships, our money, and even the motives hidden deep within our hearts.

One of the first warnings is simple: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1, ESV). The issue is bigger than alcohol. The principle is about anything that gains control over us. Wisdom refuses to surrender control of our lives to something that promises pleasure but eventually demands a price. A wise person knows when something is beginning to master them rather than serve them.

Verse 3 says, “It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.” That is difficult in a culture where everyone seems to have an opinion and everyone feels the need to defend it. Wisdom does not require us to win every argument. Sometimes the strongest response is restraint. There are battles worth fighting, but there are also arguments that only produce more heat than light. Walking away from unnecessary conflict is not weakness; sometimes it is evidence of maturity.

Proverbs then turns toward diligence. “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing” (v. 4). We often want the harvest without the plowing. We want the results without the discipline, the growth without the work, and the maturity without the process. But God has designed life around sowing and reaping. Faithfulness in the ordinary things matters. The work we do today may not produce visible results immediately, but that does not mean it is wasted.

Verse 5 gives us another picture of wisdom: “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” People are deeper than what we see on the surface. There are fears, wounds, desires, motives, and questions that may never be spoken unless someone takes the time to listen. This is especially important in our relationships. Wisdom does not merely talk; it listens. It asks questions. It seeks to understand rather than assuming it already knows.

That same honesty continues in verse 9: “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?” The answer is obvious: none of us. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with others and convince ourselves that we are doing pretty well. But God's Word refuses to let us hide behind comparison. We are sinners in need of grace.

That is why biblical wisdom ultimately leads us back to God. Proverbs is not teaching us how to become good enough to need no Savior. It is teaching us to recognize our need for the One who gives wisdom, forgives sin, and changes hearts.

Verse 11 reminds us that character reveals itself in conduct: “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.” What we repeatedly do eventually reveals what is really inside us. Our character is not primarily demonstrated by what we say about ourselves but by how we live.

Later, Proverbs warns against dishonest scales and dishonest dealings. God cares about integrity even when nobody else knows what happened. It is easy to be honest when honesty benefits us. The real test comes when dishonesty would be profitable and we believe we can get away with it. Wisdom remembers that there is never a moment when we are truly unseen by God.

One of the most challenging statements comes in verse 24: “A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?” We want to know what is coming next. We want God to explain every turn before we take it. But God rarely gives us the entire map. He gives us enough light for the next step and asks us to trust Him with the road ahead.

That is difficult because we often confuse understanding with faith. We think we can trust God once everything makes sense. Proverbs reminds us that faith often means trusting God precisely when everything does not make sense.

The chapter ends with a powerful picture of God's work in our lives: “Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts” (v. 30). God's discipline is not designed to destroy His children but to expose and remove what is harmful. The loving hand of God sometimes corrects what we would rather leave untouched.

Proverbs 20 therefore calls us to a life of wisdom marked by self-control, restraint, diligence, honesty, humility, listening, and trust. None of these qualities are merely outward behaviors. They begin with a heart that recognizes God as Lord.

The question for us is not simply, “Do I know what is wise?” The deeper question is, “Am I willing to live according to the wisdom God has given me?”

09/05/2026

09/04/2026

It's hard to believe that this Sunday is the first Sunday of September. Which also means we get to do one of our favorite things here at GCBC. Bring your favorite dish or two to share and join us for an amazing time of food and fellowship following our time of worship together. Also, we are excited to have Bro. Phil Beesley sharing the Word. You do not want to miss this Sunday. Join us at 10:30 AM.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message.

Gove Community Bible Church
517 Broad St.
Gove, Kansas

09/04/2026

Proverbs 19 - When Wisdom Shapes the Way We Live

Proverbs 19 brings wisdom out of the realm of ideas and puts it into everyday life. It speaks about integrity, relationships, patience, discipline, generosity, work, planning, and our response when life does not go the way we expected. Proverbs reminds us that wisdom is not simply knowing what is right—it is choosing to live according to what is right.

One of the clearest themes in this chapter is the value of character over circumstances. Proverbs 19:1 says, “Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.” Our culture often measures people by what they possess, accomplish, or can offer. God looks deeper. A person may have very little and yet possess something far more valuable: integrity.

Integrity means that who we are in private matches who we appear to be in public. It means doing what is right when there is nothing to gain and no one watching. Wisdom understands that character is more valuable than reputation because reputation is what others think about us, while character is who we really are.

Proverbs 19:2 gives another important warning: “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” We can be sincere and still be foolish. We can have good intentions and still make bad decisions. Sometimes our greatest problem is not that we don't care about God, but that we move faster than we listen.

Wisdom slows down long enough to seek God. Before making the decision, sending the message, speaking the words, or taking the next step, we should ask, What does God say? What does His Word teach? What would wisdom look like here?

This chapter also reminds us that our relationships reveal much about our wisdom. Proverbs 19:11 says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” That does not mean ignoring sin or pretending that hurt does not matter. It means refusing to allow every offense to control our emotions or dictate our response.

There are times when wisdom says something must be confronted. But there are also times when wisdom says, Let it go. Not every irritation deserves a confrontation. Not every comment requires a response. Not every offense needs to become a battle.

There is strength in patience.

Proverbs 19 also speaks honestly about the consequences of foolish choices. Verse 3 says, “When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.” How easily we can blame God for consequences that came from our own decisions. Instead of asking, “God, why did You let this happen?” wisdom sometimes requires us to ask, “Lord, what do You want me to learn from this?”

God's grace does not mean that our choices have no consequences. His grace means that even when we have made foolish choices, He can meet us there, teach us, restore us, and lead us forward.

Perhaps one of the most comforting verses in the chapter is Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”

We make plans. We set goals. We dream about the future. We try to control what comes next. Planning is not wrong; in fact, Scripture encourages wisdom and preparation. But Proverbs reminds us that our plans are not sovereign—God is.

Sometimes the door we wanted does not open. Sometimes the opportunity disappears. Sometimes the timeline changes. Sometimes God redirects us in ways we never expected.

That can be frustrating when we believe our plan is the right plan.

But faith means trusting God even when His purpose looks different from ours.

Proverbs 19:23 says, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.” The world tells us that satisfaction comes from getting more—more money, more success, more recognition, more comfort, more control. Proverbs points us somewhere completely different.

True contentment begins with fearing the Lord.

When God is at the center, we don't have to control everything because we know the One who does. We don't have to understand everything because we trust the One who does. We don't have to have everything we want because we have something greater than everything we could possess: God Himself.

Proverbs 19 ultimately calls us to live with wisdom that reaches into every part of life. Be people of integrity. Slow down before making decisions. Be patient with others. Accept correction. Take responsibility for our choices. Make plans while surrendering them to God. Give generously. And above everything else, fear the Lord.

Wisdom is not merely knowing the right path.

Wisdom is trusting God enough to walk it.